The days run long and the weeks bleed together in the life of an investigative journalist. Caught in a deluge of documents, voicemails, notifications, and the incessantly blinking cursor, one hardly has the time to build the story exactly as envisioned. Still, Jenifer McKim, Senior Editor of GBH News’ Investigations and Justice and Equity units, is right where she belongs.
A reporter for more than 30 years, the Brookline native has worked in newsrooms from Puerto Rico to California before returning home to Boston, and seen seismic changes unfold across the journalism industry. What hasn’t changed, however, is her approach to the work: “I’ve always been a social impact reporter,” she says.
“When I was 22, one of the first stories I wrote was for The San Juan Star about a homeless family,” says McKim. “The next day, the mayor made some calls and helped that family find a home. I fell in love with the job — being able to tell meaningful stories and make a difference. And it’s never been boring.”
The same is true, no doubt, of her work in the GBH Newsroom. Since joining the New England Center for Investigative Reporting, a collaboration between Boston University and GBH News, McKim’s journalism has been profoundly impactful. Her work at the GBH News Center for Investigative Reporting (CIR) proved instrumental in freeing Darrell Jones, a man who was wrongfully convicted of murder in 1986 and spent 32 years in prison.
I was there when [Darrell Jones] walked out of the courthouse [after his conviction was vacated.] He still writes me every holiday to thank me for making a difference.Jenifer McKim
In addition, McKim and her team uncovered the widespread purchase of single-family homes across Massachusetts — though especially in Western Mass. — by shadowy shell companies, displacing low-income homeowners in the process. Moreover, the CIR’s reporting extends to a long series on child fatalities, elderly people dying at the hands of their caregivers, college student suicides, human trafficking, and many similarly urgent regional topics.
“We do these stories because they make a difference and create change,” McKim says. “Sometimes these are stories no one broaches until you talk about them at the systemic and human levels. This is mission-driven work. Every day I wake up with the goal of doing something to move the needle for the better.”
A morning person, McKim starts her days by reading the news. When the GBH News leadership team meets at 8:45 every weekday, she comes in with plenty of ideas, angles, and most of all, questions for her fellow journalists. “I believe the best stories come from reporters — from the ground up, rather than from the top down,” she says. Hearing from reporters, the sources they’re cultivating, as well as community voices occupies a critical aspect of McKim’s work, helping direct what stories the newsroom pursues and the resources deployed to cover them.
Of course, McKim is no stranger to the challenges that accompany investigative journalism. “It’s certainly not for people who crave immediacy; it can be months and months in the making, with really slow progress,” she says. “Beyond that, you have to have tough skin, belief in what you’re doing, and strong sources who will lead you in the right direction — because you’re going to get pushback if you’re after the right stories.”
As with the piece on predatory LLCs purchasing homes in Western Massachusetts, the story often begins at the macro level before its focus narrows to a particular instance. “It starts with big numbers and everything,” says McKim, “but in the end, you have this woman who was forced out of the home she raised her children in because she couldn’t afford it anymore. It’s about finding those compelling human stories that bring wider issues to light.”
At the helm of the GBH News’ Equity and Justice unit as well as the CIR, the scope of McKim’s work runs as wide as it does deep. With five reporters working under her, editing has become a central element of McKim’s day-to-day: overseeing the larger strategy of the units, developing stories from the ground up, and fine-tuning copy with writers.
“I love editing,” she says. “It’s fun to help [my teams] formulate and improve their stories. I love working with them all and having an impact that’s larger than the work I do on my own.”
Launched in October of 2024, GBH News’ Equity and Justice unit unearths socioeconomic and racial gaps in Greater Boston and throughout the Commonwealth. The unit covers a breadth of issues, ranging from accessibility efforts in Chinatown to policies affecting Boston’s immigrant population and striking university workers.
Named the leader of the unit in late 2025, McKim says “I’ve already learned so much from the team. It’s a great, passionate group of reporters and producers who are really adept at multimedia.” Much of the unit’s work involves going to communities where reporters typically only show up when something bad has happened, she adds, and highlighting narratives of positive change and growth.
Where do you start when you begin writing a story? Often with the thing you most want to share with your best friend or your partner.
Jenifer McKim
Central to this approach are community listening sessions. The team has gone out to talk to people in Brockton, Lawrence, Dorchester, among other places. “For the last year,” adds McKim, “Meghan Smith has gone to a Somerville café once a month and said, ‘We’re here for you.’ She gets a line out the door of people who just want to talk about what’s happening in their neighborhood. This helps us build sources and learn things we might not know otherwise.”
One of the unit’s forthcoming flagship projects is called 26 in 26, where the team will travel to the 26 Gateway Cities in the state — including Springfield, Lowell, Fall River, and many others — and put their ears to the ground to understand issues of importance within these communities. Many of these mid-level cities have substantial immigrant populations, anchor regional economies, and often face intractable social or economic challenges. “These are really interesting communities undergoing transitions on a number of levels, and it’s imperative we listen to what people are talking about there.”
As for the work McKim is most proud of with GBH News, she returns to her National Murrow Award-winning series on human trafficking with colleague Phillip Martin (now retired), Unseen. The stories shed light on the trafficking and exploitation of young men — “something that’s largely not looked at,” she says.
GBH News’ National Murrow Award-winning coverage on human trafficking coverage did not end there. McKim and Martin documented the illicit massage industry (“hidden everywhere in plain sight”), as well as cases of labor trafficking. “This is something people might not think happens in the United States,” says McKim, “but we found a woman in Brookline caught in this system working 18-hour days who managed to escape by sneaking out the back door while pretending to throw out diapers.”
I loved the way [Phil Martin] and I worked together. The man would be able to walk down the street and get anyone to talk to him. He made all the stories we did together so much richer.Jenifer McKim
Asked if covering these ponderous stories weighs on her, McKim leans on two things. “I feel optimistic that we’re able to make change,” she says, “and I also have a strong personal life — two kids who are adults now, but we spend a lot of time together. I play tennis, tend to my garden, and read a lot of fiction — Maggie O’Farrell’s The Marriage Portrait most recently. I also have a new puppy, so that keeps me pretty occupied. It’s about finding things that bring you meaning and joy.”
Time and again, impact is central to the work of McKim and the units that report to her. Whether or not a story drives the change they’re hoping to see doesn’t preclude them from pursuing the next one. The beat doesn’t stop, even after a piece goes to print.
“I’m not sure stories ever end,” she says. “I have sources I met 20 years ago who reach out to me to this day. These stories are ongoing; often you’ll write something, and someone across the country years later will stand on your shoulders and move it even further.”
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Read more of Jenifer McKim’s work, and the reporting produced by GBH News’ Center for Investigative Reporting and Justice and Equity unit.
