Type of site | News website |
---|---|
Available in | English |
Predecessor(s) | The Daily Poster |
Created by | David Sirota |
Editors |
|
URL | www |
Commercial | No |
Launched | April 2020 |
The Lever is an American reader-supported investigative news outlet founded by David Sirota. The name The Lever is inspired by a quote from the Greek mathematician Archimedes, who said, "Give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum on which to place it, and I shall move the world." [1] Former CNN host Brian Stelter described The Lever as a "small but mighty news start-up," describing the life of its founder David Sirota as "one long campaign against plutocrats and the corrupt politicians who enable them." [1]
As of April 2024, The Lever has more than 112,000 active free and paying subscribers, and a staff of nineteen. [2] The Lever's mission, according to founder David Sirota, is to "hold power accountable." [1] According to Managing Editor Joel Warner, The Lever's "bread and butter" reporting and “core area of success” is reporting on "how corporate power is making everything worse for the rest of us". [2]
The investigative reporting from The Lever is frequently cited by other news outlets, including citations in the New York Times, NPR, The Washington Post , Politico , Al Jazeera , Rolling Stone , and The Baltimore Sun . [2] The Lever's reporting has also been cited in tweets and press releases by politicians such as Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, [3] Congressman Ro Khanna, [4] and Congressman Chris Deluzio. [5]
Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist David Cay Johnston praised The Lever's reporting on corruption at The Boeing Company, stating that The Lever’s coverage of this story "is worthy of the top honor in American journalism, the Pulitzer Gold Medal for public service." [6]
According to political commentator Krystal Ball, The Lever's reporting on the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (2023) and the 2023 Ohio train derailment "pushed the mainstream press to deal with the issues of political capture and deregulation that are at the heart of those crises... They beat the legacy press on both of those stories and shaped the mainstream coverage." [1]
A four-part series published in August 2022 by Andrew Perez of The Lever in partnership with ProPublica, titled "Inside The Right's Historic Billion-Dollar Dark Money Transfer," followed the money behind the architect of the conservative supermajority in the Supreme Court, Leonard Leo. [7] The investigation exposed Chicago businessman Barre Seid's $1.6 billion donation to Leo's political advocacy nonprofit in the largest known dark money transfer in United States history. The series won the 2023 Izzy Award for outstanding achievement in independent media. [8]
California Congressman Ro Khanna cited The Lever's reporting on this topic when advocating for legislation regarding term limits for Supreme Court justices. [4] Rhode Island Senator Sheldon Whitehouse has also cited The Lever's reporting in asserting that the Supreme Court is "captured by special interests." [3]
Following the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio in February 2023, The Lever was the first news outlet to report on the "railroad industry's history of fighting stricter safety regulations." [9] Based on this reporting, reporters from The Lever were interviewed on Democracy Now! , [10] On The Media , [11] The Problem with Jon Stewart , [12] [13] and other news outlets. [14] The Lever reporting team was also invited to write an editorial on this topic for New York Times . [15] [16]
The Lever's reporting on this topic was also cited by HuffPost, [9] The Guardian , [17] and other news outlets.
