Investigative journalism always mattered, but it feels as though trailblazing journalists matter more these days. With the Department of Justice being run as a concierge service to shakedown the president’s enemies, and traditional journalism outfits like CBS News turning into marketing agencies for billionaire ownership, the constellation of actors working — sometimes imperfectly — toward justice has grown dimmer. What’s left are journalism outfits trying to piece together important stories at a time when factual records are increasingly complex and reporters face mounting financial pressure.
Everlaw looked at this landscape and realized the same tool lawyers use to pick apart terabytes worth of emails and spreadsheets to guarantee that Globocorp defeats Worldwide Widgets could also help reporters sort through the same categories of documents to uncover the next Watergate.
This morning, Everlaw announced that newsroom investigations supported through its Everlaw for Good program have more than tripled year over year. The company’s free-and-discounted program now supplies more than 50 newsrooms and journalist organizations deploying the technology across more than 175 investigations, including USA TODAY, Le Monde, and WIRED. The broader program, which also serves legal aid groups, nonprofits, pro bono teams, and CJA panel attorneys, has passed 1,000 matters and $8 million in donated technology since 2017.
“Investigative journalists face many of the same challenges as litigators,” the company’s statement notes, “finding the key facts, patterns, quotes, and inconsistencies buried across thousands or millions of documents, often under tight deadlines and with limited staff.”
The big asterisk there is that many of those litigators have clients to pay for the platform with enough left over to pay another round of bonuses (though most of them aren’t doing that… for some reason). A newsroom handed a few hundred thousand records traditionally has a shared drive and Ctrl+F.
The Everlaw platform helps reporting teams securely review sensitive documents, search large collections, use citation-backed AI analysis, and collaborate across newsrooms while maintaining control over what information is shared. By helping journalists move more quickly from raw documents to verified facts, Everlaw supports the public-interest reporting that exposes wrongdoing, strengthens accountability, and advances the search for truth.
When Woodward and Bernstein set out to “follow the money” sifting through years of library pull requests, the cards are dumped on the table to give the impression of an impossibly tedious search. That stack looks positively quaint in the world of digital evidence.
The pace of growth for this program is wild. The company announced it had passed $6 million in donated technology in March. It’s at $8 million now.
“Investigative reporting is essential to a healthy civil society,” notes Joanne Sprague, head of the Everlaw for Good initiative. “But the newsrooms doing this work are often contending with mountains of documents, tight deadlines, and limited resources. Everlaw for Good helps journalists find the evidence that matters and collaborate securely, so access to truth does not depend on the size of a newsroom or its technology budget.”
And the last bit matters a lot these days when deeper pocketed media outlets are stepping back. Paramount paid $16 million to make Trump’s meritless 60 Minutes lawsuit go away and then got its merger approved. Bari Weiss took over CBS News and spiked a finished CECOT investigation. When Scott Pelley told the new executive producer that Weiss “is murdering ’60 Minutes,’” CBS resolved the issue by firing Scott Pelley.
Which is all to say that Paramount spent twice Everlaw for Good’s giving total to make one presidential grievance disappear so they could then NOT tell important stories.
“As an investigative journalist, I now consider Everlaw an indispensable tool,” said former Fast Company reporter Burt Helm. “It’s like a high-powered magnet, finding the shining needles of truth hidden in colossal haystacks of documents.”
While that sounds like a Wile E. Coyote scheme about to go horribly wrong, it’s worth remembering that the Coyote would’ve dined on Road Runner long ago if it weren’t for ACME’s negligence. Putting buckshot in birdseed and pulling out the comically large horseshoe magnet should have worked, dammit! So replace ACME with a trusted legal technology vendor and the magnet succeeds.
Joe Patrice is a senior editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. Feel free to email any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on Twitter or Bluesky if you’re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news.
The post Everlaw Supplying Technology To Investigative Journalists To Help Root Out Corruption appeared first on Above the Law.
