¶ A Reporter's Life-Changing Story
Investigative journalism is powerful. And here's how I know. Many years ago, I was working as a reporter at a tiny newspaper in Missouri and I got this crazy tip about a man in prison. He'd been convicted of armed robbery when he was in his twenties and sentenced, but then the government made a huge mistake. They never actually sent him to prison. They just forgot about him. By the time they realize their mistake,
Thirteen years had passed and he'd become this pretty upstanding guy. Wife and kids, he didn't even like to swear. Even the victim of the robbery told me this guy shouldn't have to go to prison after all this time. But instead of dropping it, they arrested him in front of his family and locked him up. I was already a pretty cynical person at the time, and this story was not helping. But I published a story anyway, and the case wound up getting a bunch of attention.
A while later, he gets a new court hearing. I walk in, his wife is there, she's all dressed up, and I'm like, this is going to suck. This is just going to be some kind of pointless procedural thing where they're just gonna confirm he's completely screwed. Instead, the judge gets up there and starts talking, and he lays out the facts of the case, and some of the details I thought had to have come from my story.
And then he concludes that putting the guy in prison now serves no purpose. And he says to the guy, You can go home, like right now. He walks out. hand in hand with his wife. And I got into my car. I was like, I do not understand what just happened. I am not. And everything happens for a reason kind of person. I was not even particularly optimistic. And this was the closest thing. It felt like magic.
¶ ProPublica's Investigative Mission
Investigative journalism is an act of optimism. And it's all we do at ProPublica. We're an independent, non-profit, investigative newsroom, and we focus on corruption and abuse of power. We look under rocks for secrets. What's not being told. On this show, we're gonna bring you inside a new investigation every episode.
We're gonna call out things we see that are wrong, things that affect your life and my life. This could happen to anybody. The law seemed patently unfair. That's just a system that's not humane, it's not sustainable. And it's not right.
¶ How Investigations Drive Change
Because when the public knows the truth A bombshell report by ProPublica reveals just how little the wealthiest Americans have been paying in taxes. Not always, but more often than you'd think. The Supreme Court has adopted the first time. Its first code of ethics into it, which owns TurboTax, was ordered to pay$141 million. To roughly 4.4 million people of laws get passed. Say representatives gave initial approval to the Life of the Mother Act, clarifying when doctors
Powerful leaders are held accountable. Breaking news here, Homeland Security Secretary Christy Nome fired. People walk out of prison and cynics like me. Turn.
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I'm Jessica Lesnop, and I'll be your guide. This is Paper Trail.
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