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Ken Armstrong

Ken Armstrong was a reporter at ProPublica.

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Ken Armstrong was a reporter at ProPublica. In 2022, his story with Raquel Rutledge on the intersecting lives of a landlord and a tenant won the National Magazine Award for feature writing. In 2021, he reported with Meribah Knight on a Tennessee county where hundreds of children were illegally jailed. In 2018, his reporting with Christian Sheckler on the criminal justice system in Elkhart, Indiana, led to the police chief’s resignation and to two officers being convicted of felony civil rights charges.

In his career, Armstrong has won or shared in four Pulitzer Prizes. On five other occasions he was a Pulitzer finalist.

At The Marshall Project, Armstrong partnered with ProPublica’s T. Christian Miller on a story about a woman who was charged with lying about being raped. That story won the 2016 Pulitzer for explanatory reporting and became a “This American Life” episode, a book and an eight-part Netflix series, “Unbelievable.” The radio episode and Netflix series both won Peabody Awards.

At The Seattle Times, Armstrong won the 2012 Pulitzer for investigative reporting for a series with Michael Berens that showed how the state of Washington steered Medicaid patients to a cheap but unpredictable painkiller linked to more than 2,000 deaths. He also shared in two staff Pulitzers for breaking news.

At the Chicago Tribune, Armstrong’s reporting with Steve Mills on the failures of Illinois’ death penalty system helped prompt the state’s governor to halt executions and commute 167 death sentences, the largest blanket clemency in the modern era of capital punishment.

In 2009, Armstrong received the John Chancellor Award from Columbia University for lifetime achievement. His book with Nick Perry, “Scoreboard, Baby: A Story of College Football, Crime, and Complicity,” won the Edgar Allan Poe Award for nonfiction. Armstrong has been a Nieman fellow at Harvard and the McGraw professor of writing at Princeton. He is a graduate of Purdue, where, in 2018, he received an honorary doctorate.

Coronavirus

Expired Respirators. Reused Masks. Nurses in the Nation’s Original Covid-19 Epicenter Offer Sobering Accounts of What Could Come.

When nurses at one Washington State hospital complained about having to use expired respirators, they allege that staff were ordered to remove stickers showing the equipment was years out of date.

by Ken Armstrong and Vianna Davila,

Accused in Elkhart

A New Study Prompted by Our Reporting Confirms Elkhart, Indiana, Police Department Lacks Accountability

Elkhart community members viewed police officers as “cowboys” who participated in “rough treatment of civilians,” contributing to what the study called a “trust deficit.”

by Christian Sheckler, South Bend Tribune, and Ken Armstrong, ProPublica,

Local Reporting Network

Accused in Elkhart

Why Are Cops Around the World Using This Outlandish Mind-Reading Tool?

The creator of Scientific Content Analysis, or SCAN, says the tool can identify deception. Law enforcement has used his method for decades, even though there’s no reliable science behind it.

by Ken Armstrong, ProPublica, and Christian Sheckler, South Bend Tribune,

Local Reporting Network

Unbelievable

Netflix Series Based on Our Work Explores Costs of Not Believing Rape Victims

The series, “Unbelievable,” draws from our award-winning reporting with The Marshall Project and “This American Life.”

by Ken Armstrong and T. Christian Miller, ProPublica,

Accused in Elkhart

The Questionable Conviction, and Re-Conviction, of Ricky Joyner

Juries convicted Ricky Joyner twice. Once in 1994 and again in 1998, after he won his first appeal. Prosecutors called the case cut and dried. But we looked through transcripts, reports, video and more. Should Joyner’s conviction stand?

by Christian Sheckler, South Bend Tribune, and Ken Armstrong, ProPublica,

Local Reporting Network

How Have Saudi Students in the U.S. Been Able to Flee Back Home After Being Charged With Crimes Here? Help Us Find Out.

We know of cases in eight states and Canada where Saudi college students, under investigation for serious crimes, have disappeared before going on trial or completing their sentences. We are trying to figure out if there is a pattern.

by Ken Armstrong, Katie Zavadski, and Adriana Gallardo, ProPublica, and Shane Dixon Kavanaugh, The Oregonian/OregonLive,

Accused in Elkhart

In Elkhart, Indiana, Another Conviction Gets Tossed. The Star Witness Was Hypnotized, a Fact the Prosecutor Concealed.

The prosecutor who failed to disclose the use of hypnosis is now a judge. He knew the hypnotist from the Kiwanis Club.

by Christian Sheckler, South Bend Tribune and Ken Armstrong, ProPublica,

Local Reporting Network

Accused in Elkhart

Long-Lost Records Surface in Wrongful Conviction Case, Detailing Lead Detective’s Fondling of Informants

The reasons for the Elkhart, Indiana, detective’s forced resignation have been a mystery for years. This month, the records were finally turned over. An attorney wants the city punished for the delay.

by Christian Sheckler, South Bend Tribune, and Ken Armstrong, ProPublica,

Local Reporting Network

Accused in Elkhart

Elkhart’s Mayor Says He Won’t Run for Re-election, Amid Revelations of Misconduct in the Police Ranks

Since November, two police officers have been charged with misdemeanor battery; news reports have detailed the promotion of many officers with disciplinary records; and the police chief has resigned.

by Christian Sheckler, South Bend Tribune, and Ken Armstrong, ProPublica,

Local Reporting Network

Accused in Elkhart

Elkhart’s Acting Police Chief Has Previously Been Demoted, Reprimanded and Suspended

Ed Windbigler was forced out as police chief this week. The interim head, Todd Thayer, was demoted in 2013 for saying an officer who opened fire could now check that off his “bucket list,” according to disciplinary records.

by Ken Armstrong, ProPublica, and Jeff Parrott, South Bend Tribune,

Local Reporting Network