JUST PUBLISHED: #Railroads and regulators have thwarted safety fixes for years, costing lives. That's according to ongoing investigations into the rail industry from the Howard Center for Investigative Journalism at the University of Maryland. Read more: cnsmaryland.org/2025/12/16/r...

Congratulations to the 2025 winners of the international AAAS Kavli Science Journalism Awards! Read the full list of this year's winners – including journalists from Australia, Canada, France, the Netherlands, Norway, and the United Kingdom. bit.ly/4oCwZtq

Congratulations to this year's winners of our Eric and Wendy Schmidt Awards for Excellence in Science Communications! Follow @scicommexcellence.nationalacademies.org to learn more about the winners and their work.

Exclusive: Assad government secretly moved mass grave to cover up killings, Reuters investigation finds reut.rs/4nYthdq

More than 2 years after the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, none of the largest U.S. freight railroads have fulfilled promises to join a federal close call program designed to reduce rail hazards and prevent accidents. The latest from our #HowardCenter's "Off the Rails" project:

Today @gijn.org is releasing our first batch of notable speakers who will be sharing their expertise at #GIJC25. This conference, our first ever in Asia, will also include a record number of session speakers from the continent. And many more big names and keynote speakers will drop soon!

The investigation documented that “non-lethal” police tactics resulted in more than 1,000 deaths in the U.S. from 2012-2021. The project involved 205 students, faculty and staff from Merrill College. #fearlessjournalism

More congratulations are in order for the #HowardCenters, AP & FRONTLINE (PBS)! "Lethal Restraint" won the prestigious Edward R. Murrow Award in the New Series (Large Digital Organization) category. VIEW the project: go.umd.edu/LethalRestraint

Our #HowardCenter partnered with our Capital News Service, Arizona State University’s Howard Center, the University of British Columbia’s Global Reporting Centre, the University of Oregon, NPR, CBC and The Narwhal. Stories will be distributed by AP. cnsmaryland.org/off-the-rails

More than two years have passed since the damaging 2023 train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio. But the serious questions raised by the disaster remain. The latest collaboration led by our #HowardCenter — "Off the Rails" — explores those questions. cnsmaryland.org/off-the-rails

For this investigation, the Howard Center worked in collaboration with @globalreportingcentre.org and others. The team reviewed hundreds of documents, interviewed dozens of individuals and obtained unprecedented access to rail data. Stay tuned for more findings ... cnsmaryland.org/off-the-rails/

“We've never experienced anything of this magnitude in my entire career,” said Chris Wachter, Paulsboro’s police chief. 📰Full story: cnsmaryland.org/2025/08/06/m... 📽️ Video, "Aftermath of a hazardous chemical derailment": www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7T-...

In 2012, a #derailment in Paulsboro, New Jersey, sent several tank cars carrying vinyl chloride plunging into a creek. One of the tank cars broke open, spreading a cloud of toxic gas over the surrounding area.

About once every two months, a #train derails and spills at least 1,000 gallons of toxic, flammable or corrosive chemicals in the U.S. When small communities are unprepared for a #hazmat spill, the consequences can be dire.

OUT NOW from the ‪The Howard Center for Investigative Journalism @merrillcollege.bsky.social‬: Millions of tons of hazardous materials travel along U.S. rail lines each year. What risk do these #trains pose to communities? 🧵Here's what a new investigation reveals: cnsmaryland.org/2025/08/06/m...

I wrote somethingfor @fullfact.org about the ways in which the disappearing archive makes their work even harder but more important. I'm a trustee & continue to be amazed at their resiliency in an age of AI slop and attacks against those who investigate accuracy. fullfact.org/technology/m...

