Hi Reader,
ProPublica investigated Connecticut’s towing industry last year, and we found a mess under the hood.
In partnership with The Connecticut Mirror, we exposed a wide range of abuses committed by towing companies across the state and revealed a system skewed in favor of towing companies, often at the expense of low-income residents. State laws were changed in the wake of our stories, addressing nearly every issue exposed by our reporting.
Today, we learned that this series was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for local reporting. This is ProPublica’s ninth Pulitzer since our founding in 2008.
We are particularly proud because this series exemplifies our newsroom’s collaborative local reporting model. “Start with strong local journalists who have good ideas, give them the time and resources to pursue them to their fullest potential, add to the mix ProPublica’s top-notch editing and specialty teams and watch what happens,” said Charles Ornstein, ProPublica’s managing editor for local.
In “On the Hook,” CT Mirror reporters Dave Altimari and Ginny Monk highlighted how towing companies could start the process to sell people’s cars after 15 days, one of the shortest windows in the country, if the company deemed the car to be worth less than $1,500. Through a long public records battle, complex data analysis by ProPublica reporters Sophie Chou and Haru Coryne, and innovative engagement reporting, the reporters discovered that tow truck companies were drastically undervaluing cars compared with the book value, allowing them to sell cars more quickly. They revealed that towing companies often held on to people’s belongings, including work equipment and mementos that had sentimental value, as leverage to get them to pay exorbitant fees. The companies were also not abiding by a law that requires them to hold onto the profits of sold cars and turn them over to the state so owners can claim the money — because the DMV never set up a system to collect it.
The impact of this reporting was swift. Within 24 hours of the first story, Connecticut DMV leadership announced it was reviewing towing practices, and lawmakers quickly passed a bill overhauling the state’s century-old towing statutes to better protect consumers from predatory practices, with additional reforms in the works.
The Pulitzer Board also recognized two other reporting projects from 2025. Our series about how the Food and Drug Administration has for years allowed risky drugs to enter the United States was named a finalist for investigative reporting, and our series about the fallout from the destruction of the U.S. Agency for International Development was named a finalist for explanatory reporting. With these honors, our newsroom has received 14 Pulitzer finalist designations in 18 years.
Our work consistently earns some of journalism’s most prestigious awards because we’re powered by readers who believe in the value of independent, investigative reporting. Your support gives us the resources and freedom to dig into systemic inequalities, deceptive practices and policy failures so that people, armed with the facts, can make real change in communities across the country. Thank you for standing with us.
Best wishes,
Robin Sparkman
President, ProPublica
