I write about a range of subjects, often pursuing coverage of national issues and trends — housing costs, homelessness, gun violence, natural disasters, water supplies, climate impacts, extremism, inequality, drug policy and more. Along with covering issues in the Pacific Northwest, I also work on major news events and investigative projects across the United States, reporting on the ground to better understand what is transpiring for people who live in the affected communities. I’m particularly interested in exposing malfeasance and neglect in order to hold powerful people and institutions accountable.
Before joining The Times in 2020, I was an investigative reporter at The Seattle Times and worked on both coasts for The Associated Press. I have been part of two Pulitzer Prize-winning teams — one that investigated a landslide in Oso, Wash., in 2014, and another that investigated defects in Boeing’s 737 MAX in 2019. In 2016, I won the Livingston Award for national reporting for an investigation of Warren Buffett’s mobile home business. In 2018, I won the Selden Ring Award for an investigation of a neuroscience institute in Seattle.
All Times journalists are committed to uphold the standards outlined in our extensive ethics policy. One of my priorities is to pursue conversations with a wide range of people from different communities. Those discussions help me to find stories that would not otherwise be told, and to better understand the issues and regions that I’m writing about. My investigative work at times involves confidential sources who take great risk to share sensitive information that cannot be obtained in other ways. I take great care in protecting the identities of confidential sources.
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A new analysis of the August inferno on the island of Maui in Hawaii describes heroic efforts by firefighters. But it also finds many ways the town could have been better prepared.
By Mike Baker
The collapse of the Key Bridge in Baltimore has prompted a reassessment of critical bridges around the country that may be similarly vulnerable to a ship strike.
By Mike Baker, Anjali Singhvi, Helmuth Rosales, David W. Chen and Elena Shao
Oregon’s governor has signed a measure to reimpose criminal penalties for hard drugs. Mayor Ted Wheeler of Portland talks about why the experiment “failed.”
By Mike Baker
Twenty-two seafarers from India find themselves not only trapped in the ship that struck the Francis Scott Key Bridge, but also in an unexpected spotlight.
By Eduardo Medina
The Dali reported a power blackout and steering problems before hitting the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore. But what went wrong so far has not been explained.
By Mike Baker and Peter Eavis
Experts have long pondered the question of improving protections, and several bridges have undergone adjustments. But the size of today’s vessels leads to immense challenges.
By David W. Chen and Mike Baker
When a massive cargo ship lost power in Baltimore, crews scrambled to control the ship and to evacuate the bridge lying ahead. But it was too late.
By Annie Correal, Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs, Campbell Robertson, Michael Forsythe and Mike Baker
Questions swirl over the bridge’s collapse after a massive cargo ship slammed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge moments after losing power early on Tuesday.
By Thomas Fuller
This was featured in live coverage.
By Mike Baker
Federal investigators are searching for answers about how a giant cargo ship struck a major bridge minutes after leaving the Port of Baltimore on March 26.
By Adeel Hassan and Colbi Edmonds
