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Our First-Year Report

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Our First-Year Report Our First Year ProPublica Illinois — Our First Year One year ago, we launched as ProPublica’s first regional newsroom. Our mission? Publishing investigative journalism that shines a light on injustice and holds power accountable here in our home state of Illinois. As a team, we set out our goals even before we offi- You may have read our stories in the pages of the cially opened our doors. We wanted to tell stories that Chicago Tribune, the Chicago Sun-Times, Hoy and would otherwise go untold. We wanted to strengthen the Chronicle of Higher Education, or on the websites the journalism ecosystem we had joined. And we of Chicago magazine, The Atlantic and Mother Jones; wanted to help build a community of journalists heard them on WBEZ public radio; or seen them on and a body of journalistic work representative of the Univision. They’ve been published in outlets big and world around us, examining issues of importance to small, across Illinois and the country. communities that are often overlooked and bringing We’ve road-tripped with Chicago’s Free Street those stories into the lives of the people most affected Theater, hosting workshops around the state to hear by them. what people have to say about their communities and Some 150 articles later, we are well on our way. the issues they care about most, helping surface ideas In 12 months, we have produced more than a dozen that can lead to more relevant, powerful journalism. major investigations examining crucial issues ranging With our “Ask ProPublica Illinois” feature, we conduct from gun trafficking to property taxes to immigration. a transparent conversation with readers about how we Every week, for 52 weeks and counting, our newslet- do what we do, whether it’s explaining our guidelines ters take readers behind the scenes of our work. We for using anonymous sources, talking about how we built an online widget that tracks campaign dollars keep bias out of our reporting or offering tips for iden- flowing into the Illinois governor’s race, the most tifying fake news. We began a journalism mentorship expensive in the state’s history. The Politic-IL Insider program to work with aspiring reporters on the city’s column analyzes our state’s infamous politics. And South and West sides. We filed thousands of requests through ProPublica’s Local Reporting Network, we under the Freedom of Information Act and analyzed have supported and co-published journalism about millions of lines of data. Most importantly, we have public housing issues in southern Illinois. produced hard-hitting journalism that has already led to meaningful change. PROPUBLICA ILLINOIS — OUR FIRST YEAR 2 Zero Tolerance In a series of investigative stories, we have provided We also published a piece tracing what happened a rare, comprehensive look at the secretive network to the 99 children sent to Chicago after being separat- of Chicago shelters that have housed thousands of ed at the border as part of the zero-tolerance crack- immigrant children in recent years, including those down, including a 10-month-old who was bitten re- taken from their parents at the border as part of the peatedly by an older child and later hospitalized after Trump administration’s zero-tolerance policy. falling from a highchair during a five-month stay at a In one story, using thousands of confidential inter- shelter here. Our reports described, in detail, cases of nal records, ProPublica Illinois reporters Jodi S. Co- severe depression and other — potentially irrepara- hen, Duaa Eldeib and Melissa Sanchez documented ble — mental health challenges children suffered as the children’s troubles both before and after entering reunification delays lasted months. federal custody, how long they spent in detention and The stories, which sparked national attention, the difficulties they faced there, including allegations were published in English and Spanish and under- of abuse and negligence, as well as the trauma they scored the importance of local reporting in helping to continue to face. shape public understanding of national policy issues. Lydia Fu for ProPublica Illinois PROPUBLICA ILLINOIS — OUR FIRST YEAR 3 Rob Weychert/ProPublica Driven Into Debt In February, we published an investigation that re- for vehicle city sticker violations to boost revenue vealed how vehicle ticket debt has made Chicago the only served to intensify a spiraling debt problem that nation’s capital for Chapter 13 bankruptcy filings, a affects thousands of low-income drivers. Former City phenomenon that disproportionately affects poor Clerk Susana Mendoza publicly expressed regret for African Americans in the city. Our investigation led to her role in the penalty change. a third-party study and report by the Woodstock Insti- Throughout our reporting, we’ve asked the public tute, which confirmed that Chicago’s vehicle ticketing to share their experiences, questions and concerns practices unfairly burden low-income and minority about this issue. The response has been remarkable. communities. The