The Kentucky Center for Investigative Reporting team likes to seek out issues that impact people across the state, pinpoint the perpetrators of injustice and inequity and highlight the people looking for solutions.
Every year, our small team turns down countless requests from people wanting us to dig into allegations of corruption, chicanery, malfeasance or wrongs. This year was no different.
Communities need more reporters willing to sift through muck to find truth and to shine a light in darkened places. But the news industry is on the ropes. Artificial intelligence, misinformation, and echo chamber politics are hurling heavy blows to how information is shared across the country.
KyCIR is trying to fight back by digging deep on complex issues and telling stories rooted in empathy, context and truth.
Here’s some of our work from this year.
Why an effective miscarriage medication is hard to get in Kentucky
KyCIR reporter Morgan Watkins revealed how a quagmire of systemic breakdowns makes it nearly impossible for pregnant people in Kentucky to obtain a safe and effective medication to treat miscarriages.
Kentucky disasters highlight “entire new economy”
Former KyCIR reporter Jared Bennett followed the fallout of multiple disasters throughout the state. Notably, his reporting on the aftermath of the deadly 2021 floods in Eastern Kentucky exposed a lucrative industry tied to disaster.
Water pollution and the push to protect the Ohio River Basin
Reporter Morgan Watkins spent months digging into the push to weaken pollution regulations in Kentucky and the efforts to reverse the impacts that generations of neglect have had on the Ohio River.
The man who helped end public segregation in Louisville
KyCIR reporter Jess Clark interviewed Rauol Cunningham, a venerable Black Louisvillian who started pushing back against discriminatory policies when he was a teen in the 1960s.
Records shine light on UofL president ouster
Jess Clark obtained emails that countered the public narrative surrounding former University of Louisville president Kim Schatzel’s abrupt exit in February.
A pickleball boondoggle
Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg served up some controversy this spring when he proposed building a pickleball complex in a public park. Reporter Morgan Watkins dug in and got the receipts.
Rats!
The city was buzzing about rats earlier this year. Reporter Giselle Rhoden found the cheese.
The school board looks into a billboard
Reporter Jess Clark had a hunch after seeing a thank you note to the former Jefferson County Public Schools superintendent emblazoned on a billboard above downtown Louisville. The resulting story prompted an inquiry from school board leaders.
A very gross problem
KyCIR’s summer intern, Andrea Galliano, reported on an issue that’s plagued downtown for some time: human and animal waste. His questions sparked angry pushback from the mayor’s staff.
LMPD shares data with immigration dragnet
Reporters Morgan Watkins, Roberto Roldan and Justin Hicks examined how local police agencies across the country — including the Louisville Metro Police Department — are sharing data collected by a vast network of license plate reader cameras. The reporting led LMPD to open an investigation into one of its own officers.
“Dig: The Girls”
We launched a new season of our award-winning investigative podcast, “Dig.” Reporter Jess Clark spent more than 18 months digging into the case of Ronnie and Donnie Stoner. The former educators and football coaches are facing more than 50 criminal charges related to more than two decades of alleged abuse. Clark examined the systems that failed along the way.
