The case for whistleblowers

IRE conference panel shows importance of insiders who leak information to journalists

Jul 13, 2023

The Whistleblower panel in the Knight Lounge at IRE, with (left to right) Kathy Kiely, University of Missouri; Wendell Potter, Cigna whistleblower; Mark MacGann, Uber whistleblower; and Anika Collier Navaroli, Twitter whistleblower (on screen). (Photo by BA Snyder)

Journalists cannot operate effectively in a vacuum. To produce work that truly creates change, they require assistance from inside the communities they cover. One group that holds special significance are whistleblowers.

Whistleblowing is essential to a thriving democracy, and an act that requires bravery and integrity. Often, stepping forward to expose misconduct and/or unethical practices within their companies or communities benefits society as a whole – but not the whistleblowers themselves. Whistleblowers can be found among us, ordinary people playing crucial roles in ensuring that transparency and accountability prevail.

Because we want to support this work, Knight recently made a grant to The Signals Network, which provides services to support whistleblowers who provide information to journalists.

Three whistleblowers made for a fascinating panel discussion at the IRE conference. Moderated by Kathy Kiely, a Lee Hills Chair in Free Press Studies at the University of Missouri, the panel brought together whistleblowers who underscored the importance of creating an environment that not only encourages but empowers people to step forward and share crucial information to inform the public.

Consider the case of Wendell Potter, former chief spokesman at health care insurer Cigna. He made the difficult decision to blow the whistle on how the industry's profit-driven practices posed a threat to the health of Americans. On the panel, Potter – who started his career as a journalist – stressed the importance of providing a safe haven for whistleblowers, recognizing that journalists can serve as their advocates.

Mark MacGann, Uber's former head of public policy, played a pivotal role in leaking the Uber Files, which helped expose how the company disregarded laws and secretly lobbied governments while driving an aggressive global expansion. McGann’s revelations were covered in-depth by the Guardian and the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists. He talked openly about the challenges of being a whisteblower, even saying at one point that – knowing what he knows how – he isn’t sure he’d do it again.

Anika Collier Navaroli, a journalist-turned-whistleblower, shed light on how Twitter ignored employees' warnings about incitements to violence on their platform leading up to the shocking events of January 6, 2021, at the U.S. Capitol. She highlighted the risks and challenges faced by whistleblowers, emphasizing the need for systems to support and protect them. By ensuring the physical safety and emotional well-being of whistleblowers, connecting them with advocacy organizations and safeguarding their identities, journalists can create a more secure environment for truth-telling. This is what The Signals Network does, and it is why we are proud to support them.

Other news around the horn…

Sustainability

🧪 LION, Google launch Sustainability Lab. The folks at LION Publishers and Google News Initiative (GNI) have collaborated on a series of GNI Startups Labs serving 48 local news publishers. But those publishers sometimes got stuck when trying to implement revenue plans. So, they’ve now launched a new program called Sustainability Lab: Unblocking Revenue Barriers to help publishers identify what’s getting in their way and take action to solve those issues. The 36 publishers chosen for the Lab will each receive up to $9,000 in support, along with one-on-one coaching, training and peer support. The program goes for eight weeks, and there’s an information session tomorrow at 3 pm ET. Apply here by July 19.

🗣️ Service-oriented news, SMS works for Spanish-language audiences. There is a large and growing Latino population in the U.S., but the legacy local media that serves them has struggled to make the transition to digital. A thorough report by The Objective outlined the many challenges Spanish-language publishers face (lack of community wealth, resources) and the bright spots from outlets that are mission-driven and serve audience information needs. For instance, El Timpano sent out SMS messages about vaccines during the pandemic, and La Voz launched a texting service with local news and housing information. Many successful news outlets have used SMS or WhatsApp to reach audiences that don’t always have broadband access.

Policy

🇨🇦 Payroll tax credit trumps subscription credit in Canada. As the U.S. Congress and many states consider ways to support local news with tax credits, they can learn a thing or two from Canada, which, over the past few years, has used tax incentives to benefit news organizations. The University of North Carolina’s Center on Technology Policy released a report – with funding from Knight Foundation – that was summarized in a story on Nieman Lab. The big takeaway is that the payroll tax credit has had a positive impact on small local newsrooms in Canada, with The Tyee in Vancouver expecting to receive $200,000 in credits. But the tax credit for people who subscribe has been more of a bust, because it’s been confusing and only applied to 15 percent of the subscription price. Recommendations from the report include structuring payroll taxes to benefit smaller newsrooms, implementing subscription tax benefits at the point of sale, and prioritizing local news over national news.

Cohorts

🚀 Knight x LMA BloomLab unveils third cohort, impact report. Launched last year, the Knight x LMA BloomLab had a mission to help Black publishers transition to digital and grow revenues. So far, so good. In an impact report, the Local Media Association found that the first cohort saw revenues grow 21 percent, with digital revenues up a whopping 133 percent. Plus, the Lab helped save publishers $1 million in technology costs, while assisting them with upgrading content management systems, email and reader revenue systems, and analytics. Now, the BloomLab is bringing on its third cohort of eight Black publishers, based in Denver; Los Angeles; Joliet, Ill.; Indianapolis and beyond.

💥 Indiegraf boosts prospects for indie publishers in North America. The smallest local news publishers often have the most difficult time building an audience and becoming sustainable. Indiegraf is offering them massive support through its $3.5 million News Startup Fund (partially funded by Knight Foundation) and its roster of products and services. The company recently announced the first 19 indie publishers selected to receive support from the Fund, a mix of outlets in English, Spanish and French. Those publishers have already had an average of 35 percent growth with email newsletter subscribers and a combined revenue growth of 114 percent. “These startups are not only making a positive impact on their own communities––they are also proving that small community news can grow and thrive in 2023,” said Erin Millar, co-founder and CEO of Indiegraf.

Solutions

📺 CBS News the latest to get solutions journalism religion. “We can’t just be the watchdog that barks,” author and academic Tom Rosenstiel told the Associated Press in a story about CBS News investing in solutions journalism. Local TV news has been infamous for following the maxim, “If it bleeds, it leads,” and as more people avoid the news, producers are realizing it’s time to start showcasing solutions. CBS gave its 14 owned-and-operated stations training from the Solutions Journalism Network, which led to a series of stories about how to tackle mental health issues for youth. “We want to look past the who, what, where and why to asking ‘How can we help?’” said Wendy McMahon, co-president of CBS News and the CBS Television Stations. “How can we help make our communities better places to live? That’s the aspiration.”