
Verite News and veteran reporter Richard A. Webster have been selected to join ProPublica’s Local Reporting Network for a two-year partnership beginning in January. Verite was one of five newsrooms selected to be part of the network, which ProPublica launched in 2018 to boost investigative reporting at local news outlets.
“Rich is an incredibly talented, diligent reporter with a keen eye for important stories,” said Verite News Editor-in-Chief Terry Baquet. “And we are thrilled to once again partner with ProPublica.”
Webster has worked with the Local Reporting Network twice before. In 2021, his Local Reporting Network series “Unwatched”— published in partnership with WWNO and WRKF — took a close look at allegations of abuse and racial bias by the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office.
And his 2022 series “Disaster After Disaster” — published in partnership with The Times-Picayune and WWL-TV — exposed how the state’s mismanagement of the post-Katrina Road Home program resulted in thousands of grants being misspent. Despite its own culpability, the state sued grant recipients to recover the money. Following the publication of the first several stories in the series, the state this year announced it would drop the suits.
Webster, who joined Verite News in January, previously was a member of the Times-Picayune’s investigative team, reporting on numerous special projects including “The Children of Central City,” an in-depth look at childhood trauma through the lens of a youth football team; “A Fragile State,” a multipart series on Louisiana’s mental health care system; and “Dying at OPP,” which examined the deaths of inmates in Orleans Parish Prison. Since coming to work for Verite, he has covered allegations of police abuse and other law enforcement issues in New Orleans, Jefferson Parish and St. Tammany Parish.
He has also continued to work with ProPublica while at Verite, co-publishing several stories with the New York-based national news outlet, including his recent coverage of Markus Lanieux, who was sentenced to life after fleeing a traffic stop in Kenner — the result of the state’s harsh habitual offender law.
As a Local Reporting Network fellow, Webster will continue to report on criminal justice in Louisiana. He is always looking for tips and can be reached at [email protected].