Readers Power ProPublica 2016 ANNUAL REPORT The ProPublica staff awaits the 2016 Pulitzer Prize announcements. ProPublica was proud to receive its third Pulitzer Prize, this one jointly with The Marshall Project, for explanatory reporting, for our article “An Unbelievable Story of Rape.” (Edwin Torres for ProPublica) Highlights of the Year at ProPublica

Impact Our journalism spurred a host of meaningful changes. Facebook halted an advertising practice that facilitated racial discrimination. Law enforcement officials stopped using a drug test that had led to wrongful convictions. Judges struck down a state worker compensation system as unconstitutional. A chain of retail stores that took advantage of service members shut its doors and was forced to repay millions of dollars in improper charges.

PROPUBLICA ANNUAL REPORT, 2016 1 Edwin Torres for ProPublica

Important stories Memorable work ranged from the health impacts of Agent Orange exposure on the children and grandchildren of Vietnam veterans, to the shortcomings of algorithms used across the nation’s criminal justice system, to Houston’s vulnerability to a major natural disaster, to our launch of Electionland, a national reporting initiative that tracked voter experiences in real time, across thousands of polling sites.

Awards ProPublica was proud to receive its third Pulitzer Prize, this one jointly with The Marshall Project, for explanatory reporting, for our article “An Unbelievable Story of Rape.” The same story won the George Polk Award for justice reporting. In addition, our series “Killing the Colorado” was a finalist for the Pulitzer for national reporting, Alec MacGillis’ work was honored with the Toner Prize for Excellence in Political Reporting, and our series with NPR News on worker’s compensation received the IRE Medal. A full list of awards can be found later in this report.

PROPUBLICA ANNUAL REPORT, 2016 2 Edwin Torres for ProPublica

Partnerships We extended our list of publishing partners to 139 news organizations, with a total of 35 in 2016 alone. Our partners over the past year included the New York Times, Washington Post, NPR News, Frontline, This American Life, the New Yorker, and the Atlantic.

Growing platform Monthly average page views rose 12% to 2.6 million, while unique visitors climbed 15% to 1.1 million. Substantial growth came in ProPublica’s Facebook fans, up 70% to more than 210,000, while Twitter followers rose 13% to more than 465,000.

We announced what we hope will be an important Regional initiative new thrust for ProPublica: regional reporting units, the first of which, ProPublica Illinois, will begin publishing in 2017.

Business breakthrough Gifts were up all year, but accelerated dramatically after the election. Total fundraising for the year came to $17.2 million, increasing ProPublica’s reserve fund to more than $9 million, or almost seven months of projected 2017 spending. The number of total donors soared more than 600% to more than 26,000.

PROPUBLICA ANNUAL REPORT, 2016 3 Readers Power ProPublica

One key aspect of ProPublica’s business model is our funding, which comes almost entirely from philanthropy. Readers power our investigative journalism — not corporations, politicians or advocacy groups — and they donate because they believe our work can make a difference in our democracy and civic life. There is perhaps no greater indication of the strength of this relationship than the burst of contributions that followed the 2016 presidential election.

Hours after the results were report, and organizations that I freedom of the press. If my small clear, small donors across the trust.” donation can help be part of a country began clicking our on- “I donated a modest donation larger sum that makes an import- line “donate” button. In the next to your news organization because ant statement today, then please few days, envelopes with checks I believe that the news of the 21st let it do so.” began trickling into ProPublica’s century must be supported by The momentum of giving ac- office, from $5 gifts to amounts average Americans,” wrote Dylan celerated after HBO’s John Oliver in the hundreds and thousands. from Kentucky. “Today’s major mentioned ProPublica in his small Many shared with us why they felt news organizations are selling a list of organizations worthy of moved now to support ProPublica product. With fewer and fewer support in the coming years. By by taking action on its behalf. individuals buying subscriptions year-end, smaller gifts had come “I’ve been a fan for a few years,” to newspapers and magazines, the from more than 26,000 donors, wrote DKW from Georgia. “The incentive to produce hard-hitting and amounted to more than $2.9 stories are always deep — some- journalism becomes less intense.” million dollars. times longer than I think I have “I believe in investigative jour- We understand the responsibil- time for — but every time I read nalism and the Fourth Estate,” ity that comes with this generosity one I’m so grateful you’re doing wrote Cindy from Wyoming. “But — one ProPublica will meet by the work you do in the way you do more importantly, I give today expanding our staff and extending it. I should have given sooner, but because I am horrified by the our ability to call out abuses and the election has been a wake-up election and the threats Trump hold those in power to account call that I need to help support has made against journalism, through painstaking and fearless organizations that research and journalists, freedom of speech and accountability journalism.

