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Caitlin Ostroff

@ceostroff.bsky.social
4.6K followers 521 following 40 posts

Data reporter following the money for @wsj.com using words, numbers and code. Co-founder @journalismmentors.bsky.social. Tips? github.com/ceostroff/contact

PostsRepliesMedia
Caitlin Ostroff @ceostroff.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
NEW: Polymarket’s race to grow left a door wide open to fraudsters. My latest w/@klong.bsky.social and @neilmhta.bsky.social www.wsj.com/business/pol...
wsj.com
Polymarket’s Rush to Grow Left a Door Wide Open For Fraudsters
CEO Shayne Coplan brushed off concerns about a scheme involving stolen debit cards. Now the prediction market is bolstering its executive ranks as it eyes an IPO.
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Caitlin Ostroff @ceostroff.bsky.social · 26/06/2026
Scoop for @wsj.com in response to our Polymarket investigation, w/@klong.bsky.social and @neilmhta.bsky.social www.wsj.com/finance/regu...
wsj.com
Exclusive | Lawmakers Call for Federal Probe of Polymarket Over Deceptive Advertising
Two senators asked regulators to probe Polymarket’s promotion of fake bets following the Journal’s reporting.
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Toby Nangle @tobyn.bsky.social · 23/06/2026
The WSJ Polymarket piece is wild, h/t @alphaville.ft.com further reading www.wsj.com/business/med...
wsj.com
They Looked Like They Were Getting Rich on Polymarket—but None of It Was Real
The prediction market has flooded social media with deceptive videos by paid creators. ‘Is this just free money?’
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Kashmir Hill @kashhill.bsky.social · 22/06/2026
They look like they're winning big on prediction markets. But it's just fake advertising. Great investigation from the WSJ: www.wsj.com/business/med...
wsj.com
They Looked Like They Were Getting Rich on Polymarket—but None of It Was Real
The prediction market has flooded social media with deceptive videos by paid creators. ‘Is this just free money?’
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Caitlin Ostroff @ceostroff.bsky.social · 22/06/2026
My colleague @neilmhta.bsky.social takes you through our @wsj.com analysis and how to spot the deceptive Polymarket videos here. Come for the journalism, stay for Neil saying "Bro, what?" (Or vice versa) www.wsj.com/video/polyma...
wsj.com
Polymarket Paid Creators to Post Fake Wins. We Analyzed 1,100 Videos to Prove It
The prediction market has flooded social media with videos showing staged bets. WSJ’s Neil Mehta explains how to spot a fake.
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Caitlin Ostroff @ceostroff.bsky.social · 22/06/2026
Our @wsj.com investigation into Polymarket’s deceptive marketing campaign in print today. Full article here: www.wsj.com/business/med...
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Eric Lipton NYT @ericlipton.nytimes.com · 21/06/2026
WSJ: They Looked Like They Were Getting Rich on Polymarket—but None of It Was Real The prediction market has flooded social media with deceptive videos by paid creators, according to a Wall Street Journal investigation Free link www.wsj.com/business/med...
wsj.com
They Looked Like They Were Getting Rich on Polymarket—but None of It Was Real
The prediction market has flooded social media with deceptive videos by paid creators. ‘Is this just free money?’
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Katherine Long @klong.bsky.social · 21/06/2026
NEW: A college student filmed the exciting moment he won $100,000 – except the bet wasn’t real. A flood of videos showing fake trades and fake wins, is fueling Polymarket’s hype machine, our @wsj.com investigation found. It's part of a secret campaign for Americans’ attention on social media.
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Caitlin Ostroff @ceostroff.bsky.social · 21/06/2026
1/ After seeing a lot of Polymarket videos on social media, my @WSJ colleagues and I wanted to understand Polymarket’s marketing. After watching a bunch of videos, we noticed that the website featured in them was almost, but not quite, identical to Polymarket’s actual platform.
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Caitlin Ostroff @ceostroff.bsky.social · 19/02/2026
On May 3, Epstein fired off an email to Kathy Ruemmler. He wrote that Jean-Luc Brunel was planning to go to prosecutors the following week and one of Brunel’s friends had “asked for 3 million dollars so that Jean Luc would not go in.” New w/@khadeejasafdar.bsky.social www.wsj.com/us-news/epst...
wsj.com
Exclusive | The Accomplice Who Was Going to Testify Against Jeffrey Epstein—Then Went Dark
Model scout Jean-Luc Brunel was negotiating to provide prosecutors with evidence against the sex offender in 2016 but ultimately backed out.
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Caitlin Ostroff @ceostroff.bsky.social · 18/12/2025
What happens when a bunch of business journalists are asked to try and break an AI vending machine? Well, let's just say the @wsj.com data journalism team has a new pet fish. Read, and watch the video. 🐟 www.wsj.com/tech/ai/anth...
wsj.com
We Let AI Run Our Office Vending Machine. It Lost Hundreds of Dollars.
An AI agent ran a snack operation in the WSJ newsroom. It gave away a free PlayStation, ordered a live fish—and taught us lessons about the future of AI.
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Caitlin Ostroff @ceostroff.bsky.social · 28/10/2025
The @wsj.com is growing its visual investigations team. Come work with me! dowjones.jobs/new-york-ny/...
dowjones.jobs
Dow Jones breaks stories, influences ideas, advances business intelligence and cultural interest, exposes the events that turn markets, the breakthroughs that transform art and drives invention.
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Caitlin Ostroff @ceostroff.bsky.social · 26/09/2025
It's been a minute since I cleaned the same dataset from dozens of states and I forgot how...varied they can be. #PartyLikeADataJournalist
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John West @johnwest.bsky.social · 14/09/2025
Toxic fumes are leaking Into airplanes, sickening crews and passengers. The problem is getting worse and not much is being done about it. From Ben Katz, me, and @andrewtangel.bsky.social for @wsj.com. 🔓 www.wsj.com/business/air...
Text of the article, reading:

