About William @WmBrangham
William Brangham is a correspondent and producer for PBS NewsHour in Washington, D.C. He joined the flagship PBS program in 2015, after spending two years with PBS NewsHour Weekend in New York City.
In his first three years, Brangham has done a range of award-winning reporting across the United States and internationally, covering everything from the severity of America’s opioid crisis, the integration of women into combat roles in the U.S. Marine Corps, to a profile of Ina Garten, the “Barefoot Contessa.”
Brangham’s reporting on the Syrian refugee crisis in 2015 was among the work cited when the NewsHour won a George Foster Peabody Award that year. The next year, he reported a six-part series on the global HIV/AIDS epidemic, which won a series of major awards including an Emmy and the National Academies of Sciences Communication Award. In 2018, Brangham worked on an investigative series about sexual assault and retaliation in the U.S. Forest Service. The day after that series aired, the head of the Forest Service suddenly stepped down.
When he is not out reporting in the field, Brangham is a regular interviewer on the NewsHour, and he has occasionally anchored the weekday and Weekend broadcasts.
During his career, Brangham has also worked on video projects for The New York Times, ABC News, National Geographic and Frontline. Prior to joining the NewsHour, he was a producer and correspondent for Need to Know on PBS, and before that, for Bill Moyers Journal. Brangham worked on several Moyers' documentary series in the 1990s, and was a producer on the critically acclaimed Now with Bill Moyers in the early 2000s.
In 2014, he was an adjunct professor at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism.
Brangham lives in Washington, D.C., with his wife and three children.
William’s Recent Stories
Health Aug 26
Are U.S. medical experts being influenced by the Trump administration?Questions are again being raised about whether the Trump administration is injecting politics into science -- and the national pandemic response. Recent moves by the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention appear to conflict…
Health Jul 22
How the pandemic is complicating America’s addiction crisisAccording to preliminary data, drug overdoses killed nearly 72,000 Americans in 2019, a record high. Now, it appears that 2020 is on track to be even worse, as the U.S. has witnessed a startling rise in overdoses during the pandemic.
Economy Jul 07
Why more renters are being evicted in the middle of the pandemicDuring this coronavirus pandemic, we hear repeatedly from public health officials to stay at home. But many Americans don’t have stable housing -- and now, a growing number of people are being forced out of where they live because they…
Health Jul 06
A muted Fourth of July as virus shatters infection recordsFourth of July celebrations in many parts of the United States were muted this year, overshadowed by a virus spreading with alarming speed. The national death toll from COVID-19 has surpassed 130,000, and hospitals in the South and West particularly…
Health Jun 30
In states where coronavirus is surging, reopening plans put on holdThe U.S. is now averaging roughly 40,000 new confirmed infections of COVID-19 each day. The caseload has more than doubled this month in at least 10 states, mostly in the South and the West. As some states put their reopening…
Nation Jun 15
Atlanta erupts in protest after another black man dies at the hands of policeAtlanta has become the new epicenter of a growing campaign for racial justice. Thousands of protesters marched there after the fatal police shooting of Rayshard Brooks on Friday night. Meanwhile, pressure continues to build in Minneapolis for the city to…
Health Jun 11
How Americans’ drinking habits have changed during the pandemicStay-at-home orders posed a special challenge to Americans who struggle with addiction and rely on the support of in-person recovery meetings. Many others found their alcohol consumption patterns changed significantly during the pandemic. William Brangham reports on the impact COVID-19…
Politics Jun 09
The truth about vote-by-mail and fraudThe question of how to conduct elections safely during a pandemic remains timely as voters go to the polls in five states on Tuesday. With COVID-19 still present across the country, officials are trying to prepare for this fall’s election,…
Nation May 22
Americans prepare for a Memorial Day transformed by COVID-19On Friday, President Trump declared houses of worship “essential," calling on governors to reopen them. Some beaches and lakes are also allowing visitors as Americans mark the Memorial Day holiday. But as the pandemic rages on, flags across the country…
Health May 13
During the pandemic, reports of child abuse have decreased. Here’s why that’s concerningSince the coronavirus pandemic closed schools nationwide, children are spending much more time at home. But reports of abuse and neglect have declined dramatically, prompting concerns among child welfare advocates that mistreatment isn’t being exposed. William Brangham reports on the…
