Martha Mendoza

Investigative Journalist

A two-time Pulitzer Prize winner, Martha Mendoza’s reports have prompted Congressional hearings and new legislation, Pentagon investigations and White House responses. She was part of a team whose investigations into slavery in the Thai seafood business led to the freedom of more than 2,000 men. And she was part of a team that uncovered a US Army massacre of hundreds of civilians during the Korean War.

Currently a FRONTLINE correspondent, Mendoza won a 2020 Emmy for “Kids Caught In The Crackdown,” about the detention of migrant children. A year later she won an Investigative Editors and Reporters award for “America’s Medical Supply Crisis,” a documentary holding those responsible for deadly shortages during the pandemic.

During her Associated Press career, Mendoza covered the war on drugs while based in Mexico City, and focused on human trafficking while working in Bangkok. She spent years covering tech inequality, booms and busts in the Silicon Valley.

Mendoza studied journalism and obtained a California teaching credential the University of California, Santa Cruz where she has continued to teach for more than a decade in the Master’s Science Communication program. She was a Knight Fellow at Stanford University and a Ferris Professor at Princeton University.

Languages Spoken:

English

Areas of Expertise:

Investigative Reporting

They Were Forced To Scam Others Worldwide. Now Thousands Are Detained on the Myanmar Border
An operation by Thai, Chinese and Myanmar authorities led to the release of more than 7,000 people from locked compounds in Myanmar where they were forced to trick Americans and others out of their life savings. But survivors have found themselves trapped once again, this time in overcrowded facilities.
March 10, 2025
Official Says Vaccine Expected in January, Countering Trump
A Trump administration official leading the response to the coronavirus pandemic says the U.S. can expect delivery of a vaccine starting in January 2021, despite statements from the president that inoculations could begin this month.
October 9, 2020
U.S. Medical Supply Chains Failed, and COVID Deaths Followed
When the coronavirus reached America, health care facilities didn’t have the masks and equipment needed to protect their workers. Some got sick and spread the virus. Some died. An investigation into what was behind the critical PPE shortage.
October 6, 2020
Shortages of Key Material Squeezes Medical Mask Manufacturing
Amid an N95 medical-grade mask shortage, manufacturers say the Trump administration took months to sign contracts with companies that make the crucial component inside these masks: meltblown textile.
September 10, 2020
U.S. Bets On Small, Untested Company to Deliver COVID Vaccine
As part of its strategy to administer the vaccine as quickly as possible, the Trump administration has agreed to invest more than a half billion in tax dollars in a young company that hasn’t yet set up a factory to manufacture the devices.
July 10, 2020
Counterfeit Masks Reaching Frontline Health Workers in U.S.
The story of how one brand of counterfeits has infiltrated America’s supply chains illustrates how the lack of coordination amid massive shortages during the coronavirus pandemic has plunged the United State’s medical system into chaos.
May 12, 2020
U.S. International Aid Groups Sending Help Home
Several U.S. charities that traditionally operate in countries stricken by war and natural disaster are now sending humanitarian aid to some of the wealthiest communities in America.
April 10, 2020
U.S. Held a Record Number of Migrant Kids in Custody This Year
New government data shows an unprecedented 69,550 migrant children were held in U.S. government custody over the past year.
November 12, 2019
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Kids Caught in the Crackdown
FRONTLINE and The Associated Press investigate the mass confinement of migrant children.
November 12, 2019
Trump Admin Shifting to Privatize Migrant Child Detention
So far, the only for-profit company sheltering kids has former White House Chief of Staff John Kelly on the board of its parent company. Kelly supported a policy to separate children from their families, which led to a surge in spending on detaining migrant babies, children and teens.
October 3, 2019
‘I Can’t Feel My Heart:’ Children Separated from Their Parents at US-Mexico Border Showed Increased Signs of Post-traumatic Stress, According to Watchdog Report
Concerns about the mental well-being of children separated from their parents at the US-Mexico border are well-founded, a report from a government watchdog agency indicates. The report says the separated children have experienced problems including abandonment, guilt and worries about their parents’ well-being.
September 4, 2019