> The Journal’s reporting—based on a review of more than one million FAA and National Aeronautics and Space Administration reports, thousands of pages of documents and research papers and more than 100 interviews—shows that aircraft manufacturers and their airline customers have played down health risks, successfully lobbied against safety measures, and made cost-saving changes that increased the risks to crew and passengers.

> The fumes—sometimes described as smelling of “wet dog,” “Cheetos” or “nail polish”—have led to emergency landings, sickened passengers and affected pilots’ vision and reaction times midflight, according to official reports. 

> Most odors in aircraft aren’t toxic, and neither are all vapors. The effects are often fleeting, mild or present no symptoms.

> But they can also be longer-lasting and severe, according to doctors, medical records and affected crew members.
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John West @johnwest.bsky.social · 23/08/2025
Over @wsj.com, my colleagues Sara Randazzo, @ceostroff.bsky.social, and Shane Shifflett have a deep, fascinating look at how researchers are amending grant language to keep federal funding and avoid getting flagged in the Trump administration’s push against "DEI." www.wsj.com/health/scien...
An excerpt from the article:

Scientists are removing words like “diverse” and “disparities” from hundreds of federal grant renewals to avoid getting flagged in the Trump administration’s focus on eliminating diversity, equity and inclusion programs, a Wall Street Journal analysis shows.

At least 600 research projects funded by the National Institutes of Health have been modified in the fiscal year starting in October to remove terms associated with diversity, equity and inclusion, the Journal analysis found. Nearly all of those projects were multiyear grants that had already been approved but were up for routine annual reviews. The modified grants were worth $480 million this cycle.

The most frequently deleted term was “diverse,” removed in 300 instances, followed by “underrepresented.” 

In some cases, scientists are yanking words that aren’t DEI-related at all, but could be flagged as such, including references to “discrimination” of antibodies in transplant patients.

