Newsmaker Perspectives | Sludge Expands, Set to Examine Whether Swamp Has Been Drained
We’ve talked a lot in this space about our vision for a new funding model for journalism — and how it’s critical for supporting under-reported, in-demand topics like local, international, policy and investigative journalism.
Each of these beats are among the most important for ensuring an engaged, active citizenship — and also some of the most difficult to support under traditional, ad-driven revenue models. As a result, too many important stories are going unreported and bad actors aren’t always being held accountable for their actions.
Sludge, one of the first Newsrooms to launch on Civil, embodies this spirit to a ‘T.’ Its co-founders, David Moore and Donny Shaw, outlined their vision for shining a brighter light on special interests’ influence over U.S. politics earlier this year.
Today, we’re pleased to announce that Sludge’s team has made some significant additions that will allow its team to more aggressively pursue this important mission:
Josefa Velasquez joins Sludge after stints at POLITICO and the New York Law Journal. She’ll be specifically focused on statehouse lobbying. She’ll be leading Sludge’s coverage around the 2018 midterm elections and brings a special expertise on connecting the dots between political contributions and issue campaigns.
Jay Cassano will focus on government secrecy — specifically, how federal agencies are circumventing conventional ethics, often outside of public view. He will also be covering the technology industry’s lobbying practices, building on his considerable background covering technology policy and how emerging technologies can exacerbate inequality. Jay was previously on staff at International Business Times and Fast Company, with his work published in many other outlets. He was the first journalist-in-residence at Data & Society Research Institute and spent two years as a foreign correspondent in Turkey. Jay was part of the IBT investigative team that was recently honored with a Society of American Business Editors and Writers award for their work on how top lawmakers could be enriched by last-minute provisions in the tax bill.
Alex Kotch specializes in following the money. He’s already established a strong track record for doing so, including his award-winning investigative work around the recent tax bill. At Sludge, in addition to covering lobbying and campaign finance, he’ll be focused on dark money: how nonprofits are being deployed for political advocacy purposes — and the corrupting, unchecked influence they can wield. Alex will remain a contributor to The Young Turks. Most recently, he was with International Business Times, where he was part of the reporting team on the SABEW-award-winning article, “Last-Minute Tax Provisions Could Enrich Top Lawmakers.”
Roseann Cima, currently a Knight Data Journalism Fellow at the Center for Public Integrity, will also join Sludge as a contributor. Roseann brings an expertise in data journalism and will enhance Sludge’s campaign contribution analyses. Previously, she worked as a staff writer at Priceonomics, and as a politics blogger at MapLight.
We recently spoke with Josefa, Jay and Alex about their backgrounds — and what to expect from them at Sludge. Here’s an abridged version of that conversation:
Tell us a bit about your backgrounds — and what led you to Sludge?
Alex: I’ve always loved numbers and data, and I have an academic background. So I began my career as a money-in-politics researcher and writer, and I’ve never strayed from the field. In my most recent job at International Business Times, I covered money and influence along with Jay and a few others. When I saw the Sludge job opening, I knew I had to apply.
Jay: I started my career as a foreign correspondent in Istanbul, stringing for Inter Press Service and freelancing for a bunch of other outlets. I consider myself fortunate to have had that experience as my training in journalism because I learned quickly the value of talking to people, making human connections, and telling the untold stories of people and places. Which is a funny background, considering how much of my time now covering political influence is spent with piecing together stories from documents and money trails.
But I’d say the consistent theme throughout my career has always been to look for the story that isn’t being told. I’ve also always been a huge techie and open source enthusiast, so after I relocated back to the states I started covering tech, mainly for Fast Company. I first used Bitcoin in 2011 and covered blockchain and smart contracts back in 2014, so I’ve always been intrigued by the potential of the technology. I also knew David’s track record with OpenCongress and Councilmatic. So put all those things together and it just made a lot of sense for me to join Sludge.
Josefa: I always knew I wanted to be a reporter; I’ve always been curious, bordering nosey. After college I landed a job as a legislative correspondent for the Associated Press in Albany, New York covering the statehouse. While there, I primarily covered the nascent stages of New York’s medical marijuana program.
After working for the AP, I joined Politico’s New York Capitol bureau covering state politics and health care. After three years at Politico, I was ready for a new adventure and joined the New York Law Journal, covering the nexus of the legal world, lobbying and state government at a time where the federal government was looking to dismantle several of the previous administration’s regulations.
While the New York state house boasts a cadre of talented reporters, it was surprising to see that I was largely the only woman of color, and typically the only person of color, covering state politics.
As a millennial — and yes, I embrace the title — I realized that a lot of institutional news outlets still have the same homogeneous hiring and promotion pattern. When a mentor told me about Sludge and its goals, I saw it as an opportunity to disrupt the status quo and provide readers insight on really what drives politics and deal making. At a time where statehouse covering around the country is diminishing, it’s crucial to shine a light on what and who is funding local efforts.
You’re all coming from traditional publications that (largely) ran on traditional, ad revenue-driven models. Can you talk a bit about whether/how the constraints that posed for investigative reporting?
Alex: To put it simply, I believe that ad-driven business models degrade journalism. Some of the most important scoops aren’t going to attract nearly as many clicks as the latest celebrity gossip. Therefore, click-based models disincentivize quality journalism and reward short, aggregated pieces, regardless of their substance.
