Journalism With Impact

The old saw has it that there are two types of writers: those who work to please themselves, and those who seek the biggest possible audience. There’s a third type, though: those who write to make a difference. And Forbes is loaded with them.

Senior Writer Emily Baker-White epitomizes what it means to translate good journalism into impact at scale. After she revealed TikTok’s plans to allay the fears of U.S. regulators about data captured by the Chinese parent company last year, Baker-White emerged as a beacon, as TikTok insiders shared increasingly alarming information about the social video giant.

“Sometimes stories find you,” she says, as one revelation led to another, and then another, capped by the most surreal scoop ever: Baker-White reported that TikTok executives had used the tracking capabilities of their app to spy on . . . Baker-White, as well as other Forbes journalists. (TikTok says it fired those running the internal spy ring.)

A recovering lawyer, Baker-White brings logic and discipline to her reporting. (“It’s the same kind of thinking, except your client is the public.”) With earlier professional stints at Spotify and Facebook, she knows her stuff. Add good instincts and hard work, and the results can be profound. Forbes’ TikTok reporting has changed the national debate: It has been cited dozens of times in congressional hearings and the Congressional Record, prompting investigations by the FBI and the Department of Justice, as well as public calls for scrutiny from 23 U.S. senators from both sides of the aisle.

This story goes beyond social media—it’s central to U.S.-China relations, as well as the core privacy questions concerning what happens to the trillions of data points generated about all of us. Baker-White and her talented colleagues will continue to make sure that as much information as possible is dragged into the sunlight, with rigor and fairness. “Forbes is one of the places people look to and trust,” she says. “I hope they come to us for information and nuance they can’t get anywhere else.”