Other changes researchers are making are more substantive, shifting the scope of projects. Scientists caution that research on medical issues affecting minority communities is being de-emphasized. Some grants up for routine yearly renewals sat in limbo until scientists submitted the revisions. Funding delays at times led to layoffs and disrupted ongoing research.
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Caitlin Ostroff @ceostroff.bsky.social · 30/07/2025
Epstein was discussed by prominent right-wing podcasters in more than 3,000 episodes across nearly 125 podcasts this year, a @wsj.com analysis found. Those conversations grew more than eightfold in the last 3 weeks despite Trump’s admonishment that MAGA drop the issue. www.wsj.com/politics/pol...
wsj.com
How the Epstein Scandal Fractured Trump’s Relationship With MAGA
A Wall Street Journal analysis of thousands of podcast transcripts shows the conservative conversation on Epstein has swelled in recent weeks.
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Jeff Horwitz @jeffhorwitz.bsky.social · 27/02/2025
With Meta out there banging on the "snitches get stitches" drum, seemed like a good time to lay out my best guidance for tech industry employees who feel a need to speak up. Below are a few notes: www.theverge.com/labor/621059...
theverge.com
Meta fires 20 employees for leaking
The company announced the firings after a string of leaks about CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s internal comments.
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Investigative Reporters & Editors @ire.org · 31/03/2025
IRE is offering a new member benefit for our 50th anniversary and spring member drive! Join or renew your membership by April 28 to receive a 50% discounted subscription to DeleteMe. The service works to remove personal data online and ensure digital safety. www.ire.org/discount-on-...
ire.org
Join IRE now and get a discount on digital security services - Investigative Reporters & Editors
Join or renew your IRE membership by April 28, 2025 to receive a 50% discounted subscription to DeleteMe services.
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Rob Barry @robbarry.bsky.social · 13/03/2025
Representatives of President Trump’s family have held talks to take a financial stake in the U.S. arm of crypto exchange Binance, according to people familiar with the matter www.wsj.com/finance/curr... by @ceostroff.bsky.social et al
wsj.com
Exclusive | Trump Family Has Held Deal Talks With Binance Following Crypto Exchange’s Guilty Plea
The discussions for a stake in Binance’s U.S. arm come as founder Changpeng Zhao has pushed for the administration to pardon him for his own 2023 guilty plea.
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Caitlin Ostroff @ceostroff.bsky.social · 08/03/2025
Slides to our session are available at bit.ly/nicar25-cryptocurrency #NICAR25
bit.ly
NICAR 2025: De-mystifying cryptocurrency data.pptx
De-mystifying cryptocurrency data How to find stories on ransoms, scams and betting markets https://bit.ly/nicar25-cryptocurrency We need something at the beginning that’s like crypto itself isnt the ...
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Caitlin Ostroff @ceostroff.bsky.social · 07/03/2025
Have questions about crypto, why it's suddenly in the news and how to track it using data? @jeremybmerrill.com and I have (at least some) answers. Come to our panel at 2:15! #NICAR25 schedules.ire.org/nicar-2025/i...
schedules.ire.org
NICAR 2025 schedule | March 6-9, 2025 | Minneapolis
Welcome to the #NICAR25 conference schedule!
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Caitlin Ostroff @ceostroff.bsky.social · 24/02/2025
The Journal is hiring for a data reporter. Come work with me! wsj.jobs/new-york-ny/...
wsj.jobs
Dow Jones breaks stories, influences ideas, advances business intelligence and cultural interest, exposes the events that turn markets, the breakthroughs that transform art and drives invention.
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John West @johnwest.bsky.social · 22/02/2025
My colleagues, @ceostroff.bsky.social, Shane Shifflett, and James Benedict have a fantastic look at DOGE's savings claims: "A WSJ analysis of government data found that many claims of savings were overstated and ‘woke’ cuts were only a tiny fraction of the total." www.wsj.com/politics/pol...
While DOGE hasn’t offered details about all of the stated savings, it has posted a list of more than 1,100 canceled contracts to its website. As of Friday, it said the savings from these contracts amounted to about $7 billion. 

The Journal analysis projects the actual savings could be closer to $2.6 billion over the next year if spending levels remained constant—and about 2% of the funds would have gone to contracts related to DEI.

Research-focused agencies were among the top targets for cuts, including the Education Department and the Department of Health and Human Services, where DOGE terminated contracts costing the government more than $900 million last year.

