We just made a BIG impact — help us keep it going

Friends:

I’ve asked you to click here to pitch in to this grassroots-funded reporting project because we are doing impact journalism — and today we are thrilled to report on some VERY big impact.

Two months ago, this newsletter busted open a big story: we exposed the sordid tale of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo quietly shielding nursing home CEOs from Covid-related lawsuits after his political machine received more than $1 million from a health care industry lobby group. The story was co-published by The Guardian and Jacobin -- and it helped ignite a firestorm of righteous outrage.

We’ve continued to aggressively cover that story, which has fueled growing opposition to the corporate immunity provision — and now the New York legislature has just passed a bill to roll back parts of Cuomo’s liability shield law.

It is not 100 percent clear that Cuomo is going to sign the bill, but he’s under pressure — and he’s already suggesting he understands the imperative for the legislation. So that’s a good sign — and certainly a sign that our reporting made a big impact.

To be sure, our journalism was hardly the only factor in all this — there was a ton of legislative activism and advocacy.

However, there is no doubt that our original deep-dive reporting played a pivotal role in spotlighting the situation and exposing the pay-to-play culture at work. Indeed, one New York news outlet noted that the immunity law “has been shrouded by criticism of political influence on the part of the hospital and nursing home industry” after revelations that the health care industry lobby group “pumped millions of dollars into political committees in the last several years.”

If you like this kind of impact journalism -- and want to help us expand it -- please go to sirota.substack.com/subscribe and become a monthly or annual supporting subscriber.

Journalism doesn’t have to rely on billionaires and corporations, who will never consistently support the kind of journalism that challenges billionaire and corporate power. We are helping build a new grassroots-funded model for journalism -- and as the situation in New York proves, it can have a huge impact.

Rock the boat,

Sirota