Journalist
Floodlight earned the Arthur E. Rowse Award for Examining the News Media for their investigation of how energy companies are quietly purchasing local news outlets and employing out-of-work journalists to lend legitimacy to industry messaging — a “news mirage” that masquerades as real journalism, often without readers’ awareness. Floodlight’s Media Manipulation in America was praised […]
Continue Reading
First Place: Miranda Green and David Folkenflik, NPR, Floodlight, “Chevron Owns This City’s News Site. Many Stories Aren’t Told” (Link) Judges’ comment: This story stood out because it wasn’t just about disinformation — it was about the structures that enable it. By exposing a fake local news site created by a powerful corporation, it offered something […]
Continue Reading
Montecito suffered a devastating mudslide in 2018. Now the community has rallied to try to make sure the same thing will never happen again. Curtis Skene was asleep at 03:30 on 9 January 2018, when he heard the light rain turn into a downpour at his home in Montecito, California. A bright light drew the […]
Continue Reading
People snatched off the streets. Residents in hiding. This is the past week in Los Angeles. Hermanita Conchita was tending to her stand on Monday afternoon, selling pupusas and fruit outside her home in the South Central neighborhood of Los Angeles, when she saw two suspicious cars pull up. “I said, ‘That’s immigration!’ and everyone […]
Continue Reading
Esther Bejarano’s son was 11 months old when asthma landed him in the hospital. She didn’t know what had triggered his symptoms — neither she nor her husband had asthma — but she suspected it was the pesticides sprayed on the agricultural fields near her family’s home. Pesticides are a known contributor to asthma and are commonly […]
Continue Reading
His alleged victims say he bribed New York Police Department officials, stole millions in diamonds, and persuaded Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Kim Kardashian to shill for a scam cryptocurrency. So why is Jona Rechnitz still free? It was like something out of a fairy tale—or the Los Angeles society pages. As a crowd of celebrities […]
Continue Reading
Miranda Green received an honorable mention from the judges for her work published in the media outlet Floodlight. Green’s work examined how Alabama’s largest electric utility infiltrated local media by financing a news service and buying an African-American newspaper, thereby limiting critical news coverage. She also reported how oil major Chevron controlled the news in Richmond, Calif., by owning the city’s […]
Continue Reading
Power User Podcast w/ Taylor Lorenz From Ohio to North Dakota, thousands of people have suddenly gotten brand new newspapers delivered to their doorsteps. At first glance, they look legit. But these newspapers are fake news outlets created by the oil and gas industry to influence public opinion. Top investigative journalist Miranda Green has been […]
Continue Reading
Though Central ND News promises to “fill the void in community news after years of decline in local reporting by legacy media” with “100% original reporting,” no staff are listed on the site and few stories have bylines. Last fall residents of Mandan, North Dakota woke up to an unfamiliar newspaper at their doorsteps. The […]
Continue Reading