Esther Kaplan | Bloggers | The Investigative Fund

Esther Kaplan

- Credit: DAVID BARREDA
- Esther Kaplan is a radio and print journalist and editor of the Investigative Fund at The Nation Institute. She has written for The Nation, The American Prospect, In These Times, The Village Voice, and other publications. She is the author of With God on Their Side: George W. Bush and the Christian Right (New Press), which Ms. magazine called "a frightening and necessary read." She is co-host of Beyond the Pale, a weekly program covering Jewish culture and politics, on WBAI in New York City.
  
  She was formerly a senior editor at The Nation and features editor at Poz, the award-winning national AIDS magazine. She began her journalism career as an assistant editor at The Village Voice, where she became a regular contributor to the Female Trouble and Street Beat columns.

The Backstory: Alyssa Katz
Alyssa Katz walks us through the complexities of the unfolding foreclosure crisis and explains how she identified a new breed of profiteers, ready to gain from others' loss.

The Backstory: A.C. Thompson
A.C. Thompson on how it took him a year and a half to uncover a hidden story from the days after Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans — armed white vigilantes attacked African Americans fleeing the floodwaters with a nod and a wink from the local police

Hazing Arizona
Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Maricopa County, Arizona, is infamous for his zeal against illegal immigration. David de la Fuente, who was in Arpaio's notorious Durango Jail and contracted acute pneumonia during his jail stay, died soon after his deportation to Mexico.

Straight Man's Burden
It was a Ugandan member of parliament who introduced the bill that would penalize homosexuality with life imprisonment or death, but the idea traces back to a secretive American evangelical movement known as The Family.

The Secret Campaign of Mike Bloomberg
In 2009, in a tightening race against an African American opponent, Mayor Bloomberg paid $1.2 million to a political operative to do "ballot security," often a ruse for voter suppression. He disguised the payment as a donation to The Independence Party — and then failed to report it.

Marissa Colon-Margolies
Worker Abuses Abound in Oil Cleanup Scandal
Unthinkably, another oil rig has exploded off the Gulf Coast. No one died in the explosion that occurred around 9 a.m. this morning, but there have been conflicting reports of worker injuries. An oil slick a mile long and 100 feet wide has already been spotted...

George Warner
'Take Back New Orleans'
One phrase haunts both Law & Disorder and If God is Willing and da Creek Don't Rise, two television documentaries released this week featuring the work of Investigative Fund reporter A.C. Thompson: "Take back New Orleans."

Jayati Vora
Investigative Fund reporters on PBS and Fresh Air
Tune in to tonight's episode of PBS' Frontline to catch the story of Henry Glover, a victim of police violence in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. His murder was first uncovered by The Investigative Fund's A.C. Thompson...

- The Nation Institute
- Founded in 1966, The Nation Institute has long been committed to promoting the values of free speech and open discourse. At this time of media consolidation and crisis, the Institute places particular importance on strengthening the independent press. The Institute promotes independent reporting and progressive change through a wide variety of programs:
- The Investigative Fund
- The Investigative Fund provides support for the costs associated with investigative journalism to help improve the scope and quality of investigative reporting in the independent press and beyond. We emphasize reporting with the potential for social impact, on subjects ignored by the mainstream media. We publish work in a variety of print, broadcast, and electronic outlets.
- - Investigations
  - Blog
  - Reporters
  - About us
  - Support us
  - Contact us
- How to apply
- Our editors accept proposals directly from reporters and editors. The first step is to email us a query and a budget request. It's useful to include information about what's enterprising about the research, your reporting plan, the story's potential impact, and what outlet is interested in the piece. Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis.