Portrait of Venezuela’s Economic Collapse
By Keith Griffith January 3, 2017
In Venezuela, economics has become a matter of life and death. With inflation projected to top 1,600% next year and strict currency controls preventing the import of most basic goods, the country’s oil-dependent economy verges on total collapse. This fall, veteran New Yorker staff writer William Finnegan was dispatched to Venezuela to cover the ongoing economic crisis there. Finnegan recently discussed his experience reporting and writing the piece with Covering Business’s Keith Griffith.
Deciphering the Trump Foundation
By Keith Griffith October 24, 2016
Veteran Washington Post reporter David Fahrenthold spent the better part of a year poring over tax filings, legal records, and conducting hundreds of interviews in an effort to shed light on Donald Trump’s charitable foundation. Fahrenthold spoke with Covering Business’s Keith Griffith about the genesis of his reporting.
Touring “The Billionaire’s Loophole”
By Kim Gittleson June 6, 2016
In his March 2016 story “The Billionaire’s Loophole,” published jointly by The New Yorker and ProPublica, journalist Alec MacGillis investigates the connection between tax breaks for carried interest—the controversial “loophole” of the title—and the philanthropy of the very rich. Knight Bagehot fellow Kim Gittleson spoke with MacGillis about his reporting and writing process in a Q&A and with annotations to the piece itself.
Digging for Gold on The Golden Generation
By Kim Gittleson May 19, 2016
New Yorker staff writer Jiayang Fan talks with Covering Business about her popular story “The Golden Generation,” in an interview with Kim Gittleson, a 2016 Knight Bagehot fellow. An annotated version of the story itself follows.
Shell Games: Following the Money in High Priced Real Estate
By Jackie Faye June 24, 2015
It took New York Times investigative reporters Louise Story and Stephanie Saul a year to uncover the 200 shell companies behind some of New York’s priciest real estate at the Time Warner Center. We go behind the scenes with Story to discuss their reporting process.
How to Track a Billionaire
By Jackie Faye May 6, 2015
Forbes magazine has been putting together a list that tracks the wealthiest individuals on the planet for 29 years running, and it is no easy task. We interviewed Forbes’ Deputy Editor of Wealth Keren Blankfeld about the work that goes into Forbes’ annual list.
Investigating Business Ties with a Warlord
By Jackie Faye April 30, 2015
Twenty five years ago, tire and rubber giant Firestone helped Liberian warlord Charles Taylor rise to power. We went behind the scenes with T. Christian Miller and Jonathan Jones on their recent ProPublica-PBS Frontline investigation of the facts in the case.
Sexism in Silicon Valley: Covering the Ellen Pao Trial
By the Editors April 23, 2015
A Q&A with Davey Alba, who covered the Pao trial for Wired magazine.
Behind the Red Cross Investigation
By Jackie Faye March 10, 2015
Did the iconic charity misspend funds during Hurricane Sandy? CoveringBusiness spoke with reporters Jesse Eisinger and Justin Elliott about how they dug up the answer to this question in their recent investigative report on the subject.
Wrangling 1,800 Records to Tell a Big Story
By Jackie Faye February 9, 2015
Award-winning New York Times reporter Louise Story takes us through her last big investigative project-on state and local incentives for corporations-step by step.
Enlisting an Academic Gatekeeper to Unlock a Story
By Jacob Kushner December 16, 2014
Sometimes there is a single expert who’s the ‘gatekeeper’ to a castle of information and contacts on a business or deal a reporter is investigating. What can a journalist do to gain the trust of such an expert– and what does the expert expect from the journalist in return?
Plumbing the Soul of the Vatican’s Pleasure-Loving Prelate
By Davide Casati November 18, 2014
How I got an exclusive interview with Monsignor Scarano, the former top accountant at the Vatican charged with money laundering, and sold the story to the New York Times.
Unveiling the Exploiters: Anatomy of an Investigation of Vemma
By Laura Rena Murray November 10, 2014
With an exhaustive hunt for inside sources and public documents and a little bit of simple math, Laura Rena Murray was able to show that Vemma Nutrition Company bilks teenage affiliates out of their own money to prop up sales.
Investigating ExxonMobil, Black Box
By Halah Touryalai October 27, 2014
“I had no idea when I started that for them journalists are bugs on a windshield and they’re driving down the highway. They’re beyond ‘no comment.’ And I had no idea how disciplined they were,” said Steve Coll, Dean of Columbia Journalism School and author of “Private Empire: ExxonMobil and American Power.”
How to publish a master’s thesis
By the Editors September 26, 2013
J-School students report and write a long-form feature to meet their thesis requirement. Khadeeja Safdar (M.A., 2013), picked a big subject, and got hers published by The Atlantic
Behind the Story: Bribery Unpunished
By James B. Stewart April 30, 2012
James B. Stewart explains how an earlier story led to his column in The New York Times on the Wal-Mart bribery case.
Photo: Mark Strozier
Behind the Story: Lincoln’s Revival
By James B. Stewart April 13, 2012
James B. Stewart discusses the reporting for his column on Lincoln in The New York Times.