report also offered several policy Our reporters made a series of radio appearances to recommendations, including an audit of Chicago tick- discuss their findings, during which listeners jammed eting enforcement practices to identify the existence the phone lines eager to tell their stories and seek of any geographic, racial or economic bias. guidance. Not only have people reached out to us, This initial reporting sparked an ongoing series they started engaging with each other and demanding called “Driven Into Debt” and a partnership with answers from the city. As a result, ticketing is now a WBEZ to dig deeper into this problem, including a topic at the center of debate for Chicago’s 2019 may- story about how the city issues multiple tickets to the oral election. same vehicle in one day, in violation of its own poli- cies, and another about how a 2012 hike in the charge PROPUBLICA ILLINOIS — OUR FIRST YEAR 4 The Tax Divide Reporter Jason Grotto took on the extraordinarily in assessments, with small businesses punished while challenging subject of property taxes, which serve as owners of downtown skyscrapers caught massive tax the bedrock of local government funding for educa- breaks. The team also identified the politically pow- tion and public safety, and revealed that, in one of the erful law firms profiting off the county’s inaccurate largest and most economically and racially divided assessments, providing the first comprehensive look counties in the United States, the system is an utter at the billions of dollars at stake. failure. To do this, Grotto studied an arcane system for Reaction was swift and comprehensive. The coun- almost two years, reading thousands of documents, ty board president vowed to implement a new system analyzing more than 100 million computer records that will be fair and equitable, while the inspector and interviewing dozens of experts, attorneys and general for Cook County launched an investiga- property owners affected by deeply flawed assess- tion into assessment practices. Drawing heavily on ments. our reporting, three prominent public interest law “The Tax Divide” continued reporting that Grotto offices filed multiple lawsuits alleging violations began at the Chicago Tribune, in which he found that of state and federal civil rights and housing laws. Cook County’s assessments of residential properties State and local lawmakers, concerned that the proper- were so riddled with errors that experts questioned ty tax system favored those who supported the Cook the integrity of the entire system. Among the most County Assessor politically, introduced legislation significant findings was the high level of regressivity, to limit campaign contributions to the assessor. the overvaluing of low-priced homes and the under- Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner issued an executive valuing of high-priced ones. And the appeals process, order to limit legislators from benefiting from the tax which the county relies upon to right inaccurate as- appeals system through their law firms and the coun- sessments, was actually making the inequity worse. ty board required Berrios to testify at a hearing about In partnership with the Tribune, Grotto and Pro- his methods. Publica Illinois data reporter Sandhya Kambhampati In the March 2018 Democratic primary, the public examined the roughly $200 billion commercial and voiced their frustrations by voting Assessor Jo- industrial assessment system, revealing that, like seph Berrios, who was also chairman of the pow- their residential counterparts, the owners of commer- erful Cook County Democratic Party, out of office. cial and industrial properties suffered great inequities Haisam Hussein, special to ProPublica PROPUBLICA ILLINOIS — OUR FIRST YEAR 5 Illinois Policy Institute has called for government reform while channeling money to firms owned by insiders. (Susie Cagle, special to ProPublica Illinois) Revelatory Stories Brought to Light For our first major investigation, police reports and court records, for-profit ventures in which they reporter Mick Dumke, in partner- Dumke exposed the shortcomings have a stake. One of the nonprofits ship with WBEZ and the Chicago of federal enforcement efforts to funded by the IPI, a “watchdog” Sun-Times, took on one of the stem the flow of weapons, raising organization called Project underlying issues of gun violence questions about whether they Six, shut its doors after Dum- in Chicago: how illegal guns move are dismantling gun networks or ke’s investigation. Dumke also through the city. The story fo- effectively helping to set them up. spearheaded an investigation into cused on the troubling case of a In early 2018, Dumke led an Chicago’s notorious gang data- young man named John Thomas investigation, co-published with base and found dubious entries, who brokered almost two dozen the Sun-Times, into the web of discrepancies and outright errors, illegal gun sales at the urging of a finances behind the conservative including the names of alleged friend, who turned out to be a paid think tank Illinois Policy Insti- gang members as old as 132.
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