Anna Clark

Reporter

Photo of Anna Clark

Anna Clark is a reporter covering issues in the Midwest. She came to ProPublica after many years working as an independent journalist with a particular interest in how cities are made and unmade. She is the author of “The Poisoned City: Flint’s Water and the American Urban Tragedy,” which won the Hillman Prize for Book Journalism and the Rachel Carson Environment Book Award. It was also a finalist for the Helen Bernstein Book Award and longlisted for the Andrew Carnegie Medal. Clark’s reporting has appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, Elle, the New Republic, the Columbia Journalism Review, the Detroit Free Press and Belt Magazine, among other publications.

Clark also edited “A Detroit Anthology,” a Michigan Notable Book, ” and she is a nonfiction faculty member in Alma College’s MFA Program in Creative Writing. She lives in Detroit.

They Were Wrongfully Convicted. Now They’re Denied Compensation Despite Michigan Law.

The state can provide the wrongfully convicted compensation of $50,000 for each year of incarceration, but the law’s narrow criteria and confusion over eligibility leave former prisoners facing another system that seems stacked against them.

Reports Analyzing the Police Response to a Mass Shooting Can Leave Unanswered Questions — if They’re Released at All

Even if an after-action investigation is released, a lack of national standards leads to wide variability in the detail of information in reports, ProPublica, The Texas Tribune and FRONTLINE found.

A Sweeping Report on a Michigan School Shooting Finds Multiple Failures and a Troubled Aftermath

Parents, already shaken by the fatal incident at Oxford High School, lost confidence in the school district when it hesitated to find and acknowledge accountability for the 2021 shooting.

Federal Scrutiny, Plunging Revenue Plague a Private College’s Attempt at a Turnaround

Baker College once was Michigan’s largest private nonprofit school, built on questionable promises of employment and cost. But a new school year brings a fresh host of financial and reputational problems.

Michigan Still Allows Emergency Takeovers of Local Governments. Is It Finally Time to Reconsider This Drastic Measure?

Under emergency management, Flint faced problems that turned catastrophic while Detroit charted a new course. That mixed record and stark racial disparities have prompted calls for change.

Baker College Faces Federal Investigation Over “Recruitment and Marketing Practices”

ProPublica and the Detroit Free Press found that Baker College spent more on marketing than it did on financial aid. Now, the school faces an inquiry by the U.S. Department of Education.

Scores of Critical Lab Tests Fall Into a Regulatory Void. The FDA Is Trying to Close It.

Lab-developed tests like prenatal screenings have become increasingly popular, all while escaping the bulk of federal scrutiny over marketing and accuracy. Now, the FDA is beginning the process of imposing regulations on these kinds of tests.

Could a Michigan School Shooting Have Been Prevented? Families Still Waiting for a Full Accounting of What Happened.

Eighteen months after the deadly shooting at Oxford High School, parents want answers from the district. The mistrust sowed in the community by the delays reflects failures across the country to methodically investigate these tragedies.

Life-Giving but Lethal: The Culprit Behind Dead Zones and the Threat to Our Water Supply

In his new book, “The Devil’s Element,” award-winning journalist Dan Egan explores the impact of phosphorus on our water and our world.

The Tests Are Vital. But Congress Decided That Regulation Is Not.

Money and lobbying help shield lab-developed tests, including prenatal screenings, from heightened federal scrutiny.

America’s Adult Education System Is Broken. Here’s How Experts Say We Can Fix It.

Experts say that more money is critical to improving the national system. Many states have developed creative solutions in spite of their limited funding.

Pregnant? Here’s What You Need to Know About NIPTs

The noninvasive prenatal testing industry confuses patients and even some doctors. So we’ve created this guide to the tests, the accuracy of results, cost and more.

A Fifth of American Adults Struggle to Read. Why Are We Failing to Teach Them?

The nation’s approach to adult education has so far neglected to connect the millions of people struggling to read with the programs set up to help them.

They Trusted Their Prenatal Test. They Didn’t Know the Industry Is an Unregulated “Wild West.”

As regulators stay on the sideline, a growing industry expands its reach but leaves some pregnant patients feeling misled and heartbroken.

One in Five Americans Struggles to Read. We Want to Understand Why.

This is not only an individual hardship but a societal crisis. We want to look at the root causes that make reading inaccessible for so many people.

These Children Fled Afghanistan Without Their Families. They’re Stuck in U.S. Custody.

Nearly 200 Afghan children brought here without family by the U.S. government during the haphazard military pullout are languishing in federal custody.

Baker College Threatens Legal Action Against Former Teacher Who Talked to Reporters

Jacqueline Tessmer spoke out about students who left school without jobs or degrees, saying Baker “ruined” lives. And she’s not retracting her statements.

The Nonprofit College That Spends More on Marketing Than Financial Aid

Baker College promises students a better life. But few ever graduate, and even those who do often leave with crushing debt and useless degrees. No one — not the board, nor the accreditors, nor the federal government — has intervened.

Have You Had an Experience With Prenatal Genetic Testing? We’d Like to Hear About It — and See the Bill.

We want to understand more about your interactions with genetic screening providers, such as Progenity, Natera, Harmony and others.

The Unfinished Business of Flint’s Water Crisis

Criminal charges and a class-action settlement may seem like the last chapter in Flint’s story, but many of the most important reforms at the root of the city’s water crisis remain undone.

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