Some personal/professional news. . . .
Guardian US announces creation of new investigations unit, with Michael Hudson as first-ever US head of investigations
@GuardianUS
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott extended a rare state pardon to a man convicted of murdering a BLM protester in 2020. The killer had posted violent fantasies about murdering leftists and minorities on social media.
@davidenrich
@jpmorgan
Other suspicious/illicit money flows via JPMorgan detailed here: For example: the bank moved more than $1 billion for the fugitive financier behind Malaysia’s 1MDB scandal.
@kat__stafford
The best (& most cunning) reporters tend, right before deadline, to email breathlessly to say there's an amazing new detail/document THAT JUST CAME IN, it's a game changer for the story. But we need MORE TIME to write thru the story to incorporate it.Deadline officially blown up.
Pandora Papers reveal Emirati royal families’ role in secret money flows Thrilled to share a byline on this story w/
@mokhbersahafi
, one of the most relentless reporters on the planet. Here's a thread....
1/
The Late Show's Stephen Colbert gets all up in the
#PandoraPapers
and their exposure of the offshore activities of a broad spectrum of humanity -- "from the impossibly wealthy all the way down to the ridiculously rich." via
@YouTube
@AMUN_RA12
@shendy456
so like, going from being a very good passer to a great passer. maybe, say, going from 15th in assists (6.0 apg) in '06-'07 and 1st in assists (10.2 apg) in '19-'20?
'Work so hard,and don't think of the prizes. You have to love it. You have to be there 100%.... And keep going back. You're going to fail a lot, and it's okay. But if you love it, you'll just keep pushing' -- advice for journos from
@AP
's
@NMofty
, 2019
#Pulitzer
winner
Famed Azerbaijani investigative journalist (and
@ICIJorg
member) refuses $250,000 anti-corruption prize because she believes that the source of funds for the prize are, well, corrupt
Congrats to all the great journalists who made
#PandoraPapers
a reality -- honored tonight by the Overseas Press Club of America for outstanding international business reporting
Pandora Papers investigation receives National Headliner Award, other honors
Judges and commentators describe the global investigation as “stunning” and “one of the essential stories of our time.”
@hitRECordJoe
@ICIJorg
But as someone once said: "mere spasms of reform" don't do anyone any good. It will take sustained action -- from journalists, activists, policymakers, citizens -- to change a system as entrenched and powerful as the offshore secrecy machine. Let's keep fighting the fight.
-30-
Uncovering the Secret Offshore Accounts of the Global Élite
@NewYorker
profiles
@ICIJorg
and examines the impact of
#PandoraPapers
investigation by ICIJ + 150 news partners and 600+ journos. . . ./1
#PandoraPapers
wins
#ScrippsHowardAwards
' top prize, the Impact Award --- selected from the 40+ finalists in 15 categories for having the greatest world-changing results.
Congrats to everyone who worked so hard on this investigation. 1/
New Investigation: A real estate mogul bought her way into the NY mayor’s inner circle – and then the favors started
The developer raised money for Eric Adams’ campaign + helped his friends while garnering favorable regulatory decisions and city funds
FinCEN Files wins investigation of the year in Argentina!
Congrats to
#FinCENFiles
Argentine partners for great work. Kudos also to
@BuzzFeedNews
, which made the project possible, & partners around the world who showed the power of collaborative journalism
The
#FinCENFiles
investigation has won the TRACE Prize for Investigative Reporting, which 'recognizes journalism that uncovers business bribery or related financial crime.'
@hitRECordJoe
@ICIJorg
It's harder for policymakers and power brokers to ignore (or brush away) a story/scandal when you have 600+ journalists from 150+ news outlets digging deep, unearthing the receipts and producing what will ultimately end up being 100s of investigative stories.
It was a double-win tonight for
#PandoraPapers
. The reporting partnership also won Scripps Howard's prize for Excellence in National/International Investigative Reporting.
Here's a list of all the terrific journos from 100+ nations who made it happen:
The FinCEN Files investigation -- by
@ICIJorg
,
@BuzzFeedNews
and 100+ media partners around the globe -- has been shortlisted in the Sigma Awards, which recognize the best data journalism worldwide.
"The eye-opening collaboration revealed how banks we know and trust can move dirty money, avoid prosecution and continue to profit. The FinCEN Files truly honored the spirit of the Renner Award by exposing this global, financial corruption."
At least five musical groups around the world that have named themselves after the
#PanamaPapers
. And musicians in multiple countries + languages have recorded at least 38 songs titled “Panama Papers” or some variation, such as “Panama Papers Blues.”
1/
Congrats to journalists from ICIJ, BuzzFeed and 100 media partners around the world -- the
#FinCENFiles
investigation has been honored as a finalist for Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting.
@hitRECordJoe
@ICIJorg
Thanks Joseph! You zeroed in on what makes ICIJ work: Collaboration. Journalists are often socialized to think of other journos -- sometimes even those within your own newsroom -- as rivals. Once they start to think of each other as allies, interesting things happen. 1/
Petition urges President Biden to pardon
#FinCENFiles
whistleblower, says her disclosure of documents revealing global banks moving huge sums of illicit funds was "a public service, not a crime to be punished."
