Commentary Culture Investigations

The Fund for Investigative Journalism is accepting applications for regular grants (up to $10,000 for full investigative stories) and seed grants for early reporting (up to $2,500). Proposals for both types of grants are due on April 27, 2026, at 11:59 p.m. Eastern. Details are below. In advance of the deadline, on April 8 at […]
The post Grant applications due April 27; webinar on proposal-writing April 8 appeared first on The Fund for Investigative Journalism.

Hemp products are legal in Wisconsin, but only if they have very low levels of THC, the chemical in marijuana that makes people high. With support from the Fund, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel commissioned independent testing on 30 gummies, vapes and edibles bought at hemp stores – and found that most of them contained illegal […]
The post To determine if hemp products in Wisconsin are safe and legal, grantee conducts independent testing appeared first on The Fund for Investigative Journalism.

The Tar Creek area of Oklahoma was a mining site for a nearly a century, leading it to be designated a Superfund site because of significant toxic pollution. As recently as the 1990s, one-third of children in the area had elevated levels of lead in their blood. The federal government managed a “buyout” of the […]
The post Investigation raises serious questions about Oklahoma homebuyers not being informed of Superfund site hazards appeared first on The Fund for Investigative Journalism.

With support from the Fund, Investigate Midwest analyzed data about pesticide use and caner rates and interviewed more than 100 farmers, environmentalists, lawmakers and scientists. The result is a picture of a nation at a crossroads in dealing with this public health crisis that has not just been ignored by state and federal health officials, […]
The post Grantee examines health impact of pesticides in the Midwest – and zeroes in on state and federal government complicity appeared first on The Fund for Investigative Journalism.

The Financial Times reported that Russia has secretly helped Iran develop supersonic cruise missile technology, contradicting the president’s claims.

The August 25 PBS News Hour leaned hard into the story of two purported deaths of unvaccinated people from measles in Pennsylvania, going further than other networks by running a clip of Pennsylvania’s Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro politicizing the situation by criticizing Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.But now that the sad story, weaponized by Shapiro for partisan use, is taking on water, how would PBS update its reporting?The segment, which led the “other news” portion of the program, lasted 58 seconds. The report in full:PBS’s Amna Nawaz pumped Gov. Josh Shapiro (D-PA) before his measles vax hit shattered: “He spoke with US Health Secretary [RFK] who has pushed to revise the nation’s approach to vaccines. Shapiro says he was ‘blunt’ with him about the rhetoric coming from government officials.” pic.twitter.com/tm76MpJNN9— Clay Waters 🇮🇱 (@claywaters44) September 1, 2026Co-anchor Amna Nawaz: We start the day’s other headlines in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, where health officials say two people, both unvaccinated, have died from measles. No further details about the individuals were provided. They are the first measles-related deaths in the U.S. this year, which is on track to be the worst year for measles cases since 1991. Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro today warned about the severity of the outbreak and the rise of misinformation regarding vaccines.Gov. Josh Shapiro (D-PA): There’s real-life consequences to scaring people and not relying on actual doctors and actual medical professionals to provide unbiased information to parents so that we can make reasonable decisions for our kids. Nawaz: The governor added that he spoke with U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has pushed to revise the nation’s approach to vaccines. Shapiro says he was — quote — “blunt” with him about the rhetoric coming from government officials.But further scrutiny suggests at least one of those measles-related deaths, that of an infant too young to be vaccinated, was mischaracterized by the governor. Benjamin Mazer was scathing at the liberal-leaning Atlantic magazine, in “Pennsylvania’s Public-Health Officials May Be Wrong About a Measles Death”: “…regardless of whether measles unequivocally led to either of the two deaths in Pennsylvania, officials have already emboldened vaccine skeptics and lent credibility to their doubts. The state Health Department seems to have withheld relevant information from its constituents—that is, that local investigators were not themselves attributing the infant’s death to measles—and then it politicized its announcement of the deaths by having Shapiro, who is currently running for reelection, play a prominent role in the press conference.”FactCheck.org noted: “As a newborn, the child would not have been eligible yet for routine measles vaccination, which begins at 12 months of age. However, if the baby contracted measles in utero from the mother, it is highly likely that the mother was unvaccinated.”For Gov. Shapiro to lump the tragic death of an infant, not even eligible to be vaccinated, with the unwashed “unvaxxed” held in contempt by the left, is irresponsible, playing to the same online mob so eager to mock the death of the unvaccinated during COVID.Spurred by an announcement by the Centers for Disease Control, the News Hour updated its story on Tuesday evening, deep inside its “Other News” brief, but in a vague and unsatisfying manner (no description of the infant that died).Co-anchor Geoff Bennett: The CDC says it’s reviewing two recent deaths in Pennsylvania that were not included in the agency’s latest national count of measles fatalities. The agency says the available information does not establish whether measles caused or contributed to the deaths or whether the individuals died from other causes while infected with the virus. Pennsylvania officials last week reported the deaths of two unvaccinated people with measles. Multiple news outlets report the CDC’s new director, Dr. Erica Schwartz, ordered that the deaths not be added to the federal tally while the agency reviews the cases. It comes amid a growing dispute between Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro over how the state is characterizing deaths associated with its ongoing measles outbreak.

