The Everyday Philanthropist

CHAPTER 27Case Study: ProPublica on the American Red Cross

On June 3, 2015, ProPublica published a story on the Red Cross’ Haitian relief efforts with the headline, “How the Red Cross Raised Half a Billion Dollars for Haiti and Built Six Homes.” The subheading reads, “Even as the group has publicly celebrated its work, insider accounts detail a string of failures…”

The Washington Post borrowed the headline virtually verbatim for its June 4, 2015, story: “The Red Cross had $500 million in Haitian relief money, but it built just 6 houses.” The Post interprets the headline literally, stating that, “That's just over $83.3 million a house, according to my iPhone calculations.” It says that, “the big takeaway from ProPublica's latest Red Cross investigation which explores how the international charity grossly mismanaged its response…”

The Chicago Tribune picked up on the narrative. Al Jazeera reported that, “New report alleges US aid group raised almost $500m but only managed to build six homes in country devastated by quake.” From Time on June 3, 2015: “Red Cross Spent Half a Billion Dollars to Build Six Homes in Haiti.” And on Salon.com on June 7, 2015: “The Red Cross’ Haiti disgrace: Half a billion dollars spent, six homes built.”

Here's some of what the public had to say in response: ...