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Over the past year, with the 2024 election dominating headlines, ProPublica reporters and editors have taken a deep dive into the issues on the minds of many voters.
Kavitha Surana, Cassandra Jaramillo and Lizzie Presser are responsible for the deaths of at least five women who were unable to receive timely reproductive and medical care under abortion bans in Texas and Georgia. revealed. As part of our series examining new immigration patterns, Melissa Sanchez and Mariam Jameel reported on what was happening in Whitewater, Wisconsin, as it became a Republican talking point. Eli Hager and Lucas Waldron delve into why low-income families in Arizona aren’t taking advantage of school vouchers, even as voucher proponents tout similar programs across the country.
That’s not all. Our reporters also spent months investigating other issues that touch our readers’ lives, from the challenges of finding an insured mental health provider to the human toll of the fentanyl crisis.
ProPublica reporters will continue this work in the new year, when Donald Trump’s second administration takes office. In the meantime, revisit ProPublica’s 25 most-read articles published in 2024. This is measured by the total time spent reading articles across several publishing platforms.
1. The year after refusing abortion
By Stacy Kranitz and Kavitha Surana, Special to ProPublica
Tennessee law prohibits women from having an abortion in almost all circumstances. However, once the baby is born, the government provides little assistance. For a year, ProPublica followed Maylon Michelle Hollis and her family as they struggled to succeed.
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2. “Eat what you kill”
Written by J. David McSwan; co-published with Montana Free Press
Hailed as a savior upon his arrival at St. Peter’s Hospital in downtown Helena, Montana, Dr. Thomas C. Weiner became popular with his patients and the hospital’s highest earner. As the myths surrounding the famous oncologist spread, so too did the evidence of patient harm and suspicious deaths.
3. Armed and Underground: Inside the turbulent secret world of American militias
Written by Joshua Kaplan
Internal messages reveal how AP3, one of the largest militia groups in the United States, rose as prosecutors went after other militia groups after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. .
4. How did 3M executives convince scientists that chemicals found in human blood were forever safe?
Written by Sharon Lerner, photographed by Haruka Sakaguchi, featured on ProPublica. Co-published with New Yorker magazine
Decades ago, Chris Hansen showed 3M that its PFAS chemicals were present in people’s bodies. Her boss stopped her from working. As the EPA takes steps to force the removal of chemicals from drinking water, she grapples with the secrets 3M has hidden from her and the world.
Candace Fails holds a photo of her daughter, Nevaeh Crain, who died last year after seeking help from two hospitals due to pregnancy complications. Credit: Danielle Villasana (ProPublica)
5. Pregnant teenager dies after visiting Texas emergency room three times for treatment
Written by Lizzy Presser and Kavitha Surana
As 18-year-old Nevaeh Crane’s condition deteriorated, she visited the emergency room three times and took 20 hours to be admitted. Doctors insisted they perform two ultrasounds to confirm “fetal death.” She is one of at least three Texas women who have died under the state’s abortion ban.
6. Multiple Trump witnesses have received significant financial benefits from his businesses and campaigns.
Written by Robert Faturechi, Justin Elliott, Alex Mierjeski
Witnesses in various criminal cases against Donald Trump are getting raises, new jobs, and more. Offering benefits for the purpose of influencing testimony can be a crime.
7. “Not Medically Necessary”: An in-house company that helps America’s largest health insurance company deny coverage.
By T. Christian Miller, ProPublica. Patrick Rucker, Capitol Forum. and David Armstrong, ProPublica
When companies like Aetna and UnitedHealthcare want to keep costs down, they turn to Evicor. The company’s business model relies on doctors refusing to pay for the treatments they recommend to their patients.
8. IRS audit of President Trump could cost the former president more than $100 million
Written by Paul Keel, ProPublica, Written by Russ Buettner, New York Times
After a lengthy investigation, tax authorities have concluded that Donald Trump effectively claimed the same huge write-off twice on his failed Chicago tower.
9. Woman dies at Texas hospital after being told intervening in miscarriage is a ‘crime’
Written by Cassandra Jaramillo and Kavitha Surana
Joseli Varnica is one of at least three pregnant women in Texas who have died because doctors delayed emergency treatment. She told her husband that the medical team said they could not function until the baby’s heartbeat stopped.
10. Abortion bans delay emergency medical care. In Georgia, experts say the mother’s death was preventable.
Written by Kavitha Surana
ProPublica has revealed that at least two women in Georgia have died because they were unable to access legal abortions or timely medical care. This is one of their stories.
11. How Walmart’s financial services became a magnet for fraud
Written by Craig Silverman and Peter Elkind
Fraudsters took advantage of Walmart’s lax security and defrauded consumers of more than $1 billion. The company has broken promises to regulators, skimped on training and resisted taking responsibility.
