Tarbell, website covering how companies influence, launches

Tarbell, a website founded by former health insurance public relations executive Wendell Potter, launched on Monday.

The site, named after former muckraking journalist Ida Tarbell, says it will publish investigative journalism about how companies influence and affect everyday life.

“Few people realize the control corporations and special interests have over the United States,” the website states. “Their influence on our government allows them to shape our society and our daily lives in ways that further only their interests, not the interests of the citizens our government was designed to serve.”

“It is distressing that this influence wielded by corporations and special interests faces so little scrutiny. The only way to combat their hidden control is for journalists to shine a bright light on where your interests are being undermined – and help citizens understand how to fight back.”

The site is seeking funders. It currently has 276 funders from 39 states and is 10 percent funded.

Chris Roush

Chris Roush was the dean of the School of Communications at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut. He was previously Walter E. Hussman Sr. Distinguished Professor in business journalism at UNC-Chapel Hill. He is a former business journalist for Bloomberg News, Businessweek, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Tampa Tribune and the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. He is the author of the leading business reporting textbook "Show me the Money: Writing Business and Economics Stories for Mass Communication" and "Thinking Things Over," a biography of former Wall Street Journal editor Vermont Royster.