PROPUBLICA ANNUAL REPORT, 2016 4 Palm Beach, Florida, about sever- al dozen people shouting at early voters with bullhorns, we posted a story that prompted the local sheriff’s office to intervene and stop the intimidating behavior. Our team also looked closely at allegations of widespread voter fraud. Looking at thousands of ju- risdictions and millions of voters, we were able to say conclusively that there was no evidence of either widespread fraud or voter intimidation. Instead we caught signs of people using social me- dia to spread fabrications. When an image circulating on Twitter, captioned in both English and Spanish, claimed to show an im- migration officer arresting a Lati- no man in line to vote, we quickly determined the image was a fake In our most wide-ranging collaboration yet, ProPublica organized Electionland, a — a composite of two different national reporting initiative that revealed voters’ experiences in real time. photographs — and there were no (John Brecher for ProPublica) reports of anyone arrested by ICE officials while voting. “Most newsrooms in America Protecting the Vote exercising their right to vote. We are asking an important but pre- did this with a team of more than a mature question while polls are In 2016, we served our readers thousand people, including about open: ‘Who’s winning?’” said Scott with abounding examples of this 600 journalism school students Klein, ProPublica deputy manag- kind of work, particularly relating who pored through social media ing editor and the project’s leader, to the election — before, during reports and upward of 400 local at the launch of the initiative. and after. journalists across 50 states who “Electionland is an experiment In our most wide-ranging signed up to receive and report on that asks whether we can help em- collaboration yet, ProPublica or- tips we received. power newsrooms to cover other ganized Electionland, a national Electionland, which launched vitally important questions that reporting initiative that revealed during the early voting period, day: How is the election itself go- voters’ experiences in real time. gave us an unprecedented re- ing? Who’s voting and who’s being Working with Google News Lab, al-time understanding of voting in turned away?” Univision, WNYC, First Draft, the the United States. From problems USA Today Network and the City with hours long lines in Cali- University of New York Graduate fornia to misinformation about Giving Voice to a School of Journalism, we used voter ID requirements in Texas, Forgotten Class cutting-edge technology, social the project allowed us to publish media newsgathering and na- more than 400 stories while polls tional data from a nonpartisan were still open and issues could ProPublica’s coverage leading up legal call center to find problems be addressed. For example, when to the election also proved trail- that would prevent citizens from we spotted complaints from West blazing. This was clear when the

PROPUBLICA ANNUAL REPORT, 2016 5 election returns rolled in on the evening of Nov. 8, and stunned newsrooms around the country regrouped and dispatched their reporters to the places where, it was now clear, Donald Trump had planted the seeds of his victory. Within days, reports sprang up on the new Trump voters, date- lined from coal country and hol- lowed-out factory towns. But ProPublica’s Alec MacGillis didn’t have to rush off. He’d been visiting the heartland throughout 2016, measuring the gathering wave of frustration and anger. In July, ProPublica and Politico pub- lished MacGillis’ story on the Day- ton, Ohio, area, where industrial decay had become fertile ground for the politics of Donald Trump. MacGillis pushed deep into the Alec MacGillis’ “The Great Republican Crack-Up” was a prescient piece of lives and fortunes of Dayton’s peo- journalism in which the reporting captured the pulse of discontent in the Rust Belt ple and their interlocking fates. and steered ProPublica readers ahead of the curve. (Ty Wright for ProPublica) The issues that resonated with Trump voters, MacGillis wrote, “had been building for decades in places like Dayton. For the most Holding the Powerful in algorithms used across the part, the political establishment to Account criminal justice system to predict ignored, dismissed or overlooked a defendant’s risk of committing these forces, until suddenly they a future crime; police use of er- blew apart nearly everyone’s Throughout 2016, ProPublica ror-prone drug kits used to convict blueprint for the presidential crafted important, innovatively thousands of people annually; campaign.” presented stories that pursued deceptive practices by New York MacGillis’ story, “The Great our mission to expose abuses of City landlords that wrongfully Republican Crack-Up” was not power and betrayals of public inflate rents; and Facebook’s inad- only a model of on-the-ground trust — precisely the kind of work vertent facilitation of civil-rights reporting, insightful analysis that both our established and new violations. and elegant writing. It was also a donors say they are counting on Marcy, a Michigan reader, ex- prescient piece of journalism in us to do. Our subjects included plained her recent donation to which the reporting captured the the dubious credentials handed ProPublica: “Now, more than ever, pulse of discontent in the Rust out by the nation’s largest accred- our democracy needs a strong, Belt and steered ProPublica read- itor of for-profit schools and the independent press. Thanks for the ers ahead of the curve. damaging outcomes for students; work you do.” We remain deter- After the election, ProPublica health impacts of Agent Orange mined to serve readers with more began shedding light on the ac- exposure on the children and essential journalism at this critical tivities of then-President-elect grandchildren of Vietnam veter- moment for America. Trump’s transition team and in- ans and the failures of the VA to coming administration, notably respond effectively; the troubling with our feature “The Chosen.” failure rates and racial disparities

PROPUBLICA ANNUAL REPORT, 2016 6 Impact

While we are proud of our growing audience and the recognition of our journalistic peers, the true measure of ProPublica’s success is real world change. Examples of what we mean, and discussions of how we think about the subject of impact, can be found at http://www.propublica.org/about/impact/

