| The Lever | |
| Creator: | David Sirota |
| Commercial: | No |
| Type: | News website |
| Language: | English |
| Predecessor: | The Daily Poster |
The Lever is an American reader-supported investigative news outlet founded by David Sirota. 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." Former CNN host Brian Stelter described The Lever as a "small but mighty news start-up," describing the life of its founder David Sirota as "one long campaign against plutocrats and the corrupt politicians who enable them."
As of April 2024, The Lever has more than 112,000 active free and paying subscribers, and a staff of nineteen.[1] The Lever's mission, according to founder David Sirota, is to "hold power accountable."[2] 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".[1]
The investigative reporting from The Lever is frequently cited by other news outlets, including citations in the New York Times, NPR, The Washington Post, Politico, Al Jazeera, Rolling Stone, and The Baltimore Sun.[1] The Lever's reporting has also been cited in tweets and press releases by politicians such as Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, Congressman Ro Khanna, and Congressman Chris Deluzio.
Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist David Cay Johnston praised The Lever's reporting on corruption at The Boeing Company, stating that The Lever’s coverage of this story "is worthy of the top honor in American journalism, the Pulitzer Gold Medal for public service."[3]
According to political commentator Krystal Ball, The Lever's reporting on the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (2023) and the 2023 Ohio train derailment "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."[2]
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," followed the money behind the architect of the conservative supermajority in the Supreme Court, Leonard Leo.[4] 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.
California Congressman Ro Khanna cited The Lever's reporting on this topic when advocating for legislation regarding term limits for Supreme Court justices.[5] Rhode Island Senator Sheldon Whitehouse has also cited The Lever's reporting in asserting that the Supreme Court is "captured by special interests."[6]
Following the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio in February 2023, The Lever was the first news outlet to report on the "railroad industry's history of fighting stricter safety regulations."[7] Based on this reporting, reporters from The Lever were interviewed on Democracy Now!,[8] On The Media,[9] The Problem with Jon Stewart,[10] [11] and other news outlets.[12] The Lever reporting team was also invited to write an editorial on this topic for New York Times.[13] [14]
The Lever's reporting on this topic was also cited by HuffPost,[7] The Guardian,[15] 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.[16]
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.[2] 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.[2] [17] [18]
California Congressman Ro Khanna cited The Lever's reporting on "efforts of bank lobbyists to avoid paying more into the Deposit Insurance Fund."[19]
Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative 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.[3]
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."[3] 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.[3]
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."[20] [21] This reporting was cited by Rolling Stone[20] and The Washington Post.[22]
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,[23] and cited by the New York Times Dealbook.[24] [25]
Founder David Sirota launched an earlier version of this news outlet, called The Daily Poster, on Substack in April 2020.[26] In May 2021, The Daily Poster moved from Substack to an independent website.[26] In March, 2022, the site was expanded and renamed as The Lever.[27]
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.[1]
As of April 2024, The Lever has more than 112,000 active free and paying subscribers, and a staff of nineteen.[1]
In addition to its investigative reporting, The Lever also publishes several podcasts, including Lever Time and Movies vs. Capitalism.[28]
The Lever also publishes several ebooks,[29] including "A Citizen's Guide to Following the Money and Holding the Powerful Accountable."[30] [31] The ebooks are available for free to subscribers to the website.
In March 2023, The Lever received an Izzy Award from the Park Center for Independent Media "for outstanding achievement in independent media."[32] [33] [34]
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.[35]