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Changing the Story of Inequality

The Economic Hardship Reporting Project is a journalism non-profit. We support reporting on American financial struggle. Poverty, wealth and everything in between: Follow us as we report on an unseen America. 
 

Photo by Carlos Javier Ortiz

On The Ground

Archive
Ranching Life on the High Plains of Montana
Photography Montana, Land Transfer, Heartland & South, Ranching, Agriculture, Farming, Branding, Cattle Ranch Elliott Woods Comment
Photography Montana, Land Transfer, Heartland & South, Ranching, Agriculture, Farming, Branding, Cattle Ranch Elliott Woods Comment
Ranching Life on the High Plains of Montana
Photography Montana, Land Transfer, Heartland & South, Ranching, Agriculture, Farming, Branding, Cattle Ranch Elliott Woods Comment
Photography Montana, Land Transfer, Heartland & South, Ranching, Agriculture, Farming, Branding, Cattle Ranch Elliott Woods Comment

Elliott Woods

PHOTOGRAPHY

Co-published with The Guardian and Mountain Outlaw Magazine. Elliott D. Woods spent time in Phillips County in northern Montana, where public land is a source of life to which ranchers are intimately connected. If the plan to transfer lands to the states succeeds, it will mean a radical restructuring of the economy and the culture of the West.

Photography Montana, Land Transfer, Heartland & South, Ranching, Agriculture, Farming, Branding, Cattle Ranch Elliott Woods Comment
Photography Montana, Land Transfer, Heartland & South, Ranching, Agriculture, Farming, Branding, Cattle Ranch Elliott Woods Comment
How We're Working with Reporters from Around America to Cover Class and Inequality
Analysis Heartland & South, the guardian, jessica reed, sarah smarsh, elliott woods, alison stine, alissa quart, on the ground, rural reporting, rural communities, media, Culture Alissa Quart Comment
Analysis Heartland & South, the guardian, jessica reed, sarah smarsh, elliott woods, alison stine, alissa quart, on the ground, rural reporting, rural communities, media, Culture Alissa Quart Comment
How We're Working with Reporters from Around America to Cover Class and Inequality
Analysis Heartland & South, the guardian, jessica reed, sarah smarsh, elliott woods, alison stine, alissa quart, on the ground, rural reporting, rural communities, media, Culture Alissa Quart Comment
Analysis Heartland & South, the guardian, jessica reed, sarah smarsh, elliott woods, alison stine, alissa quart, on the ground, rural reporting, rural communities, media, Culture Alissa Quart Comment

Alissa Quart & Jessica Reed

NEWS | ANALYSIS

Co-published with The Guardian. The national media failed to cover large swathes of the US pre-election, while rural voices have been quieted by the decimation of local news. Our On The Ground project aims to remedy these issues.

Analysis Heartland & South, the guardian, jessica reed, sarah smarsh, elliott woods, alison stine, alissa quart, on the ground, rural reporting, rural communities, media, Culture Alissa Quart Comment
Analysis Heartland & South, the guardian, jessica reed, sarah smarsh, elliott woods, alison stine, alissa quart, on the ground, rural reporting, rural communities, media, Culture Alissa Quart Comment
Working-Class Women are Too Busy for Gender Theory – But They're Still Feminists
Features Dolly Parton, Working-Class Women, Gender Theory, Heartland & South Sarah Smarsh Comment
Features Dolly Parton, Working-Class Women, Gender Theory, Heartland & South Sarah Smarsh Comment
Working-Class Women are Too Busy for Gender Theory – But They're Still Feminists
Features Dolly Parton, Working-Class Women, Gender Theory, Heartland & South Sarah Smarsh Comment
Features Dolly Parton, Working-Class Women, Gender Theory, Heartland & South Sarah Smarsh Comment

Sarah Smarsh

FEATURES

Co-published with The Guardian. You won’t get very far as a poor woman without believing you are equal to men – and if someone embodies this thought, it is Dolly Parton.