▪▪ Following ProPublica’s reporting that students pany said it would build an automated system to spot at for-profit schools accredited by the Accrediting ads that discriminate illegally. Council for Independent Colleges and Schools (AC- ICS) have the lowest graduation rates in the country ▪▪ Our series of articles published with the New York and struggle to repay their student loans, the Educa- Daily News, which detailed “nuisance abatement tion Department announced that it would terminate actions” — New York Police Department lawsuits the agency. This unprecedented move stripped the that give police the power to evict people purportedly powers of one of the nation’s largest accreditors of using their homes or business for illegal purposes — for-profit schools. It came after 12 state attorneys led to important results. After the investigation was general, a coalition of 23 student and consumer pro- published in February, the NYPD imposed new safe- tection organizations, an Education Department guards in the process of locking residents out of their advisory committee and a report by officials at the homes before they’ve had a chance to tell their side of Education Department — all citing ProPublica — rec- the story in court. The number of nuisance abatement ommended that the government de-authorize ACICS. actions filed by the NYPD dropped significantly. Sev- eral City Council members introduced a package of ▪▪ When ProPublica reported that Facebook allowed 13 bills that would reform the way the NYPD carries advertisers to buy credit, housing and employment out nuisance abatement actions. The department ads that exclude anyone with an “affinity” for Afri- has expressed support for some of these, including can-American, Asian-American and Hispanic people measures to remove marijuana possession as a charge from seeing them, it sparked a wave of criticism that could lead to immediate eviction, to require lab aimed at the social network. Four members of Con- reports to support drug allegations, and to limit ex- gress wrote Facebook demanding that the company clusions of most people from homes to one year. In stop letting advertisers exclude viewers of housing addition, one family that was wrongfully kicked out ads by race. The federal agency that enforces the of their apartment, citing our reporting, filed a lawsuit nation’s fair housing laws began talks with Facebook seeking to have the law declared unconstitutional. to address what experts said was a clear violation of federal anti-discrimination laws. Two weeks after ▪▪ A ProPublica investigation, published in July with our story ran, Facebook announced that it would bar the New York Times Magazine, spotlighted how police advertisers from excluding users by race in ads that departments across the country use roadside drug involved housing, credit and employment. The com- tests to secure guilty pleas and send tens of thousands

PROPUBLICA ANNUAL REPORT, 2016 7 Compensation Commission. The Florida Supreme Court struck down laws that capped attorney fees and limited workers to two years of temporary disability pay regardless of whether they were able to return to work. In October, the U.S. Labor Department released a report detailing how states are failing injured work- ers — an effort prompted by ten members of Congress who urged the U.S. labor secretary to devise an over- sight plan for state workers’ comp programs, citing ProPublica’s reporting. The report lays the ground- work for new federal oversight, as Sen. Sherrod Brown announced he was drafting legislation to address its findings and hoped to advance it in the next Congress.

▪▪ ProPublica, in partnership with the Texas Tribune, launched a multimedia project showing that Hous- ton is at risk of a major disaster: a hurricane with the potential to devastate the region. In December, Pres- Our reporting on faulty roadside drug tests spurred the ident Obama signed into law a bill to expedite a U.S. district attorney’s office in Portland, Oregon, to vacate Army Corps of Engineers study that will determine wrongful convictions. (Todd Heisler, The New York Times) how best to protect Houston from such a hurricane. Called the “Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation,” or WIIN, Act, the law included a bill that of people to jail every year — despite widespread U.S. Sen. John Cornyn filed in April — one month evidence that they routinely produce false positives. after ProPublica and the Texas Tribune jointly pub- Our reporting spurred the district attorney’s office in lished stories on the problem. Portland, Oregon, to review its drug possession cases. The office discovered five cases where defendants had ▪▪ A ProPublica investigation, published in July with pled guilty — but subsequent lab tests came back neg- the New York Times, found that a New Jersey agen- ative for the presence of any controlled substances cy was pushing student loans with stringent rules, — and vacated those five wrongful convictions. Port- aggressive collections and few reprieves — even for land’s district attorney’s office also changed the way borrowers who died. In December, Gov. Chris Christie it secured guilty pleas in drug possession cases based signed into law a new requirement, prompted by our on these tests. Now such pleas will not be allowed un- reporting, that required the state’s student loan agen- less the preliminary police roadside test is confirmed cy to forgive the debts of borrowers who die or become by lab analysis. In Texas, a state commission recom- permanently disabled. The New Jersey Senate also mended that crime labs review all field test results passed bills requiring the agency to obtain a court or- and re-test substances collected in previous drug der before garnishing wages, taking state tax refunds, cases that had not been confirmed by lab testing. In or suspending professional licenses, legislation that Las Vegas, the Nevada Attorneys for Criminal Justice is now before New Jersey’s House. Another bill would set up a committee looking for ways to challenge law set a borrower’s monthly payment at a level that is enforcement’s methods for getting drug convictions. considered affordable based on his or her income. In September, a New Jersey state commission unveiled ▪▪ ProPublica and NPR reporting spotlighted Oklaho- a report urging the agency to offer better protections ma’s workers’ compensation system, which allowed for borrowers, including recommendations to boost companies to “opt out” of state workers’ comp and students’ understanding of the terms before they sign write their own plans for dealing with injured work- for loans and to offer a rehabilitation program that al- ers. In September, the Oklahoma Supreme Court lows borrowers who default to improve their payment struck down the opt-out system as unconstitutional, status after several months of consistent payments. echoing an earlier ruling from the Oklahoma Workers’

PROPUBLICA ANNUAL REPORT, 2016 8 ▪▪ After our reporting revealed that New York City landlords who collect lucrative tax breaks in exchange for providing rent-stabilized housing failed to register up to 200,000 apartments for the program, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced a large-scale enforcement program targeting more than 3,000 rental buildings. Saying “enough is enough,” de Blasio said building owners who fail to follow the law will lose their tax breaks. Officials from the city housing authority and finance department have pledged to end the practice of granting the benefit without checking to make sure landlords comply with the rent rules. In addition, since ProPublica’s investigation on this issue, two City Council members introduced a bill that would re- quire the city’s housing arm to audit 20% of buildings receiving the tax benefit, and mandate that violators return the money. State lawmakers introduced a bill that would institute much higher financial penalties ProPublica, in partnership with the Texas Tribune, launched for landlords who overcharge their tenants, and the “Hell and High Water,” a multimedia project showing that city’s housing commissioner outlined a plan for hir- Houston is at risk of a major disaster. (Edmund D. Fountain, ing more staff and investing in technology to improve special to ProPublica) management of the program.

