The Lever

The Lever (formerly known as The Daily Poster) is an American investigative news outlet founded by David Sirota.[1] The name The Lever is a reference to a quote attributed to Greek mathematician Archimedes, "give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum on which to place it, and I shall move the world."[1]

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's staff includes journalists Andrew Perez, Julia Rock, Matthew Cunningham-Cook, and Rebecca Burns.[2] It also publishes investigative journalism from reporters who contribute to other news outlets, including Newsweek, Jacobin, and The American Prospect.[3] The Lever publishes several podcasts, including Lever Time and Movies vs. Capitalism.[4]

The investigative reporting from The Lever is frequently cited by other news outlets, including citations in the New York Times, The Guardian, HuffPost, and other outlets. During the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank in 2023, The Lever revealed that the bank had lobbied for less regulation, a fact which was later cited in The New York Times' newsletter DealBook.[1] The Lever was also among the first news outlets to report on the 2023 Ohio train derailment.[1] According to journalist Krystal Ball, The Lever's reporting on these topics "pushed the mainstream press to deal with the issues of political capture and deregulation that are at the heart of those crises... They beat the legacy press on both of those stories and shaped the mainstream coverage."[1]

In March 2023, The Lever received an Izzy Award from the Park Center for Independent Media "for outstanding achievement in independent media."[5][6][7]

Notable reporting and projects

Dark money influence on the U.S. Supreme Court
See also: Leonard Leo and Barre Seid

A four-part series published in 2022 by Andrew Perez of The Lever in partnership with ProPublica, titled "Inside The Right's Historic Billion-Dollar Dark Money Transfer," followed the money behind the architect of the conservative supermajority in the Supreme Court, Leonard Leo.[8] The investigation exposed Chicago businessman Barre Seid's $1.6 billion donation to Leo's political advocacy nonprofit in the largest known dark money transfer in United States history. The series won the 2023 Izzy Award for outstanding achievement in independent media.[5]

California Congressman Ro Khanna cited The Lever's reporting on this topic when advocating for legislation regarding term limits for Supreme Court justices.[9] Rhode Island Senator Sheldon Whitehouse has also cited The Lever's reporting in asserting that the Supreme Court is "captured by special interests."[10]

2023 Ohio train derailment

Following the Ohio train derailment in February 2023, The Lever was the first news outlet to report on the "railroad industry's history of fighting stricter safety regulations."[11] Based on this reporting, reporters from The Lever were interviewed on The Problem with Jon Stewart,[12] Democracy Now!,[13] On The Media,[14] and other news outlets.[15] The Lever reporting team was also invited to write an editorial on this topic for New York Times.[16][17]

The Lever's reporting on this topic was also cited by HuffPost,[11] The Guardian,[18] and other news outlets.

Pennsylvania congressman Chris Deluzio also cited The Lever's reporting in the context of introducing new legislation to regulate the railroad industry. DeLuzio stated:

Reporting by The Lever News has shown how rail regulations have been weakened and rolled back over the past years and helped raise awareness in the immediate aftermath of the East Palestine derailment.[19]

2023 Silicon Valley Bank collapse

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][20][21]

California Congressman Ro Khanna cited The Lever's reporting on "efforts of bank lobbyists to avoid paying more into the Deposit Insurance Fund."[22]

History

Founder David Sirota launched an earlier version of this news outlet, called The Daily Poster, on Substack in April 2020.[23] In May 2021, The Daily Poster moved from Substack to an independent website.[23] In March, 2022, the site was expanded and renamed as The Lever.[24]

References
  1. Stelter, Brian (2023-03-18). "Politics by Other Means". Air Mail. Retrieved 2023-03-20.
  2. "About The Lever". The Lever. 2022-03-20. Retrieved 2023-04-25.
  3. Kalinowski, Alice. "BRASS Business Guides: 2021 BRASS Program - Follow The Money: Investigative News Sites to Follow". brass.libguides.com. Retrieved 2023-03-20.
  4. "Podcasts from The Lever". the.levernews.com. Retrieved 2023-04-25.
  5. "The Lever Celebrates Izzy Award: "We Just Won Something Huge"". The Edge. Apr 3, 2023.
  6. "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.
  7. "2023 Izzy Award Goes to The Lever, Mississippi Free Press, Carlos Ballesteros and Liza Gross". Democracy Now!. Mar 31, 2023.
  8. "How a Secretive Billionaire Handed His Fortune to the Architect of the Right-Wing Takeover of the Courts". Propublica. 2022-08-22. Retrieved 2023-05-14.
  9. Khanna, Ro [@RoKhanna]. (2023, May 9) .@DavidSirota & @AndrewPerezdc capture why Congress needs to pass my #SCOTUS term limit bill. [Tweet] Twitter: https://twitter.com/RoKhanna/status/1655928323338391552
  10. Whitehouse, Sheldon [@SenWhitehouse]. (2022, June 25). More and more people are understanding what I’ve been saying is going on — how the Court got captured by special interests using gobs of dark money. [Tweet] Twitter: https://twitter.com/SenWhitehouse/status/1540803957953466368
  11. Chris D'Angelo, "Ohio's Toxic Train Disaster Follows ‘Perfect Storm' Of Cuts, Deregulation", HuffPost, February 15, 2023
  12. "The Ohio Train Disaster: A Tale of Corporate Greed and Civil War-Era Brakes", The Problem with Jon Stewart
  13. "Corporate Greed and Deregulation Fuel Threat of More Bomb Trains as East Palestine Demands Answers", Democracy Now, Feb 17, 2023
  14. "An Ohio Train Derailment Reveals Structural Issues", On The Media, Feb 17, 2023
  15. Andrew Perez, "Driving The National Narrative", The Lever, Feb 20, 2023
  16. "The Lever got the media to cover the real story behind the toxic train disaster in Ohio". The Lever. 2023-02-20. Retrieved 2023-03-20.
  17. "Over 1,000 Trains Derail Every Year in America. Let's Bring That Number Down". The New York Times. 2023-02-17.
  18. "What do we know about the Ohio train derailment and toxic chemical leak?", The Guardian, February 15, 2023
  19. Following Disastrous Train Derailment in East Palestine, Deluzio, Khanna Introduce Bill to Protect Americans and Hold Railroads Accountable, Press release from congressman Chris Deluzio
  20. Rebecca Burns, et al, "SVB Chief Pressed Lawmakers To Weaken Bank Risk Regs", The Lever, March 10, 2023
  21. Andrew Ross Sorkin, et al, "Why Did Silicon Valley Bank Collapse?", New York Times, March 11, 2023
  22. Khanna, Ro [@RoKhanna]. (2023, May 13) .@LeverNews has reported on the successful efforts of bank lobbyists to avoid paying more into the Deposit Insurance Fund. This is shameful. Banks must pay higher premiums to fund depositors’ insurance. This will incentivize more responsible management and less risky behavior. [Tweet] Twitter: https://twitter.com/RoKhanna/status/1635459053349482498
  23. "Welcome To The Daily Poster's New Website". The Lever. 2021-05-06. Retrieved 2023-03-20.
  24. "Introducing THE LEVER". The Lever. 2022-03-20. Retrieved 2023-03-20.
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