Local Journalism Initiative
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
How North Carolina Got the Math Wrong on Mental Health
WFAE has been reporting on the struggles of inmates living with mental illness waiting for a state hospital bed. But it isn’t just inmates who wait. On average, North Carolinians who go to an emergency room in crisis, wait 16 days for a state psychiatric hospital bed.
WFAE
May 9, 2023
Inmates With Both Mental Health and Substance Abuse Disorders Cycle Through Jails Relentlessly
WFAE examines ways to help former inmates living with mental illness stay out of jail and the ways the system in North Carolina fails to do that.
WFAE
May 2, 2023
Life Sentence on the Installment Plan
WFAE examines the issue of inmates living with mental illness who cycle in and out of jail in North Carolina, serving what many in the court system call a “life sentence on the installment plan.”
WFAE
April 25, 2023
Fractured: The Wait Inmates With Mental Illness Endure Because They're Too Sick For Trial
WFAE examines why getting access to mental health care has been difficult in North Carolina and reports on why it burdens the jails, the courts, even crime victims.
WFAE
April 18, 2023
Listen to the Top 5 'FRONTLINE Dispatch' Podcast Episodes of 2022
Catch the 5 most-downloaded new episodes from ‘The FRONTLINE Dispatch’ podcast in 2022.
December 22, 2022
Charleston, South Carolina’s Tourism Machine: Lack of scrutiny and accountability keeps public in dark about millions of taxpayer dollars spent every year
Lack of scrutiny and accountability has kept the public in the dark about millions of taxpayer dollars spent every year.
The Post and Courier
September 23, 2022
Explore Charleston CEO Says No Ill-intent With Cayman Bank Account
Charleston’s state-funded tourism marketing group stowed nearly $2 million in public money in an offshore account. The chief executive said she could understand that this might provoke some suspicion, but the account was used strictly for business and the public’s good.
The Post and Courier
September 23, 2022
Investigating the Texas Blackout
FRONTLINE’s Local Journalism Initiative partner, the Texas Newsroom, and Austin public radio station KUT examine the aftermath of the Texas blackout of February 2021.
September 8, 2022
Uncovered (past coverage)
An ongoing effort to expose questionable government conduct and corruption throughout South Carolina.
The Post and Courier
August 24, 2022
The Disconnect: Power, Politics and the Texas Blackout
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?
August 4, 2022
Police on Trial
FRONTLINE and Pulitzer Prize-winning reporters from our local journalism partner Star Tribune examine one of the most pivotal events in the history of race and policing in America.
June 22, 2022
Covering Minneapolis in the Wake of George Floyd
New in The FRONTLINE Dispatch podcast: Star Tribune Editor Suki Dardarian joins us from Minneapolis to discuss the newsroom’s Pulitzer-winning reporting and “Police on Trial,” our new documentary with the Star Tribune.
June 3, 2022
The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.