How we kept government transparent, leaders accountable

In 2025, Californians used the journalism of CalMatters and The Markup to drive measurable change in the state and across the country.

State and federal lawmakers have introduced eight new bills addressing issues ranging from government corruption to patient health insurance protection and wage theft.

At least seven state or federal agencies have taken actionincluding actions to suspend or revoke the licenses of drivers convicted of killing someone with their vehicle, fining a former lawmaker for violating campaign finance law, and restoring a $36 million dementia research grant.

Many companies have changed their practices. For example, more than 10 companies have stopped hiding their opt-out instructions from Google search.

Just as important, our journalism touched Californians on a personal level — bringing families together, encouraging voters to contact their legislators and helping voters make informed decisions.

CalMatters is a member supported non-profit newsroom, and we believe that independent journalism is critical to keeping our government transparent and our leaders accountable. We also believe that, at best, our reports provide Californians—whether community members, businesses, nonprofits, regulators or legislators—with the information they need to make critical decisions.

These beliefs drive our work year after year. And as journalists, we’re proud that this year our reporting made a measurable and meaningful difference for people in California and beyond.

This year’s CalMatters and The Markup reports resulted in:

• Nearly 200 drivers, all of whom have been convicted of killing someone with their vehicle, have their driving privileges suspended or cancelled.
• Elected and Appointed Officials of California are required by law to tell the public when they have accepted a job offer from a new employer who may seek favors from them while they are still in a position of power.
• Rural California gets school funding lifeline as Congress recovers the money he cut off.
• Birth centers are getting help from a new law that is trying to make staying open in rural and low-income areas more easily at a time when, after dozens of closings, vast swathes of California are without hospitals or birthing centers.
• State lawmakers are calling for:
  • increased supervision of California’s billion-dollar shelter system,
  • decisions to address when employers steal wages from workers and
  • increased defenses for the right to health insurance for patients during the first 28 days of treatment.
• Los Angeles County insists on limit sharing and saving license plate data collected with high-tech surveillance cameras.
• State health exchange websites in CaliforniaNevada and Massachusetts cease their practice to send visitors’ sensitive data — such as what medications they’re taking and whether they’re pregnant or disabled — to big tech companies.
• California Republican Congressional Representatives calls for an investigation after fraudsters stole more than $10 million in federal financial aid from California community colleges.
• Families getting together again with their homeless loved ones.
• Multiple companies stopping their practice of hiding instructions for opting out of data from Google search results.
• Representatives of Los Angeles are turning complaints to secret homeless shelters.
• Fremont removal of disputed clause from their city ordinance that could have penalized these “aiding and abetting” homeless encampments.
• Voters who directly ask their legislators to explain their votes on a bill.
• Individual legislators distortion protocol and voting against their colleagues’ bills, even though legislators almost never vote “no” in the California Capitol.
• Civil lawsuit against Match Group, the world’s largest dating app company, alleging that its dating apps could trigger serial rapists but don’t.
• The California Highway Patrol plans to equips all 7,600 employees with body cameras to 2026, when three years ago only 3% of officers wore body cameras.
• The National Institutes of Health reversing its termination of a $36 million grant to a UC Davis researcher studying dementia.
• California Political Watchdog fine of a former deputy $106,000 for violating campaign finance laws.
• Federal lawmakers are calling for banning loopholes which allow insurance companies to charge more in black neighborhoods.
• A federal judge who issues a temporary restraining order in July to end warrantless immigration stops across a wide swath of California. The Supreme Court reversed the temporary restraining order in September.
• The Department of Homeland Security tells the federal court it will retrained more than 900 California-based Border Patrol agents on how to uphold the constitution after controversial immigration raids in Kern County in January.
• ICE exemption a deaf Mongolian immigrant after being held for months without an interpreter.
• A nonprofit improving its early childhood mental health practices after learning more about how preschool in san diego helps students who have experienced family trauma.

There are even more examples than what we’ve shared, like when we hear from government agencies that our data has helped them better understand a topic, or when companies tell us they’re going to make changes that take time to happen.

How readers used our reports

As we close out 2025, I want to highlight another kind of impact we’re incredibly proud of: When our journalism helps people make an informed decision or take action that matters to them. In our 2025 audience survey, 89% of readers said they had voted in local, state or national elections for 10 years or more. After reading a CalMatters article, more than 80% felt better informed and more than 20% were inspired to write to a public official.

Here are a few examples of what readers told us this year:

• From Cecilia, in Sacramento: “(CalMatters) helps me get the facts I need to evaluate my own political beliefs and the effectiveness of my preferred policies. Your explanations of election measures are also the best I’ve come across. They excel at distilling complex topics for any audience.”
• From Omer, in Los Angeles: “I work in government, and CalMatters’ in-depth coverage is so vital. I’ve used articles to research and justify political action, so I feel obligated.”
• From Carol, in Morro Bay: “The License to kill series, among many others, really blew me away. I wrote to my chosen ones several times. I will not forget the negligence of the lack of follow up on these wrongful deaths.
• From David, in Oceanside: “In a democracy, news becomes valuable when the electorate can inform its representatives about needed and proposed legislation. CalMatters’ My Legislators newsletter gives me that information and has already helped me in a short period of time (to) connect with my representatives on a variety of topics. CalMatters is bucking a dangerous trend by providing this valuable information.”

We are only privileged to know about an impact like this when you, our readers, tell us about it. This kind of impact is also one of the everyday reasons we do this work. If our journalism has helped you, I’d love to hear about it. Notify our team at info@calmatters.org.