MS NOW/SnapStream

On Tuesday, an old video of Democratic Texas Senate candidate James Talarico revealed the Senate candidate once called for the “dismantling” of capitalism, which he also called “oppressive.” But any mention of Talarico’s capitalism comments was avoided by all MS NOW hosts, as the only brief mention from a guest minimized comments that called the video a “big opposition research dump.”In a 2020 video, uncovered by CNN’s KFile, Talarico linked climate change and white supremacy to capitalism and stated, “And I think only ending the ways that all three of those oppressive systems work together are we gonna be able to begin the process of dismantling them.”But MS NOW did not seem to care, as it spent many segments on news related to Talarico’s race versus Republican candidate Ken Paxton that hyped Talarico’s changes but did not mention his capitalism comments Yesterday, MS NOW avoided the uncovering of an old video in which Democratic Texas Senate candidate James Talarico called for dismantling capitalism.On the 11th Hour, Puck’s Abby Livingston made the only mention of the video the entire day and downplayed the video as an… pic.twitter.com/vypamEsUCt— Nick (@nspin310) September 2, 2026 The only mention came on Tuesday’s 11th Hour, as host Ali Velshi revealed MS NOW had shifted the Texas Senate Race to a toss-up in the channel’s midterm election forecast. He also hyped Democratic gubernatorial candidate Gina Hinojosa’s campaign against current Republican Governor Greg Abbott.Puck’s Abby Livingston briefly mentioned the Texas governor’s race before she turned to Talarico versus Paxton and downplayed Talarico’s former comments about capitalism.Livingston began, “Ken Paxton’s now got some money to spend – or a super-PAC to spend against Talarico. There was a big opposition research dump on him today where he said something to the effect of dismantling capitalism.”To note, Talarico also called capitalism oppressive and compared it to white supremacy.But Livingston continued with Democratic worry about Texas, and bizarrely mentioned Ebola:So, Talarico, everything has gone right, but I talked to a democratic consultant last week who wasn’t necessarily working on Texas, but she said everything feels great, but the problem is Democrats always have a good August. It’s once after Labor Day, there’s something like the Ebola virus outbreak or a Supreme Court opening that can derail the momentum for Democrats.She concluded, “So, I think we are now hitting a new stage, and we don’t know where this is headed.”MS NOW’s avoidance of Talarico’s comments continued on Wednesday, as seen on Morning Joe, as the liberal morning show continued to hype Talarico’s campaign without mention of the uncovered video. Notably, there was no mention of Talarico’s capitalism by an MS NOW host the entire day, even as they hype Talarico’s campaign.For example, today’s Morning Joe hyped Talarico’s campaign: pic.twitter.com/tpUnyYGy8K— Nick (@nspin310) September 2, 2026 The transcript is below. Click “expand”:MS NOW’s The 11th HourSeptember 2, 202611:09:15 PM EasternALI VELSHI: Texas! Now, others had sort of put this into a toss-up category earlier. We were being very cautious about doing so, but now we are calling Texas a toss-up too. There have been multiple polls in the last few weeks which are surprising. They’re large-margin-of-error polls, but the trends seem to be very similar. Gina Hinojosa is running behind in the polling, but within the margin of error of the governor.ABBY LIVINGSTON: There are so many things going on here. If we start with Hinojosa, she may not get there. But Greg Abbott’s perpetual role in politics is to raise the money and have the political acumen to get all of the weaklings underneath him over the line, and he’s done a very good job of that. He has a legitimate race on his hand, and if she can pin him down, he may be too distracted to worry about some of the down-ballot situations. I think the toss-up is exactly where this race is. The question is what happens over the next two months? Ken Paxton’s now got some money to spend – or a super-PAC to spend against Talarico. There was a big opposition research dump on him today where he said something to the effect of dismantling capitalism. So, Talarico, everything has gone right, but I talked to a democratic consultant last week who wasn’t necessarily working on Texas, but she said everything feels great, but the problem is Democrats always have a good August. It’s once after Labor Day, there’s something like the Ebola virus outbreak or a Supreme Court opening that can derail the momentum for Democrats. So, I think we are now hitting a new stage, and we don’t know where this is headed.(…)

On the 10-year anniversary of the Panama Papers, journalists recall how it all happened, and how the investigation took the world by storm.

A decade after the Panama Papers made headlines around the world, the investigation remains a milestone moment in the global push for financial equality and transparency.