The Center for Investigative Reporting—home to Mother Jones and Reveal—has a long track record of fairly and responsibly reporting sensitive stories and breaking high-impact news that changes the national conversation. Our work has consistently garnered some of the biggest accolades in the business. Recently, CIR was a Pulitzer Prize finalist—adding to a trophy case that already includes duPonts, Emmys, National Magazine Awards, Peabodys, and Webbys. We fact-check the hell out of our reporting, and we respect and protect our sources.
Here are a few ways you can get in touch to send us tips or documents.
- For tips that do not require enhanced security measures, email us at scoop@motherjones.com. You can find our staff list, which includes secure contact methods for individual reporters and editors, here.
- Send us an encrypted message at cirtips@protonmail.com. (Email from a Proton Mail account to ensure end-to-end encryption.)
- Drop us an encrypted message totally anonymously—no phone number or email address required—via Hush Line. (You don’t need to sign up for an account but should you choose to do so you can find instructions here.)
- Another option—surprise—is regular mail. Without a warrant, no one is lawfully allowed to open your mail in transit. You can mail us paper documents or digital information (for example on a thumb drive). Our mailing address is:
The Center for Investigative Reporting
P.O. Box 584
San Francisco, CA 94104-0584
How to know if you’ve got a good tip
- Is it specific? In order to investigate something, we need a solid starting point. “You should look into what’s happening to the EPA” is less helpful than “The EPA administrator’s travels are being reviewed internally.”
- Is it news? Will people be surprised to find out about it? Is it relevant to a person or issue of public concern?
- Do you have evidence to back up your claim? Documentation is critical for any investigation. If you don’t have it yourself, please share anything you know about how we might find it (e.g., “file a FOIA request for X”).
What happens after you’ve sent your tip
- Our editorial team monitors our tip accounts daily and reads every message that comes in. While we can’t pursue every tip, we do look into those that meet the criteria above. As we attempt to verify tips, we may try to get in touch with you.