100Reporters

History

100Reporters was founded by former New York Times correspondents Diana Jean Schemo and Philip Shenon. 100Reporters received early support from the Ford Foundation, a left-of-center grantmaking foundation that, for much of its history, was the largest foundation in the United States. ^{4 5} The Ford Foundation contributed a $200,000 grant to 100Reporters as seed funding in 2014. ²

Activity

100Reporters is an investigative news organization that reports on issues in politics, business, education, the environment and corruption around the world. ⁶ The organization has reporters in Africa, Asia, Europe, and North America. ⁷ 100Reporters frequently reports on corruption within government agencies. One recent article criticized the United Nations High Commission on Refugees for refusing to address corruption or protect whistleblowers who report corruption in countries like Kenya, Yemen, and Uganda. ⁸

Lawsuits Against the Government of the United States

100Reporters has been involved in several disputes with the United States government. In 2014, 100Reporters filed a lawsuit in the District of Columbia against the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). The lawsuit demanded that the DOJ produce documents in response to 100Reporters’ 2013 Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for records relating the U.S. Attorney General’s monitoring of Siemens, which it accepted as punishment after Siemens pled guilty to criminal violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) in 2008. ⁹

The DOJ responded by providing some information but withheld or redacted certain documents in accordance with FOIA exemptions relating to privacy, confidential commercial information, and attorney work product privilege. In 2016, the DOJ and 100Reporters filed cross motions for summary judgment relating to the DOJ’s redactions and withholdings. The court granted summary judgment to the DOJ with respect to information it withheld under the attorney work product privilege and confidential commercial information but denied the DOJ’s motion for the other exemptions. ⁹

In 2017, 100Reporters filed a similar lawsuit against the U.S. Department of State for failing to comply with FOIA requests. The organizations filed the suit along with the left-of-center Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press and former 100Reporters journalist Douglas Gillison. In December 2017, Gillison and 100Reporters submitted two FOIA requests to the State Department for records related to the implementation of Leahy Laws which prohibit the State Department from providing training and other forms of assistance to foreign security services that have violated human rights. The State Department failed to respond to the requests within the FOIA specified time period, leading Gillison and 100Reporters to argue that the State Department violated FOIA. 100Reporters asked the court to issue an order forcing the agency to produce the documents. ¹⁰

100Reporters is the parent organization of Double Exposure Investigative Film Festival and Symposium, the first of its kind in the United States. ¹ It was founded and created by the co-founder of 100Reporters, Diana Jean Schemo, and Sky Sitney in 2015. It is located in Washington, D.C. and has operated every October for the last 6 years. ⁴

Financial Support and Partners

100Reporters receives its funding through revenue from its film festival and symposium and from donations. ¹¹ The left-of-center MacArthur Foundation has given 100Reporters five grants between 2015 and 2020 for a total of $575,000. ³ The left-of-center Park Foundation, one of the top funding organizations for environmentalist organizations in the United States has awarded 100Reporters $40,000 in grants between 2017 and 2020. ¹²

The left-of-center Reva and David Logan Foundation, which funds projects in journalism, the arts, and social justice issues, gave 100Reporters a two-year, $200,000 grant for Double Exposure. ^{13 14} The Wyncote Foundation, a left-of-center grantmaking organization that focuses on promoting environmentalism and public journalism, gave 100Reporters a $10,000 in 2019. ¹⁵

100Reporters has also received support from organizations including Transparency International, the African Network of Centers for Investigative Reporting, Tegna, George Folk Grants for Investigative Reporting, the Institute for Nonprofit News, and the Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation. ¹⁶

People

Diana Jean Schemo is a co-founder of 100Reporters. She is an author who worked for the New York Times and the Baltimore Sun for more than 25 years. Philip Shenon, the other co-founder of 100Reporters, is an investigative reporter and author based in Washington, D.C. who worked for the New York Times from 1981 to 2008. ¹⁷