Jun 27 2024 35 mins 10
PROPUBLICA has taken on the role abdicated by most mainstream news organizations. Its long form journalism, while controversial, takes on many special interests that escape public scrutiny.
While I often don’t agree with the slant that they take, ProPublica represents a new frontier for the fourth column.
Traditional news outlets make less and less business sense. I wanted to find out more about how long form journalism is going to work going forward and how it will apply to financial regulation.
So I spoke to JUSTIN ELLIOTT, an Investigative Reporter at ProPublica.
Justin has won the Gerald Loeb Award for business journalism, the Selden Ring Award for a series on the American Red Cross and, with the “Trump, Inc.” podcast team, a duPont-Columbia Award.
He co-wrote the story revealing tech mogul Peter Thiel’s multibillion-dollar Roth IRA which we talk about here.
Justin’s Path to Reporting
The Role of PROPUBLICA in Long Form Journalism
- What are its origins?
- What is its mandate?
- How is it funded?
What is the Role of Journalism in (Re) Establishing Accountability in Society?
What is Congress’ (and the other branches of government) role in fixing the issues that journalism uncovers?
Peter Thiel’s $5 Billion Roth
- What happened? (How did Thiel get assets into a Roth IRA with a $2K cap?)
- How did this work? (Funding a Roth IRA with low value Founders’ shares)
- The “Law”, the Intent of the “Law” and the Variability around the “Law”?
- Is this a valuation issue as much as a legal issue?
- Is it wrong?
- How should we correct a distortion like this?
What’s next for Justin and ProPublica and how do we find him?
2024 Election Coverage