DOGE terminated more than 60 Health and Human Services contracts including a clinical evaluation of an Alzheimer’s and traumatic brain injury drug and a study of smokers with chronic lung disease. DOGE described these as “administrative expenses.”
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Caitlin Ostroff @ceostroff.bsky.social · 02/01/2025
New year, new @journalismmentors.bsky.social website. @adrianalacy.com and I revamped our *free* journalism mentorship platform for students, young professionals, pros, etc. Want a mentor? journalismmentors.com/media-mentors/ Want to be a mentor? adrianalacyconsulting.typeform.com/to/ULcCOEqv?...
journalismmentors.com
Media Mentor Archive - Journalism Mentors
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Caitlin Ostroff @ceostroff.bsky.social · 02/01/2025
New year, new @journalismmentors.bsky.social website. @adrianalacy.com and I revamped our *free* journalism mentorship platform for students, young professionals, pros, etc. Want a mentor? journalismmentors.com/media-mentors/ Want to be a mentor? adrianalacyconsulting.typeform.com/to/ULcCOEqv?...
journalismmentors.com
Media Mentor Archive - Journalism Mentors
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Anthony DeBarros @anthonydb.bsky.social · 26/12/2024
To support students, career-switchers and others who want to add SQL to their data analysis skillsets in 2025, I'm providing three free copies of my book, "Practical SQL." To enter a drawing for one of the free copies, please provide all the information below! forms.gle/ge4ySHjHZbZp...
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Caitlin Ostroff @ceostroff.bsky.social · 20/12/2024
The article, since removed, featured a key CoinDesk sponsor and a $6 million banana. w/Justin Baer and Vicky Huang www.wsj.com/finance/coin...
wsj.com
CoinDesk Dismisses Top Editors After Story Draws Crypto Executive’s Ire
The article, since removed, featured a key CoinDesk sponsor and a $6 million banana.
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Caitlin Ostroff @ceostroff.bsky.social · 13/12/2024
Evan’s name is back in the @wsj.com in the exact spot it should be—a byline. w/Drew Hinshaw, Joe Parkinson and Thomas Grove www.wsj.com/world/russia...
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Caitlin Ostroff @ceostroff.bsky.social · 11/12/2024
In 2019, Mangione uploaded handwritten notes to his Goodreads account (since made private) that said he had spondylolisthesis, a condition when one of the bones in the spine moves and puts pressure on the vertebra below, causing back pain. My latest www.wsj.com/us-news/luig...
wsj.com
UnitedHealth Murder Suspect Fights Extradition to New York
Judge denies bail for Luigi Mangione, who was caught in Pennsylvania after evading police for days.
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Caitlin Ostroff @ceostroff.bsky.social · 10/12/2024
I just refilled the jar with fresh Reese's earlier, too. But seriously the WSJ data team is great. Happy to answer questions about The Journal, the team, etc.
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Jeff Seldin @jseldin-news.bsky.social · 09/12/2024
FBI renewing call for info that could lead to the safe return of Austin Tice "given recent events in Syria" "We are still offering a reward of up to $1 million for information that leads to Austin’s safe return" per statement Tice was kidnapped in Damascus in August 2012
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Rob Barry @robbarry.bsky.social · 03/12/2024
MEDICARE ADVANTAGE: Private insurers collected billions for veterans' healthcare, while the VA delivered it, by @mcgint.bsky.social and crew. www.wsj.com/health/healt...
wsj.com
Insurers Collected Billions From Medicare for Veterans Who Cost Them Almost Nothing
Taxpayers paid for their care at the VA—and for Medicare Advantage coverage that many didn’t use. ‘I don’t think I’ve used my Medicare in years,’ said one Air Force veteran.
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Dustin Volz @dustinvolz.bsky.social · 29/11/2024
Grateful for so much this year but at the top of my list: Evan Gershkovich is free. Thank you to the many who worked to make it happen this year.
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Simon Willison @simonwillison.net · 20/11/2024
Foursquare just open sourced their 100 million place point of interest dataset! Some notes on poking around with it using DuckDB (it's Parquet files on S3) simonwillison.net/2024/Nov/20/...
simonwillison.net
Foursquare Open Source Places: A new foundational dataset for the geospatial community
I did not expect this! > [...] we are announcing today the general availability of a foundational open data set, Foursquare Open Source Places ("FSQ OS Places"). This base layer …
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Jon Keegan @jonkeegan.com · 20/11/2024
“Our investigation uncovered 38,474 location signals from up to 189 devices inside Büchel Air Base, a high-security German installation where as many as 15 US nuclear weapons are reportedly stored in underground bunkers.” By @dell.bsky.social @dmehro.bsky.social www.wired.com/story/phone-...
wired.com
Anyone Can Buy Data Tracking US Soldiers and Spies to Nuclear Vaults and Brothels in Germany
More than 3 billion phone coordinates collected by a US data broker expose the detailed movements of US military and intelligence workers in Germany—and the Pentagon is powerless to stop it.
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Caitlin Ostroff @ceostroff.bsky.social · 19/11/2024
The MAGA surrogate and powerful adviser to the president-elect is joining venture-capital firm 1789 to invest in companies espousing conservative values, bringing new attention to a financial movement that hasn’t taken off My latest w/Peter Rudegeair and Alex Leary www.wsj.com/finance/inve...
wsj.com
Donald Trump Jr. Goes All-In on the Anti-Woke Economy
The MAGA surrogate and powerful adviser to the president-elect is joining venture-capital firm 1789 to invest in companies espousing conservative values, bringing new attention to a financial movement...
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Alvin Chang @alv9n.com · 15/11/2024
A list of data/graphics journalists. Since I first started this on the other site, there are SO many more people who do this work.
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Caitlin Ostroff @ceostroff.bsky.social · 14/11/2024
👋 Introducing myself for Bluesky: I'm a data reporter for The Wall Street Journal. What does that mean? I'm interested in information whether from the Internet, FOIA, leaked data, etc to make sense of the world. I focus mostly on politics and crypto. Drop me tips: github.com/ceostroff/co...
github.com
GitHub - ceostroff/contact: Secure contact info for Caitlin Ostroff, WSJ
Secure contact info for Caitlin Ostroff, WSJ. Contribute to ceostroff/contact development by creating an account on GitHub.
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Dustin Volz @dustinvolz.bsky.social · 14/11/2024
I made a starter pack of WSJ journalists on Bluesky. Check back as I expect this to grow in the coming weeks: go.bsky.app/M9EyQEC
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Rob Barry @robbarry.bsky.social · 14/11/2024
Do you know the difference between instrumental variables and regression discontinuity designs? Check out the WSJ data team's new job post. Plus, @ceostroff.bsky.social has candy! wsj.jobs/new-york-ny/...
wsj.jobs
Senior Data Journalist in NEW YORK, New York, United States
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