Pro Publica Inc.

“Pro publica has its form 990 prepared by an outside accounting firm and has established the following review process to ensure that the information reported is complete and accurate. When the form 990 has been prepared, reviewed by the president and vice president of finance & administration and is ready to be filed with the internal revenue service, it's submitted electronically to members of pro publica's governing body for any comments prior to its submission. The governing body is provided with at least one week to review the prepared form 990 and provide their comments. Any comments are then grouped, summarized and provided to the audit committee for their review. Each issue is documented and addressed until the return is finalized and approved for filing.”

“Pro publica has a conflict of interest policy, which applies to all directors (board members), officers, and employees. Each directors and officers are required to sign a conflict of interest disclosure statement annually. An interested person must disclose as soon as practicable to the secretary the existence of a potential conflict of interest and all material facts related to the conflict. If a director or officer is uncertain about whether a conflict exists, he/she should report the possible conflict in all cases in which a critical external observer might reasonably perceive a conflict to exist. The board committee will determine if a conflict of interest exists. In the event that a conflict of interest arises, the director or officer with whom the conflict pertains to is excluded from voting on the issue. He/she will leave the room and the other directors vote on the issue pertaining to that specific transaction. With respect to any board committee's discussion, decision, or actions involving transactions in which a director or officer has a conflict of interest, the minutes of the board committee meeting will reflect the board's deliberations and voting process. In case of an interested party who is not a director or officer, the president monitors and enforces the organization's compliance with its conflict of interest policy. If an employee has a conflict of interest, he/she cannot participate in the decision making of the conflicted transaction.”

“Salaries for the ceos are set by the board. The board uses the services of a law firm (caplin & drysdale, who specialize in not for profit issues) for guidance on all matters of compensation. In 2017, caplin & drysdale updated the compensation study for ceos. Caplin & drysdale studies compensation of select national newspapers and relied on their understanding of propublica's operations and status in the field of journalism. The board established compensation for the ceos using comparable data and determined that the salaries are reasonable. Comparable data includes variety of information from journalism outlets and other not for profit organizations. Approved salary changes are documented in human resources files and require the signature of both the employee and the hr director. The board's consideration of this matter are also documented in the minutes of the executive session. This process was last completed in 2018.”

“The organization makes its form 990 available for public inspection as required under section 6104 of the internal revenue code. The return is posted on guidestar.org and other similar types of websites. In addition, the financial statements, conflict of interest policy, articles of incorporation, form 990, form 1023, and by-laws are also available upon written request, and on the organization's website (www.propublica.org).”

“A decade ago, we launched propublica's website with a brief note, "welcome to the starting line." in that june 10, 2008 post, signed by founding editor-in-chief paul steiger and then-managing editor stephen engelberg, we acknowledged that propublica was something of an experiment. We were 20 people, backed by a $10 million annual budget and a three-year commitment from the sandler foundation, with some new ideas about how to publish investigative journalism. Our model for distributing stories - co-publishing with major news outlets like 60 minutes, the new york times, the los angeles times and politico - was untested. There was no clear sense of where the money would come from when we sought a broader group of backers. Despite these unknowns, we were unwavering in our commitment to investigative reporting as an essential component of a democracy. Even if we didn't know quite how this experiment would unfold, we believed in taking on the toughest subjects, shining a light on powerful institutions of all sorts, and presenting deeply reported stories with moral force and an eye toward spurring change. Ten years later, it's clear that an increasing number of people share these values. We were thrilled and humbled to make a lot of friends in our first decade. Propublica has had 184 publishing partners, including 59 in 2018 alone. Our budget has grown to more than $26 million for 2019, which supports about 120 employees working at our national operation, propublica illinois and reporting for our local reporting network. Thousands of people now donate every month, part of a flow of smaller donations that in 2018 added up to more than $4 million. Changemaking perhaps the achievement we're most proud of is the impact of our work over the years. In a cynical age when many believe that the outcomes are "rigged and unchangeable, we have repeatedly shown that powerful, fact-based journalism has the potential to change minds, laws and the lives of ordinary people. In june, as the plight of families separated at the u.s.-mexico border gained national attention, propublica released audio of migrant children inside a u.s. Customs and border protection facility. The sounds of children sobbing and begging for their parents served as evidence of the tragedy underway. Lawmakers cited propublica's audio as they condemned the administration's policy, and protesters blared the recording at demonstrations across the country. Within 48 hours, president trump reversed his policy of separating children from their parents. A federal judge in california ordered that parents and children be reunited within 30 days. Within a month, the child heard in the recording pleading to call her aunt was reunited with her mother. Later in the year, we reported that border agents resumed the removal of some children from their parents by claiming that their parents were criminals and thus a danger to their children. Our story focused on a case in which the department of homeland security claimed, without evidence, that a salvadoran man was a gang member and separated him from his 4-year-old son. Two weeks after the investigation published, and 11 weeks after they had been separated, the child was returned to his father. To help support accountability reporting across the country, especially at the local and regional levels, propublica illinois had its full year of operation in 2018, and we kicked off the propublica local reporting network. Through this initiative we supported seven investigative projects at local news organizations (in cities with populations below one million), in each case paying a reporter's salary and benefits, in addition to providing propublica's expertise in data, research and engagement. In one of the inaugural projects from propublica illinois, published in partnership with the chicago tribune, our work exposed devastating inequities in property tax assessments done by the cook county assessor. In the illinois democratic primary election, fairn”