12. He was convicted of killing the baby. Prosecutors maintain he is innocent, but that may not be enough.
Written by Pamela Koloff, Photography by Stacey Kranitz. Co-published with New York Times Magazine
When new scientific evidence casts doubt on a conviction, there is no easy path to freedom in the justice system, even for prosecutors.
13. Trump’s lawyers said in court that no one would give him bail. He then got a lifeline, but it wasn’t told to the judge.
Written by Robert Faturechi, Justin Elliott, Alex Mierjeski
An appeals court has reduced Donald Trump’s bail by more than 60% after his lawyers argued it was “practically impossible” to pay the full amount. Not disclosing the proposal from the billionaire investor may have violated ethics rules.
14. For the women who accused the Trump campaign of harassment, it was more harassment.
Written by Marilyn W. Thompson
While Donald Trump is well known for publicly bullying his political opponents, the president-elect’s campaign is using similar tactics in private and persistent attacks on some of his own workers. There is.
15. Inside the historic lawsuit that puts the gun industry and the Republican Party on the brink of death
Written by Vernal Coleman Photography by Sarabeth Manny
For 25 years, gun manufacturers have repeatedly tried to end a city’s lawsuit over illegal gun sales. Meanwhile, illegal firearm purchases continued at an unrelenting and dangerous pace.
16. Inside Ziklag, a secret organization of wealthy Christians seeking to sway elections and change the country.
Written and documented by Andy Kroll, ProPublica, and Nick Surgey
The little-known charity is supported by well-known conservative donors, including Hobby Lobby and the Uihlein family. It spent millions of dollars in a massive political push for the 2024 election, but may have broken the law.
Credit: Collage by Han Cao for ProPublica. Source image: Brown County, Wisconsin, court documents and photos courtesy of Maylia Sotelo and Carrie Harrison.
17. Maylia and Jack: A story of teens and fentanyl
Written by Lizzy Presser; co-published with Teen Vogue
Police knew she was selling counterfeit Percocet but did not stop her. His mother searched for proper treatment for his addiction but was unable to find one. Two teenagers were caught up in a system unprepared to handle children on either side of the drug trade.
18. Inside Project 2025 Secret Training Video
Written and documented by Andy Kroll, ProPublica, and Nick Surgey
“Eradicate references to climate change.” Speak only to conservative media. Do not leave any paper trail that the lifeguards can find. Project 2025 detailed how the second Trump administration would operate in a series of previously unreleased videos.
19. What happened at Whitewater?
Written by Melissa Sanchez and Mariam Jameel, Photography by Sofia Ardinio, Featured on ProPublica
Before Springfield, Ohio, became a flashpoint in the immigration debate, President Trump and right-wing pundits used the police chief’s plea for resources to claim that Whitewater was under “invasion.” The truth turned out to be even more complicated.
Anna DiNoto in her office in Monroe, Washington. Credit: Tony Luong, Special to ProPublica
20. Why I left the network
Written by Annie Waldman, Maya Miller, Dua Eldeve, Max Blau, Photography by Tony Luong, Special Feature on ProPublica, Designed by Jisiga Mukul. Co-published with NPR
People who need treatment often have to pay for it out-of-pocket or go without treatment, even if they have health insurance. Hundreds of mental health providers have told us they have fled the network because insurance companies have made their work impossible and their lives miserable.
21. The 11-year-old boy denied the threat and was allowed to return to school. Tennessee State Police arrested him anyway.
By Aliyya Swaby, ProPublica, Paige Pfleger, WPLN/Nashville Public Radio
State law makes it a felony to make threats of gang violence in schools, even if they are not credible. Judges and school officials say the law causes unnecessary trauma to children.
22. Skipping School: America’s Hidden Educational Crisis
Written by Alec McGillis. Co-published with New Yorker magazine
Absenteeism has nearly doubled since the pandemic. With state and federal governments largely abandoning their role in getting kids back into classrooms, some schools are turning to private companies to reimagine their truancy officers.
Fabiola Velasquez walks her youngest child to school. Credit: Ash Ponders, Special to ProPublica
23. Even in states where universal school vouchers are available, low-income families are reluctant to use them.
Written by Eli Hager and Lucas Waldron
Working-class parents are often interested in vouchers. However, in Arizona, the nation’s center for school choice, these families are not using private schools because of their inaccessibility and the high cost of transportation, food, and uniforms.
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24. Judge Eileen Cannon failed to disclose right-wing junket
Written by Marilyn W. Thompson and Alex Miejewski
Eileen Cannon, whose oversight of the Donald Trump classified documents case drew widespread criticism, has repeatedly violated rules requiring federal judges to disclose her attendance at private seminars.
25. Third woman dies under Texas abortion ban. Doctors are avoiding D&Cs and turning to riskier treatments for miscarriage.
Written by Lizzy Presser and Kavitha Surana
The case of 35-year-old Porsha Gumezi raises questions about how abortion bans put pressure on doctors to avoid standard treatment, even for simple miscarriages.
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