• by Ray Schultz , Columnist, April 1, 2025

The 36-year-old nonprofit newsroom has stopped publishing and is negotiating to turn its archives over to the Project on Government Oversight (POGO), according to the Columbia Journalism Review. In addition, Wesley J. Lowery has resigned as board chairman.  

All that is unfortunate, given the contributions made by CPI. It won a Pulitzer Prize in 2014 for investigative reporting on a system that deprived coal miners of health care benefits. It has also garnered an Edward R. Murrow award for general excellence.

In its last big piece, titled “Forty Acres and a Lie,” CPI reported on how the government seized land given to formerly enslaved people at the end of the Civil War—1½ years after providing it to them, the Columbia Journalism Review reported. It was co-published with Mother Jones and the Center for Investigative Reporting’s Reveal in June 2024. 

But CPI hit hard times, falling $2.5 million short of its $6 million revenue goal for 2023. In February 2024, The New York Times reported that CPI was contemplating either a merger or closing down. That month, Paul Cheung resigned as chief executive, and Matt DeRienzo as editor in chief. 

CPI had around 25 people on staff at the start of 2024, but “as of November 30, it has none,” the Columbia Journalism Review continues.  

CPI was founded in 1987 by Charles Lewis.  

Investigative reporting is far from easy even in the best of circumstances. We can only applaud the staff for its work and hope that its members bring their skill and courage to other publications.