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
A year after George Floyd’s death, seeking a new direction for policing
The killing of George Floyd inspired a reckoning in major cities across the nation. But in a moment of intense political division, the future is far from clear.
Star Tribune
May 22, 2021
Minneapolis drug case falls apart, raising questions about existence of secret informant
The case exposes the inherent conflict at the heart of confidential informants as a tool in American policing. In order to be effective, informants must be shrouded in secrecy. But that secrecy can make it impossible to tell how effective informants really are.
Star Tribune
May 15, 2021
Derek Chauvin, three other ex-Minneapolis officers indicted by Justice Department on civil rights charges in killing of George Floyd
A federal grand jury has indicted four ex-Minneapolis police officers on charges of abusing their positions of authority to detain George Floyd, leading to his death last May.
Star Tribune
May 7, 2021
Rift Between Mayor Frey and Council President Bender Widens at Key Moment for Police Reform
Minneapolis is torn on the best path to reform.
Star Tribune
April 24, 2021
Fight for Healthcare Access in Rural East Texas Continues as Some of the State’s Hospitals Face Closures
Texans in rural communities are facing an ongoing crisis as hospitals and medical facilities shutter. Randy Lindauer has spent the last few months renovating a hospital in East Texas, preparing it to reopen after it closed in 2019 — leaving about 56,000 residents without access to basic or emergency healthcare.
The Texas Newsroom
April 22, 2021
County will provide testing for neighbors of Florida’s lead smelter
The move was prompted by a Tampa Bay Times investigation that found hundreds of workers at the smelter were exposed to high amounts of toxic chemicals.
Tampa Bay Times
April 22, 2021
Derek Chauvin is convicted of killing George Floyd in Minneapolis, cuffed and sent to prison
The conviction, almost a year after a bystander video captured Chauvin kneeling on Floyd's neck for more than nine minutes, was the first time in Minnesota history that a white police officer was convicted of killing a Black civilian on the job.
April 20, 2021
Chauvin Trial Lawyers Bring Everything Together in Closing Arguments on Floyd's Death
After 45 witnesses and 14 days of testimony in the Hennepin County District Court trial, two lawyers will make their closing arguments, the final words the jurors hear from them before retreating behind closed doors to deliberate.
Star Tribune
April 17, 2021
At George Floyd's Treatment Center, Recovering Clients See Racism in Addiction Assumptions
"Do you know how many times that could have been me?" Staff at a Minneapolis rehab facility that George Floyd attended see themselves in Floyd — and racism in theories about his drug use — the Star Tribune, our local journalism partner in Minneapolis, reports.
Star Tribune
April 11, 2021
Chauvin Trial Again Casts Spotlight on Minneapolis Police Department's Training Program
Over 19 years with the Minneapolis Police Department, Derek Chauvin, the now-fired officer on trial in the death of George Floyd, racked up 17 misconduct complaints and was involved in four on-duty shootings or other fatal encounters. Despite that, Chauvin continued to serve as a field training officer.
Star Tribune
April 3, 2021
POISONED: Part 2: The Failings
Equipment designed to control poisons inside Gopher Resource kept breaking down, creating more dangers for workers. As violations mounted, regulators have been absent.
Tampa Bay Times
March 29, 2021
Chauvin Case Draws Inevitable Comparisons to Another High-Profile Police Murder Trial in Minnesota
Derek Chauvin is the second Minneapolis police officer to stand trial for murder in the last few years, but that is where similarities to Mohamed Noor end, our Local Journalism Initiative partner the Star Tribune finds.
Star Tribune
March 27, 2021
The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.