ProPublica has announced that Wendi C. Thomas, the founder of the award-winning nonprofit newsroom MLK50: Justice Through Journalism, will rejoin ProPublica’s Distinguished Fellows program. Thomas is set to undertake investigative projects in collaboration with ProPublica through April 2027.
Charles Ornstein, ProPublica’s managing editor for local reporting, expressed enthusiasm about Thomas returning to the Local Reporting Network. He highlighted her deep understanding of Memphis and the South and noted her role as a strong advocate for those often overlooked, correcting injustices and challenging those in power to confront difficult truths.
From 2019 to 2021, Thomas was a partner in ProPublica’s Local Reporting Network. During this time, her series “Profiting From the Poor” revealed the predatory debt collection practices of the largest healthcare system in Memphis, prompting the hospital to reverse course and forgive patients’ debts. The series received several accolades, including the Selden Ring Award for Investigative Reporting, a Gerald Loeb Award for local reporting, an award from the Association of Health Care Journalists for business reporting, and shared the top position for the Investigative Reporters & Editors Award in the print/online category.
MLK50: Justice Through Journalism was founded by Thomas in 2017 following her fellowship at Harvard’s Nieman Foundation for Journalism. Initially launched with $3,000, the organization has expanded to an annual budget exceeding $2 million, significantly impacting the most vulnerable residents of Memphis. Thomas’s previous experience includes roles as a metro columnist and assistant managing editor at The Commercial Appeal in Memphis, and she has worked with The Charlotte Observer, The Tennessean, and The Indianapolis Star. She is a Butler University alumna and a product of Memphis City Schools.
Thomas’s work as a Local Reporting Network partner has earned her numerous honors, including the 2023 I.F. Stone Medal for Journalistic Independence and the 2022 Freedom of the Press Local Champion Award from the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. Her establishment of MLK50: Justice Through Journalism brought her the National Association of Black Journalists’ Best Practices award in 2019 and the Journalist of the Year accolade from the Journalism and Women Symposium in 2018.
Reflecting on her experience with ProPublica, Thomas stated that it allowed her to achieve some of her career’s best work and learn from some of the most knowledgeable individuals in the field. She expressed her eagerness to return and continue advocating for the city’s most vulnerable populations.
The Local Reporting Network, launched in 2018, has collaborated on over 100 projects with more than 80 newsrooms. It is part of ProPublica’s 50 State Initiative, announced last year, which aims to work with news organizations in every state on accountability stories in the coming years.
