Reed F. Richardson

@reedfrich.bsky.social

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Managing Editor GIJN. Army veteran. Columbia J-School. Bylines: Mediaite, FAIRMediaWatch, The Nation, TPM, Alternet, Salon, etc. Posts are my own.

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AI large language models like ChatGPT have serious flaws, but there are very specific, discrete ways that investigative journalists can use them as a handy tool. Here, GIJN offers up expert advice on the best AI prompts to save time and find new sources in your reporting. gijn.org/stories/usin...

Tips for Using ChatGPT as a Quick Search Tool in Investigationsgijn.org At IRE24, investigative reporter Jeremy Jojola shared his practical advice on how to use ChatGPT for contact searches and quick document analysis to find new sources and save time at the start of an i...

Immensely proud of our GIJN team for the regional spotlight week we just completed on the state of investigative journalism in Latin America — and why the organize crime, data, and other stories uncovered there connect all across the world. Read the entire series here: gijn.org/project/lata...

LATAM Focusgijn.org Our first regional spotlight series celebrates the achievements of our members in Latin America and others reporting from the region. These articles tell the stories of reporters across the continent,...

Daily Beast’s new ownership really giving the game away here. Even if this title is supposed to be an ironic joke, the story itself is completely craven and utterly shameless. This kind of “reporting” isn’t afflicting the comfortable, it’s all about archly basking in the reflected glow of power.

Democratic senators have now put out a spreadsheet of all the known gifts to SCOTUS Justice Thomas & it's laughably obvious he is compromised when you see this list in black and white. And a reminder that we only know this because of great investigative journalists. www.yahoo.com/news/clarenc...

Today, GIJN kicks off a new, ongoing series where we dedicate an entire week to covering one geographic region. Our inaugural Focus Week looks at Latin America, a critical home for innovative investigative journalism that connects to transnational issues across the world. gijn.org/stories/lata...

‘We Are Just Warming up Our Engines’: What’s Next for Investigative Journalism in Latin Americagijn.org GIJN has more than 25 members in Latin America, from Mexico to Chile. We asked them what characteristics define investigative journalism in the region, and about the greatest challenges facing reporte...

GIJN member Forbidden Stories partnered with 50 journalists from 13 different news sites to conduct an in-depth investigation into the military targeting of journalists inside Gaza, finding a "damning array of evidence against the Israeli government." forbiddenstories.org/the-gaza-pro...

The Gaza Project: How Forbidden Stories investigated the killing of nearly 100 journalists in Gazaforbiddenstories.org Since October 7, more than 100 journalists have been killed. Forbidden Stories investigated their killings.

From GIJN member @texasobserver.org, a great Q & A with a small-town Texas librarian fired for "insubordination" after she stood up against efforts to ban books. And this part of the interview is definitely my favorite—this grandmother of two is such a badass. www.texasobserver.org/library-book...

Completely obscure moment in his amazing career, but this bit in Dirty Dozen remains my favorite Donald Sutherland moment. When he turns to review the second rank and his whole physical demeanor changes and *becomes* a fake, pompous general is just tremendous. m.youtube.com/watch?v=525P...

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When your investigative journalism is also service journalism…for your own newsroom. www.washingtonpost.com/style/media/...

Robert Winnett will not join The Post as editorwww.washingtonpost.com Robert Winnett, hired by Washington Post publisher William Lewis, faced questions about his U.K. work, including stories based on stolen records.

Can’t imagine I’d have much confidence in my news org’s leadership if I had to read a steady drip of stories about my new boss’s corrupt judgment and/or unethical behavior day after day. But then Lewis does fit a certain demographic where failing up is common… www.theguardian.com/media/articl...

Washington Post publisher alleged to have advised Boris Johnson to ‘clean up’ phone during Partygate Covid scandalwww.theguardian.com Sources’ claim suggests advice by Will Lewis, an informal adviser to then prime minister, contradicted instructions to staff

Satellite imagery has become a game-changing tool for investigative journalists. But this vital resource isn't just for major news outlets. In our latest tipsheet, GIJN gives step-by-step instructions on how even the smallest newsrooms can access satellite images for free. gijn.org/resource/gui...

Reporter’s Tipsheet for Acquiring Free Satellite Imagesgijn.org There is a treasure trove of compelling visual evidence out there that is going unused by many watchdog journalists, and this tipsheet offers newsrooms of all sizes tips for acquiring satellite imager...

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Reed F. Richardson

A full-fledged attack on access to public records is underway in the states. Journalists and the public must fight back.

States keep public in dark with anti-transparency reformsfreedom.press Laws limiting public records access make it harder for journalists to hold executive branch officials accountable

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Alito is mad that too much money is funding ProPublica to do real investigative reporting on his and Thomas' ethics violations. Hmmm...

mamma mia! www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...

New Audio: Alito Bashes ProPublica for Reporting on Supreme Court Ethicswww.rollingstone.com Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito in a new recording suggests partisan funding is to blame for coverage of justices’ undisclosed luxury gifts.

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Gustavo Gorriti, a journalist who has exposed corruption in Peru for more than 40 years, has been accused of bribery by the country's attorney general. Press freedom groups say the investigation is part of a growing campaign against the news media.

A Reporter’s Work Helped Topple Presidents. Now He Is Being Investigated.nyti.ms Press freedom groups say the investigation of Gustavo Gorriti, a noted Peruvian journalist, is politically motivated and part of a growing campaign against the news media.

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David Folkenflik says Will Lewis has "launched a broadside on values held dear at the Post and elsewhere of the idea of a firewall insulating the newsroom from pressure from those that it covers, including those who run its business side.” www.npr.org/2024/06/07/n...

