Caitlin Ostroff

👋 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...

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...

Scoop for @wsj.com in response to our Polymarket investigation, w/@klong.bsky.social and @neilmhta.bsky.social www.wsj.com/finance/regu...

The WSJ Polymarket piece is wild, h/t @alphaville.ft.com further reading www.wsj.com/business/med...

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...

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...

Our @wsj.com investigation into Polymarket’s deceptive marketing campaign in print today. Full article here: www.wsj.com/business/med...

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...

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.

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...

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...

The @wsj.com is growing its visual investigations team. Come work with me! dowjones.jobs/new-york-ny/...

It's been a minute since I cleaned the same dataset from dozens of states and I forgot how...varied they can be. #PartyLikeADataJournalist

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...

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...

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...

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...

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-...

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

Slides to our session are available at bit.ly/nicar25-cryptocurrency #NICAR25

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...

The Journal is hiring for a data reporter. Come work with me! wsj.jobs/new-york-ny/...

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...

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?...

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?...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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.

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

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...

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.

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/...

“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-...

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...

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.

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

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/...