Featured Stories

The Watchdog Writers Group showcases original reporting, essays, and book excerpts from our fellows and students. These stories reflect the heart of our mission: deeply reported journalism that informs the public, challenges power, and amplifies voices from across America. Explore their work below to see how WWG fellows and student reporters are shaping the national conversation through fearless storytelling.

a female inmate
COVER STORY: “They killed their abusers. Should they spend life in prison?”
Pamela Colloff
Pamela Colloff
New York Times Magazine
February 2026
a union worker votes to strike
“These Haitian meatpacking workers may be deported. They voted to strike anyway.”
Ted Genoways
Ted Genoways
Food & Environment Reporting Network
February 2026
Mother Fletcher
“What America Lost When It Lost Mother Fletcher”
Caleb Gayle
Caleb Gayle
The Atlantic
January 2026
A picture of Chris Dols
“‘The Biggest Act of Union-Busting in U.S. History’: Trump’s War on Federal Workers”
Dan Kaufman
Dan Kaufman
The New York Times Magazine
January 2026
jet construction
“America Doesn’t Have Enough Weapons for a Major Conflict. These Workers Know Why.”
Christopher Leonard Fortune Magazine
Christopher Leonard
Politico
October 2025
file image of ICE arrest
“How an immigration raid reshaped meatpacking — and America”
Ted Genoways
Ted Genoways
High Country News
September 2025
“It Was a Promising Addiction Treatment. Many Patients Never Got It.”
Shoshana Walter
Shoshana Walter
The New York Times Magazine
August 2025
a school desk
“Could This Tiny School Break Down the Wall Between Church and State?”
Caleb Gayle
Caleb Gayle
The New York Times Magazine
December 2024
Tyson Foods cut contracts with Missouri farmers and is working to silence their legal fight
“Tyson Foods cut contracts with Missouri farmers and is working to silence their legal fight”
Egan Ward
Missouri Independent
December 2024
“The Unequal Effects of School Closings”
“The Unequal Effects of School Closings”
Alec MacGillis
Alec MacGillis
The New Yorker/ProPublica
August 2024
Dan Mika The Kansas City Beacon
“High-fee crypto ATMs center around low-income parts of Kansas City”
Dan Mika
The Kansas City Beacon
August 2023
Christopher Leonard Fortune Magazine
“Lockheed Martin’s $1.7 trillion F-35 fighter jet is 10 years late and 80% over budget—and it could be one of the Pentagon’s biggest success stories”
Christopher Leonard Fortune Magazine
Christopher Leonard
Fortune Magazine
August 2023
Reviving the soil: Boone County rancher helps lead a movement in regenerative agriculture
“Reviving the soil: Boone County rancher helps lead a movement in regenerative agriculture”
Jana Rose Schleis KBIA
Jana Rose Schleis
KBIA
July 2023
“They Followed Doctors’ Orders. Then Their Children Were Taken Away.”
“They Followed Doctors’ Orders. Then Their Children Were Taken Away.”
Shoshana Walter
Shoshana Walter
The New York Times Magazine
June 2023
“The High Cost of Bad Credit”
“The High Cost of Bad Credit”
Mya Frazier
Mya Frazier
The New York Times Magazine
June 2023
“How a Refugee’s American Dream Ended in a Police Killing”
“How a Refugee’s American Dream Ended in a Police Killing”
Ted Genoways
Ted Genoways
The New Republic
May 2023
“Black, Evangelical and Torn”
“Black, Evangelical and Torn”
Caleb Gayle
Caleb Gayle
New York Times Magazine
March 2023
“For incarcerated women, worries about losing child custody”
“For incarcerated women, worries about losing child custody”
Alisa Roth
Alisa Roth Marketplace
Marketplace
February 2023
https://www.marketplace.org/story/2022/12/27/for-incarcerated-women-with-newborns-an-indiana-prison-unit-offers-a-chance-to-bond
“For incarcerated women with newborns, an Indiana prison unit offers a chance to bond”
Alisa Roth
Alisa Roth
Marketplace
December 2022
“What Germany’s Effort to Leave Coal Behind Can Teach the U.S.”
“What Germany’s Effort to Leave Coal Behind Can Teach the U.S.”
Alec MacGillis
Alec MacGillis
The New Yorker/ProPublica
January 2022
woman with megaphone
“Biden has quietly deployed an app for asylum seekers. Privacy experts are worried”
Molly O’Toole
Molly O’Toole
Los Angeles Times
June 2021
“Beyond Big Meat”
“Beyond Big Meat”
Ted Genoways
Ted Genoways
The New Republic
August 2020
“A Debate Over Identity and Race Asks, Are African-Americans ‘Black’ or ‘black’?”
John Eligon
The New York Times
June 2020
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11th Hour Project awards $1.1 million, 3-year grant to Watchdog Writers Group
RJI Online
June 2020