James O’Keefe: It’s Time to ‘Decentralize’ Journalism

James O’Keefe, an investigative reporter for Project Veritas has started a new venture to bring the power of the media into the hands of ordinary people.

According to him, the goal is to “decentralize” journalism.

“What if there was a way to empower and mobilize journalists, citizen journalists, and decentralize journalism—you know, in the same way that Uber did for the taxi?” O’Keefe interviewed Jan Jekielek (Senior Editor, Epoch Times), host of American Thought Leaders in a March 16 interview.

“What if there was a way to do that for thousands and thousands of people?” He was curious. “You might say, ‘Well, that’s impossible, that’s too difficult.’ Well, that’s the mission that I’m embarking upon. And I think that I have the ability to do that.”

O’Keefe launched his new media company, O’Keefe Media Group, on March 15, roughly three weeks after he was ousted from his position as board chairman and CEO at Project Veritas—the undercover journalism organization he founded in 2010—amid an investigation of his spending habits.

“When you’re really good at something, they’re going to try to tear you down,” O’Keefe spoke on Thursday. “Envy, resentment, ego, power, control, what have you. And I experienced that. But I don’t think it’s a bad thing.

“Ultimately, I think it’s a blessing because it taught me a lot and we got to … build something on a grander scale. It allowed me to accomplish the mission I have always wanted, which was to decentralize and build an army of citizen exposures.”

The Pfizer Exposé

O’Keefe explained that the idea for his new venture stemmed from his last major story with Project Veritas—an exposé in which a Pfizer executive was recorded stating that the drugmaker was “Explore” ways of mutating SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.

O’Keefe revealed that Debbie Bernal, one of the two whistleblowers Project Veritas worked with on that story, was initially afraid to reveal her identity because she “You don’t want to end in a bag.”

However, after witnessing what happened between O’Keefe and his former organization, Bernal decided to break her silence by joining him onstage at CPAC in Washington.

Since then, the journalist has made it his mission to find other concerned citizens like Bernal and “Empower” them to record and report the truth.

“It is the only hope left in our society.” he added.

Building an Army

Under normal circumstances, building a thousands-strong army is no easy feat. Throw in the fact that the soldiers must—at least for now—be unpaid, and one might expect the wells of recruitment to run dry.

But such has not been the case for O’Keefe.

On the contrary, the journalist noted that his new company had already garnered the interest of an inbox full of would-be journalists—as well as a few thousand paid subscribers—just in the 24 hours since its launch.

“This is a common request.” he contended. “Actually, my coworkers for the past two weeks have been working for nothing. Some of us have maxed our credit cards to allow us to start the company, and we are able to.”

Essentially, O’Keefe’s plan is to equip citizen journalists with cameras so that they can record the corruption in their communities themselves. Those citizen journalists will be supported by an “In-house team made up of elite journalists” who will curate the content to ensure it is factually accurate and free of bias.

“You have to make sure that it’s done the right way—you’re not crossing any lines, you’re not filming people in their bedrooms. This is not what we want.” he noted. “Yes, there will be obstacles, and there will be hurdles. But none that I believe we can overcome.”

And while he acknowledged that, at some point, the journalists would probably be paid, he cautioned, “It is important to be cautious because journalism can become corrupted if the incentive is to make money.”

A ‘Pernicious Influence’

O’Keefe held that money—from advertising, in particular—has had a “pernicious influence” on the independence of investigative journalists.

“I think a journalist ought to give you the facts—and you give the facts without fear or without favor,” he noted. “So, if on my YouTube videos, at the very end, it says, ‘This was brought to you by Pfizer,’ … obviously, you’re going to go, ‘OK, that’s probably influencing his ability to be honest.'”

Contending that commercialism “The essence of truth-seeking will eventually be corrupted.” O’Keefe stressed that those who report the news must instead be driven by a sense of justice.

And while he added that he felt he had recently seen the impacts of allowing the “It is wrong” motivations to guide one’s reporting, the journalist said he preferred to focus on the positives—like the fact that thousands of others motivated by a desire for truth had chosen to join him on his new path to finding it.

“There’s so many of them—that’s really what I’ve learned. Let’s harness it. Let’s equip them, and decentralize journalism.”