About The Public Ledger

Who we are, what we do, and why independent accountability journalism matters.

Editorial Charter

The Public Ledger is an independent accountability newsroom that uses public records to trace how public money flows, who benefits, and who is harmed.

We exist because the datasets that reveal how power works – tax exemptions, campaign contributions, corporate filings, government contracts, regulatory enforcement actions – are public, but they don’t talk to each other. A nursing home owner’s FEC donations don’t appear next to their CMS deficiency citations. A charter school’s management fees don’t appear next to its landlord’s LLC registration. A police union PAC’s disbursements don’t appear next to the legislative committee assignments of the candidates they fund.

We build the connections that public records were designed to make possible but that no single agency, database, or newsroom has assembled.

What we publish

Data-driven investigations sourced entirely from government records. Every claim is traceable to a named public document. We describe what the record shows; we do not speculate about motives or intentions. All individuals and entities are presumed to be acting lawfully unless a court has determined otherwise.

What we don’t do

We are not an advocacy organization, a political campaign tool, or an opinion publication. We don’t endorse candidates, lobby for legislation, or accept funding with editorial strings attached. We don’t publish accusations – we publish documented patterns and let the public record speak.

Masthead

Zach Beaudoin – Editor & Publisher

Data researcher based in Western New York. Background in public records analysis, entity resolution, and financial data pipelines. Responsible for all editorial decisions, data methodology, and publication standards.

We are building a small team. If you are a data journalist, investigative reporter, or researcher interested in accountability work, contact editor@thepublicledgers.org.

Disclosure

Zach Beaudoin is a candidate for Erie County Legislature, District 11. The Public Ledger operates independently of any campaign. Editorial decisions are not influenced by campaign activity, and no campaign funds are used to support this project. The research and data analysis that form the basis of this work predate the campaign.

Any investigation where Erie County governance is a subject will carry a prominent disclosure at the top of the piece. See our Ethics & Conflict of Interest Policy for full details.

The Work

The Public Ledger launched in early 2026. Our current scope:

  • 10 active investigations spanning healthcare, education, public finance, environmental justice, law enforcement, and securities regulation (3 additional investigations are on hold pending data or legal review)
  • 78 million+ entity records cross-referenced across 23 data sources in 7 countries
  • 3,285+ published pages including state dashboards, county-level scorecards, and data explorers
  • All methodology documented and reproducible from public sources

Investigations range from national scope (50-state IDA subsidy tracking, 14,710 nursing home facilities) to deep local accountability (NYC charter school landlord networks, NYS police union PAC disbursements).

Independence

The Public Ledger has no advertisers, no corporate sponsors, no grants with editorial conditions, and no institutional affiliations. Funding comes from reader donations and the editor’s own resources.

No funder, sponsor, or political entity has influence over what we publish, when we publish it, or how we present it. No editorial decision has been or will be made to benefit any political campaign, including the editor’s own candidacy.

Standards

We hold ourselves to the standards of professional investigative journalism:

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