How military-grade surveillance infected a Salvadoran newsroom and changed the way staff live and work.

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** THE WEEKLY REVEAL
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Saturday, April 27, 2024

Hello! In this issue:
* Digital spying has changed the way journalists work, live and protect sources.
* A mother looking for answers about a fatal police chase finds the law enforcement agency has disappeared.


** THIS WEEK’S PODCAST
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** The Spy Inside Your Smartphone
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Credit: Omar Marques/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

Known for its investigative reporting, El Faro has been referred to as "a breakthrough digital newspaper blazing an independent and ethical trail in Central America."

So when reporters at the Salvadoran news outlet noticed their cellphones acting strange all the sudden – batteries draining, unexplained overheating – they had a weird feeling that someone was accessing their messages. They sent one reporter’s phone to Citizen Lab, a watchdog group, and the analysis found something shocking: It was infected with Pegasus, a military-grade surveillance software that can copy messages, harvest photos and even control the phone’s camera and microphone.

“OK, I'm the target right now,” reporter Julia Gavarrete recalled. “But the thing was, it's obvious that it's not only me.”

The watchdog checks more journalists’ phones, and it quickly becomes clear that El Faro is under a massive surveillance campaign. But who’s behind it?

In this episode ([link removed]) , Reveal partners with the Shoot the Messenger podcast to investigate one of the biggest Pegasus hacks ever uncovered.
Listen to the episode ([link removed])
🎧 Other places to listen: Apple Podcasts ([link removed]) , Spotify ([link removed]) or wherever you get your podcasts.



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** A Quote to Remember
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“The doors were locked. It looked like it wasn’t in operation anymore. Like, they just upped and left.”

Within days of the death of her youngest son, Braven Glenn, in a police chase, Blossom Old Bull went to the Crow Nation Tribal Police Department looking for answers. She found it shut down, the fledgling agency gone without explanation.

Listen: After the Crash ([link removed])

Read: A New Police Force Chased a 17-Year-Old Boy to His Death. Then It Vanished. ([link removed])

Watch: After the Crash, a short documentary film ([link removed])



** In Case You Missed It
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🎧 In Gaza, Every Pregnancy is Complicated ([link removed])

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🎧 Escaping Putin's War Machine ([link removed])


** Ending on a Good Note
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🏆 ([link removed]) Our COVID Tracking Project series was nominated last week for a Peabody Award ([link removed]) !

This three-part series ([link removed]) was reported by Artis Curiskis and Kara Oehler and hosted by infectious disease expert Jessica Malaty Rivera. We documented the massive volunteer effort to document where the virus was, and who was dying, amid the chaos of COVID-19 – and why the nation had to rely on volunteerism in the first place.
This issue of The Weekly Reveal was written by Kate Howard and edited by Nikki Frick. If you enjoyed this issue, forward it to a friend ([link removed]) . Have some thoughts? Drop us a line (mailto:[email protected]) with feedback or ideas!

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