Young Conservatives Investigate

Description

The work of groups such as James O'Keefe's Project Veritas and Lila Rose's LiveAction and their undercover operations.

Authors

Links and Resources

Subjects

Effects and Outcomes

Although the veracity of many of O'Keefe's videos have been questioned, their effect has been unquestionably huge, at least among the targeted organizations and conservative activists.  O'Keefe's first Planned Parenthood investigation is still influencing an anti-abortion push to paint the organization as supporting black genocide.  ACORN went bankrupt as a result of O'Keefe's 2009 undercover videos at various offices of the organization.  NPR's CEO and Foundation President both resigned after a heavily edited version of a conversation with the latter was recorded and made public. 

Media History

The reporting was intended for these media types: Television, Internet

"Stinger: James O’Keefe’s Greatest Hits" - Zev Chafets - New York Times Magazine

2011-07-27

"The temperature was hovering near 90 degrees on the afternoon of Memorial Day when James O'Keefe III emerged from the woods and ambled over to my car. He was tall and thin, with pale skin and matted reddish hair. When his mug shot ran in the papers, some people told him he looked like Matthew Modine. Others said Lee Harvey Oswald. On the day I met him, he wore muddy work boots, filthy jeans and, despite the heat, a long-sleeved shirt. “Keeps the mosquitoes off,” he said. All day he was in the outback of a regional park just west of the Hudson, breaking rocks with a pickax to construct a trail. As a boy he was an Eagle Scout, but this wasn’t a nature project. O’Keefe, the man whose video stings helped take down high-ranking people at National Public Radio and led to the demise of Acorn, the nation’s biggest grass-roots community organizing group, was doing federal time. . ."

"James O'Keefe and Politifact Discover Occupy Wall Street" - David Weigel - Slate

2011-10-12

"The right's Nellie Bly goes undercover as a banker -- basically, dressing like himself, but with glasses -- and hobnobs at Occupy Wall Street. The resulting video is underwhelming. No one cries out for socialism. A couple of central casting hippies muse about how nice it would be for billionnaires to fund their movement. (This is true!) Also, a woman is cagey about giving O'Keefe a hit off her joint. . ."