Reveal (podcast)

Reveal (podcast)
source
Title	Reveal
Genre	Investigative journalism
Language	English
Updates	Weekly
Length	20–60 minutes
Began	2016
Ended	2023
Provider	The Center for Investigative Reporting

Reveal (podcast) is an investigative audio program produced by the Center for Investigative Reporting that examined public policy, corporate practices, law enforcement, and social issues through long-form reporting. The series paired investigative interviews with documentary storytelling, collaboration with newsrooms, and multimedia reporting to explore topics ranging from environmental contamination to immigration enforcement and corporate accountability.

Overview

Reveal was produced by the Center for Investigative Reporting and its newsroom partners, collaborating with outlets such as NPR, ProPublica, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, The Guardian (London), BBC News, CBC Radio One, Al Jazeera, Vox (media company), Frontline (PBS), PBS NewsHour, The Intercept, BuzzFeed News, WNYC, KQED, AP (Associated Press), McClatchy, The Seattle Times, Chicago Tribune, Miami Herald, The Texas Tribune, Politico, Mother Jones, Slate (magazine), Newsweek, Time (magazine), The Atlantic, Forbes, Bloomberg News, Reuters, The Boston Globe, San Francisco Chronicle, San Diego Union-Tribune, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Philadelphia Inquirer, Tampa Bay Times, Detroit Free Press, Houston Chronicle and others. The program often examined issues involving agencies and institutions such as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Environmental Protection Agency, Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Department of Justice, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institutes of Health, Department of Defense, Internal Revenue Service, U.S. Congress, Supreme Court of the United States, United Nations, World Health Organization and state-level entities like the California Department of Public Health.

Format and Production

Episodes combined investigative reporting, narrative interviews, data journalism, and public records analysis. Producers worked with reporters who had bylines at organizations such as Seymour Hersh-style investigative outlets and legacy papers including The Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, The New Yorker, Harper's Magazine, The Washington Monthly, The Nation, Mother Jones, and specialty outlets like ProPublica and Reveal (magazine)-adjacent projects. The team employed techniques similar to those used in projects by Iraq War correspondents and documentary units linked to Frontline (PBS), BBC Panorama, 60 Minutes (Australian TV program), and 60 Minutes (U.S. TV program). The series used multimedia elements distributed on platforms such as Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, SoundCloud, and public radio stations including KQED, KCRW, WBUR, WNYC, KPCC, KNPR and NPR Member Stations. Production involved editors, producers, field reporters, data specialists, legal counsel, and partnerships with investigative projects tied to universities like Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, University of California, Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism, University of Missouri School of Journalism, and nonprofit journalism networks such as the Investigative News Network.

Notable Episodes and Investigations

Notable investigations probed subjects including corporate practices at firms akin to Monsanto, ExxonMobil, Johnson & Johnson, Walmart, Facebook, Google, Amazon (company), Uber, Boeing, Pfizer, McDonald's, Goldman Sachs, and Wells Fargo. Episodes explored environmental contamination stories intersecting with sites like Love Canal, Flint, Michigan water crisis, Three Mile Island, and incidents comparable to Deepwater Horizon oil spill reporting. Reporting traced immigration enforcement and detention matters linked to policies by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, court decisions from the Supreme Court of the United States, and legislative actions by U.S. Congress members. Health and pharmaceutical investigations engaged with institutions such as Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Food and Drug Administration, National Institutes of Health, and cases related to vaccines and opioids like those involving Purdue Pharma and congressional probes by committees such as United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary and United States Senate Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. Other episodes examined policing and civil rights issues connected to incidents involving municipalities like Ferguson, Missouri, federal investigations by the Department of Justice, and reporting on surveillance technology tied to firms resembling Palantir Technologies.

Reception and Impact

The program received attention across media outlets including NPR, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Guardian (London), The Atlantic, Vox (media company), ProPublica, Columbia Journalism Review, Poynter Institute, Committee to Protect Journalists, and Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. Episodes prompted responses from public officials, regulatory actions by entities such as the Environmental Protection Agency, Food and Drug Administration, U.S. Department of Justice, and legislative inquiries by U.S. Congress. Reporting was cited in legal filings, hearings before committees like the United States House Committee on Oversight and Reform, and coverage by regional outlets including The Seattle Times, Miami Herald, Chicago Tribune, and San Francisco Chronicle.

Awards and Recognition

The series and its reporters earned awards and nominations from institutions such as the Peabody Awards, Pulitzer Prize, George Polk Awards, IRE Awards (Investigative Reporters and Editors), Emmy Awards, Murrow Awards, National Press Foundation, Scripps Howard Awards, The Silver Gavel Awards (American Bar Association), Overseas Press Club, Society of Professional Journalists, Investigative Reporters and Editors, Banff World Media Festival, and Webby Awards. Individual episodes were highlighted in year-end lists by The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, Time (magazine), and The Guardian (London).

Category:American podcasts Category:Investigative journalism