Hundreds of scouts have gone on from Troop 335 to accomplish great things in their professional lives and communities. Today we spotlight Brian Rosenthal who earned his Eagle with our troop in 2006 and pursued a career as an investigative journalist, working for major newspapers like the Washington Post, Seattle Times, and Houston Chronicle.
Investigative journalists ask important questions and then perform in-depth research to report the answers, for example, in newspaper articles. Their work often exposes corruption and injustice, and it raises awareness and helps us to understand complex issues in society that would otherwise be unknown. It relies on being curious, doing extensive research, interviewing people, determining facts, and telling a compelling story.
For the past eight years, Brian has worked for the New York Times newspaper, which has over 9 million subscribers and is the largest in the United States. Shortly after he moved to New York, he became interested in corruption in the city’s taxi cab business. New drivers were being scammed by people who would help them get taxi licenses in exchange for unfair loans that would leave them in hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt that they couldn’t repay. Brian interviewed over 600 people over the course of a year and half to expose this corruption, and his efforts led to federal investigations and reforms to fix the problem. His reporting was awarded the prestigious Pulitzer Prize in Investigative Reporting in 2020.
Two points of the Scout Oath include a scout’s duty to their country and their duty to others. Investigative journalism plays an important role in strengthening our democracy by informing citizens and holding governments, institutions, and people accountable for their actions.
In an interview with Aaron on Scouting, Brian talked about the impact of scouting on his life and career. “I try to orient my work around trying to serve others by providing accurate information and exposing wrongdoings … I am motivated by the same values that I learned in Scouting.”
Brian will be returning to the Lafayette area to give a talk, Truth & Accountability: Ethics in Journalism, at the YWCA on April 10.