Scientist Who Helped Prove Humans Changed the Climate Watches Evidence Being Erased

The data sources that trace humanity’s effect on the climate are under threat.

Under the Trump administration, publication of scientific reports is being frozen and some records risk being removed from public access. The National Centers for Environmental Information, which houses critical archives, has significantly reduced its staff. The White House has also moved to terminate a key contract with the firm responsible for producing the National Climate Assessment, casting doubt on the completion of the next scheduled report. Computer models and observational records climate scientist Ben Santer helped build are in the crosshairs.

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Public Press Wins 2025 Izzy Award for Series Investigating Human Radiation Experimentation

The San Francisco Public Press is proud to announce that our investigative series, “Exposed: The Human Radiation Experiments at Hunters Point,” has been honored with a 2025 Izzy Award for outstanding achievement in independent media.

The Park Center for Independent Media at Ithaca College presents this prominent national award annually to spotlight exceptional work in journalism. Named for trailblazing investigative journalist I.F. Stone, who in 1953 launched a fiercely independent newsletter that exposed government deception, racism and McCarthyism, the Izzy Award honors muckraking produced outside traditional corporate media structures.

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A New Chapter for the San Francisco Public Press

As I transition away from my role as executive director at the San Francisco Public Press, I am filled with gratitude to the community of collaborators who helped build it and optimism for the future of local journalism.

For 15 years, we’ve worked to establish an investigative workshop for the city and region grounded in idealism, resilience and innovation. Now, I’m shifting my focus to environmental and science writing, putting the organization’s direction in the capable hands of co-founder Lila LaHood.

Nuala Bishari selected by ProPublica

Public Press Reporter Nuala Bishari Selected for ProPublica Local Reporting Network Fellowship

ProPublica, a national nonprofit investigative journalism organization, has selected San Francisco Public Press reporter Nuala Bishari as one of three fellows for its Local Reporting Network. Bishari and the Public Press’ editorial team will work with a ProPublica senior editor to co-publish her local accountability stories about housing and homelessness for a year, starting April 1. ProPublica will also provide expertise in data, research, engagement, video and design. Other newsrooms participating in the Local Reporting Network this year are Open Vallejo, a Bay Area nonprofit startup, and Outlier Media in Detroit. This group of projects is made possible by a grant from Knight Foundation.

Seth Rosenfeld

Seth Rosenfeld Wins Local Freedom of Information Award for Report on Ride-Hailing Safety

A regional journalism organization recognized freelance investigative reporter Seth Rosenfeld with a freedom-of-information award this week for his Public Press series exposing secrecy and lax state regulation of the burgeoning ride-hailing industry. Rosenfeld spent five months in late 2019 and early 2020 digging into the cozy relationship between the California Public Utilities Commission and the companies it purportedly regulated, Uber and Lyft. In “Ride-Hailing’s Dark Data,” launched online in January 2020 and as a print edition cover story, Rosenfeld found that for six years the commission withheld from public view annual safety reports detailing the industry’s troubling record of crashes and injuries, with sometimes deadly consequences.

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Covering Coronavirus and the New Normal

With the global coronavirus outbreak bearing down on us, the Public Press is committed to serving the community with relevant, timely and accurate information about public health and the response by local institutions. We pledge to remain nimble in our news coverage and provide clarity about important developments where needed. We’re focused on following storylines we have tackled for a long time — vulnerable populations including the homeless, the housing insecure, youth and those reliant on public health services — and safety information of direct utility to the general public. We realize it will be a long time before many people feel comfortable attending public in-person events. We are postponing most of the half-dozen gatherings we were planning for the coming months, and are exploring hosting virtual public meetings and online forums. Stay tuned for details.

Top: Je Kyu Ko, editor of Sisa-IN, with a papier-mâché caricature of North Korean “Rocket Man” Kim Jong-Un. Below: Speaking at the Korea Press Center in December, and a visit to Sisa-IN’s headquarters with INN director Sue Cross.

A Free Press Is Taking Root in South Korea

Corruption of national leaders. A fragile democracy teetering between constitutional order and authoritarianism. A desperate populace leaning on journalists to hold the powerful to account. While those patterns resonate in many countries — and the news cycle suggests the United States in early 2020 — it’s encouraging to know that journalists across the globe are working bravely to create independent muckraking institutions. That is my take-away from a December trip to South Korea, where a vibrant new journalistic culture has taken hold despite the constant threat of government corruption and control by dominant corporations.