@kat__stafford
Another technique: Turn story in on time. Later, when the editor asks you to add a detail or fix something that's unclear, go into the story and use this as an excuse to do wholesale rewriting thru-out the piece, even cutting/reversing some of the editor's edits.
Just announced:
@BuzzFeedNews
,
@ICIJorg
and 100+ media partners around the world named finalists for the Selden Ring investigative reporting award for their work on the
#FinCENFiles
project
Just out . . .
@ICIJorg
wins Overall Excellence award in the Radio Television Digital News Association's 2021 Edward R. Murrow Awards . . . Congrats to ICIJ's hardworking staff and all of its terrific media partners around the world . . .
If you've been reading the latest installment
#PandoraPapers
investigation (about the UAE's role as an offshore haven) you might also want to read this profile about the extraordinary reporter who drove this story, my
@ICIJorg
colleague
@mokhbersahafi
v
HuffPost: Bailout legislation provides nothing of substance to address the pandemic itself. It mobilizes no new resources, organizes no production, improves no medical supply delivery and trains no new nurses.
This is a great recognition for ICIJ's staff, all of our media partners around the world, and the hundreds of amazing journalists who shared the toil and sweat on these projects, under difficult and sometimes dangerous conditions.
Texas 'Anti-Woke' Bank Goes Bust In 3 Months
It was supposed to be a bank that touted and supported capitalism, family, law enforcement and the love of God and country. It quickly burned through $50 million.
via
@HuffPostPol
ICYMI: The
#PandoraPapers
investigation has won a couple more honors.
1. The New York State Society CPAs Excellence in Financial Journalism award for Public Service:
MAGA mogul Guo Wengui guilty in fraud case
The verdict affirmed prosecutors’ claims that a anti-Chinese regime political movement Guo built alongside ex-Trump campaign chief Steve Bannon was largely a con designed to fleece members the Chinese diaspora
@hitRECordJoe
@ICIJorg
The article says ICIJ & its partners’ “global network journalism” has shown the way to a new kind of reporting that wrestles w/ an increasingly complex and networked world, bringing together journalists from around the planet to deeply analyze & expose murky transnational systems
#FinCENFiles
16-month investigation by
@ICIJorg
, BuzzFeed & 100+ media partners found big fines & other enforcement actions haven't worked: Big banks continue to play a central role in moving money tied to corruption, fraud, organized crime & terrorism
#PandoraPapers
named as a finalist for 's award for innovation in investigative reporting. (Winner TBA in late Sept). Another recognition for everyone who worked so hard to make this project a reality.
@WSJ
Congrats to Matt Murray for being named WSJ's top editor. Amazing that in addition to being a top-notch news editor he's also 8-4 in the Stanley Cup Finals with a .926 SV% and two shutouts. Where does he find the time?
Announcers on Lakers-Raptors NBA game namecheck
@nhannahjones
-- noting that Kyle Lowery
@Klow7
, who chose "Education Reform" for his game jersey, has been reading her work on education and race.
Just out:
#FinCENFiles
investigation by
@ICIJorg
@BuzzFeedNews
and partners around the world named as a finalist for
@LoebAwards
in international reporting
Winners to be announced Sept. 30. Congrats to everyone who worked on the project!
@jadenamos
Find ex-employees (of govt agencies, corporations etc.) Call them up. They will talk to you. They will tell you revealing and newsworthy things about these institutions, how they operate, how they treat people, how close they come to living up to their PR claims, etc.
8 months before National Enquirer's parent paid $150K to an ex-Playboy Playmate who claimed she’d had an affair with Donald Trump, it made a $30K payment to a less famous individual: a former doorman at at Trump building
@hitRECordJoe
@ICIJorg
Think global warming . . . the subprime mortgage disaster-in-the-making in the early 2000s . . . and, yes, how offshore secrecy fosters criminality, erodes public trust, degrades democracies and impoverishes whole groups of people while others prosper at their expense.
MLK III: "History will remember Senator Sinema unkindly. She’s siding with the legacy of Bull Connor and George Wallace instead of the legacy of my father and all those who fought to make real our democracy." via
@HuffPostPol
All because a whistleblower shared revealing government documents with a journalist. The Washington Post calls her "one of the most important whistleblowers of our era." /9
@YasminRafiei
@NewYorker
As an investigative journo & ex-Richmonder whose mom lived her last years at a well-run non-private-equity-owned facility in Richmond, I want to thank
@YasminRafiei
for her terrific reporting on this issue. Everyone who cares about humanity & compassion should read this story.
@hitRECordJoe
@ICIJorg
Former Philadelphia Inquirer editor Gene Roberts believed there was too much fetishizing of stories that "break." He preferred bigger, deeper, darker stories that “trickle, seep and ooze" into our lives, our cultures, our democracy, our environment.