▪▪ In 2014, ProPublica and the Washington Post in- vestigated the business practices of USA Discounters, ▪▪ Following our 2014 reporting that Verizon and especially the company’s high-priced loans to active AT&T were attaching hidden tracking numbers to duty service personnel. In the wake of our coverage, their subscribers’ internet activity, even when users the company went out of business. In September, opted out, Verizon agreed to pay $1.35 million to settle USA Discounters also settled with 49 states and the charges from the Federal Communications Commis- District of Columbia (Colorado settled with the com- sion that the undeletable “zombie” cookies violated pany separately) over a suit accusing the company customers’ privacy. The company also signed a con- of various abuses, including misleading customers sent decree with the Federal Trade Commission after about the quality and price of its merchandise, its the government alleged that the company made false loan contracts, as well as aggressive debt collection. representations to consumers. In the settlement, Ver- The settlement deal required USA Discounters to pay izon agreed to modify its privacy policy and provide $40 million in penalties and to wipe out debt for its users an effective opt-out of tracking. past customers. ▪▪ In a joint investigation with the Washington Post ▪▪ A 2010 ProPublica investigation covered two Tex- and German news outlets Handelsblatt and Bayeri- as-based home mortgage companies, formerly known scher Rundfunk, ProPublica examined dividend-arbi- as Allied Home Mortgage Capital Corp. and Allied trage transactions, a trade strategy that helps foreign Home Mortgage Corp, that issued improper and investors avoid an estimated $1 billion a year in taxes risky home loans that later defaulted. Borrowers said on dividends paid by German companies. Following they’d been lied to by Allied employees, who in some our report, prosecutors in Frankfurt, Germany’s fi- cases had siphoned loan proceeds for personal gain. nancial capital, launched an investigation into the In December a federal jury ordered the companies trades, and the German Parliament voted to end the and their chief executive to pay nearly $93 million tax-avoidance deals in the country. Germany’s top for defrauding the government through these cor- finance official also released a statement criticizing rupt practices. div-arb, and a Danish member of the European Parlia- ment called on the EU’s European Commission to ex-

PROPUBLICA ANNUAL REPORT, 2016 9 ▪▪ ProPublica and the Virginian-Pilot have been in- vestigating whether Vietnam veterans’ exposure to Agent Orange has also led to health problems in their children and grandchildren. At a ProPublica-spon- sored Washington, D.C., event in June, Veterans Af- fairs officials announced new efforts to address this issue, including the agency’s first nationwide survey of Vietnam veterans in more than three decades and requesting an outside panel of experts to contin- ue its work studying multigenerational impacts of Agent Orange.

▪▪ ProPublica’s investigation on risk assessments, al- gorithms used across the criminal justice system that generate a score predicting a defendant’s risk of com- mitting a future crime, uncovered racial differences in the outcomes. Our analysis of the algorithm used in Florida, Wisconsin and other jurisdictions showed After our series of articles published with the NY Daily News, that it wrongly labeled black defendants as likely the number of nuisance abatement actions filed by the future criminals at twice the rate of mistaken predic- New York Police Department dropped significantly. tions about white defendants. Citing our reporting, in (Edwin Torres for ProPublica) July the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled that, while judges may consider risk assessment scores during sentencing, warnings must be attached to the scores amine the transactions, which are draining Denmark to flag the tool’s limitations. The White House quoted and many of its neighbors of tens of millions of dollars ProPublica’s findings in a report on the impacts of in forgone tax revenues. artificial intelligence across various sectors of society.

▪▪ After a series of ProPublica articles identified ▪▪ After a 2014 ProPublica and NPR story on Missou- dozens of cases of nursing home workers posting ri’s Heartland Regional Medical Center showed that mocking photos of elderly residents on social media the nonprofit hospital had for years sued low-income sites, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services patients over their unpaid bills, Sen. Charles Grassley in August announced a plan to increase its oversight launched a Senate investigation which concluded in to prevent and punish such abuse. In a memo to state June. As a result of the scrutiny, the hospital over- health departments, the federal agency said all nurs- hauled its financial assistance policy and forgave the ing homes must have written policies on this issue debts of thousands of former patients. that include an explicit ban on taking demeaning photographs of residents, procedures for investigat- ▪▪ Following our report on abuse and neglect at the ing such complaints and reporting those involved to Carlton Palms Educational Center in Orlando, Flori- state licensing agencies for possible discipline. Sen. da, a residential facility for children and adults with Charles Grassley, chairman of the Senate Judiciary developmental disabilities, officials stationed an in- Committee, asked the U.S. Justice Department for vestigator at the center and formed a special team to specific information on how aggressively it pursues closely monitor staff and residents. The state also said this form of elder abuse in nursing homes, days after it would move current residents to new homes. Sen. Tom Carper similarly asked government regula- tors at the Office for Civil Rights of the U.S. Depart- ▪▪ In 2015, ProPublica and AL.com investigated a ment of Health and Human Services what they’re harsh Alabama law that charges women who used doing to stop nursing home workers from the dehu- drugs during pregnancy with “chemical endanger- manizing practice. ment,” a felony that carries a 10-year sentence even if the baby is born unharmed or if the drug is legal. In

PROPUBLICA ANNUAL REPORT, 2016 10 May, the Alabama House of Representatives passed a bill to exempt women who use medically prescribed drugs from the state’s law.

