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Medill Investigative Lab

Revelatory social justice reporting

Through real-time, on-the-ground reporting in Chicago, Washington, D.C. and beyond, students in the Medill Investigative Lab probe power brokers and programs that promise to provide a safety net to tens of millions of vulnerable Americans. Through this high-profile program, students learn to think, research and write like an investigative reporter, publishing groundbreaking social justice stories from the ground up.

Accountability journalism at its best

Undergraduate and graduate students at Medill apply to take part in the lab and spend two terms–one in Evanston or Chicago and one in Washington, D.C.–working side-by-side with veteran journalists on an investigation of national importance. Medill's priority is always the health and safety of our students so we may make adjustments to planned travel based on guidance from Northwestern's Office of Global Safety and Security.

Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter Debbie Cenziper, a contributing writer at ProPublica and director of investigative reporting at Medill, oversees the Lab. An advisory board made up of some of the nation's top journalists provide guidance.

Students in a living room interview sources.
A team of student journalists from the Medill Investigative Lab interview a family in Indian Country devastated by opioid abuse. Students tracked the use and abuse of pain pills in the Pacific Northwest and efforts by Native American tribes to combat overdose deaths.
Because of the Medill Investigative Lab, I feel more capable of tackling large projects and sensitive topics. The class reminded me that the heart of journalism is empathy and reaffirmed my desire to amplify marginalized voices.

Daniel Konstantino (BSJ21)

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For more information, please contact Medill Investigative Lab Director Debbie Cenziper.