Brant Houston
@branthouston.bsky.social
Knight Chair in Investigative Journalism, University of Illinois
Board Chair, Global Investigative Journalism Network
Author, Computer-Assisted Reporting Handbook
Changing Models for Journalism
Co-Author, Investigative Reporter's Handbook
Board Chair, Global Investigative Journalism Network
Author, Computer-Assisted Reporting Handbook
Changing Models for Journalism
Co-Author, Investigative Reporter's Handbook
Another February social security event
www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news...
www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news...
I found a ‘dead’ person on Social Security in Seattle
“Dead” Ned Johnson turns out to be very much alive. It took him weeks to convince the system he was breathing and to start clawing his benefits back.
www.seattletimes.com
March 17, 2025 at 3:56 AM
Another February social security event
www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news...
www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news...
New DOGE Social Security screw-up:
DOGE made a change in the field (column) for bank accounts, which are nine digits. A change at the SSA home office limits field to eight digits, thus truncating the last number, and made direct deposit undeliverable. Changing your online profile will not help.
DOGE made a change in the field (column) for bank accounts, which are nine digits. A change at the SSA home office limits field to eight digits, thus truncating the last number, and made direct deposit undeliverable. Changing your online profile will not help.
March 13, 2025 at 5:47 PM
New DOGE Social Security screw-up:
DOGE made a change in the field (column) for bank accounts, which are nine digits. A change at the SSA home office limits field to eight digits, thus truncating the last number, and made direct deposit undeliverable. Changing your online profile will not help.
DOGE made a change in the field (column) for bank accounts, which are nine digits. A change at the SSA home office limits field to eight digits, thus truncating the last number, and made direct deposit undeliverable. Changing your online profile will not help.
The Trump administration attack on nonprofits continues:
Nonprofit Quarterly
reports on attacks on the nonprofit sector by the Trump administration, which just issued yet another memorandum seeking to “review,” and cut funding to, nonprofits that “undermine the national interest.”
Nonprofit Quarterly
reports on attacks on the nonprofit sector by the Trump administration, which just issued yet another memorandum seeking to “review,” and cut funding to, nonprofits that “undermine the national interest.”
February 18, 2025 at 5:56 PM
The Trump administration attack on nonprofits continues:
Nonprofit Quarterly
reports on attacks on the nonprofit sector by the Trump administration, which just issued yet another memorandum seeking to “review,” and cut funding to, nonprofits that “undermine the national interest.”
Nonprofit Quarterly
reports on attacks on the nonprofit sector by the Trump administration, which just issued yet another memorandum seeking to “review,” and cut funding to, nonprofits that “undermine the national interest.”
Reposted by Brant Houston
Here’s some dished-up truth for your Sunday brunch. Bottom line: the White House is lying about USAID. www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...
Analysis | The White House’s wildly inaccurate claims about USAID spending
Eleven out of 12 claims about the agency’s work are misleading, wrong or lack context.
www.washingtonpost.com
February 9, 2025 at 4:10 PM
Here’s some dished-up truth for your Sunday brunch. Bottom line: the White House is lying about USAID. www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...
The impact of the destruction of USAID is now hitting Midwest universities. This was a $30 million project research.illinois.edu/news/feature...
February 9, 2025 at 6:21 PM
The impact of the destruction of USAID is now hitting Midwest universities. This was a $30 million project research.illinois.edu/news/feature...
Reposted by Brant Houston
An internal email reviewed by WIRED calls DOGE staff’s access to federal payments systems “the single greatest insider threat risk the Bureau of the Fiscal Service has ever faced.” www.wired.com/story/treasu...
A US Treasury Threat Intelligence Analysis Designates DOGE Staff as ‘Insider Threat’
An internal email reviewed by WIRED calls DOGE staff's access to federal payments systems “the single biggest insider threat risk the Bureau of the Fiscal Service has ever faced.”
www.wired.com
February 8, 2025 at 12:47 AM
An internal email reviewed by WIRED calls DOGE staff’s access to federal payments systems “the single greatest insider threat risk the Bureau of the Fiscal Service has ever faced.” www.wired.com/story/treasu...
Reposted by Brant Houston
Sources tell WIRED that the ability of DOGE's Marko Elez to alter code controlling trillions in federal spending was rescinded days after US Treasury and White House officials said it didn't exist. www.wired.com/story/treasu...
The US Treasury Claimed DOGE Technologist Didn’t Have ‘Write Access’ When He Actually Did
Sources tell WIRED that the ability of DOGE's Marko Elez to alter code controlling trillions in federal spending was rescinded days after US Treasury and White House officials said it didn't exist.
www.wired.com
February 7, 2025 at 12:03 AM
Sources tell WIRED that the ability of DOGE's Marko Elez to alter code controlling trillions in federal spending was rescinded days after US Treasury and White House officials said it didn't exist. www.wired.com/story/treasu...
The Global Investigative Journalism Network, an association of 250 nonprofit newsrooms spread across 90 countries and staffed by courageous investigative journalists issued this statement today. We also are helping our members find alternative sources of revenue.
gijn.org/stories/gijn...
gijn.org/stories/gijn...
GIJN Urges Restoration of USAID Funds
GIJN calls upon elected officials in the US to reverse the catastrophic action of withholding USAID funds from independent investigative newsrooms around the world.
gijn.org
February 7, 2025 at 10:06 PM
The Global Investigative Journalism Network, an association of 250 nonprofit newsrooms spread across 90 countries and staffed by courageous investigative journalists issued this statement today. We also are helping our members find alternative sources of revenue.
gijn.org/stories/gijn...
gijn.org/stories/gijn...
The best review of how DeepSeek really works as opposed to standard business reporting
www.digitaldigging.org/p/deepseek-t...
www.digitaldigging.org/p/deepseek-t...
DeepSeek: The Real Price of China's AI
When Cost Efficiency Meets State Control
www.digitaldigging.org
January 29, 2025 at 1:21 PM
The best review of how DeepSeek really works as opposed to standard business reporting
www.digitaldigging.org/p/deepseek-t...
www.digitaldigging.org/p/deepseek-t...
No country can be well governed unless its citizens as a body keep religiously before their minds that they are the guardians of the law, and that the law officers are only the machinery for its execution, nothing more.
Mark Twain, The Gilded Age
Mark Twain, The Gilded Age
January 20, 2025 at 12:22 AM
No country can be well governed unless its citizens as a body keep religiously before their minds that they are the guardians of the law, and that the law officers are only the machinery for its execution, nothing more.
Mark Twain, The Gilded Age
Mark Twain, The Gilded Age
One of the better "fact checking Mark Zuckerberg" articles. Time to subscribe to Mantzarlis’s newsletter, Faked Up
"He should also probably be aware that as many as 90% of Community Notes never get displayed on X."
www.niemanlab.org/2025/01/zuck...
"He should also probably be aware that as many as 90% of Community Notes never get displayed on X."
www.niemanlab.org/2025/01/zuck...
Let’s fact-check Mark Zuckerberg’s fact-checking announcement
Zuckerberg didn’t mention that a big chunk of the content fact-checkers have been flagging is not political speech, but the low-quality spammy clickbait that Meta platforms have commodified.
www.niemanlab.org
January 12, 2025 at 7:07 PM
One of the better "fact checking Mark Zuckerberg" articles. Time to subscribe to Mantzarlis’s newsletter, Faked Up
"He should also probably be aware that as many as 90% of Community Notes never get displayed on X."
www.niemanlab.org/2025/01/zuck...
"He should also probably be aware that as many as 90% of Community Notes never get displayed on X."
www.niemanlab.org/2025/01/zuck...