Merrill College can offer you so many opportunities as a grad student. Hear all about it from graduated master's student Cait Kelley! Become #merrillmade. APPLY TODAY at go.umd.edu/MerrillMasters

We are proud to announce five #merrillmade journalists will receive hands-on investigative reporting experiences with major nonprofit newsrooms as the Scripps Howard Foundation's NEW class of Roy W. Howard Fellows. 🧵

Are you a local freelancer or staff reporter seeking funding on your next investigative story? Our new website lays out clear guidelines and tips on how to secure a SpotlightDC grant. spotlightdc.org/apply/

Exciting news from SpotlightDC: we have a new website! 🎉 It's never been easier to read some of the best accountability journalism happening in the District. You can look through all 30+ SpotlightDC-funded stories on topics like housing, climate, substance use, and more at spotlightdc.org/stories/

Our #HowardCenter won an IRE Award (Student - Large category) for their "Planes, Trains and Luxury Stays" investigation into congressional travel! Congratulations to all the #merrillmade students, faculty and staff who contributed to this important work! www.ire.org/announcing-t...

The IRE Award for Investigations Triggered by Breaking News goes to @thebaltimorebanner.com for reporting on the Key Bridge collapse. “This was a colossal effort for 24 hours, with journalists waking up in the middle of the night and working well together.” www.thebaltimorebanner.com/specials/key...

The Print/Online Division I Award goes to @wsj.com for “The Great Medicare Scandal.” With groundbreaking new data uncovering financial impropriety within Medicare Advantage, judges called this “a clear winner.” www.wsj.com/articles/med...

The Student (Large) Award goes to Howard Center for Investigative Journalism at UMD and @bostonu.bsky.social for “Planes, Trains and Luxury Stays.” Judges were impressed by the amount of data analyzed and the interactive database for readers. cnsmaryland.org/congressiona...

IRE was founded Feb. 22, 1975 in Reston, Virginia — exactly 50 years ago today! This milestone is special. It means that for half a century, our members have stayed true to the belief that journalism can help us all live in a better, more informed world. www.ire.org/ire-50th-news/

Come see me at NICAR: I'm doing a session about Data Viz with Illustrator and another about using the DataWrapper API in R. And, friends, let's grab coffee! @ire-nicar.bsky.social

Journalists are under fire now more than ever. Come to this IRE webinar to learn how to put up safeguards to protect yourself, how to respond when your work and your safety are threatened, and how newsroom leaders can help. 🗓️ Thursday, March 27 www.ire.org/event/free-w...

NEW INVESTIGATION 🚍: Baltimore City is the only district in the state that doesn't offer most students a yellow bus ride after elementary school. When that policy collided with school choice, it turned getting to class on time into a nightmare. Read ⬇️ www.thebaltimorebanner.com/education/k-...

Investigative Reporters and Editors is turning 50! 🎉 IRE was founded Feb. 22, 1975 in Reston, Virginia — exactly 50 years ago this Saturday! To celebrate this historic milestone, we have several exciting events coming up throughout the year. Stay tuned for a special announcement tomorrow!

IRE is celebrating its 50th birthday — and you’re invited to the party! Check out these special events and join us ⬇️🎊 www.ire.org/ire-50th-news/

🚨 NEWS: Large amounts of food in limbo. US factories making therapeutic nutrition for starving children shuttered. US policymakers blind on developing food crises. Food in hot Sudan warehouses as famine sweeps the country. The global famine response system upended. www.reuters.com/world/halt-u...

The Trump administration’s effort to slash and reshape American foreign aid is crippling the intricate global system that aims to prevent and respond to famine reut.rs/4jRBDBV

You can read much of this year’s comprehensive coverage on the growing hunger crisis by @reuters here: www.reuters.com/investigates...

Hunger and malnutrition have increased across Sudan since 2023, when the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces began battling for control reut.rs/3ZFzQaI 1/5

In three countries now suffering severe food crises, Reuters found that governments or rebels have blocked or falsified the flow of data to the world’s primary hunger monitor or have tried to suppress its findings reut.rs/3ODhXTJ 1/5

Twenty years ago in Somalia, conflict, drought and government collapse threatened to plunge 200,000 people into famine. Out of it came the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, a linchpin in today’s system for monitoring and alleviating hunger reut.rs/3ODhXTJ

“It inadvertently gives a veto to any belligerent party that does not want a famine declared” @jeremykonyndyk.bsky.social on how local govts and rebels can sometimes hamper the IPC classification process in a critical new @reuters investigation on famine determination in ongoing+past hunger crises.