Ava Kofman
Ava Kofman was a reporter on ProPublica’s national desk.
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Ava Kofman was a reporter on ProPublica’s national desk. She joined the newsroom in January 2019 after working as a contributing writer at The Intercept, where she covered technology and artificial intelligence. Her reporting and essays have appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine, The New York Review of Books and n+1, among other publications. In 2021, she reported with colleagues on toxic air pollution across the United States. The team’s examination of the country’s “Sacrifice Zones,” which helped spur several reforms, was a finalist for the Goldsmith Prize and a National Magazine Award for Public Interest. Kofman’s 2022 investigation of the hospice industry prompted congressional hearings and policy changes. It received the 2023 Hillman Prize for Magazine Journalism, a National Press Club Award and the Barlett and Steele Award for Outstanding Young Journalist. Kofman is a two-time Livingston Finalist, and her work has also been honored by the Scripps Howard Foundation, the Association of Health Care Journalists, and the Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing.
Facebook Finally Agrees to Eliminate Tool That Enabled Discriminatory Advertising
Six years after ProPublica revealed that Facebook allowed advertisers to exclude Black users and others, the company agreed to a settlement with the Justice Department to overhaul its ad algorithm system.
Representatives Introduce $500 Million Air Quality Bill, Citing ProPublica’s Investigations
Lawmakers introduced a House bill to fund air monitoring after ProPublica highlighted pollution in its “Black Snow” and “Sacrifice Zones” investigations. The bill is nearly identical to one introduced in the Senate last summer.
EPA Takes Action to Combat Industrial Air Pollution
The EPA announced a raft of targeted actions and specific reforms in the wake of ProPublica’s investigation into toxic hot spots.
What’s Polluting the Air? Not Even the EPA Can Say.
Despite the high stakes for public health, the EPA relies on emissions data it knows to be inaccurate. To expose toxic hot spots, we first had to get the facts straight.
Veneno en el aire
La EPA permite a los contaminadores que conviertan barrios en “zonas de sacrificio” donde los residentes respiran carcinógenos. ProPublica revela dónde están esos lugares en un mapa, el primero de este tipo, y con análisis de datos.
They Knew Industrial Pollution Was Ruining the Neighborhood’s Air. If Only Regulators Had Listened.
Barbara Weckesser and her neighbors told regulators that air pollution was making them sick. The law let them ignore her.
EPA Leader Visited Toxic Hot Spots We Featured and Promised Reforms
ProPublica found more than 1,000 hot spots of toxic air pollution across the country, and determined Black residents were disproportionately at risk. Environmental experts called the EPA’s response to our investigation historic and a “radical change in tone.”
¿Puede la contaminación del aire causar cáncer? Lo que usted tiene que saber sobre los riesgos.
Si usted vive cerca de ciertas instalaciones industriales, puede tener un riesgo estimado de cáncer más alto. Aquí hay respuestas a preguntas comunes, datos producto de una colaboración participativa y cómo compartir su experiencia.
How You Can Report on the Toxic Hot Spots Near You
A journalist’s guide for investigating cancer-causing air pollution from industrial facilities by using ProPublica’s original air toxics map and data.
Poison in the Air
The EPA allows polluters to turn neighborhoods into “sacrifice zones” where residents breathe carcinogens. ProPublica reveals where these places are in a first-of-its-kind map and data analysis.