Pennsylvania congressman Chris Deluzio also cited The Lever's reporting in the context of introducing new legislation to regulate the railroad industry. DeLuzio stated:
Following the collapse of the Silicon Valley Bank in March 2023, The Lever broke the story that the president of the bank had lobbied for less regulatory scrutiny. [1] The Lever's story, "SVB Chief Pressed Lawmakers to Weaken Bank Risk Regs," was cited by The New York Times the day after it was published. [1] [18] [19]
California Congressman Ro Khanna cited The Lever's reporting on "efforts of bank lobbyists to avoid paying more into the Deposit Insurance Fund." [20]
Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist David Cay Johnston praised The Lever's reporting on corrupt practices at The Boeing Company, following an incident on Jan. 5 when a door panel blew out mid-flight on Alaska Airlines Flight 1282. [6]
According to The Lever's reporting cited by Johnston, the root cause of the incident (and other safety issues with Boeings aircraft) "is the corrosive effects of stock buybacks and government subsidies, elevating executive and corporate director greed above aviation safety." [6] Johnston states:
Following the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore in April 2024, The Lever reported that "eight months prior, the Labor Department sanctioned the cargo giant for taking action against a sailor who previously reported unsafe working conditions while aboard a Maersk-operated boat." [21] [22] This reporting was cited by Rolling Stone [21] and The Washington Post. [23]
The Lever's related reporting on Maryland governor Larry Hogan, who (according to The Lever) touted megaships and ignored safety warnings before the Key Bridge disaster, was spotlighted on NPR's Morning Edition, [24] and cited by the New York Times Dealbook. [25] [26]
Founder David Sirota launched an earlier version of this news outlet, called The Daily Poster, on Substack in April 2020. [27] In May 2021, The Daily Poster moved from Substack to an independent website. [27] In March, 2022, the site was expanded and renamed as The Lever. [28]
In 2023, The Lever’s website received almost two million visits, and its reporting was seen more than 14 million times through platforms like Apple News and Google News. [2]
As of April 2024, has more than 112,000 active free and paying subscribers, and a staff of nineteen. [2]
In addition to its investigative reporting, The Lever also publishes several podcasts, including Lever Time and Movies vs. Capitalism. [29]
The Lever also publishes several ebooks, [30] including "A Citizen's Guide to Guide to Following the Money and Holding the Powerful Accountable." [31] [32] The ebooks are available for free to subscribers to the website.
In March 2023, The Lever received an Izzy Award from the Park Center for Independent Media "for outstanding achievement in independent media." [33] [34] [8]
In March 2024, The Lever received an Honorable Mention in the category "Breaking News-Small Division" in the "2023 Best in Business Awards" from the Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing. [35]
Erin Brockovich is an American paralegal, consumer advocate, and environmental activist who was instrumental in building a case against Pacific Gas & Electric Company (PG&E) involving groundwater contamination in Hinkley, California for attorney Ed Masry in 1993. Their successful lawsuit was the subject of the Oscar-winning film, Erin Brockovich (2000), starring Julia Roberts as Brockovich and Albert Finney as Masry.
CSX Transportation, known colloquially as simply CSX, is a Class I freight railroad company operating in the Eastern United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. Operating about 21,000 route miles (34,000 km) of track, it is the leading subsidiary of CSX Corporation, a Fortune 500 company headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida.
The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I freight railroad operating in the Eastern United States. Headquartered in Atlanta, the company was formed in 1982 with the merger of the Norfolk and Western Railway and Southern Railway. The company operates 19,420 route miles (31,250 km) in 22 eastern states, the District of Columbia, and has rights in Canada over the Albany to Montreal route of the Canadian Pacific Kansas City. Norfolk Southern Railway is the leading subsidiary of the Norfolk Southern Corporation.
David J. Sirota is an American journalist, columnist at The Guardian, editor for Jacobin, author, television writer, and screenwriter. He is also a political commentator and radio host based in Denver. He is a nationally syndicated newspaper columnist, political spokesperson, and blogger. In March 2019, he began working as the senior advisor and speechwriter on the Bernie Sanders 2020 presidential campaign. In 2022, he received an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay for conceiving the story for Netflix's Don't Look Up alongside co-writer and director Adam McKay. He is founder of The Lever, an independent investigative news outlet.
Matthew Colin Taibbi is an American author, journalist, and podcaster. He has reported on finance, media, politics, and sports. A former contributing editor for Rolling Stone, he is the author of several books, former co-host of the Useful Idiots podcast, and publisher of the Racket News on Substack.
Unstoppable is a 2010 American disaster action thriller film directed and produced by Tony Scott, written by Mark Bomback, and starring Denzel Washington and Chris Pine. It is based on the real-life CSX 8888 incident, telling the story of a runaway freight train and the two men who attempt to stop it. It was the last film Scott directed before his death in 2012.
David Anthony Yost is an American politician and lawyer who currently serves as the 51st Attorney General of Ohio. A member of the Republican Party, Yost previously served as Ohio State Auditor.
