Investigating Tech Companies in Silicon Valley and

Beyond ​With Karen Weise, Will Evans, Ellen Huet and Matt
Drange

REPORTING PROCESS

Find formers on Linkedin (Get Premium through ​Linkedin for Journalists ​webinar. The Premium
“Insights” page for an employer has some useful information, including “notable alums.”)
LUSHA ​- great in tech where most keep LinkedIn very up to date Voter registration database to
find people not in Nexis ​Whitepages.com ​sometimes yields more accurate/recent phone
numbers than Nexis Facebook reviews of companies Also worth checking, depending on the
story: ​Blind ​- for anonymous gossip at a company ​Glassdoor Ancestry.com ​Skype -- great way
to talk with overseas employees at big companies

STORY
CONCEPTION

Follow the hype: Extreme hype and big promises are good red flags Look for the harm (who is
getting hurt? There are winners and losers in virtually every situation) What is quantifiable?
(diversity, injuries, complaints, citations) Start reporting early and stick with a story as it unfolds.
A source who talks early on may not later, and vice versa. Being flexible, while advancing the
reporting, is key to finding a great story

TOOLS TO
USE

-Tech companies can be partners and suppliers to government agencies (local, state and
federal), they may be regulated by them, and they can lobby them. Find the tension. -Look
for where tech companies intersect with government agencies and request records on
complaints, citations & correspondence. There are always more documents than you think.
-OSHA, Federal Drug Administration, Environmental Protection Agency, Federal Trade
Commission ETC. (plus various state counterparts) -Government contracts -Diversity data
(EEO-1 reports that federal contractors send to the Dept. of Labor) -Police and fire records
(911 logs) -Set up alerts for lawsuits - both federal and local (​Sqoop ​= free tool for federal
cases + SEC)

SOURCES

-State wage claims and discrimination claims – sometimes can get names -Workers’
comp claims (request from state) -OSHA 300 injury logs (employers must provide them
to any former employee who asks)
-State and local lobbying disclosures (details vary greatly and are not always available
online) -Court documents (not always available online in all counties)