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Investigative reporting by Center for Public Integrity journalists about student homelessness and the legacy of pollution in communities of colour was recognized amongst the greatest information journalism in the globe on Friday at the 2023 Sigma Awards.

Senior reporter Yvette Cabrera’s perform on the toxic legacy of lead contamination in American cities whilst a journalist at Grist was recognized with a Sigma Award as a single of the 11 greatest information journalism investigations in the globe, a single of only 4 from the U.S. to make the list. The final installment of that project, searching at options, will be published by Public Integrity and Grist this month.

“Unhoused and Undercounted,” an investigation by Public Integrity information journalist Amy DiPierro and senior reporter Corey Mitchell in partnership with The Seattle Instances, Street Sense Media and WAMU/DCist, produced the Sigma Awards’ shortlist, amongst the 60 greatest information journalism investigations in the globe out of 638 entries. They utilised a ground-breaking comparison of federal education information to show that nearby college districts undercounted extra than 300,000 homeless students across the nation and failed to deliver solutions as expected by federal law.

Unhoused and Undercounted

Federal law calls for that public schools help homeless students to aid break what could turn out to be an inescapable cycle of hardship. But quite a few of the students who have to have that help fall via the cracks.

“We’re excited for the recognition in an inspiring year for information journalism,” stated Public Integrity editor Jamie Smith Hopkins, the lead editor on the Unhoused and Undercounted project. “A highly effective information evaluation can aid persons repair difficulties, fight discrimination and reside far better lives.”

Cabrera’s series, in collaboration with Grist senior information reporter Clayton Aldern, constructed on her years of meticulous testing for lead in the soils of Santa Ana, California.

“Soil lead contamination is a pervasive, risky difficulty in urban centers all through the United States, but mainly because lead particles are invisible, this threat is hard to pinpoint, specifically the hot spots that endanger the overall health of so quite a few kids in low-revenue neighborhoods and communities of colour,” Cabrera stated. “What’s most rewarding is how the neighborhood of Santa Ana has galvanized about this concern and pressed the city for action, resulting in a 2022 common strategy update that pledges to address this toxic threat.”

Public Integrity, a Pulitzer Prize-winning nonprofit news organization that confronts inequality via investigative reporting, partners with hundreds of nearby news organizations across the nation. That involves collaborative investigations, editing, education, mentorship and access to information sets and analyses that aid nearby journalists expose inequity and hold highly effective interests accountable.

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Months just before publishing Unhoused and Undercounted, Public Integrity shared its information evaluation with nearby journalists across the nation and offered a reporting toolkit and workplace hours to aid them apply the investigation to difficulties facing homeless students in their regions.

Public Integrity journalists on a regular basis share expertise about information journalism, investigative reporting and confronting inequality with sector peers. Cabrera is president of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists and has helped create applications to enhance the quantity of reporters of colour covering environmental difficulties. 

Earlier this month, Public Integrity announced that it had acquired and will develop The Accountability Project, an revolutionary platform that makes it possible for journalists to search 1.eight billion public records and counting, as nicely as organize resulting information for evaluation in reporting. It has been utilised in award-winning and impactful accountability journalism across the nation.

Founded in 1989, the Center for Public Integrity is a single of the oldest nonprofit news organizations in the nation and is committed to investigating systems and situations that contribute to inequality in the United States.

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