A campaign management tool is software that facilitates the launching and coordination of political campaigns across multiple social media platforms.
49-433: BlueLink is a suite of campaign management mobile apps designed to register, organize, and mobilize liberal voters. The suite was formerly known as Shadow , operated by Shadow Inc., before the latter sold it to Acronym , who in turn sold BlueLink to Civitech PBC . The company gained attention after their IowaReporterApp software failed during the 2020 Iowa Democratic caucuses . The company, originally named Groundbase,
98-515: A 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Reporting. This piece was adapted into the 2019 Netflix series Unbelievable . In 2016, ProPublica published an investigation of the COMPAS algorithm used by U.S. courts to assess the likelihood of a defendant becoming a recidivist . Led by Julia Angwin , the investigation found that "blacks are almost twice as likely as whites to be labeled a higher risk but not actually re-offend," whereas COMPAS "makes
147-582: A Crime That Doesn’t Exist. Almost Nothing Happened to the Adults in Charge", revealed that county authorities had charged some of the children under non-existent laws, as directed by Judge Donna Scott Davenport , and that, among Tennessee children referred to juvenile court, the statewide rate of incarceration was five percent, while in Rutherford County it was 48 percent. The article was a finalist in
196-640: A controversial government practice of family separation at the southern border. Also in 2019, ProPublica reporter Hannah Dreier was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing for her series that followed immigrants on Long Island whose lives were shattered by a botched crackdown on MS-13 . In May 2020, ProPublica won the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service for illuminating public safety gaps in Alaska . In that same year, ProPublica also won
245-642: A rebuttal of the investigation's findings. ProPublica conducted a large-scale, circumscribed investigation on Psychiatric Solutions , a company based in Tennessee that buys failing hospitals, cuts staff, and accumulates profit. The report covered patient deaths at numerous Psychiatric Solutions facilities, the failing physical plant at many of their facilities, and covered the State of Florida 's first closure of Manatee Palms Youth Services , which has since been shut down by Florida officials once again. Their report
294-402: A salary of $ 570,000. Steiger was formerly the managing editor at The Wall Street Journal , where his total compensation (including options ) was double that at ProPublica. Steiger's stated strategy is to use a Wall Street Journal pay model to attract journalistic talent. In 2010, eight ProPublica employees made more than $ 160,000, including managing editor Stephen Engelberg ($ 343,463) and
343-541: A story. ProPublica has partnered with more than 90 different news organizations and has won several Pulitzer Prizes . In 2010, it became the first online news source to win a Pulitzer Prize; the story chronicled the urgent life-and-death decisions made by one hospital's exhausted doctors when they were cut off by the floodwaters of Hurricane Katrina , and was published both in The New York Times Magazine and ProPublica's website. ProPublica
392-658: A tax-free Roth IRA account through his investments in private companies. Attorney General Merrick Garland told lawmakers that investigating the source of the release would be a top priority for the Justice Department. Research by ProPublica and Nashville Public Radio found juvenile incarcerations in Rutherford County, Tennessee , to be far higher than the national average. The investigation, published in October 2021 as "Black Children Were Jailed for
441-417: Is an increasing number of companies providing web-based software to replace database systems that require a specific computer or network. By making databases for GOTV /voter tracking, fundraising, accounting and campaign management accessible from any location, these vendors are allowing campaigns to take advantage of resources that many individual volunteers and campaign staff have available at home, expanding
490-667: Is the company's flagship product. Acronym announced in November 2019 that Lightrail has been made available to all state parties and national candidates, under a trial contract with the Democratic National Committee. Party insiders have described it as "common in Democratic politics." The Iowa Democratic Party paid Shadow Inc. $ 63,183 to develop the IowaReporterApp. Before the 2020 Iowa caucus,
539-462: The Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting for their series, The Wall Street Money Machine . This was the first time a Pulitzer was awarded to a group of stories not published in print. In 2016, ProPublica won its third Pulitzer Prize, this time for Explanatory Reporting , in collaboration with The Marshall Project for "a startling examination and exposé of law enforcement 's enduring failures to investigate reports of rape properly and to comprehend
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#1732787408072588-761: The Sandler Foundation provided ProPublica with significant financial support, it also has received funding from the Knight Foundation , MacArthur Foundation , Pew Charitable Trusts , Ford Foundation , the Carnegie Corporation , and the Atlantic Philanthropies . ProPublica and the Knight Foundation have various connections. For example, Paul Steiger, executive chairman of ProPublica, is a trustee of