“Important, challenging and innovatively presented stories that have often sparked real-world change. This work included stories on how a housing program for mentally ill new yorkers has proven unsafe, inhumane and sometimes deadly; a two-part frontline documentary on violent white supremacist groups; eye-opening stories on how a budget-deprived irs is unable to pursue tax cheats; the trump administration's continued efforts to separate families at the border, months after it claimed to have stopped; and the junk forensic science of bloodstain-pattern analysis that has become entrenched in the criminal justice system; and the health insurance industry's work with data brokers to vacuum up our personal details. Much has changed since propublica published its first story, but the value of investigative journalism with moral force remains. We're committed to continuing to grow, and to lead, in our next ten years and beyond. Additional impact since propublica was started 10 years ago, impact has been at the core of our mission, and it remains a guiding principle and yardstick for our success today. We measure our impact not in terms of audience size or honors, but real-world change. In addition to the impact from our reporting on the trump administration's family separation policy, inequities in chicago's property tax assessment system, use of force in the elkhart police department and how an american charity failed the liberian girls under its care, all described earlier in this report, our journalism in 2018 spurred such change in a number of important areas. Laws to improve maternal health passed our reporting with npr about maternal mortality in the u.s. Spurred significant change. After decades of congressional inaction, in december congress approved a bill to fund state panels to review and investigate deaths of expectant and new mothers. The senate appropriations committee also voted to approve $50 million in new funding for programs aimed at reducing the rate of women who die during pregnancy or childbirth. Citing the reporting, state and local lawmakers around the country adopted bills aimed at reforming how maternal deaths are identified and investigated. Connecticut, indiana, maryland, oregon, pennsylvania and washington, d.c., passed laws creating maternal mortality review committees to scrutinize deaths and near-deaths among expectant and new mothers, and to make policy recommendations to improve maternal health. A similar bill is pending in new jersey. The american college of obstetricians and gynecologists, which sets standards of care for obstetrician-gynecologists, also released sweeping new recommendations for improving maternal care, including guidelines for doctors to see new mothers sooner and more frequently, and for insurers to cover the increased visits. In addition, in august, after propublica reached out to a number of consumer health sites that published imprecise, outdated and misleading information about preeclampsia - a dangerous form of hypertension that can develop during pregnancy or in the days and weeks after childbirth - the mayo clinic corrected its information. The cleveland clinic, harvard health publishing and medline plus also agreed to make necessary updates. Discriminatory facebook policies halted in 2016, propublica reported that facebook allows advertisers to buy credit, housing and employment ads that exclude anyone with an "affinity" for african-american, asian-american and hispanic people from seeing them. Our 2017 follow-up found that the social network had not remedied the problem, prompting facebook to temporarily stop advertisers from excluding viewers by race while it reviewed its ad system. In july, facebook said it would no longer allow advertisers to exclude users by federally protected categories. Wrongfully convicted man exonerated in 2017, we reported on demetrius smith, who was wrongfully convicted of murder in baltimore and agreed to an alford plea a deal that allows defe”