Investigative journalism always mattered, but it feels as though trailblazing journalists matter more these days. With the Department of Justice being run as a concierge service to shakedown the president’s enemies, and traditional journalism outfits like CBS News turning into marketing agencies for billionaire ownership, the constellation of actors working — sometimes imperfectly — toward justice has grown dimmer. What’s left are journalism outfits trying to piece together important stories at a time when factual records are increasingly complex and reporters face mounting financial pressure.
Everlaw looked at this landscape and realized the same tool lawyers use to pick apart terabytes worth of emails and spreadsheets to guarantee that Globocorp defeats Worldwide Widgets could also help reporters sort through the same categories of documents to uncover the next Watergate.
This morning, Everlaw announced that newsroom investigations supported through its Everlaw for Good program have more than tripled year over year. The company’s free-and-discounted program now supplies more than 50 newsrooms and journalist organizations deploying the technology across more than 175 investigations, including USA TODAY, Le Monde, and WIRED. The broader program, which also serves legal aid groups, nonprofits, pro bono teams, and CJA panel attorneys, has passed 1,000 matters and $8 million in donated technology since 2017.
“Investigative journalists face many of the same challenges as litigators,” the company’s statement notes, “finding the key facts, patterns, quotes, and inconsistencies buried across thousands or millions of documents, often under tight deadlines and with limited staff.”
The big asterisk there is that many of those litigators have clients to pay for the platform with enough left over to pay another round of bonuses (though most of them aren’t doing that… for some reason). A newsroom handed a few hundred thousand records traditionally has a shared drive and Ctrl+F.
The Everlaw platform helps reporting teams securely review sensitive documents, search large collections, use citation-backed AI analysis, and collaborate across newsrooms while maintaining control over what information is shared. By helping journalists move more quickly from raw documents to verified facts, Everlaw supports the public-interest reporting that exposes wrongdoing, strengthens accountability, and advances the search for truth.
When Woodward and Bernstein set out to “follow the money” sifting through years of library pull requests, the cards are dumped on the table to give the impression of an impossibly tedious search. That stack looks positively quaint in the world of digital evidence.
The pace of growth for this program is wild. The company announced it had passed $6 million in donated technology in March. It’s at $8 million now.
“Investigative reporting is essential to a healthy civil society,” notes Joanne Sprague, head of the Everlaw for Good initiative. “But the newsrooms doing this work are often contending with mountains of documents, tight deadlines, and limited resources. Everlaw for Good helps journalists find the evidence that matters and collaborate securely, so access to truth does not depend on the size of a newsroom or its technology budget.”
And the last bit matters a lot these days when deeper pocketed media outlets are stepping back. Paramount paid $16 million to make Trump’s meritless 60 Minutes lawsuit go away and then got its merger approved. Bari Weiss took over CBS News and spiked a finished CECOT investigation. When Scott Pelley told the new executive producer that Weiss “is murdering ’60 Minutes,’” CBS resolved the issue by firing Scott Pelley.
Which is all to say that Paramount spent twice Everlaw for Good’s giving total to make one presidential grievance disappear so they could then NOT tell important stories.
“As an investigative journalist, I now consider Everlaw an indispensable tool,” said former Fast Company reporter Burt Helm. “It’s like a high-powered magnet, finding the shining needles of truth hidden in colossal haystacks of documents.”
While that sounds like a Wile E. Coyote scheme about to go horribly wrong, it’s worth remembering that the Coyote would’ve dined on Road Runner long ago if it weren’t for ACME’s negligence. Putting buckshot in birdseed and pulling out the comically large horseshoe magnet should have worked, dammit! So replace ACME with a trusted legal technology vendor and the magnet succeeds.
Joe Patrice is a senior editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. Feel free to email any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on Twitter or Bluesky if you’re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news.
The post Everlaw Supplying Technology To Investigative Journalists To Help Root Out Corruption appeared first on Above the Law.