Features Dolly Parton, Working-Class Women, Gender Theory, Heartland & South Sarah Smarsh Comment
Features Dolly Parton, Working-Class Women, Gender Theory, Heartland & South Sarah Smarsh Comment
"We Should Try to Preserve Humanity"
Multimedia Heartland & South, Black Lives Matter, Appalachian Media Institute, Appalshop, Kentucky, Documentary Appalachian Media Institute Comment
Multimedia Heartland & South, Black Lives Matter, Appalachian Media Institute, Appalshop, Kentucky, Documentary Appalachian Media Institute Comment
"We Should Try to Preserve Humanity"
Multimedia Heartland & South, Black Lives Matter, Appalachian Media Institute, Appalshop, Kentucky, Documentary Appalachian Media Institute Comment
Multimedia Heartland & South, Black Lives Matter, Appalachian Media Institute, Appalshop, Kentucky, Documentary Appalachian Media Institute Comment

Appalachian Media Institute

MULTIMEDIA

Co-published with Oxford American. The third installment in a series of four posts, featuring films produced in collaboration between the youth filmmakers of the 2016 Summer Documentary Institute at Appalshop’s Appalachian Media Institute and filmmaker Jordan Freeman.

Multimedia Heartland & South, Black Lives Matter, Appalachian Media Institute, Appalshop, Kentucky, Documentary Appalachian Media Institute Comment
Multimedia Heartland & South, Black Lives Matter, Appalachian Media Institute, Appalshop, Kentucky, Documentary Appalachian Media Institute Comment
In Montana, Land Transfer Threatens the American Rancher's Way of Life
Features Heartland & South, Montana, Ranchers, American Rancher, Agriculture, Ranching Elliott Woods Comment
Features Heartland & South, Montana, Ranchers, American Rancher, Agriculture, Ranching Elliott Woods Comment
In Montana, Land Transfer Threatens the American Rancher's Way of Life
Features Heartland & South, Montana, Ranchers, American Rancher, Agriculture, Ranching Elliott Woods Comment
Features Heartland & South, Montana, Ranchers, American Rancher, Agriculture, Ranching Elliott Woods Comment

Elliott Woods

FEATURES

Co-published with The Guardian. Ranchers in the west have been struggling for decades. Now a new threat looms: public land might be taken away from them

Features Heartland & South, Montana, Ranchers, American Rancher, Agriculture, Ranching Elliott Woods Comment
Features Heartland & South, Montana, Ranchers, American Rancher, Agriculture, Ranching Elliott Woods Comment
"You Will Come Here, and There Will Be Magical Things Happening"
Multimedia Heartland & South, Appalachian Media Institute, Appa, Kentucky Appalachian Media Institute Comment
Multimedia Heartland & South, Appalachian Media Institute, Appa, Kentucky Appalachian Media Institute Comment
"You Will Come Here, and There Will Be Magical Things Happening"
Multimedia Heartland & South, Appalachian Media Institute, Appa, Kentucky Appalachian Media Institute Comment
Multimedia Heartland & South, Appalachian Media Institute, Appa, Kentucky Appalachian Media Institute Comment

Appalachian Media Institute

MULTIMEDIA

Co-published with Oxford American. The films and filmmakers of the Summer Documentary Institute at Appalshop’s Appalachian Media Institute.

Multimedia Heartland & South, Appalachian Media Institute, Appa, Kentucky Appalachian Media Institute Comment
Multimedia Heartland & South, Appalachian Media Institute, Appa, Kentucky Appalachian Media Institute Comment

Featured Stories

 
 

Featured Stories

Automation is a real threat. How can we slow down the march of the cyborgs?
Features Automation, Robot Labor, Apocolypse, Slow Tech Alissa Quart Comment
Features Automation, Robot Labor, Apocolypse, Slow Tech Alissa Quart Comment
Automation is a real threat. How can we slow down the march of the cyborgs?
Features Automation, Robot Labor, Apocolypse, Slow Tech Alissa Quart Comment
Features Automation, Robot Labor, Apocolypse, Slow Tech Alissa Quart Comment

Alissa Quart

FEATURES

Co-published with The Guardian. Instead of working to give robots personhood status, we should concentrate on protecting human workers – and decelerate the push to automate jobs.

Features Automation, Robot Labor, Apocolypse, Slow Tech Alissa Quart Comment
Features Automation, Robot Labor, Apocolypse, Slow Tech Alissa Quart Comment
When White People Say They Have My Back, What Does That Actually Mean?
Analysis Oregon, Systemic Racism Donnell Alexander Comment
Analysis Oregon, Systemic Racism Donnell Alexander Comment
When White People Say They Have My Back, What Does That Actually Mean?
Analysis Oregon, Systemic Racism Donnell Alexander Comment
Analysis Oregon, Systemic Racism Donnell Alexander Comment

Donnell Alexander

ANALYSIS

Co-published with The Nation. For a few weeks in Portland, I got a glimpse of what real solidarity looks like.

