The massive Facebook leak shows how investigative journalism is changing
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It was an unusual Zoom call, with an unusual array of participants.
On one side was a former Facebook product manager turned whistleblower named Frances Haugen and her legal representatives. On the other were journalists from a dozen or so news organizations — normally professional rivals but in this case joined by a common interest.
The purpose of the virtual meetup on Oct. 9 was to discuss the terms under which Haugen would leak company records showing how Facebook ignored or barely addressed harmful practices documented by its employees.
The journalists were part of an exclusive club, handpicked by Haugen and her team as the would-be recipients of the damning data in her possession.
On Monday, the fruits of their cooperation started to emerge. News outlets (the number involved eventually grew to 18) began publishing stories about Facebook’s internal machinations based on Haugen’s leaks
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