The early bird deadline for 
The 2025 Freelance Fellowship Recipients
John Estus of The Daily O’Collegian at Oklahoma State University found that “Nearly $110,000 in federal funds intended to help poor Stillwater residents buy homes of their own was given to middle-class buyers who did not qualify” in an eight-week investigation that has prompted a state audit of the program. Estus also revealed the program…
Read MorePhil Pitchford, Ben Goad, David Danelski, Mark Kawar and projects editor Cathy Armstrong of The (Riverside, Calif.) Press-Enterprise examine the safety issues surrounding trains carrying hazardous cargo as they travel through populated areas. “Every day, trains hauling tons of hazardous chemicals roll past Inland homes, schools, hospitals and businesses.” The newspaper says residents are “largely…
Read MoreTresa Baldas of The National Law Journal reports that corporations are increasingly requesting that judges seal “the divorce records of top executives to protect trade secrets or crucial financial information from leaking out, or simply to avoid embarrassment.” The article cites examples from across the country, including California, New Hampshire and Connecticut.
Read MoreDavid Burnham and Susan B. Long, co-directors of the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, are suing the federal Office of Personnel Management for “unlawfully withholding information it normally provides the public about some 900,000 of its civilian employees, including those working for such agencies as the EPA, OSHA and FEMA.” The suit was filed under the…
Read MoreJonathan Marino of The Washington Examiner looked into crime in public schools in Montgomery County, Md., a suburb of Washington, D.C. He found “internal reports, dozens of court records, and interviews with educators, parents and law enforcement officials tell troubling stories of abuse & mdash; and reveal hundreds of cases where some principals failed to…
Read MoreJason Hoppin and MaryJo Sylwester of the Saint Paul Pioneer Press analyzed Minnesota Department of Revenue data on taxable sales at establishments that sell alcohol to see if there was any evidence of widespread economic hardship due to smoking bans that were enacted in some areas of the Twin Cities on March 31. Because tax…
Read MoreTodd Pack of The Tennessean examined the voting record of Sen. Bill Frist (R) over the past 11 years, finding the senator has a pattern of supporting bills friendly to HCA Inc., the Nashville-based hospital company that is the foundation of the Frist family’s wealth, and to hospitals in general. Frist has faced criticism in…
Read MoreFarmsubsidy.org is a project coordinated by the Danish International Center for Analytical Reporting (DICAR) and EU Transparency, a nonprofit organization in the United Kingdom. The Web site obtains detailed data relating to payments and recipients of farm subsidies in every EU member state and makes this data available to European citizens. Subsidies paid to farmers…
Read MoreABC News used data reported by the country’s universities and analyzed reports of campus crime to determine which colleges had the highest reported violent crime rates. The analysis divided the schools into four categories — largest to smallest and were available from 2002 and 2003. "In the smallest category, schools with 2,100 students or fewer,…
Read More