Melissa Lewis

Data Reporter

Melissa Lewis is a data reporter for Reveal. Prior to joining Reveal, she was a data editor at The Oregonian, a data engineer at Simple and a data analyst at Periscopic. She is an organizer for the Portland chapter of the Asian American Journalists Association. Lewis is based in Oregon.

mlewis@revealnews.org

mlewis@revealnews.org

An illustration in a red and yellow tones shows a silhouette of a girl surrounded by hands that try to grab her, swirling papers, and a fence. In the background, a plane flies.

Immigration, The Disappeared

An adolescence, seized

by Najib Aminy, Kevin Sullivan, Aura Bogado, Amy Mostafa, Jim Briggs, Fernando Arruda, Melissa Lewis, Al Letson, Soo Oh, Andy Donohue, Esther Kaplan and Brett Simpson October 17, 2020July 1, 2021

A 10-year-old Honduran girl came to the United States seeking asylum. Instead, she was detained – away from her family – for nearly seven years.

A collage illustration shows a person against an orange background. There arm is in a sling made from a material that resembles an altered Amazon package.

Behind the Smiles

Catching Amazon in a lie

by Kevin Sullivan, Fernando Arruda, Jim Briggs, Al Letson, Najib Aminy, Amy Mostafa, Will Evans, Jennifer Gollan, Katharine Mieszkowski, Taki Telonidis, Michael Montgomery, Andy Donohue, Esther Kaplan, Soo Oh, Rachel de Leon, Melissa Lewis and Chris Harland-Dunaway September 26, 2020July 1, 2021

Amazon says its warehouses are safe for workers. But the numbers reveal that workers are getting hurt much more often than the company claims.

A photo illustration shows a hand and foot bound in casts made of documents.

Labor

Many US workplaces required to report injuries flouted new Labor Department rule

by Jennifer Gollan and Melissa Lewis August 25, 2020June 30, 2021

The injury records were released after a Reveal lawsuit, unlocking data the Trump administration had tried to keep secret.

A collage in purple and green hues shows the states of California and Florida, with photos of the governors of the two states.

How a national health crisis fell on the backs of local leaders

by Lance Williams, Laura C. Morel, Marisa Lagos, Caitie Switalski, Melissa Lewis, Emily Harris, Soo Oh and Jen Chien June 18, 2020June 30, 2021

With a leadership vacuum in Washington, the San Francisco Bay Area’s shelter-in-place orders led the nation’s response to the coronavirus pandemic.

A collage of an American flag and painted coronavirus cells is in the background. In the foreground is text reading Divided States of Pandemic

Divided states of the pandemic

by Kevin Sullivan, Najib Aminy, Mwende Hinojosa, Fernando Arruda, Jim Briggs, Amy Mostafa, Al Letson, Jen Chien, Emily Harris, Lance Williams, Laura C. Morel, Esther Kaplan, Soo Oh and Melissa Lewis June 13, 2020December 15, 2021

The federal government’s failure to manage the pandemic shifted the burden to local officials. We look at state responses in California and Florida.

In the foreground, text reads Pandemic Protests and Profits. In the background is a green and blue painting evoking a sea of Coronavirus cells.

Pandemic, protests and profits

by Al Letson, Taki Telonidis, Kevin Sullivan, Katharine Mieszkowski, Mwende Hinojosa, Amy Mostafa, Najib Aminy, Byard Duncan, Jim Briggs, Fernando Arruda, Will Evans, Melissa Lewis, Hannah Young, David Rodriguez, Andy Donohue and Chris Harland-Dunaway April 25, 2020July 1, 2021

Protesters around the country are pushing to loosen stay-at-home orders. Meanwhile, some Amazon workers say not enough is being done to protect them.

Larger than life size cutout billboards portray farm workers standing at the edge of a farm field.

Essential workers

by Sarah Mirk, Kevin Sullivan, Fernando Arruda, Jim Briggs, Amy Mostafa, Najib Aminy, Al Letson, Mwende Hinojosa, Will Carless, Patrick Michels, Melissa Lewis, Hannah Young, Anayansi Diaz-Cortes, Michael I Schiller, Emily Schwing, Brett Myers, Jen Chien, Taki Telonidis, Sumi Aggarwal, Byard Duncan, Andy Donohue, Narda Zacchino, Esther Kaplan and Soo Oh April 4, 2020July 1, 2021

Farmworkers, grocery store clerks and airline employees are on the front lines of the coronavirus crisis. But what’s being done to protect them?

An illustration shows a heart against a blue foreground.

The tell-tale hearts

by Sarah Mirk, Kevin Sullivan, Elizabeth Shogren, Deborah George, Al Letson, Najib Aminy, Amy Mostafa, Fernando Arruda, Jim Briggs, Mwende Hinojosa, Michael Montgomery and Melissa Lewis February 29, 2020July 1, 2021

Trump’s deregulatory fervor bolsters the chemical industry and Defense Department’s effort to debunk the science linking TCE to fetal heart defects.

Accountability, Criminal Justice

When Tasers fail

by Melissa Lewis, Michael Montgomery, Kevin Sullivan, Najib Aminy, Jim Briggs, Fernando Arruda, Mwende Hinojosa, Al Letson and Amy Mostafa December 7, 2019June 30, 2021

In police departments across America, Tasers aren’t always living up to their promise, sometimes with lethal results.

Accountability, Criminal Justice

Development arrested

by Kevin Sullivan, Jen Chien, Fernando Arruda, Jim Briggs, Ko Bragg, Mwende Hinojosa, Amy Mostafa, Andy Donohue, Martin G. Reynolds, Anayansi Diaz-Cortes, Priska Neely, Melissa Lewis and Al Letson November 16, 2019June 30, 2021

We go to Mississippi to learn about a set of laws that automatically send kids into the adult legal system for certain crimes.