On March 13, 2023, ProPublica published an investigation revealing that health insurance giant Cigna used an automated system called PXDX to deny 300,000 claims over two months without doctors examining individual patient files—spending an average of just 1.2 seconds reviewing each case before …
CignaProPublicaHouse Committee on Energy and Commercehealthcareinsurance-fraudsystematic-corruptioninvestigative-journalism
New York Times investigative reporters Walt Bogdanich (three-time Pulitzer Prize winner) and Michael Forsythe (George Polk Award winner and U.S. Navy veteran) publish ‘When McKinsey Comes to Town: The Hidden Influence of the World’s Most Powerful Consulting Firm,’ a landmark …
Walt BogdanichMichael ForsytheMcKinsey & CompanyThe New York TimesPenguin Random Housemckinseyauthoritarian-consultinginvestigative-journalismbook-publicationsaudi-arabia+3 more
New York Times journalist Kashmir Hill published a groundbreaking exposé titled “The Secretive Company That Might End Privacy As We Know It,” revealing that Clearview AI had scraped 3 billion faces from Facebook, YouTube, Venmo, and millions of other websites without anyone’s …
Kashmir HillClearview AIHoan Ton-ThatNew York Timessurveillance-stateprivacy-violationsinvestigative-journalismauthoritarian-infrastructure
ProPublica publishes a bombshell investigation co-published with The New York Times revealing the full extent of McKinsey’s controversial work with ICE, based on 1,500 pages of documents obtained through a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit. The documents expose that McKinsey proposed cuts in …
ProPublicaNew York TimesMcKinsey & CompanyImmigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)mckinseyconsulting-scandalinvestigative-journalismfoia-litigationimmigration-enforcement+3 more
The New York Times publishes a major investigation by Walt Bogdanich and Michael Forsythe titled ‘How McKinsey Has Helped Raise the Stature of Authoritarian Governments’ based on interviews with 40 current and former McKinsey employees and dozens of clients. The investigation reveals …
McKinsey & CompanyWalt BogdanichMichael ForsytheThe New York TimesSaudi Arabia+4 moremckinseyauthoritarian-consultinginvestigative-journalismsaudi-arabiachina+3 more
Washington Post investigative reporter David Fahrenthold published a groundbreaking series of investigations revealing that the Donald J. Trump Foundation had engaged in a systematic pattern of illegal self-dealing, using tax-exempt charitable funds to purchase items for Trump’s personal use, …
Donald TrumpTrump FoundationDavid FahrentholdWashington Posttrump foundationcharity fraudself-dealinginvestigative journalismdavid fahrenthold
On September 12, 2016, the Indianapolis Star published an investigation exposing Larry Nassar’s systematic sexual abuse of gymnasts, breaking the story that the FBI had failed to investigate for over a year. The newspaper investigation, led by reporters who uncovered the FBI’s …
Indianapolis StarLarry NassarMichigan State University PoliceUSA GymnasticsFederal Bureau of Investigation+3 moreinvestigative-journalisminstitutional-abusegymnasticscover-upfbi-failure+2 more
Wall Street Journal reporter John Carreyrou publishes the first investigative article exposing Theranos’ fraudulent blood-testing technology, revealing that the company was using traditional blood testing machines instead of its proprietary ‘Edison’ devices and that test results …
John CarreyrouElizabeth HolmesTheranosWall Street JournalWalgreens+1 morecorruptionfraudregulatory-capturetechhealthcare+3 more
On September 16, 2015, InsideClimate News began publishing an eight-month investigation revealing that Exxon’s own scientists warned executives as early as 1977 that burning fossil fuels was heating the planet, yet the company then worked at the forefront of climate denial for decades. The …
InsideClimate NewsExxonMobilLos Angeles TimesColumbia UniversityJames Blackclimate-denialinvestigative-journalismexxonknewcorporate-fraudfossil-fuels
The Center for Media and Democracy (CMD), in cooperation with The Nation magazine, launched the ‘ALEC Exposed’ web project on July 13, 2011, posting 850 model bills created by the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) over a 30-year period and exposing the systematic corporate …
Center for Media and DemocracyThe NationAmerican Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC)Common CauseKoch Industriesaleclegislative-capturecorporate-corruptioninvestigative-journalismregulatory-capture+1 more
The New York Times publishes an investigative piece by John Markoff exposing the full scope of the Pentagon’s Total Information Awareness (TIA) program, a $240 million initiative that aims to create unprecedented mass surveillance capabilities by mining personal data from financial …
New York TimesJohn MarkoffDARPAJohn PoindexterInformation Awareness Office+2 moresurveillanceprivacymediainvestigative-journalismtia+3 more
The Omaha Sun publishes a bombshell investigation on March 30, 1972, revealing that Boys Town, the iconic Catholic charity founded by Father Edward Flanagan, is sitting on a $209 million endowment—making it richer than any Nebraska company and ranking approximately 230th in Fortune magazine’s …
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Investigative journalist Seymour Hersh publishes explosive revelations about the My Lai massacre through Dispatch News Service after both Life and Look magazines refuse the story. Hersh’s investigation begins when he receives a tip on October 22, 1969 about a soldier being court-martialed at …
Journalist Seymour HershWhistleblower Ronald RidenhourLieutenant William CalleyU.S. ArmyDispatch News Servicewhistleblowinggovernment-deceptionwar-crimesinstitutional-corruptioninvestigative-journalism
Wyoming Democratic Senator John Kendrick introduced a resolution calling for investigation of the secret Teapot Dome oil lease deal after a Wyoming oil operator complained about Sinclair receiving the contract through a secret arrangement. Two days after the Wall Street Journal exposed the deal, …
John KendrickRobert La Follettecongressional-oversightinvestigative-journalismpolitical-corruption
Upton Sinclair published “The Jungle” on February 26, 1906, after serializing it in the Socialist newspaper Appeal to Reason from February to November 1905. The 26-year-old writer spent seven weeks in fall 1904 investigating Chicago’s “Packingtown”—a dense complex of …
Upton SinclairDoubledayAppeal to Reasoninvestigative-journalismmuckrakinglabor-rightspublic-healthcorporate-power+1 more
Lincoln Steffens published “The Shame of the Cities” in 1904, a groundbreaking collection of articles originally written for McClure’s Magazine that exposed systematic corruption in major American cities including St. Louis, Minneapolis, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Chicago, and New …
Lincoln SteffensMcClure's Magazineinvestigative-journalismmuckrakingpolitical-corruptionmunicipal-governmentprogressive-era+1 more
Ida Tarbell began publishing her groundbreaking 19-part investigative series “The History of the Standard Oil Company” in McClure’s Magazine in November 1902, running through October 1904. Her meticulous research exposed the predatory business practices, illegal rebate schemes, and …
Ida TarbellMcClure's MagazineStandard Oil CompanyJohn D. Rockefellerinvestigative-journalismmuckrakingcorporate-powerantitrustmedia+1 more