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Kimbriell Kelly

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Kimbriell Kelly
Born
Kimbriell Kelly
NationalityAmerican
Alma materSaint Xavier University
Boston University
Occupation(s)Editor
Investigative Reporter
Years active2004 - present
EmployerLos Angeles Times
AwardsPulitzer Prize

Kimbriell Kelly is an American journalist and expert on public records requests,[1] currently working as Washington Bureau Chief for the Los Angeles Times. She is a former Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter at the Washington Post.[2][3]

Early life

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Kelly is originally from the Chicago area and is a 1997 graduate of Saint Xavier University as well as a 1998 graduate of Boston University.[4][5]

Career

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Kelly began her career at the Daily Herald and subsequently the Chicago Reporter.[5][6] While in Illinois, Kelly hosted a public-affairs show on WFLD -Channel 32 and a weekly radio show on Chicago Public Media WBEZ 91.5-FM.[7]

Kelly then worked in Washington, DC as an investigative reporter at the Washington Post, where she became an expert in public records requests and Freedom of Information Act requests.[1]

In 2019,[7] Kelly left the Post to become the deputy editor for Enterprise and Investigations in the Washington Bureau of the Los Angeles Times.[3] In that role, Kelly lead a team of five reporters focused on policy and issues of public record.[5] Kelly is currently the Times' Washington Bureau Chief.[8]

Kelly is also a visiting lecturer in the Humanities Council and Ferris professor of journalism at Princeton University.[1][3]

Fatal Force project

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While at the Post, Kelly worked on the "Fatal Force" project,[9][10] a database that tracked 990 police shootings in 2015.[11] At the time, neither the federal government nor state governments had comprehensive, nationwide data on police killings.[12][13] Drawing on databases put together by nonprofit groups as well as local newspaper reports, law enforcement websites and social media, Lowery and colleagues built out the Post's Fatal Force database.

Kelly was one of 70 staffers from multiple departments assembled the database and compiled stories, photos, data, graphics, and videos about trends revealed by the information.[4] The Post has continued to update its database since its founding.

Pulitzer Prize

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The Fatal Force project, on which Kelly was one of the lead authors (also see Wesley Lowery), won the Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting in 2016,[14] and the Justice Department announced a pilot program to begin collecting a more comprehensive set of use-of-force statistics in 2017.[15]

Kelly found out about the 2016 win when she was on her honeymoon in Aruba.[4] She coauthored the first story in the series and did the necessary data analysis of two decades of police prosecutions. Kelly explained that the project "raised greater accountability in how statistics nationally are kept and prompted an overhaul of those efforts. I’m proud that I got to be a part of something that makes a difference."[4]

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Princeton University - Kimbriell Kelly". Princeton Humanities Council. 2020. Archived from the original on 2020-06-21. Retrieved 2020-06-19.
  2. ^ Martelli, A. J. "MLK Breakfast: Pulitzer winner discusses continuing fight for justice". The Poughkeepsie Journal. Retrieved 2020-06-19.
  3. ^ a b c "Kimbriell Kelly — Princeton Journalism". journalism.princeton.edu. Retrieved 2020-06-19.
  4. ^ a b c d Barlow, Rich (2016-04-20). "Tyler Hicks, Kimbriell Kelly, and Jessica Rinaldi Win Pulitzer Prizes | Bostonia". Boston University. Retrieved 2020-06-19.
  5. ^ a b c Swanson, Lorraine (2020-02-27). "Saint Xavier University Taps 2020 Commencement Speakers". Beverly-MtGreenwood, IL Patch. Retrieved 2020-06-19.
  6. ^ Cottrell, Megan (2012-07-12). "Chicago Reporter Publisher Kimbriell Kelly named one of Chicago's "Women to Watch"". Retrieved 2020-06-19.
  7. ^ a b Feder, Robert (2019-05-30). "Robservations: Mort Crim named to Illinois Broadcasters' Hall of Fame". www.robertfeder.com. Retrieved 2020-06-19.
  8. ^ Kimbriell, Kelly (4 October 2021). "Erin B Logan named a reporter in the Times' Washington Bureau". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 3 October 2021.
  9. ^ Shackford, Scott (18 April 2016). "Influential Washington Post Database on Police Killings Wins Pulitzer". Reason. Retrieved 13 September 2016.
  10. ^ Mullin, Benjamin (25 March 2016). "How The Washington Post counted the dead, one police shooting at a time". Poynter. Retrieved 13 September 2016.
  11. ^ Woodruff, Judy (April 19, 2016). "Washington Post honored for deep dive into fatal police shootings". PBS NewsHour. Retrieved 27 October 2016.
  12. ^ Markowitz, Eric (8 July 2016). "Meet the Man Who Spends 10 Hours a Day Tracking Police Shootings". GQ. Retrieved 27 October 2016.
  13. ^ Sutton, Kelsey (April 29, 2016). "A grassroots organization feels left behind in a Pulitzer Prize winner's shadow". Politico. Retrieved 27 October 2016.
  14. ^ Associated Press (April 18, 2016). "L.A. Times wins Pulitzer for coverage of San Bernardino attack". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 13 September 2016.
  15. ^ Hernandez, Salvador (October 13, 2016). "Department Of Justice To Start Collecting Data On Deadly Police Shootings". BuzzFeed. Retrieved 27 October 2016.