Guardian hires two for US investigations unit

The Guardian US announced Thursday the hirings of Melissa Segura as senior investigative reporter and George Joseph as investigative reporter

Segura and Joseph will join a team focused on investigating corporate and government misconduct, criminal justice, attacks on human rights, and a range of other urgent challenges confronting the US. So far, the unit has led or collaborated on investigations exposing the exploitation of workers in Saudi Arabia who work for major corporations like Amazon and McDonald’s; the previously unreported death of a man at New Jersey state prison; and a dispute between the US House speaker, Mike Johnson, and his father around a toxic project planned for his district.

Segura worked most recently as an investigative reporter for BuzzFeed News, where she authored a Polk Award-winning series – Broken Justice in Chicago – that revealed how a group of predominantly working class, Latina women uncovered evidence suggesting a police detective framed their sons, brothers or husbands. The investigation led to the exoneration of more than 40 people and was the impetus for her forthcoming book from Viking Books.

From 2002 to 2014, she worked as a reporter at Sports Illustrated, where her reporting exposed a Major League Baseball recruiting scandal that forced two Washington Nationals executives from their jobs. Segura will be based in New Mexico and starts at the Guardian on Feb. 1.

Joseph comes to the Guardian US from the City, an award-winning, non-profit news organization that covers New York politics, business and society. He has been one of the lead reporters on a months-long investigation by the City that has uncovered evidence of “straw donor” schemes that channeled suspect donations into the 2021 election campaign of the New York mayor, Eric Adams.

From 2019 to 2022, Joseph worked as an investigative reporter at WNYC Public Radio, where his reporting on police misconduct in Mount Vernon, New York, led to the disbandment of a narcotics unit and the dismissal of 26 criminal convictions. He has also reported for the Appeal, the Intercept, ProPublica and National Public Radio. Joseph will be based in New York City and begins on Jan. 16.