The early bird deadline for 
The 2025 Freelance Fellowship Recipients
Matthew Hirsch of the San Francisco Bay Guardian investigated nonprofit city contracts and found that San Francisco is spending billions on nonprofit contracts without adequate oversight. “Since 2002 … the city has distributed more than $1.5 billion to nonprofit organizations …” The nonprofits receiving the contracts, unlike city agencies, do not have to comply with…
Read MoreKeith Matheny of the Traverse City Record-Eagle used state and federal records obtained under the Freedom of Information Act to show that while the public learned about deadly toxins present in the Bay Harbor gated community last fall, “regulators knew of contamination from cement kiln dust piles as far back as the 1980s.” The documents…
Read MoreMichael Biesecker and Pat Stith of the Raleigh News & Observer reviewed records from the Durham Housing Authority, finding that the agency “improperly spent millions for temporary labor, auto repair, landscaping and legal advice. Other financial records requested by The N&O are missing, officials say.” The authority paid more than $2.3 million for temporary workers…
Read MoreMisti Crane and Geoff Dutton of The Columbus Dispatch reported a three-day series, “Prescription for Profit,” that examines the impact of specialty hospitals on general hospitals. The series also examines how nonprofit hospitals use aggressive collection tactics to collect from poor patients and whether the four hospital systems in Columbus deserve their $88 million tax…
Read MoreMichelle Roberts of The Oregonian found that warnings about abusive behavior by state parole officer Michael Lee Boyles went unheeded for years, and Oregon officials acted only after the suicide of a young man supervised by Boyles. “State officials received repeated and detailed warnings from a family raising concerns about Boyles and his behavior with…
Read MoreMarc Chase of The (Northwest Indiana) Times used OSHA data to investigate workplace safety violations. They found “that fines at or below the minimum are the rule, not the exception, in cases involving what OSHA considers serious violations. The average fine from 1991 to 2003 was $862.74 per serious violation, $637.26 less than the minimum…
Read MoreMichael Fabey of the Savannah Morning News used Coast Guard data to find that “Coast Guard HH-65 Dolphin helicopter engines continue to lose power, threatening the lives of pilots and crew members. There were 423 incidents of power failure in the helicopters in the fleet between Aug. 4, 1985, and Sept. 30, 2004.” Air Station…
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