National Press Club Headliners Screening: "Contaminated"

How did PFAS chemicals once used in stain-resistant carpets end up in water and environments across Georgia, Alabama, and South Carolina, and what ongoing health impacts are associated with their persistence? “Contaminated: The Carpet Industry’s Toxic Legacy,” a new documentary from FRONTLINE, The Associated Press, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Post and Courier and AL.com, sets out to answer that question with a thorough investigation.

Following the screening, join panelists for a discussion on how collaboration between local journalists uncovered this story and the impact the reporting has made in communities.

Their joint investigation draws on thousands of pages of documents and court depositions and interviews with former regulators and industry insiders, as well as doctors, scientists and people who have the kinds of illnesses that researchers have linked to PFAS contamination.

Opening remarks and the screening at 6:00 p.m. followed by the panel discussion at 7:00 p.m. Tickets cost $5 for National Press Club members and $15 for non-members.

PANELISTS

Dylan Jackson is a watchdog reporter at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution whose recent investigative work has examined the presence of PFAS, or "forever chemicals," in the water, land, food and people of northwest Georgia. His work bridges politics, big business and law, and his previous investigations exposed deadly conditions in Atlanta's jails and the spotty environmental record of a company seeking to mine near Georgia's Okefenokee Swamp.

Jonathan Schienberg is an Emmy-nominated journalist and filmmaker whose work spans investigative and character-driven documentaries. He is the director of Contaminated: The Carpet Industry's Toxic Legacy, a Frontline (PBS) investigation, reported with The Associated Press, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Post and Courier, and AL.com, into PFAS contamination from the carpet industry across the South.

He directed and produced episodes of Years of Living Dangerously, the Emmy Award-winning National Geographic series on climate change, and earned an Emmy nomination for a Frontline investigation, reported with NPR, into how America rebuilds after deadly climate disasters. His broader credits include directing and producing for CBS News, 60 Minutes, The New York Times, HBO, CNN, and National Geographic. He runs Perimeter Pictures, the independent production company he co-founded, and is based in New York.

Maggie Kates is a reporter and writer covering the environment. Based in the South, she writes stories about wildlife, natural resources, energy, industry and their impacts on the environment and people.

Though most of her work is written, Maggie has also expanded her environmental reporting into video and digital formats to reach a broader audience. She has reported from New Orleans, Chicago, Alabama, and the Middle East. Her work has been featured on AL.com, FRONTLINE/PBS, and in print at the Times-Picayune and other outlets. Maggie graduated from Northwestern University with a bachelor's and master's degree in journalism in 2021.