▪▪ In October, ProPublica disclosed that Google quiet- ly changed a major privacy policy. The company had previously promised that it would not reveal identi- fying information about its users to the advertising network DoubleClick, a Google subsidiary. However, this year Google updated its policy to say that users’ web browsing activities “may be” combined with their personal information collected from Gmail and oth- er login accounts. In response to our reporting, two advocacy groups filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) alleging that Google had deliberately deceived consumers and that the privacy policy change violated legally binding commitments that Google made to the FTC. ProPublica and the Virginian-Pilot have been investigating whether Vietnam veterans’ exposure to Agent Orange has also ▪▪ In the days leading to Election Day, reporters on led to health problems in their children and grandchildren. ProPublica’s Electionland project saw several instanc- (Dustin Franz for ProPublica) es of false information about voting requirements spreading on social media. One example we reported came from clothing retailer Urban Outfitters, which tweeted an election guide to its 1 million Twitter fol- deeply dysfunctional. Federal officials consequently lowers full of false information, including a claim that changed the program’s regulations, and this April voters need a “voter’s registration card” and an ID. the Department of Education announced that it will After our story, Urban Outfitters promptly deleted the offer to write off $7.7 billion of student debt owed tweet and updated its guide. by approximately 387,000 borrowers who have be- come disabled. ▪▪ After ProPublica reported that doctors who took payments from pharmaceutical companies pre- ▪▪ Following our 2014 report on abusive discipline scribed more expensive, brand-name medications techniques at the Judge Rotenberg Center, a Bos- than those who didn’t, two medical journals pub- ton-area school for children with severe developmen- lished studies that confirmed this link. JAMA Internal tal disabilities, the Food and Drug Administration Medicine found significant evidence that doctors moved to ban the facility’s use of a controversial elec- who received meals tied to specific drugs prescribed a tric shock device. In a 124-page document proposing higher proportion of those products than their peers, the ban, the FDA accused the Rotenberg Center of with the share of the drug prescriptions rising with underreporting harmful effects of electric shocks and the greater number of meals they received. A Harvard misleading families about alternative treatments. Medical School study found that Massachusetts phy- sicians prescribed a higher proportion of brand-name ▪▪ After our story on a Habitat for Humanity New York drugs the more industry money they received. project that displaced several low-income families in the process of buying and renovating buildings in ▪▪ A 2011 ProPublica investigation, published with Brooklyn, New York City Council member Robert Cor- Columbia’s Stabile Center for Investigative Journal- negy asked the charity’s local affiliate to find housing ism and the Center for Public Integrity, found that, for the families. Habitat for Humanity’s New York while student loan borrowers with severe disabilities chapter took responsibility, encouraging the families are entitled to have federal student loans forgiven, named in the article to contact them directly in order the program for deciding whether they qualify is to “help them find solutions that meet their needs.”

PROPUBLICA ANNUAL REPORT, 2016 11 Recognition for our work

Our work was honored in 2016 as follows:

ProPublica’s collaboration with in Journalism. For his work on this Reporting for “Killing the Colo- The Marshall Project, “An Unbe- article and previous reporting on rado,” his groundbreaking inves- lievable Story of Rape,” about rape, Miller won the End Violence tigation on the water crisis in the the hunt for a serial rapist, won Against Women International Me- American West. The piece won the the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Explan- dia Excellence Award. National Academies of Sciences, atory Reporting. The award is the ProPublica senior reporter Engineering and Medicine Com- third Pulitzer Prize for ProPubli- Abrahm Lustgarten was a finalist munications Award in the online ca. Written by ProPublica senior for the Pulitzer Prize for National category, received special rec- reporter T. Christian Miller and The Marshall Project’s Ken Arm- strong, “An Unbelievable Story of Rape” also received the George Polk Award for justice reporting, the American Society of News Ed- itors’ Deborah Howell Award for Non-Deadline Writing, Columbia Journalism School’s Meyer “Mike” Berger Award for human interest reporting, the PEN Center USA Literary Award for Journalism, the Deadline Club Award for fea- ture reporting, the John Bartlow Martin Award for Public Interest Magazine Journalism and the Al Nakkula Award for Police Report- ing. The piece was nominated for a National Magazine Award for feature writing, in addition to be- ing a finalist for the Dart Award for Excellence in Coverage of Trau- ProPublica senior reporter Abrahm Lustgarten was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize ma, and the Nieman Foundation’s for National Reporting for “Killing the Colorado,” his groundbreaking investigation Taylor Family Award for Fairness on the water crisis in the American West. (Bryan Schutmaat for ProPublica)

