An investigative series into New Jersey’s troubled tax break program by 2019 McGraw Fellow Jeff Pillets and Nancy Solomon of WNYC recently made local headlines and prompted a sharp rebuke from Gov. Phil Murphy.
Pillets and Solomon spent months looking into how insurance broker George Norcross and his associates reaped at least $1.1 billion in tax breaks. The story was first published by WNYC on May 1, with additional versions published by ProPublica and the Star-Ledger/NJ.com.
The series was published in partnership with ProPublica’s Local Reporting Network, with support from the McGraw Fellowship for Business Journalism at Newmark J-School. WNYC is a member of the ProPublica Local Reporting Network.
In addition, past McGraw Fellows have kept busy reporting on subjects ranging from generic drugs, copper mining in Arizona, and the oncoming wave of drone deliveries across the United States. Take a look at some of their recent work:
- William Adler, ‘15, brought readers to Nicaragua for his story about President Daniel Ortega’s secret deal with a Chinese billionaire to build a transnational canal — and the local opposition it has stirred. His investigation ran in Pacific Standard in April.
- As a follow-up to his 2016 story about plant-based protein, Rowan Jacobsen, ‘15, took a look at the growing market for egg substitutes and what that could mean for the $8 billion egg industry. “Is the Egg Toast?” was published by The New Food Economy in December 2018.
- On the heels of her new book “Bottle of Lies: The Inside Story of the Generic Drug Boom,” Katherine Eban, ‘16, recently wrote a New York Times column about the shady business and manufacturing practices behind generic drugs.
- Mort Rosenblum, ‘17, a former editor for the International Herald Tribune and longtime global correspondent for the AP, explored the the environmental, social, and economic battles that have been spurred by the resurgence of copper mining in Arizona. Harper’s Magazine published “Range Wars” in September 2018.
- Richard Korman, ‘18, explored the safety concerns surrounding delivery drones for his story published by The Seattle Times in February.