Adiel Kaplan

This is my last week at NBC, but I’m continuing to teach investigative reporting @columbiajournalism.bsky.social and will be speaking at NICAR. Reach out to me at either. I’m open to reporting or editing jobs and am dedicated to growing investigative journalism, despite industry pressures. 12/12

Surging floodwater and panicked prayers: How a workday at a Tennessee plastics factory turned deadly An NBC News investigation and timeline reveals how events quickly and dramatically unfolded amid a "one-in-5,000-year flood."

And digging into emergency weather alerts using an API and geolocated data to piece together the timeline of this harrowing story of the final moments of workers who drowned during Hurricane Helene. I'll be sharing more about this on a panel at NICAR.
www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news...

A simple device could help prevent accidental gun deaths, but most firearms don’t have it At least 277 people have been killed since 2000 by shooters who believed the gun in their hands was unloaded because the magazine was removed.

Been working on more breaking news recently, but before that I got to spend the summer at the Lede Program at Columbia J School and have put those data skills to use on recent projects, like building the database framework used for this heartbreaking investigation: www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news...

Overcoming poverty and addiction, he passed the bar exam. Then his prescription got in the way. Experts say discrimination against people who use medication to treat their opioid use disorder is rampant. The Justice Department is trying to change that.

My favorite edit was this incredible feature on the rampant discrimination faced by people who use “gold standard” medication to treat opioid use disorder. The discrimination was confirmed by Justice Department findings last month.
www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news...

Crowdfunding and suitcases full of cash: How Gazans are paying to escape war For many Palestinians stuck in Rafah, crowdfunding has become a lifeline, the only way to meet the skyrocketing cost of crossing the border. Social media users overseas are flocking to help.

I’ve edited enterprise stories on a wide range of topics, from criminal justice and climate change to the war in Gaza. While media attention was focused on student protest over the war, I edited the first US deep dive about crowdfunding to flee it.
www.nbcnews.com/news/world/g...

Once unthinkable, frequent fires are Hawaii’s new normal. Hawaii is seeing bigger, hotter and more frequent fires than ever before. The state is struggling to catch up.

In 2023, I was promoted to investigative editor. I continued reporting, while taking on more editing, such as for this story on the surprisingly high and growing fire risk of the Hawaiian islands and the missed warnings from scientists ahead of the Lahaina fires. www.nbcnews.com/specials/haw...

Defying presidents and Congress, the ATF, DEA, FBI and U.S. Marshals shroud their shootings in secrecy Despite nearly 30 years of demands for transparency, the DOJ's law enforcement agencies release little data about whom they shoot, why and when, and they rarely use body cameras.

Over time, I took on more project leadership and data editing, including for this series on the barriers to accountability for shootings by federal law enforcement. I managed our database of 200+ incidents and edited many of our stories for this project. www.nbcnews.com/news/investi...

Millions of Americans receive drugs by mail. But are they safe? Many mail-order pharmacy customers feel trapped in a system that has left them with crushed pills, damaged vials and lifesaving drugs exposed to extreme weather.

That reporting led to another investigation into the safety of prescriptions mailed on such trucks, often to people required by their pharmacy benefit manager to receive their medication via “convenient home delivery.” PBM practices now face increasing scrutiny. www.nbcnews.com/specials/mil...

UPS delivery drivers at risk of heat-related illnesses Most of those familiar brown trucks used by UPS aren't air-conditioned, and as the delivery economy grows and temperatures rise, drivers can pay the price.

In 2019, we were the first to dig deeply into the dangerous risk of heat illness for delivery drivers at UPS and beyond, who work increasingly hot summers in trucks that can hit 150 degrees. Years later, workers won air conditioning in their UPS contract. www.nbcnews.com/business/eco...

The nation’s largest fire agency sent Congress 'misleading data' on its risk reduction program for years At the nation’s largest fire agency, the program to reduce wildfire fuel is receiving much-needed investment. But for 20 years, it has tracked that work with “misleading data.”

As wildfire smoke began to dominate American summers, we looked at prevention efforts, finding decades of misleading data and unheeded warnings at the Forest Service. That reporting led directly to a federal bill that passed the House two days before my layoff.
www.nbcnews.com/news/investi...

I love this work and am proud of the projects I’ve led in my more than 6 years as an investigative reporter, editor and data editor at NBC. Threading some of my favorites below:

NBC News laid me off Thursday, as part of a move away from investigative projects to more breaking news. That’s an unfortunate shift, at a time when investigative reporting is so vital. I’m now looking for new opportunities to do that work and will be at NICAR to connect in person.

'Entirely foreseeable': The L.A. fires are the worst-case scenario experts feared The blazes are the result of a combination of suburban sprawl in fire-prone areas, fierce Santa Ana winds, dry conditions fueled by climate change and the limits of firefighting.

'Entirely foreseeable': The L.A. fires are the worst-case scenario experts feared
www.nbcnews.com/weather/wild..., via @evanbush.bsky.social @adielkaplan.bsky.social

House passes bill to improve wildfire prevention accountability after NBC News report An NBC News investigation found the Forest Service overstated the land it treated to reduce wildfire risk by an estimated 21% nationally.

Just over a year ago, we published a story about how the Forest Service was overstating its wildfire prevention work to Congress.

Today the House passed a bill to improve accountability for that program:

As Texas heat-safety battle rages, another delivery driver dies after a sweltering shift Dueling policies over water breaks for laborers are caught in a court fight as federal officials probe more than 20 heat-related workplace deaths in the state this year.

New story is, I guess, my first post here:
A Dallas-area UPS driver died Sunday. He's the 2nd delivery driver to do so after collapsing in the Texas heat this summer, as heat safety policies in the state—namely on whether construction workers are entitled to water breaks—enter a new legal limbo.