What’s more, investigative stories often take more time to put together than traditional news or culture articles, so investigative journalism gets hit the hardest both in terms of clicks and output. There’s a place for all kinds of news, but reader-supported or other hybrid models are far better for investigative reporters like us, and I’m excited to focus exclusively on meaningful, informative content without overemphasizing traffic or output.
Jay: Everyone knows that the ad model has lead to chasing clicks. That’s bad for investigative journalism, and it’s bad for quality shoe-leather reporting, which we see most especially in the massive downsizing of foreign bureaus and local outlets. Add to that the immense power that Google and Facebook’s algorithms have in determining who sees what stories, and you have a recipe for disaster.
It’s easier to financially justify sitting a writer in front of a computer all day to rewrite articles from other outlets doing real reporting than to send someone out into the world to do their own reporting or to spend hours or days digging through documents, filing FOIA requests and making sense of data.
Really, the ad model is just bad for anything that takes time. The pressure I’ve always gotten on staff at publications driven by ad revenue is, “What can you do quickly?” That spirit is the antithesis of 99 percent of investigative journalism.
Josefa: The current, advertising-driven journalism model isn’t working in the era of “Fake News,” Twitter and the 24-hour news cycle. The premium on clicks and pageviews has led to a movement where reporters are increasingly worried about putting out enough content and matching the news of the day. As a result, deep investigative dives have taken a backseat. But now more than ever, there’s still a hunger for lifting the veil around our political process.
What do you think about the current state of investigative reporting as it relates to the U.S. political system?
Alex: First, I think this is an incredible time for investigative journalism. The quality of the reporting I see on a daily basis is really remarkable. That said, there are holes in coverage, including in money in politics. A lot of publications are focused on national politics, and plenty of local publications don’t have the resources to adequately invest in serious investigative teams. Some topics, like corporate influence in higher education or obscure government agencies, don’t get enough attention. Others, like “dark money,” are in the news but take real resources and time to elucidate. That’s where we come in.
Jay: There tons of great journalists out there doing vital work right now, but many don’t often get the attention or funding they deserve. Those problems are related in terms of most revenue coming from ads and most traffic primarily coming from Google and Facebook. So I hope Civil can be part of the solution on that front and I’m excited to be part of the experiment.
But there is also a shortage of coverage on the ways that government keeps information secret that should be disclosed in the public interest or how lobbyists and federal agencies find ways to skirt ethics regulations, mitigating things like FOIA and traditional lobbying or FARA disclosures. Government and power has evolved, moving more and more into the shadows, so journalism needs to evolve with it and work on shining an even brighter light.
Josefa: There are so many incredible journalists in statehouses around the country. But increasingly, news outlets are pivoting away from local coverage and diminishing their presence in their state capitals. Now more than ever, it’s crucial to let the electorate know who is funding gubernatorial campaigns and state state legislative races, as well as issue campaigns. We’re at a point where there’s so much technology to facilitate how readers digest data, but local governments are making it increasingly difficult to disclose crucial information.
Do you see the opportunity to collaborate with other Civil Newsrooms? If so, how?
“We’re planning on reporting projects with Cannabis Wire, which has policy expertise in the cannabis market, especially investigations in legalized states like California, Washington and Oregon. We’re also excited to collaborate with other Civil newsrooms, for example, on state house coverage.” — David Moore, Sludge co-founder
Alex: Collaborations are my jam. I’m all in. Jay and I have already worked together and learned from each other. It’s a really productive and fun way to break stories.
Jay: I’ve spent a lot of my career as a freelancer, so one of the things I learned from being on the investigative team at IBT was just how much I enjoy working on group stories. There’s a real rush that comes with bouncing ideas off of each other in the newsroom and seeing where everyone’s particular skills and interests take the story. I’d love to work with Book Club Chicago on investigations affecting their city; I think there’s natural synergy there where they’re on the ground and know the people and neighborhoods deeply and we can plug in and help out with document and data dives.
Josefa: Collaborations allow you to have more resources in your arsenal. Having the opportunity to cross-pollinate with other organizations on the Civil platform was one of the reasons I joined Sludge. Collaborations with other Civil Newsrooms will allow our investigative reporting to have greater impact. For the last several years I’ve followed the money involved in New York’s medical marijuana program, so I’m especially hyped to work the folks at Cannabis Wire.
What else do you want to say to future Sludge readers?
Alex: Journalism is a really tough field these days. It seems like almost every day another company announces layoffs. It’s not because people don’t rely on journalism! It’s because, for the most part, the current models aren’t sustainable. It’s vital that new businesses take risks and try out new things. We’re doing something original here — please consider helping us make this a success.
Jay: We want you to help us shape this thing. We have our focus on what we’re doing obviously, but we’d love to hear from you on how we can make covering political influence more engaging. We know that sometimes this reporting can be less enthralling to read than whatever sensational news is on TV. But I believe this reporting is vital to a healthy political system and democracy. If you do too, please support us, talk to us, and help make us your destination for reading about special interests.
Josefa: We’re here for you and because of you. We’re in new territory, so help us create a sustainable journalism platform.
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