PROPUBLICA ANNUAL REPORT, 2016 12 ognition from the Knight-Risser Our reporting with NPR News, Club Awards for public service; Prize for Western Environmental “Insult to Injury,” that showed two Best in Business Awards from Journalism, and is a finalist for how states sharply reduced the Society of American Business the Online Journalism Award for workers’ compensation benefits Editors and Writers for digital in- explanatory reporting. at the behest of insurers and big novation and digital investigative; For a series of articles that businesses won the IRE Medal, the Deadline Award for public explored the changing nature of the highest honor bestowed by service; and a Society for News American democracy, reporter Investigative Reporters and Ed- Design Award of Excellence for Alec MacGillis received the Ton- itors; an IRE Award in the print/ infographics. er Prize for Excellence in Political online category; the Edward R. “Color of Debt,” our analysis of Reporting at a dinner in Wash- Murrow Award for online/audio racial disparities in debt collection ington, D.C., at which President news series; the Gerald Loeb lawsuits and wage garnishment by Barack Obama gave the keynote Award for Distinguished Business Paul Kiel, Annie Waldman and speech. and Financial Journalism for ex- Al Shaw, won the National Press planatory reporting; the Deadline Club Award for consumer journal- ism-periodicals, an Online News Association Al Neuharth Innova- tion in Investigative Journalism Award, the Society of American Business Editors and Writers’ Best in Business Award for digi- tal explanatory, and a Deadline Club Award for minority focus. The project was also a finalist for the National Association of Black Journalists Salute to Excellence Awards in the online news project category, the Gerald Loeb Award for beat reporting, the Data Jour- nalism Award’s news data app of the year, and the Deadline Club Awards for beat reporting. A collaboration with PBS Frontline which revealed a polit- ical death squad that murdered several Vietnamese-American Our coverage, with NPR News, of how the Red Cross has failed disaster victims in journalists with total impunity, Haiti and made dubious claims of success, won the Investigative Reporters and “Terror in Little Saigon,” was Editors Award for radio/audio and was a finalist for the Online News Association’s nominated for an Emmy Award Al Neuharth Innovation in Investigative Journalism Award. for outstanding investigative (Marie Arago, special to ProPublica) journalism—long form. The proj- ect was also a finalist for the Dart Award for Excellence in Coverage of Trauma. Our coverage, with NPR News, of how the Red Cross has failed disaster victims in Haiti and made dubious claims of success, won the Investigative Reporters and Editors Award for radio/audio

PROPUBLICA ANNUAL REPORT, 2016 13 and was a finalist for the Online of Professional Journalists’ Green Our reporting on faulty road- News Association’s Al Neuharth Eyeshades Award in the sports side drug tests that are wrong- Innovation in Investigative Jour- reporting category. fully convicting people won nalism Award. ProPublica news applications the Sidney Hillman Foundation’s Our series with the Virgin- developer Sisi Wei won the Data Sidney Award for August. ian-Pilot, on the ongoing impact Journalism Award for best Reporting on white workers of Agent Orange on the health individual portfolio. Wei was in the Rust Belt who were ef- of Vietnam veterans and their recognized for news applications fectively written off by Hillary families, won the Online Journal- and data visualizations including Clinton and the Democrats, won ism Award for topical reporting. “Surgeon Scorecard,” “Debt by Payday Report’s first-ever Anne Reporting on abuses by the Degrees” and “Money as a Weap- Braden Award. for-profit company AdvoServ, ons System,” which let readers ProPublica was named a fi- which runs schools and residential browse strange and often wasteful nalist for the Online Journalism facilities for children and adults projects funded by commanders Award for general excellence in with disabilities, won the National during the war in Afghanistan. online journalism. Award for Education Reporting in the investigative category. “Surgeon Scorecard,” which lifted the curtain on the compli- cation rates of more than 16,000 surgeons nationwide and enabled Americans to compare their re- sults for the first time, won the Deadline Club Award for science, medical or environmental report- ing; the Asian American Jour- nalists Association’s Al Neuharth Award for Innovation in Investiga- tive Journalism; and a Society for News Design Award of Excellence for features; and was a finalist for the Online News Association’s University of Florida Award for Investigative Data Journalism. Our collaboration with the New York Daily News, exposing star- tling abuses by the New York Reporting on abuses by the for-profit company AdvoServ, which runs schools and City Police Department under residential facilities for children and adults with disabilities, won the National the city’s nuisance abatement law, Award for Education Reporting in the investigative category. won the Sidney Hillman Foun- (Pep Montserrat, special to ProPublica) dation’s monthly Sidney Award for May, and was a finalist for the Online News Association’s Knight Award for Public Service. Our examination of how po- lice failed to stop former NFL player and serial rapist Darren Sharper for years won the Society

PROPUBLICA ANNUAL REPORT, 2016 14 “Devils, Deals and the DEA,” Original illustrations featured Awards, which honor outstanding our feature on how the DEA in our investigation on Fire- achievement by journalists under brought down one of the most vi- stone’s activities in Liberia the age of 35: Robert Faturechi cious Mexican drug cartels — and during the country’s brutal civil for his investigation into a failed the murky aftermath — was a fi- war received a Society of Illustra- super PAC; Jeff Larson for his nalist for the Deadline Club Award tors silver medal. story revealing how U.S. military for enterprise reporting. Reporting on “flashbangs” officials used cell phones that were Our investigation into which and the growing militariza- vulnerable to hackers; Michael colleges help low-income students tion of law enforcement was Grabell and Lena Groeger for their the most, “Debt by Degrees,” was a runner-up for the John Jay project showing how states have a finalist for the National Award College/H.F. Guggenheim Ex- dismantled compensation for in- for Education Reporting for data cellence in Criminal Justice jured workers; and Cezary Podkul journalism and the Gerald Loeb Reporting Awards. and Marcelo Rochabrun for their Award for images/graphics/inter- Six ProPublica reporters were reporting on New York City’s bro- actives. named finalists for theLivingston ken rent-stabilization system. Our news applications and data visualizations won a host of awards, including Society for News Design Awards of Excellence for infographics on cruise ship safety hazards and workers’ comp, as well as features on the water crisis in the American West and military waste. The Malofiej Inter- national Infographics Awards also bestowed bronze medals for visual reporting on health data breaches and our Facebook video on police failures to stop a serial rapist in the NFL. Several of our illustrations were honored by American Illustration, selected for the organization’s annual showcase of excellence in illustration. Their hardcover collection of winning images will Original illustrations featured in our investigation on Firestone’s activities in feature three original illustrations Liberia during the country’s brutal civil war received a Society of Illustrators from two ProPublica investiga- silver medal. (Matt Rota for ProPublica) tions: “The Narco-terror Trap,” which raises questions about al- leged connections between drug trafficking and terrorism, and “Devils, Deals and the DEA” about how the DEA brought down a vicious Mexican drug cartel with an unsatisfying aftermath.