Analysis Oregon, Systemic Racism Donnell Alexander Comment
Analysis Oregon, Systemic Racism Donnell Alexander Comment
Payday Lenders Kept Me Afloat When I Fell From Middle Class to Poverty
Features inequality, income inequality, check cashing, underbanked, quartz Joseph Williams Comment
Features inequality, income inequality, check cashing, underbanked, quartz Joseph Williams Comment
Payday Lenders Kept Me Afloat When I Fell From Middle Class to Poverty
Features inequality, income inequality, check cashing, underbanked, quartz Joseph Williams Comment
Features inequality, income inequality, check cashing, underbanked, quartz Joseph Williams Comment

Joseph Williams

FEATURES

Co-published with Quartz. My odyssey from the middle class to Ace Check Cashing, speaking with a teller through a window of three-inch-thick bulletproof-glass, was simultaneously surreal and jarring.

Features inequality, income inequality, check cashing, underbanked, quartz Joseph Williams Comment
Features inequality, income inequality, check cashing, underbanked, quartz Joseph Williams Comment
The Mental Load Of Being A Poor Mom
Essays Families, Single Motherhood, Refinery29 Stephanie Land Comment
Essays Families, Single Motherhood, Refinery29 Stephanie Land Comment
The Mental Load Of Being A Poor Mom
Essays Families, Single Motherhood, Refinery29 Stephanie Land Comment
Essays Families, Single Motherhood, Refinery29 Stephanie Land Comment

Stephanie Land

ESSAYS

Co-published with Refinery29. Who is there for a solo parent to ask for help?

Essays Families, Single Motherhood, Refinery29 Stephanie Land Comment
Essays Families, Single Motherhood, Refinery29 Stephanie Land Comment
6 Things to Know About Worker Coops
Multimedia Cities, WNYC, The Affordability Project, Cooperatives WNYC Studios Comment
Multimedia Cities, WNYC, The Affordability Project, Cooperatives WNYC Studios Comment
6 Things to Know About Worker Coops
Multimedia Cities, WNYC, The Affordability Project, Cooperatives WNYC Studios Comment
Multimedia Cities, WNYC, The Affordability Project, Cooperatives WNYC Studios Comment

WNYC Studios

MULTIMEDIA

Co-published with WNYC Studios. How can we improve neighborhoods and at the same time, keep the same neighbors?

Multimedia Cities, WNYC, The Affordability Project, Cooperatives WNYC Studios Comment
Multimedia Cities, WNYC, The Affordability Project, Cooperatives WNYC Studios Comment
How Can We Teach Our Kids About Class?
Features Outclassed, education, class, lunch shaming, manhattan country school Alissa Quart Comment
Features Outclassed, education, class, lunch shaming, manhattan country school Alissa Quart Comment
How Can We Teach Our Kids About Class?
Features Outclassed, education, class, lunch shaming, manhattan country school Alissa Quart Comment
Features Outclassed, education, class, lunch shaming, manhattan country school Alissa Quart Comment

Alissa Quart

FEATURES

Co-published with The Guardian. Wealth and class are difficult topics to discuss – but as children grapple with inequality, it’s our job to address it.

Features Outclassed, education, class, lunch shaming, manhattan country school Alissa Quart Comment
Features Outclassed, education, class, lunch shaming, manhattan country school Alissa Quart Comment
People in Denmark Are a Lot Happier Than People in the United States. Here’s Why.
Multimedia social democracy, free market capitalism, the nation, rob pybus, animation, Denmark The Nation Comment
Multimedia social democracy, free market capitalism, the nation, rob pybus, animation, Denmark The Nation Comment
People in Denmark Are a Lot Happier Than People in the United States. Here’s Why.
Multimedia social democracy, free market capitalism, the nation, rob pybus, animation, Denmark The Nation Comment
Multimedia social democracy, free market capitalism, the nation, rob pybus, animation, Denmark The Nation Comment

Joshua Holland & Rob Pybus

MULTIMEDIA

Co-published with The Nation. When governments provide benefits and services that allow its citizens to thrive, everyone wins.