637-536: The 2022 National Magazine Awards . Reportage continued by podcast , with The Kids of Rutherford County . In 2021, ProPublica published the results of a two-year analytical project involving examining billions of rows of EPA data to create a map to chart industrial pollution at the neighborhood level – the first of its kind. In five years' worth of EPA data, ProPublica identified over 1,000 toxic hotspots nationwide, estimating that 250,000 people living near these areas may have been exposed to levels of cancer risk that
686-527: The CEO of Shadow when it was renamed upon the purchase of the "nearly bankrupt company" Groundbase by Acronym. Niemira was formerly a product manager for Hillary Clinton's 2016 campaign, worked at kiva.org , and worked as an intern for Representative Eliot Engel in 2005. James "Jimmy" Hickey, COO, was an engineering manager for Hillary Clinton's 2016 campaign and previously was part of Sprinklr and Bloomberg Philanthropies . Krista Davis, CTO and Chief Architect,
735-545: The EPA deems unacceptable. ProPublica intended to represent data in a way where the public can understand the risk of breathing the air where they live. Through the map, the town of Verona, Missouri was identified to have an industrial cancer risk 27 times larger than the acceptable value. Subsequently, the EPA agreed to install three air monitors to track ethylene oxide concentration in Verona. Additional "hot spots" identified on
784-418: The Knight Foundation. In like manner, Alberto Ibarguen, the president and CEO of the Knight Foundation is on the board of ProPublica. ProPublica, along with other major news outlets, received grant funding from Sam Bankman-Fried , the founder of cryptocurrency exchange FTX . ProPublica has attracted attention for the salaries it pays its employees. In 2008, Paul Steiger, the editor of ProPublica, received
833-622: The Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting for coverage of the United States Navy and the collisions of the USS Fitzgerald and USS John S. McCain (DDG-56) with civilian vessels in separate incidents in the western Pacific. The stories were written by T. Christian Miller , Megan Rose and Robert Faturechi. In 2021 and 2022, ProPublica journalists Lisa Song and Mark Olalde won SEAL Awards for consistent excellence in environmental reporting. In May 2024, ProPublica won
882-790: The Pulitzer Prize for Public Service for reporting on the billionaires giving gifts to the US Supreme Court 's justices and covering their travel expenses. The stories were written by Joshua Kaplan, Justin Elliott, Brett Murphy , Alex Mierjeski and Kirsten Berg. In July 2024, Mary Hudetz was presented with the Richard LaCourse Award for Investigative Journalism by the Indigenous Journalists Association for her work on ProPublica’s "The Repatriation Project." Her reporting, which focused on
931-484: The app and its developer were kept secret from the public by the Democratic Party, although it was made public that there would be an app used for the caucus. The company published a new build (Version 1.1) of the IowaReporterApp two days before the caucuses. A bug in the code of the app caused the app to fail at the time of the 2020 Iowa Democratic caucuses. Gerardo Niemira, the CEO of Shadow Inc., which created
980-408: The app, stated that technology used by Democrats in prior elections was a "shitshow" and "tangled morass". Shadow came under scrutiny for its lack of maturity and the means it used to distribute the IowaReporterApp to users. Shadow required iOS device users to use Apple's behind-the-scenes beta-testing infrastructure, TestFlight , while Android users had to use third-party app TestFairy to download
1029-468: The app. It was determined to be "insecure," so an external entity could have hacked it. The app was reviewed by the Democratic National Committee in advance. David Bergstein said on behalf of the DNC that it was confident that security was being taken "extremely seriously." Several security and app experts have criticized the amateurish nature of the app. App-development expert, Kasra Rahjerdi, said, "the app
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#17327874080721078-399: The app. Furthermore, a reporter from Motherboard downloaded the app to two Android devices, but it only opened on one of them. The next day, the site published an APK of the app. It also solicited the opinions of various cybersecurity experts. Dan Guido, the head of Trail of Bits, described the app as "hastily thrown together." Not-for-profit ProPublica commissioned a security audit of
1127-540: The campaigns of numerous Democratic candidates . The Joe Biden , Pete Buttigieg and Kirsten Gillibrand presidential campaigns all made payments to the company. The Buttigieg campaign paid $ 42,500 to the company in July 2019 for "software rights and subscriptions" for a text-message service . The Biden campaign paid the company $ 1,225, also for a text-messaging service, while the Gillibrand campaign paid $ 37,400 to
1176-571: The company for software and fundraising consulting. The Texas and Wisconsin state Democratic parties also contracted Shadow Inc. for undisclosed services. Shadow Inc. has worked closely with Democratic Party-affiliated companies, including Lockwood Strategy and FWIW Media. Shadow Inc's parent company Acronym has received large donations from hedge fund managers Seth Klarman and Donald Sussman , venture capitalist Michael Moritz , as well as film directors and producers Jeffrey Katzenberg and Steven Spielberg . Campaign management tool In
1225-482: The complexities and obstacles in repatriating Native American remains and sacred objects from museums and universities "had rippling effects at the institutional level down to Indigenous communities and peoples". T. Christian Miller of ProPublica and Ken Armstrong of The Marshall Project collaborated on this piece about the process that discovered a serial rapist in Colorado and Washington state. The piece won