PROPUBLICA ANNUAL REPORT, 2016 15 ProPublica’s Growing Publishing Platform

Openness is the essence of the ProPublica publishing model. We usually publish under a Creative Commons license, in the hope that sharing our stories will enable them to reach bigger audiences and increase the probability of real world impact. Our major stories are often published jointly with leading news organizations, in print, on television, on radio and online. ProPublica has also used new tools for storytelling and actively engaged audiences through social media to build communities, crowdsource information, raise our profile and further increase the opportunities to spur change.

2,600,000 Average ProPublica.org pageviews per month UP 12% 1,100,000 Average unique ProPublica.org visitors per month UP 15% 95,000 Email subscribers 467,000 Twitter followers UP 13% 210,000 Facebook fans UP 70%

Publishing Partners, 2016

ProPublica has had 139 publishing partners in eight and a half years. We choose each partner with an eye toward maximizing the impact of the story in question. Here is a list of our 35 partners in 2016 (new partners marked in bold):

▪▪ Albany Times-Union ▪▪ Foreign Policy ▪▪ Real Deal ▪▪ AL.com ▪▪ Frontline ▪▪ Seattle Times ▪▪ Atlantic ▪▪ IRE Journal ▪▪ Source ▪▪ Børsen [Denmark] ▪▪ Las Vegas Review-Journal ▪▪ Tampa Bay Times ▪▪ Boston Globe ▪▪ Miami Herald ▪▪ Texas Tribune ▪▪ Center for ▪▪ Mother Jones ▪▪ This American Life Investigative Reporting ▪▪ NPR News ▪▪ Town & Country ▪▪ Chronicle of Higher Education ▪▪ Politico ▪▪ Univision ▪▪ Clarion-Ledger ▪▪ Post and Courier ▪▪ USA Today [Jackson, MS] [Charleston, SC] ▪▪ Virginian-Pilot ▪▪ Daily Beast ▪▪ New York Daily News ▪▪ Washington Post ▪▪ Dallas Morning News ▪▪ New Yorker ▪▪ WNYC ▪▪ Des Moines Register ▪▪ New York Times

PROPUBLICA ANNUAL REPORT, 2016 16 Financial Information, 2016

Revenues Expenses

Board of Directors contributions News salaries, payments and related grants $3,756,000 and benefits $8,744,000

Major grants and gifts Non-news salaries and benefits $1,634,000 ($50,000 and above) $9,053,000

Personnel support $1,136,000 Online donations $2,160,000

Outreach $459,000 Other grants and gifts $1,823,000

Professional fees $62,000 Earned income and interest $288,000

Occupancy and office $1,198,000 Business Advisory Council contributions $150,000 Capital costs $74,000

Total $17,230,000 Taxes $4,000

Total $13,311,000

Notes: More than 26,000 total donors. All figures preliminary and unaudited. Business Advisory Council contributions include only those not categorized elsewhere.

PROPUBLICA ANNUAL REPORT, 2016 17 Officers and Staff

As of January 1, 2017:

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF REPORTERS EDITORIAL EXPERIENCE DESIGNER Stephen Engelberg Marshall Allen Rob Weychert Justin Elliott PRESIDENT Robert Faturechi SENIOR REPORTING FELLOWS Richard Tofel Ryan Gabrielson Jessica Huseman Michael Grabell Lauren Kirchner MANAGING EDITOR Paul Kiel Marcelo Rochabrun Robin Fields Alec MacGillis Nina Martin DATA FELLOW VP, DEVELOPMENT Cezary Podkul Hannah Fresques Ragan Rhyne Megan Rose Topher Sanders REPORTING FELLOWS DIRECTOR OF BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT Joaquin Sapien Patrick Lee Celeste LeCompte A.C. Thompson Sarah Smith Heather Vogell Annie Waldman News Staff Administrative Staff DEPUTY DATA EDITOR DEPUTY MANAGING EDITORS Olga Pierce DIRECTOR OF FINANCE AND Scott Klein HUMAN RESOURCES Eric Umansky NEWS APPLICATIONS DEVELOPERS Stephanie Little Lena Groeger SENIOR EDITORS Jeff Larson DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC RELATIONS Daniel Golden Al Shaw Minhee Cho Lawrence Roberts Mike Tigas Joe Sexton Sisi Wei DIRECTOR OF MARKETING Tracy Weber Derek Willis Cynthia Gordy

DESIGN DIRECTOR ENGAGEMENT EDITOR DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT OPERATIONS David Sleight Terry Parris, Jr. Heather Troup