“In early 2017, propublica reported on dual arrests" in connecticut - instances in which police arrest both the victim and the perpetrator of domestic violence. The state has a dual arrest rate about 10 times higher than the national average. Experts say this dissuades victims from calling police because of the fear of arrest and the lasting damage of a formal criminal record. In may, the connecticut legislature passed a bill, which the governor signed into law, to end the practice of arresting victims of domestic violence along with their abusers when they fight back during the course of an assault. Discriminatory police practice abandoned propublica and the florida times-union reported in late 2017 that police in jacksonville, florida, disproportionately issued pedestrian tickets to black residents, almost all of them in the city's poorest neighborhoods. After the story, a jacksonville assistant state attorney issued a bulletin to the city's sheriff's office detailing the proper enforcement of florida's pedestrian statutes, and the jacksonville city council president and other local lawmakers called for the suspension of pedestrian ticket writing. The sheriff's office conducted bias training for some officers and trained others on the proper ways to issue pedestrian tickets. The reporting also prompted the naacp legal defense fund to go to jacksonville to conduct on-the-ground interviews for an investigation concerning the sheriff's office's enforcement of pedestrian tickets. Neo-nazis lose access to online platforms in february, propublica reported that the california man accused of killing a gay, jewish university of pennsylvania student was a member of atomwaffen division, a neo-nazi group. Our reporters obtained over 250,000 messages from the group's secret chat room, showing that other atomwaffen members cheered the death. After this story, at least four technology companies - including youtube; discord, a chat app for video gamers; steam, a community discussion board for gamers; and inktale, an online t-shirt retailer - took steps to bar the hate group from using their online services and platforms. Hazardous clinical trials scrutinized as star psychiatrist resigns in april, propublica illinois reported that child psychiatrist mani pavuluri, whose renowned university of chicago at illinois clinic drew families from around the country, violated protocols and put children at risk. Our reporting detailed how pavuluri violated the terms of a federal grant by testing lithium on children younger than 13, failed to properly alert parents of the study's risks and falsified data to cover up the misconduct. After the story, pavuluri resigned from the uic, and in december, the state department of financial and professional regulation launched an investigation of her conduct. Education department's civil rights records under review in june, we reported that the u.s. Department of education, under the direction of secretary of education betsy devos, scuttled more than 1,200 civil rights investigations that were inherited from the obama administration. Our analysis showed that the trump administration is less likely than its predecessor to find wrongdoing by school districts on issues ranging from racial and sexual harassment to meeting educational needs of disabled students. In november, the office of inspector general for the education department announced that it is scrutinizing how the department handles civil rights complaints. Federal investigation of psychiatric hospital's children's unit launched in october, propublica illinois uncovered numerous allegations of sexual abuse and assault against children who were patients at aurora chicago lakeshore hospital, a psychiatric facility, while in the care of the illinois department of children and family services, or dcfs. Following the report, federal authorities announced they were pulling funding from the hospital - a mandate that a judge has temporarily reversed after the hospit”