1274-552: The dataset they are collecting. For example, the Minneapolis Star Tribune partnered with ProPublica to write about reporting of hate crimes in Minnesota. In 2015, ProPublica launched Surgeon Scorecard, an interactive database that allows users to view complication rates for eight common elective procedures. The tool allows users to find surgeons and hospitals, and see their complication rates. The database
1323-608: The edges of the network (Edge Tools), deliver measurable value, as can be seen by the use of Meetup and Get Local on the Howard Dean campaign. While many activists and technologists see great value in these tools, many campaign professionals fear the loss of control. The value of these tools to campaigns below the Presidential level also remains uncertain. Other kinds of internet tools for campaign management do not have such specific methods of organizing people. There
1372-519: The effects of eviction cases. The app was nominated for a Livingston Award . In June 2021, after receiving leaked, hacked, or stolen IRS documents, ProPublica published a report which claimed that tax rates for the wealthiest Americans were significantly lower than the average middle class tax rate, if unrealized capital gains are considered as equivalent to earned income . ProPublica would later reveal that technology investor and political donor Peter Thiel legally earned more than $ 5 billion in
1421-402: The floodwaters of Hurricane Katrina." It was written by ProPublica's Sheri Fink and published in The New York Times Magazine as well as on ProPublica.org. This was the first Pulitzer awarded to an online news source. The article also won the 2010 National Magazine Award for Reporting . In 2011, ProPublica won its second Pulitzer Prize. Reporters Jesse Eisinger and Jake Bernstein won
1470-556: The highest-paid reporter, Dafna Linzer , formerly of the Washington Post ($ 205,445). In 2010, ProPublica jointly won the Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting (it was also awarded to the Philadelphia Daily News for an unrelated story) for "The Deadly Choices at Memorial", "a story that chronicles the urgent life-and-death decisions made by one hospital's exhausted doctors when they were cut off by
1519-462: The involvement of Gina Haspel in enhanced interrogation techniques at a black site in Thailand. The report focused particularly on the harsh methods used on Abu Zubaydah , including waterboarding, confinement in small boxes, and wall slamming. In 2018, ProPublica retracted part of its 2017 report that incorrectly stated Gina Haspel was in charge of the black site. This retraction came after Haspel
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1568-496: The left leaning organizations that you have supported or that are friendly to what you've supported in the past." They said, "No problem." And when we set up our organizational structure, the board of directors, on which I sit and which Herb is the chairman, does not know in advance what we're going to report on. ProPublica had an initial news staff of 28 reporters and editors, including Pulitzer Prize winners Charles Ornstein , Tracy Weber , Jeff Gerth , and Marcus Stern . Steiger
1617-509: The left-leaning political views of the Sandlers, saying on The Newshour with Jim Lehrer : Coming into this, when I talked to Herb and Marion Sandler, one of my concerns was precisely this question of independence and nonpartisanship ... My history has been doing "down the middle" reporting. And so when I talked to Herb and Marion I said "Are you comfortable with that?" They said, "Absolutely." I said, "Well, suppose we did an exposé of some of
1666-517: The map include the city of Longview in eastern Texas; the most high-risk area of Longview has a risk level 72 times greater than the EPA's acceptable risk. This most high-risk area is the home of Texas Eastman Chemical Plant. According to ProPublica, its analysis of the plant's emissions detected ethylene oxide and 1-3 butadiene . The Texas Eastman Chemical Plant says it has conducted its own tests which "have revealed no areas of concern." In 2017, ProPublica published an investigative report detailing
1715-482: The opposite mistake among whites: They are much more likely than blacks to be labeled lower-risk but go on to commit other crimes." They also found that only 20 percent of people predicted to commit violent crimes actually went on to do so. COMPAS developer Northpointe criticized ProPublica’s methodology, while a team at the Community Resources for Justice , a criminal justice think tank , published
1764-478: The past, political campaigns were conducted using traditional methods of personal contact, such as television and radio media purchasing, print advertising and direct mail. However, the rising popularity of the Internet has changed how campaigns talk to voters, and also how campaigns maintain communications between staff members , volunteers and political consultants , and getting the campaign message out via
1813-530: The same time, companies are offering tools that push the edge of social responsibility, including those for publishing spam . Other companies pretending to be legitimate polling agencies, attempt to influence voters through leading questions , in so called "push polls". Some of the tools are those which enable the formation of local groups. These rapidly forming groups give citizens the confidence that they are not alone, and inspire collective actions . As Reed's law predicted, tools that enable group formations at
