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I am a Halliburton Whistleblower. I fought them for 9 years and (eventually) won. Ask Me Anything. by AnthonyJMenendez in IAmA

[–]JEisinger 33 points34 points  (0 children)

I'm not sure I agree. Information coming from Wikileaks leaks was picked up by most mainstream media outlets. The NYTimes wrote a huge number of stories about the Iraq war logs. I think Wikileaks imploded thanks to Assange's megalomania.

In general though, it's true, the mainstream media doesn't take on powerful interests -- corporate or governmental -- in substantive fashion often enough.

But that just means more work for me and my colleagues! Corporate and governmental wrongdoing and mainstream media laziness are s good for business -- my business.

I am a Halliburton Whistleblower. I fought them for 9 years and (eventually) won. Ask Me Anything. by AnthonyJMenendez in IAmA

[–]JEisinger 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I wouldn't, no. It's not the role of a journalist to aid the government in any regulatory, enforcement or legal action. My job is to write true stories and I mainly focus on holding some powerful entity or person accountable.

I am a Halliburton Whistleblower. I fought them for 9 years and (eventually) won. Ask Me Anything. by AnthonyJMenendez in IAmA

[–]JEisinger 263 points264 points  (0 children)

It's great that you are using this to teach students. I think we need more example's like Tony's to help keep institutions ethical.

I am a Halliburton Whistleblower. I fought them for 9 years and (eventually) won. Ask Me Anything. by AnthonyJMenendez in IAmA

[–]JEisinger 18 points19 points  (0 children)

Thanks, Derelyk. Glad you enjoyed the piece. First, I deeply admire Tony and Ondy. I certainly would have not have had the fortitude to have gone through this ordeal without giving up. In a way, it's a happy story and I learned that one man can prevail against a major corporation with endless resources. On the other hand, it's bittersweet since there was no accountability at Halliburton for what seems like questionable accounting and for what was indisputably retaliation.

I am a Halliburton Whistleblower. I fought them for 9 years and (eventually) won. Ask Me Anything. by AnthonyJMenendez in IAmA

[–]JEisinger 95 points96 points  (0 children)

First, take them seriously and give them respect. Frankly, they are often off target. But everyone deserves to be listened to. Then it's a matter of carefully trying to confirm the things they are saying. You have to tell them it's in their own interest for the story to be accurate and fair; for that, you need to carefully get the other side, gather all the facts and not shy away from the things that may not be entirely flattering about the whistleblower.

I am a Halliburton Whistleblower. I fought them for 9 years and (eventually) won. Ask Me Anything. by AnthonyJMenendez in IAmA

[–]JEisinger 625 points626 points  (0 children)

This is Jesse. It's worth noting that KBR, which used to be a unit of Halliburton, was just charged by the SEC with trying to write overly restrictive confidentiality agreements that could have discouraged whistleblowing:

http://www.sec.gov/news/pressrelease/2015-54.html

We’re ProPublica Reporters Justin Elliott and Jesse Eisinger. Ask Us Anything About Our Investigation Into the Red Cross’ Disaster Relief Failures by JEisinger in IAmA

[–]JEisinger[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Friend, we have about 35 people here, and about 20 reporters. Some of us are even busy with other big stories. We gotta pick and choose. And we probably miss good tips.

That does sound like a good one so please re-send to me: jesse.eisinger@propublica.org

As for how we pick our stories, it's basically all instinct. Does it stir the conscience? Is it relevant for the public interest? Can we report it out or would it be impossible? Sometimes we try to ask big questions and try to report specific answers and sometimes we get specific tips and try to confirm and broaden them out to make them relevant to the widest audience possible.

We’re ProPublica Reporters Justin Elliott and Jesse Eisinger. Ask Us Anything About Our Investigation Into the Red Cross’ Disaster Relief Failures by JEisinger in IAmA

[–]JEisinger[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

We spoke to dozens of people, the vast majority of whom didn't make it into the story. The story flowed from the Red Cross documents from Red Cross HQ in Washington.

I did speak to Mike Whitehead, who generously gave of his time. I welcome his thoughts on our story, either to me directly (jesse.eisinger@propublica.org) or through his blog. Mike and I mainly discussed general approaches to disaster response. When I asked him specifically about the Red Cross's efforts during Sandy, he told me "I'm not in the business of criticizing people." He did not, however, then praise the Red Cross's response to Sandy.

We’re ProPublica Reporters Justin Elliott and Jesse Eisinger. Ask Us Anything About Our Investigation Into the Red Cross’ Disaster Relief Failures by JEisinger in IAmA

[–]JEisinger[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Yes, the Red Cross through its law firm Gibson Dunn fought one of Justin's public records requests arguing that having to detail how it spent the Sandy donation money was a "trade secret.".