Will Lewis must go. The Washington Post publisher’s actions cast doubt on his newsroom’s credibility. presswatchers.org/2024/06/will...

Will Lewis must go. The Washington Post publisher’s actions cast doubt on his newsroom’s credibility. | Press Watchpresswatchers.org Publishers are not supposed to interfere with their newsrooms’ coverage of issues in which they have a personal conflict of interest. Lewis crossed the line.

'Washington Post' CEO tried to kill a story about himself. It wasn’t the first timewww.npr.org The Post's new CEO Will Lewis tried to stop the paper from publishing a story about allegations he faces in Britain. It wasn't the first time he's attempted to head off unwanted coverage. I know, beca...

The power of a graphic to tell the story. ProPublica looks into the coincidental jump in pay/benefits for a number of people in Trump's orbit — as his indictments piled up — who are witnesses or could testify against him. www.propublica.org/article/dona...

Always good to find that local angle to headline the national news… #QueensManConvicted

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New at Media Nation: Journalist's shield law, passed unanimously in the House, needs a boost in the Senate. #journalism #FirstAmendment

Journalist’s shield law, passed unanimously in the House, needs a boost in the Senatedankennedy.net You wouldn’t think the MAGA-controlled U.S. House could do much of anything on a bipartisan basis. Back in January, though, the chamber passed a bill that would enact a shield law protecting …

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From one of my colleagues two weeks ago: “Legal cases against former heads of state are commonplace in healthy democracies.” freedomhouse.org/article/us-i...

US: International Context for Prosecuting Former Presidentsfreedomhouse.org Legal cases against former heads of state are commonplace in healthy democracies. The United States, with its strong rule-of-law tradition and independent judicial institutions, is entirely capable of...

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New from John Cassidy: the BBC has published their guidance for alt text, including for visual journalism graphics. #a11y is often ignored in #dataviz so glad to see these guidelines in place & shared so others can adopt them.

How alt text can stop visual data journalism being 'unequal' experiencepressgazette.co.uk BBC journalist says alt text can help after the growth in the use of charts and graphs, infographics and maps created an unequal experience.

Tucked inside this gut-wrenching WaPo exposé on systemic sexual abuse of Native Americans at Catholic boarding school across the US is this flagrant attempt by South Dakota's GOP legislature to avoid accountability and prevent victims from seeking justice. www.washingtonpost.com/investigatio...

Police here really seem to be testing just how contradictory and transparently false their ‘official’ version of events can be and still get away with shooting and taking a life.

Missouri cop summoned to aid a blind, deaf, 13-pound Shih Tzu. The dog had gotten lost. You know what happened next. www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2024/...

An officer was called to help a blind, deaf dog. He shot him instead.www.washingtonpost.com Teddy, a 13-pound dog, had escaped his outdoor kennel in Sturgeon, Mo., when police came to help find his owner. The city found no wrongdoing by the officer.

Outstanding—and rage-inducing—investigation by the @washingtonpost.com on how a whole predatory industry has sprung up to "help" (read: scam) veterans applying for expanded disability benefits. (And a former Trump VA official wants to make things even worse.) www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

The latest in GIJN's ongoing series about how investigative journalists are covering the 2024 elections around the world. Here, a prominent South African editor talks about how his news org is planning to report on possible post-election secret deals and coalition chaos. gijn.org/stories/sout...

How South Africa’s Largest Digital News Outlet Plans to Cover a Chaotic 2024 Electiongijn.org While democratic nations around Africa are anxiously watching South Africa’s general election on May 29, local journalists are gearing up for a potentially chaotic two weeks after the polls close.

Very dark pattern at work here. GIJN has also covered this new law in Georgia, which is pretty clearly using as inspiration a similar Russian "foreign agents" law that effectively destroyed independent media in that country and forced investigative journalists into exile. gijn.org/stories/geor...

Georgia’s parliament on Tuesday approved a controversial “foreign agent law,” defying mass street protests by Georgians who fear the bill will strip back civil rights and push their country further into Moscow’s orbit. The law could also undermine Georgia’s bid to join the European Union.

Georgia parliament approves controversial foreign agent law defying protestswww.washingtonpost.com The approval defies mass street protests by Georgians who fear the bill will strip civil rights and push their country further into Moscow’s orbit.

How Georgia Is Following a Russian Legal Blueprint to Suppress Independent Journalismgijn.org A proposed

Can't wait for the news business to have to fight for survival in the era of Big Search Plagiarism. www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...

Critical journalism here from the Guardian (of an ACLED study). It offers some actual, hard data about the state of US campus protests and finds that an overwhelming number—97%—of them are peaceful. Also, that violence instigated by police is far more frequent. www.theguardian.com/us-news/arti...

Trump making the QUID and PRO QUO as clear as can be. Hard to see this as anything other than the textbook definition of corruption. t.co/FMx6Sce2Um

What Trump promised oil CEOs as he asked them to steer $1 billion to his campaignt.co Donald Trump has pledged to scrap President Biden’s policies on electric vehicles and wind energy, and other initiatives opposed by the fossil fuel industry.

Really well done, in-depth investigation by Futurism into a company that has been churning out a deluge of AI-generated garbage review "articles" for big-name news organizations like Gannett, McClatchy, Sports Illustrated, and US weekly. futurism.com/advon-ai-con...

Meet AdVon, the AI-Powered Content Monster Infecting the Media Industryfuturism.com Our investigation into AdVon Commerce, the AI contractor at the heart of scandals at USA Today and Sports Illustrated.

Reuters just won a Pulitzer for its dogged investigations of Elon Musk's companies. Today, it reports US prosecutors are considering fraud charges for Tesla's many, unproven full self-driving claims. Tesla's lawyers: OK, so pushing vaporware is not an *actual* crime. www.reuters.com/business/aut...