Q&A: Investigations Correspondent Howard Berkes Discusses Black Lung Disease Series

Behind the Stories features perspectives from the reporters, editors and producers who create NPR's content, offering insights into how and why they do what they do. For this post, we talked with Investigations Correspondent Howard Berkes about his recent work on "Black Lung Returns To Coal Country," a series he has reported off-and-on for years.

You've been on the "employers wronging employees" beat at NPR for a number of years. What about it is most compelling to you?

I like call it workplace safety and government regulations gone awry. It started with the mining disaster in West Virginia in 2010. I was on the National Desk and had was the workplace correspondent at the time and had also been covering mine disasters. He was covering one disaster in West Virginia and asked if I would join him to investigate what happened. I learned a lot about the failures of government regulation, weak laws, with workplaces and workers. That really piqued my interest.