SENIOR REPORTERS ENGAGEMENT REPORTERS DIRECTOR OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY Julia Angwin Adriana Gallardo Nicholas Lanese Jesse Eisinger Ariana Tobin Abrahm Lustgarten OFFICE AND NEWSROOM ASSISTANT T. Christian Miller DATA REPORTER Kate Brown Charles Ornstein Ryann Grochowski Jones Andrew Revkin DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATE Sebastian Rotella CONTRIBUTING REPORTER Terrence Fraser Ginger Thompson Peter Gosselin FINANCE ASSOCIATE WEB PRODUCER Lashawnder Kirkland Hannah Birch

PROPUBLICA ANNUAL REPORT, 2016 18 Governance

Board of Directors Journalism Advisory Board

CHAIRMAN ProPublica has a journalism advisory board to advise ProPublica’s editors Paul Sagan, executive in from time to time on the full range of issues related to ProPublica’s jour- residence (XIR), General Catalyst nalism, from ethical issues to the direction of its reporting efforts: Partners; director, Akamai Technologies and VMware Jill Abramson, former executive Tom Goldstein, director, media FOUNDING CHAIRMAN editor, The New York Times studies program, University Herbert Sandler, president of of California, Berkeley School the Sandler Foundation David Boardman, dean, Temple of Journalism University School of Media EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN & Communications Isaac Lee, president, news and Paul Steiger, founding editor-in- digital, Univision chief and president, ProPublica Raymond Bonner, writer living , investigations MANAGING DIRECTOR in New York Shawn McIntosh Mark Colodny, Warburg leader and deputy managing Pincus LLC Robert A. Caro, historian and editor, The Atlanta Journal- biographer of Robert Moses and Constitution Henry Louis Gates, Jr., W. Lyndon Johnson E. B. Du Bois Professor of the Ellen Miller, co-founder, The Humanities and the Director of Sheila Coronel, director, Sunlight Foundation the W. E. B. Du Bois Institute for Stabile Center for Investigative African and African American Journalism, Columbia Priscilla Painton, vice president Research, Harvard University Journalism School and executive editor, non-fiction, Simon & Schuster Claire Hoffman, freelance L. Gordon Crovitz, interim journalist and director, Chief Executive Officer of David Shribman, executive Goldhirsh Foundation Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; editor, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette former publisher of The Bobby Monks, founder and Wall Street Journal; partner, Allan Sloan, former senior editor owner, Mediant Communications Journalism Online at large, Fortune magazine

Ronald Olson, partner, Munger David Gergen, public service Kerry Smith, senior vice Tolles & Olson LLP professor of public leadership, president for editorial quality, Harvard’s John F. Kennedy ABC News S. Donald Sussman, founder School of Government and and chief investment officer, director of its Center for Cynthia A. Tucker, columnist, Paloma Fund Public Leadership Universal Press Syndicate

Kat Taylor, CEO, Beneficial State Bank

PROPUBLICA ANNUAL REPORT, 2016 19 Business Advisory Council

ProPublica also has a Business Advisory Council, a group of executives who advise on emerging business and technology issues:

Mark Colodny, chair, managing Joanna Stone Herman director, Warburg Pincus LLC Bryan Lawrence, founder, Ben Boyd, president, practices, Oakcliff Capital sectors and offerings, Edelman Lori E. Lesser, partner, Simpson David Coulter, special limited Thacher & Bartlett LLP partner, Warburg Pincus LLC William Pollak, CEO, Christopher DeLong, principal, Gordian Group Taconic Capital Advisors LLC Lawrence Rand, executive Sean Fieler, president, chairman, Kekst and Company Equinox Partners Davia Temin, president and Maria Gotsch, president & CEO, Temin & Company CEO, Partnership Fund for New York City Gregory Waldorf, CEO, Invoice2go Michael Hansen, CEO, Cengage Learning

PROPUBLICA ANNUAL REPORT, 2016 20 ProPublica’s Leading Supporters, 2016

Abrams Foundation Google News Lab Ron Olson

Rita Allen Foundation Marc Haas Foundation Foundation to Promote Open Society Laura and John Stephanie Hernstadt Arnold Foundation Park Foundation William and Flora Millicent and Eugene Hewlett Foundation PCLB Foundation Bell Foundation Michael Moritz & Harriet Heyman Pinion Street Foundation Ann Blinkhorn Irwin & Joan Jacobs Paul and Ann Sagan Family Fund William K. Bowes, Jr. Foundation Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Alice and Benjamin Reiter Kay Bucksbaum Emily Kaiser Charles H. Revson Foundation Carnegie Corporation of New York Art Kern Debbie and Lou Salkind Robert Sterling Clark Foundation John Kern & Valerie Hurley Sandler Foundation Mark Colodny Henry L. Kimelman Sarnat-Hoffman Craig Newmark Foundation/ Family Foundation Family Foundation craigstlist Charitable Fund John S. and James L. Select Equity Group Foundation Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation Knight Foundation The Selz Foundation Jack Dorsey Leon Levy Foundation Skoll Global Threats Fund Dreihaus Foundation Dan Lewis Sprocket Foundation Dyson Foundation Samuel Lieber and Mary Rubin Kat Taylor and Tom Steyer Doug Edwards John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Trellis Fund Emerson Collective Joe and Rika Mansueto Tom and Janet Unterman Ford Foundation Marisla Foundation Bruce and Marilyn Jerome L. Greene Foundation Wallace Foundation Katie McGrath & J.J. Abrams David B. Gold Foundation Family Foundation Yellow Chair Foundation

Goldhirsh Foundation Bobby Monks and Bonnie Porta

PROPUBLICA ANNUAL REPORT, 2016 21