ProPublica announced today that it has selected a reporter from the Bangor Daily News as one of five journalists nationwide to join its 50 State Initiative aimed at boosting local accountability journalism.
Sawyer Loftus, an investigative reporter on the BDN’s Maine Focus team, will spend a year starting July 1 dedicated to a reporting project that will be co-published by ProPublica and the BDN.
“Sawyer has done terrific work for the BDN since he joined us,” said Todd Benoit, president of the Bangor Daily News. “His work had an immediate impact, and he has only grown stronger with time. We’re proud of him for this achievement and proud to be part of the ProPublica effort.”
Loftus joined the BDN in 2021 after graduating from the University of Vermont, where he oversaw more than 100 newspaper staff members as editor in chief of The Cynic. He was named Maine’s top young journalist by the Maine Press Association in 2022.
Loftus’ stories have resulted in the arrest of the same property manager two times; exposed the unethical dealings of a county official that led to the dissolution of a lobbying contract; and revealed for the first time the questionable actions of a police officer who shot a suicidal man who did not have a gun.
The selected journalists are Loftus, Dave Altimari with the Connecticut Mirror, Spencer Norris with New York Focus, Jacob Orledge with North Dakota Monitor, and Emily Schwing for KUYK, a public radio station in Alaska.
They are the first group selected as part of the 50 State Initiative, a program of ProPublica’s Local Reporting Network. As part of the initiative, ProPublica has committed to taking one project from each state by 2029.
The independent, nonprofit newsroom dedicated to investigative journalism partners with local news organizations to pay the salary and benefits of reporters, and provides editing and other support. Since 2018, the Local Reporting Network has worked with more than 70 news organizations across the country.
“It is exciting to work with journalists from our first five states and to think about reaching so many more,” ProPublica’s Assistant Managing Editor Sarah Blustain said. “The 50 State Initiative has become an incredible opportunity for us to develop dialogue with reporters and editors throughout the country.”
