Local Journalism Initiative
Since 2019, FRONTLINE has been supporting local and regional news organizations conducting investigative journalism projects in their communities. Our partners in 2022 include newsrooms in Rhode Island, Texas, North and South Carolina. We are contributing editorial, audience development and financial resources to coverage of subjects from child labor and local corruption to the treatment of mental illness in prisons. Read more about our Local Journalism Initiative here, and meet our 2024 partners here.
“Poisoned,” an investigation by our 2020 LJI partners at Tampa Bay Times, won a George Polk Award, a Pulitzer Prize and an NABJ Award.
PARTNER INVESTIGATIONS
After George Floyd
The killing of George Floyd by police officer Derek Chauvin in Minneapolis sparked a nationwide reckoning on racism in America — and renewed calls for change. FRONTLINE partners with award-winning Star Tribune reporters as they cover the aftermath of Floyd’s death, Chauvin’s trial and the impact on both the city’s police and communities of color.
COVID-19 in America
The latest from our local journalism partners on how the COVID-19 pandemic is impacting communities across the U.S.
Dairyland in Distress
For years, Loyal, a city in the heart of Wisconsin's dairy country, has been struggling with an ailing farm economy. Then COVID-19 hit the state. A collaboration between Milwaukee PBS and the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.
Fractured
The mental health care system in North Carolina has been failing for years. Perhaps nowhere is that more evident than those who get caught up in the criminal justice system, out of sight, therefore out of mind for the general public and policymakers. But their plight — and the brokenness of the mental health system…
Groundwater War
New Mexico PBS' investigation into PFAS contamination at military installations in the state and its impact on groundwater.
Poisoned
Hundreds of workers at a Tampa lead smelter have been exposed to dangerous levels of the neurotoxin. The Tampa Bay Times investigates the profound consequences. Part 1: The Factory | Part 2: The Failings | Part 3: The Fallout This investigation, carried out with support from FRONTLINE's Local Journalism Initiative, won a George Polk Award, a Pulitzer Prize…
Rural Health Care: The Other Texas Drought
Rural communities in the Texas Panhandle have struggled to keep up in the fight against the coronavirus. The Texas Newsroom examines the shortage of health care resources people living in those communities face.
Sugar Land
In 2018, a few months into building a new school in Sugar Land, Texas, construction crews uncovered 95 unmarked graves — evidence of a particularly dark period in our country’s history. The Texas Newsroom explores who these 95 people were and what happened to them in the podcast “Sugar Land.”
The Disconnect
In February 2021, days-long blackouts in Texas left millions shivering in the dark. Hundreds died. How has the Texas grid changed since then? And how has it changed how people think? KUT/KUTX Studios and The Texas Newsroom explore those questions in season two of “The Disconnect: Power, Politics and the Texas Blackout.”
Uncovered
A first-of-its-kind effort to expose questionable government conduct and corruption throughout South Carolina. The Post and Courier has teamed with 17 community newspapers in this effort, which aims to strengthen accountability of taxpayer dollars and democracy in the Palmetto State.
Underage and Unprotected
A two-year investigation by The Public’s Radio reveals how some migrant teens end up working in risky jobs at seafood processing plants in New Bedford, Massachusetts. Underage and Unprotected examines the role of staffing agencies, which many teens said hired them and sent them to jobs at processors. The series also exposes weaknesses in the…
When Police Shoot
Police across Utah shot at 30 people two years ago. And then in 2020, the state tied that record. With no government entity collecting such data, The Salt Lake Tribune will expand its own data gathering on police shootings.
Youth Suicide in Colorado
Colorado has one of the country’s highest suicide rates, a crisis only deepened by the pandemic. Rocky Mountain PBS examines a statewide prevention effort and finds stories of healing and hope.
Our Partners
Latest Reporting from Our Partners
Episode 6: 'I Think There’s Hope'
In the aftermath of Lewiston, healing and recovery is taking many forms.
December 31, 2024
Episode 5: 'We’re Still Here'
Four members of Maine's deaf community died in Lewiston in October 2023 in what is believed to be the deadliest mass shooting of deaf people in the U.S.
December 27, 2024
Episode 4: 'They Controlled It All'
Examining the history and politics of guns and hunting in Maine, the state’s unique “yellow flag” gun laws and its powerful gun lobby.
December 20, 2024
Episode 3: 'Dereliction of Duty'
How did leaders of the Army Reserve respond to the many, clear warning signs about the Lewiston shooter, a part-time soldier who was in a dangerous, downward spiral? And why didn’t they take further action?
November 22, 2024
Episode 2: 'I Believe He Is Going To Snap'
Months before the mass shooting in Lewiston that claimed 18 lives, the gunman’s family and friends were desperately trying to get him help.
November 8, 2024
Episode 1: 'Did We Really Survive This?'
What does it mean to be a victim? Or a survivor? In a few brief moments in October 2023, 18 lives were lost in Lewiston — and Maine was changed.
October 25, 2024
Introducing: Breakdown
Over six episodes, Breakdown explores the missed opportunities to prevent the Lewiston shootings, the role of guns and hunting in Maine’s politics, and the aftermath for shooting victims, some of whom were deaf and hard of hearing. From Maine Public Radio, The Portland Press Herald, and FRONTLINE.
October 25, 2024
28m
Fractured
FRONTLINE, WFAE & Firelight Media investigate the long waits for mental health care that defendants who are deemed too sick to stand trial face in North Carolina.
March 5, 2024
Underage Workers in New England’s Seafood Processing Industry
An investigation into underage labor at New England seafood processing plants reveals flaws in the systems designed to protect migrant teens.
December 14, 2023
Las Jornadas de 21 Horas de un Adolescente en New Bedford
Cómo un adolescente inmigrante intentó combinar entre ir al bachillerato y trabajar en las noches en una procesadora de productos del mar.
The Public's Radio
September 20, 2023
The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.