By David DesRosiers, Publisher
May 2023
Honest journalism—nonpartisan, evenhanded, and striving toward objectivity—faces resistance within many corners of the media and other powerful institutions. According to a Pew survey, 55% of journalists believe that every side does not always deserve equal coverage. That portion rises to 63% among younger members of the profession. Major papers of record have questioned objectivity as a guiding principle, while embracing what has been called “post-journalism”—an advocacy-driven approach to reporting the news. NGOs, Big Tech, and political actors have worked in concert to censor independent reporters and news outlets.
These trends do not represent a constructive evolution in American journalism. Rather, they are a dangerous development that threatens the underpinning of democracy: namely, an electorate informed by independent and politically neutral news gatherers.
RealClearInvestigations (RCI), a reporting project working in partnership with RealClearPolitics, is rising to the occasion. RCI hews to old-school follow-and-report-the-facts journalism—the kind you used to encounter when you opened the morning newspaper.
Made possible entirely through charitable support, RCI invites readers to join in its mission of producing investigative journalism done right. With a tax-deductible donation, you can help enable serious investigations into civic affairs that legacy outlets won’t produce. In turn, you’ll be supporting the work of journalists who are going up against a political and partisan media complex that wants to silence them—such as senior reporter Paul Sperry, who surfaced in the “Twitter Files” earlier this year.
In 2021, Sperry’s Twitter account, which had 340,000 followers, was suspended. Twitter provided no explanation as to why. But through the “Twitter Files,” the political pressures at work have been made clear. In late 2020, Congressman Adam Schiff’s office contacted Twitter, requesting the suspension of Sperry’s account. Twitter balked initially but eventually went ahead with the suspension. At the same time, Schiff’s office contacted RCI directly, asking us to retract a series of year-old stories by Sperry about the first impeachment of President Trump. We reviewed Sperry’s thoroughly reported work and resisted this pressure tactic.
Twitter’s suspension and Schiff’s efforts, however, did not deter our investigative efforts into many civic issues—including the now-discredited accusation that Trump colluded with Russia to win the presidency in 2016. RCI published dozens of investigative stories that undermined this narrative—reporting that has proved accurate. And we are finally garnering some long-deserved recognition.
Earlier this year, Columbia Journalism Review published a lengthy autopsy of the media’s role in the Russia-collusion saga. Written by decorated former New York Times reporter Jeff Gerth, the four-part series provides a detailed dissection of the errors and failures by legacy players such as the Times and Washington Post, which won Pulitzer Prizes for flawed articles advancing the collusion allegations. Gerth cites Tom Kuntz, Paul Sperry, and Aaron Maté—all associated with RealClearInvestigations—as being among the few journalists to cover Russia-gate accurately.
This subject area is but one of many beats that we pursue at RCI and RealClear more broadly. Education, energy, elections, unions, and religious freedom are other reporting priorities. We’re proud of the thoroughness and nuance that our reporters bring to these areas—and of their contribution to a more factual and informed public discourse and debate regarding significant issues.
The First Amendment and the principles undergirding it require a renewed defense.
Please consider joining the growing community of readers who have come to the aid of RCI’s original investigative journalism. Your support helps us live up to the reason that freedom of the press is constitutionally protected: to hold government and other influential institutions to account. Please make a tax-deductible donation today.