Rohit Khanna is an American politician and lawyer serving as the U.S. representative from California's 17th congressional district since 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he defeated eight-term incumbent Democratic Representative Mike Honda in the general election on November 8, 2016, after first running for the same seat in 2014. Khanna also served as the deputy assistant secretary in the United States Department of Commerce under President Barack Obama from August 8, 2009, to August 2011.
Daniel Scavino Jr. is an American political adviser who served in the Trump administration as White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Communications from 2020 to 2021, and Director of Social Media from 2017 to 2021. Scavino previously was the general manager of Trump National Golf Club Westchester, and the director of social media for the Donald Trump 2016 presidential campaign.
James David Vance is an American venture capitalist, author, and politician serving as the junior United States senator from Ohio since 2023. A member of the Republican Party, he came to prominence with his 2016 memoir, Hillbilly Elegy.
Steven Kenneth Bonnell II, known online as Destiny, is an American live-streamer and political commentator. He was among the first people to stream video games online full-time and received attention as a pioneer of the industry. Since 2016, he has garnered further attention for streaming political debates with other online personalities, in which he advocates for progressivism and liberal politics. The New York Times has described Bonnell as a liberal, while Bonnell has described himself as "a very big social democrat".
The Stonehaven derailment was a fatal railway accident that occurred at 09:38 BST on 12 August 2020, when a passenger train returning to Aberdeen hit a landslip, near Carmont, west of Stonehaven in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, following severe rain. Of the nine people aboard, three were killed, and six were injured.
Max Leonard Miller is an American Republican politician and former aide to Donald Trump. A member of the U.S. House of Representatives, he has been the U.S. representative for Ohio's 7th congressional district since 2023.
Trump Media & Technology Group Corp. (TMTG) is an American media and technology company majority-owned by former U.S. president Donald Trump. Founded by Andy Litinsky and Wes Moss in 2021, it became a public company on 26 March 2024 after merging with Digital World Acquisition Corp. (DWAC), a special-purpose acquisition company. The company is based in Sarasota, Florida.
Christopher Raphael Deluzio is an American attorney, politician and former U.S. Navy officer serving as the U.S. representative for Pennsylvania's 17th congressional district since 2023. The district includes most of the northwestern suburbs of Pittsburgh. He is a member of the Democratic Party.
The Twitter Files are a series of releases of select internal Twitter, Inc. documents published from December 2022 through March 2023 on Twitter. CEO Elon Musk gave the documents to journalists Matt Taibbi, Bari Weiss, Lee Fang, and authors Michael Shellenberger, David Zweig and Alex Berenson shortly after he acquired Twitter on October 27, 2022. Taibbi and Weiss coordinated the publication of the documents with Musk, releasing details of the files as a series of Twitter threads.
A train derailment occurred on February 3, 2023, at 8:55 p.m. EST (UTC−5), when 38 cars of a Norfolk Southern freight train carrying hazardous materials derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, United States. Several railcars burned for more than two days, with emergency crews then conducting a controlled burn of several railcars, which released hydrogen chloride and phosgene into the air. As a result, residents within a 1-mile (1.6-kilometer) radius were evacuated, and an emergency response was initiated from agencies in Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Virginia.
Alan Howard Shaw is the president and chief executive officer of Norfolk Southern, a Class I railroad operating freight trains in the United States. He has held the CEO position since May 1, 2022.
At 4:25 pm on July 8, 1986, a 44 car Baltimore and Ohio railroad freight train, traveling at 45 miles per hour, bound south to Cincinnati, derailed near Miamisburg, Ohio, a small city with an industrial history in Montgomery County, southwest of Dayton. Fifteen of the cars derailed on a bridge; these were tank cars containing yellow phosphorus, molten sulfur and tallow. Carrying a chemical used to make rat poison, fireworks and luminescent coatings, one tank car caught fire. This resulted in emission of an estimated 1,000 foot (300 m) high cloud of phosphorus. A subsequent incident caused the largest train accident-triggered evacuation at the time in the United States. The accident was the second major rail disaster in Miamisburg within an eight-year period. On September 10, 1978, 15 cars of a Conrail train derailed.