Jake Bernstein is an American investigative journalist and author. He previously worked with the

International Consortium of Investigative Journalists The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, Inc. (ICIJ), is an independent global network of 280 investigative journalists and over 140 media organizations spanning more than 100 countries. It is based in Washington, D.C. with ...

. During a 25-year career, he has reported on the civil war in Central America, industrial pollution in Texas, political corruption in Miami, system-crashing greed on Wall Street, and the secret world of offshore accounts and money laundering. He has written travel pieces, reviewed movies and books, and has appeared as a radio and TV journalist. His 2017 book, ''Secrecy World: Inside the Panama Papers Investigation of Illicit Money Networks and the Global Elite'', takes an in-depth look at the evolution of offshore financial assets, as seen through the Panama Papers, and the journalists and investigators who tried to break through its secrecy. The book was made into a feature film titled '' The Laundromat'', directed by Steven Soderbergh. Bernstein received an executive producer credit on the film.Firm at Center of Panama Papers Sues Netflix Over 'The Laundromat
''New York Times'' October 16, 2019

Career

Bernstein speaks

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

and began his journalism career in

Latin America Latin America or * french: Amérique Latine, link=no * ht, Amerik Latin, link=no * pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived f ...

as a freelancer. After a brief stint at ''The

Pasadena Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district. ...

Citizen'', Bernstein joined '' Miami New Times'' as a staff writer and reporter (1997–2002), where he covered political corruption and media and the environment with stories including the fight over

Elián González Elián González Brotons (born December 6, 1993) is a Cuban technician who, as a child, became embroiled in a heated international custody and immigration controversy in 2000 involving the governments of Cuba and the United States, his father Ju ...

Everglades The Everglades is a natural region of tropical wetlands in the southern portion of the U.S. state of Florida, comprising the southern half of a large drainage basin within the Neotropical realm. The system begins near Orlando with the Kissim ...

restoration and the 2000 presidential recount.

The Texas Observer

In mid-2002, Bernstein joined ''

The Texas Observer ''The Texas Observer'' (also known as the ''Observer'') is an American magazine with a liberal political outlook. The ''Observer'' is published bimonthly by a 501(c)(3)Tom DeLay Thomas Dale DeLay (; born April 8, 1947) is an American author and retired politician who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives, representing Texas's 22nd congressional district from 1985 until 2006. He was Republic ...

's money laundering legislative takeover and the demographic shift in Texas. Under his leadership, ''

Utne Reader ''Utne Reader'' (also known as ''Utne'') ( ) is a digital digest that collects and reprints articles on politics, culture, and the environment, generally from alternative media sources including journals, newsletters, weeklies, zines, music, and ...

'' named ''

The Texas Observer ''The Texas Observer'' (also known as the ''Observer'') is an American magazine with a liberal political outlook. The ''Observer'' is published bimonthly by a 501(c)(3)ProPublica ProPublica (), legally Pro Publica, Inc., is a nonprofit organization based in New York City. In 2010, it became the first online news source to win a Pulitzer Prize, for a piece written by one of its journalists''The Guardian'', April 13, 2010P ...

in 2008, shortly after its founding, where he worked as a business reporter. In 2011, he and a colleague won the

Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting This Pulitzer Prize has been awarded since 1942 for a distinguished example of reporting on national affairs in the United States. In its first six years (1942–1947), it was called the Pulitzer Prize for Telegraphic Reporting – National. Li ...

for coverage of Wall Street in the lead up to the

financial crisis A financial crisis is any of a broad variety of situations in which some financial assets suddenly lose a large part of their nominal value. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, many financial crises were associated with banking panics, and man ...

. In 2014, Bernstein broke the story of the secret tapes of Carmen Segarra, a

whistleblower A whistleblower (also written as whistle-blower or whistle blower) is a person, often an employee, who reveals information about activity within a private or public organization that is deemed illegal, immoral, illicit, unsafe or fraudulent. Whi ...

bank examiner with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. The story prompted a U.S. Senate hearing.

Panama Papers

Bernstein worked as senior reporter as part of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists on the Panama Papers. In addition to sharing a byline on the main story, Bernstein also authored the consortium's piece on the Russian findings in ''All Putin's Men: Secret Records Reveal Money Network Tied to Russian Leader'' and the story on ''The Art of Secrecy'' in the offshore world. The project won the Pulitzer Prize for ''Explanatory Reporting'' and was a Pulitzer finalist for ''International Reporting''. Bernstein signed with

United Talent Agency United Talent Agency (UTA) is a global talent agency based in Beverly Hills, California. Established in 1991, it represents artists and other professionals across the entertainment industry. , the company has more than 1,400 global employees. U ...

(UTA) to sell the book for film and television.

Bibliography

* ''VICE: Dick Cheney and the Hijacking of the American Presidency,'' by Lou Dubose and Jake Bernstein.

Random House Random House is an American book publisher and the largest general-interest paperback publisher in the world. The company has several independently managed subsidiaries around the world. It is part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by Germ ...

, 2006. *''Secrecy World: Inside the Panama Papers Investigation of Illicit Money Networks and the Global Elite,'' by Jake Bernstein.

Macmillan Audio Macmillan Publishers (occasionally known as the Macmillan Group; formally Macmillan Publishers Ltd and Macmillan Publishing Group, LLC) is a British publishing company traditionally considered to be one of the 'Big Five' English language publi ...

, 2017.

Awards

External links

Jake Bernstein's website

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bernstein, Jake Year of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people) Living people American investigative journalists American non-fiction writers Jewish American journalists Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting winners 21st-century American Jews