Stephen Engelberg
Stephen Engelberg is ProPublica’s editor-in-chief and served as founding managing editor from 2008–2012.
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Stephen Engelberg was the founding managing editor of ProPublica from 2008–2012, and became editor-in-chief on January 1, 2013. He came to ProPublica from The Oregonian in Portland, where he had been a managing editor since 2002. Before joining The Oregonian, Mr. Engelberg worked for The New York Times for 18 years, including stints in Washington, D.C., and Warsaw, Poland, as well as in New York. He is a member of the Pulitzer Prize Board.
Mr. Engelberg’s work since 1996 has focused largely on the editing of investigative projects. He started the Times’s investigative unit in 2000. Projects he supervised at the Times on Mexican corruption (published in 1997) and the rise of Al Qaeda (published beginning in January 2001) were awarded the Pulitzer Prize. During his years at The Oregonian, the paper won the Pulitzer for breaking news and was a finalist for its investigative work on methamphetamines and charities intended to help the disabled. He is the co-author of “Germs: Biological Weapons and America’s Secret War” (2001).
Welcome to Our Second Decade
Much has changed since ProPublica published its first story, but we remain committed to the power of fact-based journalism to spur change and right wrongs.
A Prisoner in Gina Haspel’s Black Site
While most of her career as a CIA operative remains secret, newly available documents shed light on a pivotal moment in the career of President Donald Trump’s choice to head the nation’s spy agency.
What ProPublica Is Doing About Diversity in 2018
Here is a breakdown of our staff. And here is how we’re working to create a more diverse newsroom and inclusive journalism community.
How We Obtained the Government’s Data on Agent Orange and Birth Defects
The Veterans Administration refused to release what it had learned about possible links between birth defects and exposure to Agent Orange. ProPublica and The Virginian-Pilot found a novel way to obtain the information under procedures historically used for scientific research by academic scholars.
HUD Has ‘Serious Concerns’ About Facebook’s Ethnic Targeting
Federal officials are taking a close look at a sales practice that allows advertisers on the social network to include or exclude people who have an “affinity” with specific ethnic groups.
Coming Soon From ProPublica and Frontline: ‘Terror in Europe’
The recent series of terror attacks in France and Belgium lay bare an array of security shortcomings, most of which remain unaddressed. ProPublica and Frontline examine what went wrong and why it is so hard for Europe to protect itself from the growing threat.
In Wells Fargo Case, News Really Did Happen To An Editor
How ProPublica’s top editor failed to recognize that his personal experience with a mysterious bank fee was part of a much, much larger story.
Why Are We Still Wasting Billions on Homeland Security Projects That Don’t Make Us Safer?
An article in The Atlantic on post-9/11 America makes a powerful case that the “never again” approach to homeland security is good politics but lousy policy.
Why We Are Publishing Videos the LAPD Wouldn’t Release
The publishing of the videos detailing Vachel Howard’s death inside a Los Angeles police jail involved months of reporting and a lot of thought.