Noteworthy Investigative and Explanatory Journalism Based in the District.
The little firm that got a big chunk of D.C.’s lottery and sports-gambling contract has no employees
Steve Thompson investigates the intricate web of politically-connected contractors and subcontractors behind the no-bid contract for DC’s new sports-betting system.
The Influencer
Jeffrey Anderson’s relentless investigation of veteran D.C. Councilmember Jack Evans led to council and Metro probes and Evans’s eventual resignation.
March 5, 2019
DC Housing Inspectors Approve Homes That Poison Kids
August 15, 2018
Terrence McCoy exposed how DC housing inspectors allowed children to live in homes where they were exposed to poisonous levels of lead.
Six black girls were brutally murdered in the early ’70s. Why was this case never solved?
May 22, 2018
Cheryl Thompson investigates the Freeway Phantom murders and police work that failed to find the killer.
What Really Happened at Ballou, the D.C. High School Where Every Senior Got Into College
November 28, 2017
Kate McGee investigates the DCPS system that pressured teachers to graduate students who rarely attended class at public high schools.
The Series:
The D.C. Housing Department forfeited millions as families waited for help
MAY 6, 2017
Debbie Cenziper investigates how D.C. failed to meet deadlines and was forced to return nearly $16 million for affordable housing just as Mayor Muriel Bowser was asking for millions to fund her affordable-housing programs.
The Cost of D.C. Council’s Power Over Contracts
Patrick Madden’s investigation of “pay-to-play economics in the District’s contracting process for WAMU, supported by the Fund for Investigative Journalism.
October 2014
Life Is Hell for Tenants of Giant D.C. Slumlord Sanford Capital
Alexa Mills and Andrew Giambrone expose deplorable living conditions in some of DC’s subsidized housing.
In a series of stories, Scott MacFarlane, Rick Yarborough and the News4 I-Team exposed gaping holes in DC-region education systems that allowed abusive educators to remain in classrooms, even ones who had pleaded guilty to sexual assault.
2016 – 2017
In D.C., small tax debts lead to misery, loss of homes
September 10, 2013
Michael Sallah, Debbie Cenziper and Steven Rich report out a three-part series on abuses in the District’s tax-lien system that benefits wealthy, connected real-estate operators and forces residents onto the street.
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‘Protected’ Children Died as Government Did Little
September 9, 2001
Sari Horwitz, Scott Higham and Sarah Cohen expose bureaucratic malaise and malfeasance that contributed to the deaths of 229 boys and girls from 1993 through 2000.
D.C. Police Lead Nation in Shootings
November 15, 1998
A team of Washington Post reporters investigated shootings by D.C. police that amounted to “reckless and indiscriminate gunplay” by officers.