The Examination is an independent nonprofit newsroom that investigates preventable health threats and empowers people in harm’s way.
Our journalism draws on the scientific method and rigorously-collected evidence. It is informed by research showing that certain industrial products and practices are responsible for more than a third of all global deaths. Marginalized communities often pay the highest price.
Smoking rates across parts of Asia, Eastern Europe and the Middle East are two or three times as high as in many of the wealthiest nations. An escalating obesity epidemic in Latin America and Africa is driven by diets high in processed foods and sugars. Almost everyone on the planet breathes polluted air, with the risks most concentrated among the poor.
The associated harms are not abstract. Sicknesses linger for years, even decades, weakening families and bankrupting household budgets. Children lose parents; parents lose children. Health care systems are strained and national treasuries are depleted.
Too few pay attention to the costs and causes of these slow-rolling health crises. In an age of cutbacks and retrenchment, many newsrooms worldwide lack even a single health reporter.
The Examination partners with news organizations and engages with communities across the globe to help bridge the knowledge and accountability gap, exposing and explaining health risks and inequities, and pointing the way to possible solutions.
Our ultimate ambition: journalism that informs public discourse, inspires positive change and leads to a healthier world.