Multimedia social democracy, free market capitalism, the nation, rob pybus, animation, Denmark The Nation Comment
Multimedia social democracy, free market capitalism, the nation, rob pybus, animation, Denmark The Nation Comment
What the Final Moments of Homeless People Can Teach Us
Photography Orange County, Homelessness, Death, Economic Inequality, Capital & Main, Photography, Housing Gema Galiana Comment
Photography Orange County, Homelessness, Death, Economic Inequality, Capital & Main, Photography, Housing Gema Galiana Comment
What the Final Moments of Homeless People Can Teach Us
Photography Orange County, Homelessness, Death, Economic Inequality, Capital & Main, Photography, Housing Gema Galiana Comment
Photography Orange County, Homelessness, Death, Economic Inequality, Capital & Main, Photography, Housing Gema Galiana Comment

Amy DePaul & Gema Galiana

PHOTOGRAPHY

Co-published with Capital & Main and O.C. Weekly. They live so differently from us that it shouldn’t be surprising how differently they die.

Photography Orange County, Homelessness, Death, Economic Inequality, Capital & Main, Photography, Housing Gema Galiana Comment
Photography Orange County, Homelessness, Death, Economic Inequality, Capital & Main, Photography, Housing Gema Galiana Comment
In This Teen Book Club, “The Outsiders” Leads to Talk of Boys and ICE
Features Education, ICE, Immigration, The Outsiders, Oregon Donnell Alexander Comment
Features Education, ICE, Immigration, The Outsiders, Oregon Donnell Alexander Comment
In This Teen Book Club, “The Outsiders” Leads to Talk of Boys and ICE
Features Education, ICE, Immigration, The Outsiders, Oregon Donnell Alexander Comment
Features Education, ICE, Immigration, The Outsiders, Oregon Donnell Alexander Comment

Donnell Alexander

FEATURES

Co-published with Bright. The political divide between these conservative kids and their immigrant friends disappears through frank conversation and a shared love of literature.

Features Education, ICE, Immigration, The Outsiders, Oregon Donnell Alexander Comment
Features Education, ICE, Immigration, The Outsiders, Oregon Donnell Alexander Comment
Living the American Dream in a Trailer Park
Multimedia housing, trailer park, affordable housing, american dream Sara Terry Comment
Multimedia housing, trailer park, affordable housing, american dream Sara Terry Comment
Living the American Dream in a Trailer Park
Multimedia housing, trailer park, affordable housing, american dream Sara Terry Comment
Multimedia housing, trailer park, affordable housing, american dream Sara Terry Comment

Sara Terry

MULTIMEDIA

Co-published with Bill Moyers. Home to some 20 million people — 6 percent of Americans — they are the nation’s largest source of unsubsidized affordable housing, offering a shot at the American dream to people who can’t afford a traditional home.

Multimedia housing, trailer park, affordable housing, american dream Sara Terry Comment
Multimedia housing, trailer park, affordable housing, american dream Sara Terry Comment
How Landlords Push Out Tenants for Profit
Multimedia WNYC, Housing, The Affordability Project, New York City, Rent Stabilization WNYC Studios Comment
Multimedia WNYC, Housing, The Affordability Project, New York City, Rent Stabilization WNYC Studios Comment
How Landlords Push Out Tenants for Profit
Multimedia WNYC, Housing, The Affordability Project, New York City, Rent Stabilization WNYC Studios Comment
Multimedia WNYC, Housing, The Affordability Project, New York City, Rent Stabilization WNYC Studios Comment

WNYC STUDIOS

MULTIMEDIA

Co-published with WNYC Studios. How New York landlords use "predatory equity" to push out rent stabilized tenants.

Multimedia WNYC, Housing, The Affordability Project, New York City, Rent Stabilization WNYC Studios Comment
Multimedia WNYC, Housing, The Affordability Project, New York City, Rent Stabilization WNYC Studios Comment
Why Do We Think Poor People are Poor Because of Their Own Bad Choices?
Features Outclassed, hillbilly elegy, Income Inequality, poor shaming, systemic inequality Maia Szalavitz Comment
Features Outclassed, hillbilly elegy, Income Inequality, poor shaming, systemic inequality Maia Szalavitz Comment
Why Do We Think Poor People are Poor Because of Their Own Bad Choices?
Features Outclassed, hillbilly elegy, Income Inequality, poor shaming, systemic inequality Maia Szalavitz Comment
Features Outclassed, hillbilly elegy, Income Inequality, poor shaming, systemic inequality Maia Szalavitz Comment

Maia Szalavitz

FEATURES

Co-published with The Guardian. If an unexpected medical emergency bankrupts you, you view yourself as a victim of bad fortune – while seeing other bankruptcy court clients as spendthrifts. Why?

Features Outclassed, hillbilly elegy, Income Inequality, poor shaming, systemic inequality Maia Szalavitz Comment
Features Outclassed, hillbilly elegy, Income Inequality, poor shaming, systemic inequality Maia Szalavitz Comment