By Christopher Baxter | Spotlight PA
When Luen Ng died at 75 after being struck by a hit-and-run driver in Northeast Philadelphia, few people outside her family knew her story.
But a Spotlight PA investigation revealed something that should concern every Pennsylvanian: for months before her death, the agency tasked with protecting vulnerable older adults failed to act with urgency despite clear warning signs of self-neglect and dementia. Her case was one of more than 1,500 in 2023 alone where older adults in the commonwealth died amid open cases of suspected abuse or neglect.
The story didn’t make national headlines. It wasn’t designed to inflame partisan passions. It was simply the truth, meticulously documented, calling out a problem the Shapiro administration has been slow to fix despite the dire consequences.
And in that truth lies something increasingly precious: information we can all trust and act upon together. That’s why Spotlight PA’s nonpartisan, nonprofit, fact-based reporting across Pennsylvania is more important than ever to the future of our state.
And that’s why we need your support now to ensure it can keep going.
If you value fiscal responsibility, you should care about Spotlight PA’s reporting. When our reporters dig into state contracts, follow lobbying money, or expose wasteful spending, they’re protecting your tax dollars and keeping the playing field fair. During the past five years, our reporting has directly saved taxpayers more than $20 million.
If you believe in personal freedom and civil liberty, you should care about Spotlight PA’s reporting. When state agencies, elected officials, or powerful institutions fail to serve the people or step beyond their authority, we’re there to call it out. During the past five years, our reporting has led to 36 policy changes and 14 new pieces of legislation.
And if you believe the heart of our country still lies in our local communities — towns where neighbors still know each other, where traditions matter, where self-reliance isn’t just a virtue but a necessity — you should care about Spotlight PA’s reporting.
As communities across Pennsylvania continue to lose local reporters, the consequences are real: corruption, borrowing costs, and corporate malfeasance increase, research shows, and the economic vitality of a region decreases.
We founded Spotlight PA five years ago to address this problem head on and take journalism back to its roots — service to our communities hand in hand with our local partner newsrooms, including this one.
We now share Spotlight PA’s reporting at no cost with more than 125 local newsrooms across the commonwealth — ensuring as many people as possible have access to our vital reporting — and we will soon open our second community newsroom.
The challenges facing our state don’t wear party labels. Neither does good journalism. In an era when trust is in short supply, Spotlight PA earns it through rigorous fact-checking and document-based reporting that creates a foundation of truth we can all stand upon.
By supporting Spotlight PA, you’re not endorsing a political agenda — you’re investing in the accountability mechanisms that safeguard Pennsylvania’s independence, communities, and constitutional governance. You’re helping preserve the values that make our Commonwealth special.
In uncertain times, these principles matter more than ever, and so does your support.
Make a tax-deductible gift of any amount at spotlightpa.org/donate, and as a special bonus, all contributions will be DOUBLED thanks to a matching gift from The Benter Foundation in Pittsburgh. If you’d like to donate by check, please send it to: Spotlight PA, PO Box 11728, Harrisburg, PA 17108-1728.
Christopher Baxter is the CEO & President of Spotlight PA, a nonprofit, nonpartisan newsroom based in Harrisburg. Email him at cbaxter@spotlightpa.org.