1862-618: The traumatic effects on its victims." In 2017, ProPublica and the New York Daily News were awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service for a series of reports on the use of eviction rules by the New York City Police Department . In 2019, the Peabody Awards honored ProPublica with the first-ever Peabody Catalyst Award for releasing audio in 2018 that brought immediate change to
1911-564: The use of distributed campaigning techniques. ProPublica ProPublica ( / p r oʊ ˈ p ʌ b l ɪ k ə / ), legally Pro Publica, Inc. , is a nonprofit investigative journalism organization based in New York City. ProPublica's investigations are conducted by its staff of full-time investigative reporters, and the resulting stories are distributed to news partners for publication or broadcast. In some cases, reporters from both ProPublica and its partners work together on
1960-474: The web, e-mail and interactive web forms. Campaigns are also utilizing an increasing number of tools that assist with accounting, contact management, and handling increasingly complicated government regulations. The exact best implementation of these sorts of tools is under debate. Politicians in many states have started websites and weblogs (or "blogs") with a variety of degrees of success. Social software has been used to benefit politicians. However, at
2009-735: Was clearly done by someone following a tutorial. It’s similar to projects I do with my mentees who are learning how to code." A team of researchers at Stanford University , including former Facebook chief security officer Alex Stamos , said that while analyzing the app, they found potentially concerning code within it, including hard-coded API keys . The app was written in React Native , authenticated through Auth0, and sent data to Google Cloud Functions . The Nevada Democratic Party paid Shadow $ 58,000 for its caucus reporting app, though it announced it would no longer use it, and instead used Google Forms on iPads . Shadow Inc. developed software for
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2058-409: Was controversial, drawing criticism from doctors and prompting a critique from RAND . However, statisticians, including Andrew Gelman , stood behind their decision to attempt to shine light on an opaque aspect of the medical field, and ProPublica offered specific rebuttals to RAND's claims. ProPublica has created an interactive map that allows people to search for addresses in New York City to see
2107-556: Was launched in December 2016 by Gerard Niemira, and Krista Davis, who both worked on the digital outreach team for Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign . In January 2019, the company was acquired by Acronym , a liberal-leaning political nonprofit organization for which Niemira was also the COO and CTO. Shadow is a for-profit company. Acronym's CEO, Tara McGowan , described Shadow as "a political technology company". Shadow Inc.
2156-704: Was nominated to lead the CIA , sparking renewed scrutiny of her record. The correction affected the credibility and impact of reporting on this topic, as highlighted by discussions in major news outlets like AP News . In 2023, ProPublica launched an investigative series uncovering the complexities and delays in repatriating Native American remains and cultural items under the 1990 Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act ( NAGPRA ). The series exposed institutional resistance from museums and universities, driving significant policy discussions and increased efforts toward compliance. This investigative work earned Mary Hudetz
2205-527: Was previously a software engineer for Hillary Clinton's 2016 campaign. She also worked at Google for eight years. The current CEO is Irene Tollinger, following Niemira stepping down from his position. Shadow Inc. developed software for the campaigns of numerous Democratic candidates as well as mobile software applications for the 2020 Iowa Democratic caucuses and 2020 Nevada Democratic caucuses . Lightrail moves information between different data sources for campaign messaging and data integration purposes. It
2254-544: Was published in conjunction with the Los Angeles Times . In 2017, ProPublica launched the Documenting Hate project for systematic tracking of hate crimes and bias incidents . The project is part of their Civil Rights beat, and allows victims or witnesses of hate crime incidents to submit stories. The project also allows journalists and newsrooms to partner with ProPublica to write stories based on
2303-488: Was reported to have received 850 applications upon ProPublica's announcement. The organization appointed a 12-member advisory board of professional journalists. The newsgroup shares its work under the Creative Commons no-derivative, non-commercial license. On August 5, 2015, Yelp announced a partnership with ProPublica to bring improved healthcare data into Yelp's statistics on healthcare providers. While
2352-498: Was the brainchild of Herbert and Marion Sandler , the former chief executives of the Golden West Financial Corporation , who have committed $ 10 million a year to the project. The Sandlers hired Paul Steiger , former managing editor of The Wall Street Journal , to create and run the organization as editor in chief. At the time ProPublica was set up, Steiger responded to concerns about the role of
2401-715: Was then incorporated in Colorado in September 2019. Acronym CEO McGowan said in late January 2020 that Acronym is the sole investor in Shadow. In May 2020, Shadow Inc. was renamed to Bluelink. The company is registered in Colorado, lists its Denver office as its location, and says it has further offices in New York and Seattle. Shadow and its parent company Acronym shared addresses in Denver, Colorado, and Washington, DC. In May 2019, Gerard Niemira, CEO and CTO of Acronym, became
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