Watchdog media group ProPublica recognizes four US government reports featuring solid investigative work. Winners range from the Inspector General of the Department of Interior to the Los Angeles City Controller. But at the federal level… well, it’s slim pickings.
Notably, ProPublica’s “jury chose to award no Prize in the category of Federal Investigation/Independent Agency.” In most countries this category would be owned by the Office of the Ombudsman or maybe the Human Rights Commission, but as we note in the Global Integrity Report: United States, neither of those agencies even exist in the United States. Of course, there is the Government Accountability Office, the federal auditor, which apparently couldn’t turn out a winning report. So if the LA city controller can get it right, what’s holding the GAO back?
— Jonathan Eyler-Werve
