Anna Clark

Reporter

Photo of Anna Clark

Anna Clark is a reporter covering issues in the Midwest. She came to ProPublica after many years working as an independent journalist with a particular interest in how cities are made and unmade. She is the author of “The Poisoned City: Flint’s Water and the American Urban Tragedy,” which won the Hillman Prize for Book Journalism and the Rachel Carson Environment Book Award. It was also a finalist for the Helen Bernstein Book Award and longlisted for the Andrew Carnegie Medal. Clark’s reporting has appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, Elle, the New Republic, the Columbia Journalism Review, the Detroit Free Press and Belt Magazine, among other publications.

Clark also edited “A Detroit Anthology,” a Michigan Notable Book, ” and she is a nonfiction faculty member in Alma College’s MFA Program in Creative Writing. She lives in Detroit.

Right-Wing Activists Pushed False Claims About Election Fraud. Now They’re Recruiting Poll Workers in Swing States.

Experts say these poll workers could sow distrust in democracy and bolster court cases challenging the election. ProPublica and Wisconsin Watch reviewed dozens of hours of trainings and presentations in which activists discussed their plans.

A Vexing To-Do List for Michigan’s Gretchen Whitmer

As the governor, now a rising Democratic star, finishes out her final term, key populist pledges have been unfulfilled and her presidential resume is still being written.

A Bottled Water Company in Michigan Is Still Extracting Millions of Gallons of Water for Free

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer had pledged to crack down on bottled water companies taking water at the same time Flint, Michigan, faced a water crisis. Six years later and in her second term, little has changed.

Ten Years After the Flint Water Crisis, Distrust and Anger Linger

A city is forever changed, and so is residents’ relationship with their water. The betrayal of trust by the institutions meant to protect Flint’s residents has made some of them extra cautious as they look to keep themselves and their community safe.

FDA Moves to Scrutinize Specialized Health Screenings

The agency issued a rule that brings new scrutiny to a range of critical lab-developed tests, including certain cancer and prenatal screenings. ProPublica previously reported how lab-test accuracy and marketing had skirted federal oversight.

Michigan Lawmakers Working to Fix a Program That Failed to Compensate the Wrongfully Convicted

State law provides $50,000 for each year of wrongful imprisonment, but a ProPublica investigation showed how the law’s narrow requirements led to delays, partial settlements and outright denials of payments.

They Were Wrongfully Convicted. Now They’re Denied Compensation Despite Michigan Law.

The state can provide the wrongfully convicted compensation of $50,000 for each year of incarceration, but the law’s narrow criteria and confusion over eligibility leave former prisoners facing another system that seems stacked against them.

Reports Analyzing the Police Response to a Mass Shooting Can Leave Unanswered Questions — if They’re Released at All

Even if an after-action investigation is released, a lack of national standards leads to wide variability in the detail of information in reports, ProPublica, The Texas Tribune and FRONTLINE found.

A Sweeping Report on a Michigan School Shooting Finds Multiple Failures and a Troubled Aftermath

Parents, already shaken by the fatal incident at Oxford High School, lost confidence in the school district when it hesitated to find and acknowledge accountability for the 2021 shooting.

Federal Scrutiny, Plunging Revenue Plague a Private College’s Attempt at a Turnaround

Baker College once was Michigan’s largest private nonprofit school, built on questionable promises of employment and cost. But a new school year brings a fresh host of financial and reputational problems.

Michigan Still Allows Emergency Takeovers of Local Governments. Is It Finally Time to Reconsider This Drastic Measure?

Under emergency management, Flint faced problems that turned catastrophic while Detroit charted a new course. That mixed record and stark racial disparities have prompted calls for change.

Baker College Faces Federal Investigation Over “Recruitment and Marketing Practices”

ProPublica and the Detroit Free Press found that Baker College spent more on marketing than it did on financial aid. Now, the school faces an inquiry by the U.S. Department of Education.

Scores of Critical Lab Tests Fall Into a Regulatory Void. The FDA Is Trying to Close It.

Lab-developed tests like prenatal screenings have become increasingly popular, all while escaping the bulk of federal scrutiny over marketing and accuracy. Now, the FDA is beginning the process of imposing regulations on these kinds of tests.

Could a Michigan School Shooting Have Been Prevented? Families Still Waiting for a Full Accounting of What Happened.

Eighteen months after the deadly shooting at Oxford High School, parents want answers from the district. The mistrust sowed in the community by the delays reflects failures across the country to methodically investigate these tragedies.

Life-Giving but Lethal: The Culprit Behind Dead Zones and the Threat to Our Water Supply

In his new book, “The Devil’s Element,” award-winning journalist Dan Egan explores the impact of phosphorus on our water and our world.

The Tests Are Vital. But Congress Decided That Regulation Is Not.

Money and lobbying help shield lab-developed tests, including prenatal screenings, from heightened federal scrutiny.

America’s Adult Education System Is Broken. Here’s How Experts Say We Can Fix It.

Experts say that more money is critical to improving the national system. Many states have developed creative solutions in spite of their limited funding.

Pregnant? Here’s What You Need to Know About NIPTs

The noninvasive prenatal testing industry confuses patients and even some doctors. So we’ve created this guide to the tests, the accuracy of results, cost and more.

A Fifth of American Adults Struggle to Read. Why Are We Failing to Teach Them?

The nation’s approach to adult education has so far neglected to connect the millions of people struggling to read with the programs set up to help them.

They Trusted Their Prenatal Test. They Didn’t Know the Industry Is an Unregulated “Wild West.”

As regulators stay on the sideline, a growing industry expands its reach but leaves some pregnant patients feeling misled and heartbroken.

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