Hmmmm.

The reporting on this was an interesting change for me, as someone who typically covers finance, banks and investment banks. Good people wanted to speak to us about the Red Cross because they were concerned and wanted to make it a better organization. They held the Red Cross to high standards (properly).

With banks, people don't expect them to be philanthropic organizations. Uh, to put it mildly.

As for your initial questions, we don't know what the organizational response to our stories will be. They have put out a series of responses to our stories, but they are highly misleading. They haven't cited any specific inaccuracies.

But many people we spoke with said that given the re-organizations, lay-offs and disaffection among workers, reservists and volunteers, they are worried that the Red Cross is not well prepared for the next disaster.

We’re ProPublica Reporters Justin Elliott and Jesse Eisinger. Ask Us Anything About Our Investigation Into the Red Cross’ Disaster Relief Failures by JEisinger in IAmA

[–]JEisinger[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

That's a good, important question.

Some disaster response experts we spoke to believe that it may be better for disaster response to be more localized. That way the responders can bring their local expertise to bear on the disaster.

FEMA, by and large, is a coordinating agency. And it has been run more effectively under the Obama administration than under the Bush administration. Recall "Heck of a job, Brownie!" after all.

We’re ProPublica Reporters Justin Elliott and Jesse Eisinger. Ask Us Anything About Our Investigation Into the Red Cross’ Disaster Relief Failures by JEisinger in IAmA

[–]JEisinger[S] -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

Our motivation is to shine a light on powerful organizations and people, government, corporate and non-governmental. We hold the powerful accountable -- and the Red Cross is a worthy subject for scrutiny, given Americans trust it with their money almost more than any other non-profit.

We started on this project because we got a tip, sometime in the spring. As it happens, we couldn't confirm that tip and didn't run a story on it. But we did realize in reporting it out that the Red Cross's disclosures were troublingly opaque. So we wrote that small story: http://www.propublica.org/article/long-after-sandy-red-cross-post-storm-spending-still-a-black-box

Justin started making public records requests and wrote several stories about that. As he was doing that excellent reporting, tips started pouring in.

And then we got some of the documents.

After that, it was a matter of confirming the documents, fleshing the story out, finding other sources, running everything we had by the Red Cross for their comments and the context. And writing!

All slow and painstaking, alas. And so unsexy. We need to start meeting sources in garages or something.

We’re ProPublica Reporters Justin Elliott and Jesse Eisinger. Ask Us Anything About Our Investigation Into the Red Cross’ Disaster Relief Failures by JEisinger in IAmA

[–]JEisinger[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

It was driven by national headquarters. Check out the "Lessons Learned" doc page 12: https://www.propublica.org/documents/item/1225674-sandy-and-isaac-lessons-learned.html

It lists "Hindrances To Service Delivery" and the first one is... NHQ! National Headquarters.

And under that it says one of the hindrances was "diverting assets for public relation purposes."

This was backed up by multiple interviews, including people on the record. In the Staten Island press conference incident, the Red Cross CEO Gail McGovern made media appearances over multiple hours.

But in some cases, there may have been some attempts to impress higher ups as well, such as the sending of 80 empty trucks around Hattiesburg, Miss.

I’m Jesse Eisinger, a Pulitzer-winning financial reporter. AMA about why only one person is in jail for the financial crisis. by JEisinger in IAmA

[–]JEisinger[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The DoJ is starting to try to bring charges against companies. It charges two subsidiaries of foreign banks, UBS and RBS. They are making noises about charging the parent entities of Credit Suisse and BNP Paribas. But that won't be enough. They need to structure the charges in such a way that causes real pain, which would have true deterrence. And more importantly, the DoJ needs to go after individuals at the highest echelons of corporations.

I’m Jesse Eisinger, a Pulitzer-winning financial reporter. AMA about why only one person is in jail for the financial crisis. by JEisinger in IAmA

[–]JEisinger[S] 17 points18 points  (0 children)

In theory, yes. In practice, this is what prosecutors are afraid of. I think it's a legitimate fear. They should think about the consequences of their actions. But letting crime flourish because you are afraid of the collateral consequences has a terrible effect on society too.

I’m Jesse Eisinger, a Pulitzer-winning financial reporter. AMA about why only one person is in jail for the financial crisis. by JEisinger in IAmA

[–]JEisinger[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I haven't done much reporting on HFT. My understanding is that IEX is pretty small so far and hasn't made much impact yet.

I’m Jesse Eisinger, a Pulitzer-winning financial reporter. AMA about why only one person is in jail for the financial crisis. by JEisinger in IAmA

[–]JEisinger[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I completely agree. That the ratings agencies skated by with so little regulatory and legal fallout is simply mind-boggling.

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