Ava Kofman

Reporter

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Ava Kofman is a reporter on ProPublica’s national desk. She joined the newsroom in January 2019, after working as a contributing writer at The Intercept, where she covered technology.

In 2021, she reported with colleagues on toxic air pollution across the United States. The team’s examination of the country’s “Sacrifice Zones,” which helped spur several reforms, was a finalist for the Goldsmith Prize and a National Magazine award.

Kofman’s 2022 investigation of the hospice industry prompted numerous policy changes. It received the 2023 Hillman Prize for Magazine Journalism and was a finalist for the Livingston Award.

Her work has also been honored by the Association of Health Care Journalists, the Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing, and the National Press Club. It has appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine, Harper’s Magazine and The Atlantic, among other places.

Can Air Pollution Cause Cancer? What You Need to Know About the Risks.

If you live close to certain industrial facilities, you may have a higher estimated cancer risk. This may sound alarming. Here are answers to common questions, some crowdsourced tips and how to share your experience to help our investigation.

The Broken Front Line

As the winter’s surge of coronavirus cases overwhelmed Los Angeles hospitals, EMTs like Michael Diaz were forced to take previously unthinkable measures. What lasting impact will the pandemic have on America’s first responders?

New Bill Proposes Stopping Unemployment Agencies That Make Mistakes From Demanding Money Back

State unemployment agencies have been demanding recipients repay thousands of dollars, even if the agency made the mistake and the money’s already been spent. After ProPublica investigated the practice, legislators are trying to end it.

“We Don’t Even Know Who Is Dead or Alive”: Trapped Inside an Assisted Living Facility During the Pandemic

What it’s like to stay alive as the virus charts its fatal course through a home for the elderly in one of the worst-hit neighborhoods in the Bronx.

He Made a Minor Mistake Filling Out an Unemployment Form. Then the State Demanded $14,990 From Him.

State unemployment agencies are discovering errors in payments affecting hundreds of thousands of jobless Americans. Even when the agencies made the original error, they’re taking aggressive steps to get the money back.

Black Workers Are More Likely to Be Unemployed but Less Likely to Get Unemployment Benefits

More people than ever became eligible for unemployment benefits after Congress included part-time and gig workers, but the data shows that hasn’t solved a huge racial disparity. Here’s why.

How North Carolina Transformed Itself Into the Worst State to Be Unemployed

Across the country, unemployment systems are collapsing under an unprecedented number of claims. But some state systems, like North Carolina’s, have long made it harder to receive unemployment benefits.

Substitute Pharmacists Warn Their Co-Workers: We’ll Probably Bring the Virus to You

With regular employees out sick, CVS and Walgreens rely on traveling workers to fill in at short notice. But when these floaters show up at a store, they often aren’t told if anyone there has tested positive.

Pharmacy Workers Are Coming Down With COVID-19. But They Can’t Afford to Stop Working.

As prescriptions surge, Walgreens and CVS employees say they need more protective gear, cleaning supplies and sick pay. “Someone will come into work sick and there’s nothing anyone can do about it,” a pharmacist says.

The Hate Store: Amazon’s Self-Publishing Arm Is a Haven for White Supremacists

The company gives extremists and neo-Nazis banned from other platforms unprecedented access to a mainstream audience — and even promotes their books.

Doctors Are Hoarding Unproven Coronavirus Medicine by Writing Prescriptions for Themselves and Their Families

Pharmacists told ProPublica that they are seeing unusual and fraudulent prescribing activity as doctors stockpile unproven coronavirus drugs endorsed by President Donald Trump.

Facebook Ads Can Still Discriminate Against Women and Older Workers, Despite a Civil Rights Settlement

New research and Facebook’s own ad archive show that the company’s new system to ensure diverse audiences for housing and employment ads has many of the same problems as its predecessor.

YouTube Promised to Label State-Sponsored Videos But Doesn’t Always Do So

We found more than 50 government-funded channels from countries including Russia, Iran and the United States that the Google subsidiary failed to flag.

The Hedge Fund Billionaire’s Guide to Buying Your Kids a Better Shot at Not Just One Elite College, but Lots of Them

Most tycoons give big to one or two universities as their children approach college age. David Shaw gave to seven.

Digital Jail: How Electronic Monitoring Drives Defendants Into Debt

Ankle bracelets are promoted as a humane alternative to jail. But private companies charge defendants hundreds of dollars a month to wear the surveillance devices. If people can’t pay, they may end up behind bars.

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