About Us

About the American Media Institute

We challenge the Establishment with investigative reporting that holds the powerful accountable.

We are your independent source of exclusive in-depth investigative journalism, bringing you genuine scoops that have become harder to find and costlier to pursue, but remain absolutely crucial to building a news outlet's readership, reputation and profit.

AMI produces the kind of thorough journalism your readers—and your business—needs. We believe in old-fashioned story-telling that drives readership and revenue. Our news stories start with memorable leads that draw readers in with unforgettable characters, vivid settings, and sharp conflict; stories that get people talking and sharing—building profitable traffic while enlarging the national conversation.

The American Media Institute is founded by veterans of the The Wall Street Journal and Reader’s Digest. Our driving principle is the fearless pursuit of the truly important stories. Our subscribers have access to scoops and must-read stories on an exclusive basis for 24 hours. Publications can pick and choose what they publish without obligation and put stories through the same editorial process as for wire copy and other news. Our internal promotion team amplifies the impact of the stories through television, radio, online, and social media outlets.

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AMI’s Mission: Making Investigative Journalism Profitable for Publishers while challenging the Establishment consensus

Our mission is to create a new business model to achieve a timeless goal. A free press is essential to accountability, justice and democracy, but changes in technology are changing the economics of journalism. Our new approach seeks to preserve journalistic integrity while helping news outlets earn the revenue that makes good journalism possible. We are supported by groups and individuals who share these deeply-held beliefs and steadfast commitment to independence American Media Institute is a non-profit investigative news service organized under the laws of the District of Columbia, and tax-exempt under Section 501(c)3 of the Internal Revenue Code. Our driving principle is the fearless pursuit of the truly important stories.

AMI investigates abuses of the public trust and publishes its reports in the news sections of major news outlets to improve public understanding and hold the powerful accountable. We fulfill our mission by:

  • Investigating and uncovering abuses of the public trust in governments, business and unions.
  • Breaking news about threats to the lives, and well-being of the public.
  • Partnering with trusted news outlets to reach a large cross section of the American public.
  • Delivering in-depth investigative articles that are non-partisan and non-ideological, meticulously researched and built on new and provably true facts.

Our investigations are produced not by bloggers or by rookies, but by award-winning veteran investigative journalists who have collectively spent decades at The Wall Street Journal, Reader’s Digest, Forbes, Harpers, and other establishment powerhouses — without ever accepting the establishment mindset. We support investigative reporters with decades of experience in major news outlets (both print and broadcast), supervised by veteran editors who fact-check every word and verify every source. Each investigative article is based on extensive research and many hours of travel, interviews and document review. Each article is edited, copy edited, reviewed to match AP Style, fact-checked by outside researchers, scrutinized by our legal team, and then put through the normal editing and vetting process at the media outlet that will publish or present it. Our media partners are free to edit, amend or extend each of our articles in a collaborative process. In some cases, we partner with other news organizations to report and document our stories.

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AMI’s Difference: Exclusivity and Promoted Readership

We enlarge the public's understanding by unearthing new facts and uncovering new stories that take on vested interests.

We promote web traffic, build links and boost the citations that drive readership, reputation, and ultimately revenue for major news outlets. Our multi-media and PR resources promote stories and drive traffic to your site and readers to your pages. We direct all traffic to a permalink on your website. We make state-of-the-art use of social media and link building with solid in-person networking to ensure your media property gets credit as the place of publication and the resulting traffic.

Our stories start conversations with new and provably true facts instead of merely rebutting partisan assertions. We are not an opinion factory.

We are not a think tank. We do not push any policy, promote any person or proselytize for any party. Rather than trying to get the media to take a particular position, we deliver a true and dramatic narrative that holds and informs the reader.

Our success is driven by our commitment to accuracy and professionalism.

We adhere to the highest journalistic standards.

We are not afraid to pursue the story wherever it leads. We are dogged investigators and contrarian thinkers.

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Why It Matters

Governments, business, unions and interests groups are more complex and more involved in our lives than ever before. Today there are an estimated 1.2 million federal regulators and many more corporate executives and interest group leaders shaping the lives of ordinary Americans.

Meanwhile, according to The American Society of News Editors, the total number of U.S. reporters shrank by more than 30% from 2003 to 2012. Broadcast investigative units have been shuttered, and investigative reporters are in short supply. Barely 40,000 reporters nationwide are covering three million bureaucrats, judges, executives, bosses, politicians and policy makers. Fewer reporters are watching government, business, and interest groups than at any time since Watergate. The watchdogs aren’t barking because the watchdogs are gone.

Why does this matter? Because what the public knows determines how it votes, what it buys and where it contributes its resources. If media fails to report important facts, the public is misled. Those with power exercise it unchecked by the public they are supposed to serve. Like rigged testimony in court, fraudulent votes or forged documents, media inadequacies subtract from our democracy. AMI’s investigative reporting put democracy's watch dogs back out on the hunt.

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AMI News Process

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Code of Ethics

The American Media Institute subscribes to the Society of Professional Journalists Code of Ethics, which is the best short summary of what we believe reporters and editors owe their readers. This time-tested set of principles was first written down in 1926. After decades of debate and discussion within the Society of Professional Journalists, the Code has evolved and achieved artful balance that fairness and fearless reporting require.
 The American Media Institute believes that reporters should be referees, not players, and editors should serve the general interests of readers, not the false idols of political correctness or partisan advocacy.

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