“In january, propublica illinois and the chicago sun-times revealed that the right-leaning illinois policy institute gave project six, an organization that described itself as a nonprofit, independent, nonpartisan, anti-corruption watchdog group, 98 percent of its first-year budget. Project six had previously refused to disclose its funding sources. A further investigation revealed that the illinois policy institute's ceo and his associates moved millions of dollars around the five interconnected nonprofits they ran, steering money to for-profit ventures in which they have a stake. These revelations prompted swift criticism from the governor and a potential investigation by the illinois attorney general. In april 2018, project six announced that it was shutting down. Wrongful conviction based on erroneous dna testing overturned in 2017, we reported on a dna testing technique used by new york city's medical examiner and dozens of other jurisdictions to analyze difficult dna samples from crime scenes. The article showed that some scientists and defense lawyers say the technique may be inaccurate, potentially putting innocent people in prison. In october, mayer herskovic, featured in propublica's investigation, had his conviction overturned and the underlying indictment dismissed by the state appeals court because of "less than convincing" dna evidence against him. Polluting military practices limited in 2017, propublica revealed how the pentagon's development and testing of weapons has polluted millions of acres of land and drinking water resources across 40,000 u.s. Sites, with the pentagon systematically ignoring or downplaying its cleanup responsibilities. Prompted by our investigation, the department of defense inspector general launched an investigation into the military's practice of open burning and detonating hazardous explosive materials on its properties, as well as its frequent reliance on federal contractors to carry out that work. In addition, rep. Carol shea-porter, a member of the house armed services committee, introduced an amendment to the defense spending bill requiring the pentagon to end the outmoded and highly toxic practice of burning old munitions and other explosives in the open air. The bill passed in june. Cases of missing children revisited in september, propublica published an investigation, in partnership with newsday and this american life, on nearly a dozen latino families that came to the suffolk county police department in long island about their teenage children who had disappeared. While the department ignored their concerns and labeled their children runaways, it turned out that many of the missing had been murdered by members of the gang ms-13. Within a week of publication, the police department announced that it will revisit cases in which families have alleged misconduct, and both of the detectives featured in our investigation are now under internal affairs review. Discriminatory ticketing practices reformed propublica illinois published a series of stories, in partnership with wbez, exposing chicago's aggressive and unequal ticketing practices, combined with punitive collections measures, which have pushed tens of thousands of mostly black motorists into chapter 13 bankruptcy. Since our reporting, the city of chicago has dismissed some 23,000 outstanding duplicate vehicle tickets and will refund motorists who have already paid for an additional 12,000 duplicates. The chicago city council approved reforms including a program designed to help low-income motorists comply with the municipal requirement and to avoid costly citations, along with a measure to wipe away some ticket debt for motorists who file for bankruptcy under chapter 7. Another more sweeping set of improvements has also been put forward and is awaiting consideration. Illegal uses of presidential seal halted in march, our "trump, inc." podcast with wnyc reported that the trump organization had ordered dozens of golf tee marker”

“- days before election day, propublica found that the computer servers that powered kentucky's online voter registration and wisconsin's reporting of election results were susceptible to hacking. Our analysis found that the insecure service run by wisconsin could be reached from internet addresses based in russia, while kentucky's was accessible from other eastern european countries. After our inquiry, wisconsin shut down its service, and shortly after the story ran, kentucky appeared to do the same, making its server no longer available to the public. - responding to an electionland tip, our partners at the houston chronicle reported on voter registration issues at prairie view a&m, a historically black university in waller county. Administrative errors were keeping hundreds of registered voters at the school from casting a ballot at the voting location on campus. In addition, the county was asking them to fill out forms to remedy the problem - a step advocates say could confuse students and keep them from voting. The chronicle also documented that a democratic campaign staffer complaining about the issue was briefly arrested after taking a photo of the county clerk. After the coverage, the texas secretary of state's office stepped in and allowed prairie view students to vote on campus without filling out additional paperwork. - a voter who had been booted from a polling location because she wore a t-shirt with the logo of a progressive texas group reached out to electionland. She told us that the harris county clerk's office had sent a memo to poll workers singling out three progressive groups for removal from the polls. We shared the memo with the chronicle, which then called the clerk's office. Soon after, before the paper even had a chance to publish a story, the county rescinded the memo. The texas secretary of state's office also later weighed in, advising the county against the prohibition. - we received a slew of tips about resistbot - a texting service that reminds voters of their polling place and of early voting deadlines - when the service texted voters across florida that early voting ended a day earlier than it really did. While counties in florida are not required to keep polling places open the sunday before the election, many do. After we passed the tip to a reporter at wlrn in florida, he tweeted at resistbot asking the organization to correct the error. It did, sending updated texts to voters in the affected areas. - during the new york gubernatorial primary in september, electionland tracked down a tip that the new york city housing authority instructed hundreds of residents in a coney island building to remain home for a routine inspection on the day of primary elections. After a propublica reporter reached out to the agency, a spokesperson said the instructions were an oversight and rescinded them, also promising not to schedule inspections on election day. - our partners at bklyner and wnyc reported on an official new york city voter guide that incorrectly stated felons can vote only after completing parole. After the story, the agency updated its website, in addition to correcting a blog post from two years earlier that included the outdated information. - tampa bay times, an electionland partner, reported on a new port richey polling site at a church whose pastor erected a sign outside reading "don't vote for democrats on tuesday and sing 'oh how i love jesus' on sunday." while the pasco county supervisor of elections office said on election day that, despite hundreds of complaints, the sign could not be removed because it was on private property outside the 100-foot perimeter where campaigning isn't allowed, days later the church lost its status as an a polling site because of the sign. Recognition for our work propublica's work was honored in 2018 as follows: our collaboration with npr, on the maternal mortality crisis in the u.s., was a finalist for the pulitzer prize for explanatory reporting. The”

