2021 BRASS Program - Follow The Money: Event Information

Program Summary

Which individuals and companies are financially backing a ballot measure? Who funds Super PACs? How do you navigate Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests? "Follow the money" presents research and reference strategies to assist patrons in uncovering financial trails and organizational relationships. This panel is composed of a data journalist at Stanford University, a librarian who has created a California ballot measures funders database, and two investigative reporters for The Daily Poster.

Conference Information

This program will be offered On-Demand during the American Library Association's (ALA) virtual Annual Conference in 2021.

Justin Mayo 

Justin Mayo is a senior data journalist with Stanford University’s Big Local News. He previously spent 20 years with the Seattle Times primarily working with the paper’s investigative team. Mayo’s work at the Seattle Times has garnered numerous awards including the Selden Ring Award for investigative reporting and an IRE Investigative Award. He was part of the team that won a Pulitzer Prize in 2015, and he also contributed to a series that won the Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting in 2012.

Kelly Janousek

Kelly Janousek is a longtime member of RUSA BRASS and current law/political science/public policy librarian at California State University - Long Beach. For the past decade she has been carefully researching and data mining open government resources to gather information on funders to California ballot measures for creating an open database.

Andrew Perez & Julia Rock  

Andrew Perez & Julia Rock are contributing writers for The Daily Poster. The Daily Poster is a reader-supported investigative journalism project that covers politics, business and corporate power.