We’ve published a new nonfiction comic.

View this email in your browser ([link removed])
[link removed]
[link removed]


** New comic: Since when is being a teenager a crime?
------------------------------------------------------------

On this week’s episode, Juvenile (in)justice ([link removed]) , reporter Tennessee Watson follows a teen’s experiences through the juvenile justice system in Wyoming, which locks up kids at one of the highest rates in the nation. Watson explores why Wyoming is staying with its “get tough” approach to juvenile justice, even as many other states are moving away from punishing kids – especially for low-level or nonviolent offenses. Research shows that locking up kids doesn’t change their behavior and often creates a new set of problems.

This episode originally aired in March and for its rebroadcast, we’ve published a new nonfiction comic expanding on the show’s investigation. The comic, “Since when is being a teenager a crime? ([link removed]) ” follows teenagers Danny and Marie, who live in small towns in Wyoming and South Dakota, respectively, and got into trouble with the law for small offenses — Danny for fighting with his stepdad and Marie for shoplifting. But the way the juvenile justice system treated the teens sent them down two different roads. Journalist and illustrator Eda Uzunlar, who worked as a producer on the episode, created this comic to show how different juvenile justice can be in neighboring states. While South Dakota has taken strides in recent years to reform its system, Wyoming still incarcerates minors at over three times the national average.

Read the comic: Since when is being a teenager a crime? ([link removed])

Listen to the episode: Juvenile (in)justice ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------

The truth won’t reveal itself. Help us deliver the stories that make a difference. Donate today ([link removed]) .
Donate ([link removed])


** How we helped free Amazon’s worker safety data
------------------------------------------------------------
Illustration by Anthony Zinonos

Over the last two years, we’ve been investigating the grueling conditions inside Amazon’s warehouses.

Our team, led by reporter Will Evans, has pierced government and corporate secrecy ([link removed]) to show that Amazon workers are being injured at an extremely high rate, thanks to stringent production quotas. And we’ve shown how the company profoundly misled ([link removed]) the public, press and members of Congress about its worker safety record.

As part of that effort, we sued the federal Department of Labor. It kept detailed data on worker injuries at major companies such as Amazon, but claimed it could not release it to the public because it was confidential commercial information.

We won. Now, OSHA must release those records, and journalists have begun digging into Amazon’s warehouses with help from those records.

Here’s The Washington Post’s investigation ([link removed]) in June:

Amazon, the second-largest private employer in the United States, is also a leader in another category: how often its warehouse workers are injured. New work-related injury data from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration showed those jobs can be more dangerous than at comparable warehouses.

A coalition of unions also used the data we helped make public to do their own report ([link removed]) showing Amazon’s high injury rates, which was then cited in stories for multiple news outlets, including CBS News ([link removed]) , Fox Business ([link removed]) , BBC ([link removed]) , CNBC ([link removed]) , The Hill ([link removed]) , the New York Post ([link removed]) and The Verge ([link removed]) .

We’ve also been sharing data and internal Amazon records with other reporters to help them do their own investigations. Some examples:
* The Seattle Times published a story ([link removed]) about how Amazon dealt with the lack of diversity in its executive ranks by loosening the definition of “executive.” The story was based on records we obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request and provided to the newspaper as part of our ongoing collaboration.
* The Boston Globe investigated ([link removed]) what happens to Amazon warehouse workers after they’re injured, using records we provided as part of the Reveal Reporting Networks.
* Another member of the network, Toronto Star reporter Sara Mojtehedzadeh, won an Amnesty International award ([link removed]) for her story on Amazon warehouse working conditions.

There are many reasons we need to be helping reporters dig into Amazon. For one, it’s the second-largest private employer in the United States, with 950,000 employees. For another, when journalists try to report on workers' experiences at the company, they often face strong-arm tactics from the company itself.

Ali Breland at Mother Jones ([link removed]) recently interviewed a dozen journalists who cover Amazon and found that the company “bullies, manipulates and lies” to reporters.

Breland shares the experience of a reporter at Gizmodo who published a story citing an ABC affiliate’s reporting about the company marketing its Ring surveillance system to law enforcement. A spokesperson for Amazon emailed the Gizmodo reporter saying that the story was incorrect and that the original publisher was issuing a correction.

That’s similar to our experience, too. As Breland notes in his story for Mother Jones, Amazon declined to answer our specific questions before we published our story into how it misleads. After the fact, Amazon PR reps contacted other journalists, including those with whom we had partnered on the story, and claimed that Reveal is an “advocacy organization” promoting “pro-union activity.”

Of course, journalists expect corporate PR teams to push back on stories, but three journalists Breland interviewed said they felt the company’s press team outright lied to them. From the story:

Almost all of the journalists told me they found that Amazon press relations was either the most or among the most clawing and deceptive corporate communications team that they had dealt with in their work. “Amazon is the only company I’ve dealt with that has directly lied to me,” said one tech writer, recalling instances when Amazon boasted of warehouse safety guidelines in ways that journalists who had spoken with rank-and-file employees had found not to be true.

“They’d often lie about things we had proof of,” said another reporter, citing times they had visual evidence contradicting the communications teams’ claims. “There will be videos of these big walkouts and they’ll say only a few workers participated.”

Amazon’s press team did not respond to Breland’s requests for comment about any of its communications practices.

Getting to the truth about injuries took a ton of time and effort. Pushing back against PR attacks is possible, but reporters need resources behind them to fight for transparency.

Read the story: How Amazon hid its safety crisis ([link removed]) and Behind the Smiles ([link removed])

Listen to the episode: Catching Amazon in a lie ([link removed]) and Behind the Smiles ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------
This newsletter is written by Sarah Mirk. Drop her a line (mailto:[email protected]?subject=weekly%20reveal%20feedback) with feedback and ideas!

============================================================
** Twitter ([link removed])
** Facebook ([link removed])
** Website ([link removed])
Copyright © 2021 The Center for Investigative Reporting, All rights reserved.
You're on this list because you signed up for The Weekly Reveal newsletter.

Our mailing address is:
The Center for Investigative Reporting
1400 65th St., Suite 200
Emeryville, CA 94608
USA
Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can ** update your preferences ([link removed])
or ** unsubscribe from this list ([link removed])
.