“Insiders who have been appointed across the federal government, won the the online news association's al neuharth innovation in investigative journalism award; the society of professional journalists' sunshine award; and the first amendment coalition's free speech & open government award; was a finalist for the investigative reporters and editors award for freedom of information; and was recognized on the data journalism awards shortlist. "wasted medicine," our series highlighting the hundreds of billions of dollars that the u.s. Wastes each year on health care, won the association of health care journalists award in the consumer/feature category and the society of american business editors and writers award for health/science; and was a finalist for the gerald loeb award for personal finance and the national institute for health care management foundation research and journalism award for print journalism. Our investigation with fortune, "the billion-dollar loophole," on a popular charitable donation tax scheme that is being manipulated to make big profits, won the society of american business editors and writers award for banking/finance. Our story about an ms-13 informant who risked his life to work with local police, co-published with new york magazine, won an online journalism award in the feature category. "the runaways," a collaboration with this american life about how police neglected to investigate latino teenagers victimized by the gang, won the october sidney award. "the failure track," our investigation on neglect and profiteering in alternative schools, won the national award for education reporting for investigative reporting. The propublica-led project "documenting hate," a coalition of newsrooms reporting on hate crimes, won the association of lgbtq journalits' al neuharth award of innovation in investigative journalism and was a finalist for the scripps howard award for topic of the year. Our storytelling and reporting on twitter about the trump administration won the edward r. Murrow regional award for excellence in social media. Our story on foreigners receiving priority on liver transplant lists with wvue-tv new orleans won an edward r. Murrow regional award for hard news. A propublica illinois and chicago tribune story on how chicago police skirt punishment within a failed disciplinary system won two peter lisagor awards, for best multimedia feature presentation and best multimedia collaboration, and was a finalist for the peter lisagor award for best political and government reporting. Our collaboration with the investigative fund, "trashed: inside the deadly world of private garbage collection," won the february sidney award. Our investigation with consumer reports into discriminatory auto insurance practices won the shorty social good award for best in racial equality. Our story on mental health care in mississippi's criminal justice system won the deadline club award for newspaper or digital feature reporting and received honorable mention for the national press foundation carolyn mattingly award for mental health reporting. "how the u.s. Triggered a massacre in mexico," a collaboration with national geographic, was a finalist for the national magazine award for reporting. Our investigation disclosing unseemly practices by the family real estate business of trump's son-in-law and adviser jared kushner, co-published with the new york times magazine, was a finalist for the national magazine award for reporting. Our investigation into age discrimination at ibm won the barlett & steele bronze award. Our interactive news game with wnyc on the experiences of asylum seekers was a finalist for the online journalism award for excellence and innovation in visual digital storytelling. A collaboration with the texas tribune on federal land seizures during the united states' first effort to build a border wall was a finalist for the online news association's university of florida award for investigative data journ”

“Loss on disposal of asset -11,098. Loss on foreign currency exchange -48.”

“Pro publica has an audit committee that assumes responsibility for the oversight of the audit of its financial statements and for the selection of an independent accountant. The process has not changed from the prior year.”