The Lever

The Lever
Type of site
News website
Available inEnglish
Predecessor(s)The Daily Poster
Created byDavid Sirota
Editors
URLwww.levernews.com
CommercialNo
LaunchedApril 2020 (April 2020)

The Lever is an American reader-supported investigative news outlet founded by David Sirota, a speechwriter and former senior advisor to Bernie Sanders. 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]

As of April 2024, The Lever had 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 has been cited by other news outlets, including the New York Times, NPR, The Washington Post, Politico, Al Jazeera, Rolling Stone, and The Baltimore Sun.[2]

History and organization

Founder David Sirota launched an earlier version of this news outlet, called The Daily Poster, on Substack in April 2020.[3] In May 2021, The Daily Poster moved from Substack to an independent website.[3] In March 2022, the site was expanded and renamed as The Lever.[4]

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]

Notable reporting

Following the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, in February 2023, The Lever reported on the "railroad industry's history of fighting stricter safety regulations."[5] Based on this reporting, reporters from The Lever were interviewed on Democracy Now!,[6] On The Media,[7] The Problem with Jon Stewart,[8][9] and other news outlets.[10]

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][11][12]

Journalist David Cay Johnston praised The Lever's reporting on corrupt practices at The Boeing Company, following an incident on January 5 when a door panel blew out mid-flight on Alaska Airlines Flight 1282.[13] 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."[13] Johnston states:

The Lever's coverage [of this story] should prompt significant safety and financial reforms. Its reporting on this story is worthy of the top honor in American journalism, the Pulitzer Gold Medal for public service.[13]

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."[14][15] This reporting was cited by Rolling Stone[14] and The Washington Post.[16]

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[17] and cited by the New York Times Dealbook.[18]

Awards

In March 2023, The Lever received an Izzy Award from the Park Center for Independent Media "for outstanding achievement in independent media."[19][20][21] The award was for 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".[21]

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.[22]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d Stelter, Brian (2023-03-18). "Politics by Other Means". Air Mail. Retrieved 2023-03-20.
  2. ^ a b c d Tobitt, Charlotte (2024-04-22). "The Lever gets reader backing to expose corporate corruption and grows editorial team". Press Gazette. Retrieved 2024-04-24.
  3. ^ a b "Welcome To The Daily Poster's New Website". The Lever. 2021-05-06. Retrieved 2023-03-20.
  4. ^ "Introducing THE LEVER". The Lever. 2022-03-20. Retrieved 2023-03-20.
  5. ^ Chris D'Angelo, "Ohio's Toxic Train Disaster Follows ‘Perfect Storm' Of Cuts, Deregulation", HuffPost, February 15, 2023
  6. ^ "Corporate Greed and Deregulation Fuel Threat of More Bomb Trains as East Palestine Demands Answers", Democracy Now, Feb 17, 2023
  7. ^ "An Ohio Train Derailment Reveals Structural Issues", On The Media, Feb 17, 2023
  8. ^ The Problem with Jon Stewart [@TheProblem]. (2023, Feb 15) When residents say fish are washing up dead but the EPA says "all clear," we talk to people on the ground to discuss the breakdown in trust following the train disaster in East Palestine, Ohio... [Tweet] Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheProblem/status/1625827266189213696
  9. ^ "The Ohio Train Disaster: A Tale of Corporate Greed and Civil War-Era Brakes", The Problem with Jon Stewart
  10. ^ Andrew Perez, "Driving The National Narrative", The Lever, Feb 20, 2023
  11. ^ Andrew Ross Sorkin, et al, "Why Did Silicon Valley Bank Collapse?", New York Times, March 11, 2023
  12. ^ Rebecca Burns, et al, "SVB Chief Pressed Lawmakers To Weaken Bank Risk Regs", The Lever, March 10, 2023
  13. ^ a b c David Cay Johnston, Huge Boeing Scandal Behind Alaska Airlines Catastrophe, DCReport, Jan 15, 2024
  14. ^ a b Charisma Madarang, Cargo Giant in Baltimore Bridge Collapse Silenced Whistleblowers: Report, Rolling Stone
  15. ^ Feds Recently Hit Cargo Giant In Baltimore Disaster For Silencing Whistleblowers, The Lever
  16. ^ The Early 202 (March 27, 2024): The Media, The Washington Post
  17. ^ Ex-Md. governor criticized for pushing for larger ships at the Port of Baltimore, NPR
  18. ^ Andrew Ross Sorkin, et al, "NY Times Dealbook (April 1, 2024): Debate grows over rebuilding the Baltimore bridge", New York Times, April 25, 2024
  19. ^ "2023 Izzy Award Goes to The Lever, Mississippi Free Press, Carlos Ballesteros and Liza Gross". Democracy Now!. Mar 31, 2023.
  20. ^ "Izzy Award for Independent Media to Be Shared by The Lever, Mississippi Free Press, and Journalists Carlos Ballesteros and Liza Gross". Ithaca College. Retrieved 2023-04-26.
  21. ^ a b "The Lever Celebrates Izzy Award: "We Just Won Something Huge"". The Edge. Apr 3, 2023.
  22. ^ 2023 Best in Business Awards, SABEW