MaryJo Webster
Journalist

"Denied Justice," a nine-part series published in the Star Tribune in 2018 that resulted in overhaul of state sex assault laws. It was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Local Reporting and won the Sigma Delta Chi Public Service Award, plus other awards.

"How housing rules keep the Twin Cities' metro segregated," published in the Star Tribune in 2021. I did all the reporting and writing, plus a large share of the data analysis. This is routinely mentioned during Legislative hearings about eliminating single-family zoning.

"Juvenile Injustice," a four-part series published in the Star Tribune in 2022. It was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting.

"Failing Grades," a series that revealed significant flaws in oversight of Minnesota's charter school system. Published in the Star Tribune in 2024.

"Shielded by the Badge" was a four-part series published in the Star Tribune 2017. It led to reforms by the state's police licensing board and won a National Headliner Award.

"Question of Risk: Medtronic's Lost Study," published in the Star Tribune in 2016. Link to online story (design is broken). PDF of story text only. This story was a finalist in the Scripps Howard awards.

"Troubled Landlords" was a three-part series published in the St. Paul Pioneer Press in 2011. I jointly reported the story with Elizabeth Mohr, while teaching her how to tackle an accountability story. Part 2. Part 3.
PDF version.  This won the Frank Premack Public Service Award.

"Denny Hecker: Driven by the deal," a two-part series in the Pioneer Press that laid out the rise and fall of auto mogul Denny Hecker. Extensive document reporting to piece together his life and business interests. Online link to part 1.  PDF of part 1. PDF of part 2.

"Ghost of a Chance," a six-part, narrative series podcast, launched January 2025. I served as editor and project manager.

Two-part series that I edited, which was published in the Star Tribune in 2022. The stories go behind the racial inequities in the metro area's tree canopy. Part 1. Part 2. 

Story published in 2024 about the state's oversight of animal shelters and rescue organizations. I guided the reporters during the information gathering phase, helped decide the structure and scope and then did the line editing.

Story published by KALW (California) in 2022 that I helped guide and edit in my role as a senior fellow for the Center for Health Journalism's Data Fellowship.

The first in a series of articles that is underpinned by groundbreaking data on income inequality & mobility released in 2023 by the Minneapolis Federal Reserve.

Hot Housing Index - an annual success with readers because they can find their own story in the data. This is an "index" I created by combining real estate sale metrics for each city.

"Beating the odds," is based on a regression analysis of school test score and poverty data to show which schools are doing better (or worse) than expected. (page design is broken)

Example of telling a story primarily through data and visuals.

Article I wrote about having a "data state of mind."

Behind the data work for "How Twin Cities housing rules keep the metro segregated."

"How we built a database from thousands of police reports": Behind the data work for "Denied Justice."

I have become widely known for the teaching I do in the data journalism community, including this Data Journalism Academy website I created during the pandemic.