Leon Yin
Investigative data journalist
Bloomberg News
"CTRL + F" and find out
https://inspectelement.org
- Reposted by Leon YinNEW: For months, my colleagues and I dug into YouTube's conservative airwaves and found a flourishing network of host-read ads on right-leaning podcasts. This phenomenon has enriched hosts, YouTube, and businesses that use ideology to sell. bloom.bg/3Kaio9w
- Reposted by Leon YinFriday was my last day at WIRED. Today I started a new job at Bloomberg on a dream desk with @suryamattu.com and @jeffykao.bsky.social. Got a tip? A dataset? Something we should look at? Find me on Signal at dmehro.89 In no particular order, here’s some stuff I’d like to continue to dig in to:
- Headed to New Orleans or my first @ire.org Conference. I'll be on a panel Friday morning (11:30) on crowdsourcing data for your next investigation w/ Cassandra Garibay and Sergio Olmos. schedules.ire.org/ire-2025/ind...
- Good "missing data" story
- When Trump encounters a demographic he doesn’t care for, he “disappears” them–in many cases, the very record of their existence. Meet America’s new “missing persons," and the govt campaign to delete statistical evidence of anyone who doesn't fit Trump’s idea of our new golden age. w/ @ashendruk.com
- Tried "vibe coding" ... hated it! ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
- Reposted by Leon YinNEW: The US government has collected DNA samples from 133,000+ migrant children and teenagers and uploaded them into CODIS, a national criminal database originally built for convicted sex offenders and violent criminals, according to documents reviewed by WIRED.
- Reposted by Leon YinThis is a great story, the kind of great story you can do through using the data released by The Deportation Data Project: deportationdata.org Every data reporter covering immigration should get familiar with the data here
- NEW: @bloomberg.com analysis of +13 years of ICE detentions shows immigrants transferred to the South and SW from interior US at unprecedented rates. Reducing the odds of winning their cases. w/ @elenamejia.bsky.social @racheladhe.bsky.social @pollymosendz.bsky.social bloom.bg/43am95w
- NEW: @bloomberg.com analysis of +13 years of ICE detentions shows immigrants transferred to the South and SW from interior US at unprecedented rates. Reducing the odds of winning their cases. w/ @elenamejia.bsky.social @racheladhe.bsky.social @pollymosendz.bsky.social bloom.bg/43am95w
- Getting transferred to the South and SW reduce detained immigrants' chances at staying in the country. 70% of people detained in Louisiana and New Mexico end up deported, which is double that of the Northeast and the Nat'l Avg, which is about 50%. bloom.bg/43am95w
- In prior years few immigrants detained by ICE in the Northeast were sent to the South & SW. Virtually nobody sent to New Mexico, and less than 1% of ppl sent to Texas or Arizona. In Trump's first month, 12% of ppl detained in the NE were sent to Texas, 4% to NM and 3% to AZ. bloom.bg/43am95w
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View full threadOur analysis uses records from the Data Deportation Project. They FOIA'd ICE for arrest and detention records of over 3.5 immigrants spanning Obama's second term to the first four weeks of Trump's second term. This data is available for anyone to use: deportationdata.org/data.html
- Reposted by Leon YinICE will be working with IRS now. New data-sharing document signed by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem will allow ICE to use IRS data. Acting Commissioner resigns over it. apnews.com/article/irs-...
- NEW: Bloomberg reviewed +1K hours of YouTube vids from 9 popular streamers and podcasters who cater to American men. We analyzed 2 yrs of guests and transcripts to see how they discussed political topics and understand their role as a new mainstream info hub www.bloomberg.com/graphics/202...
- New gift link: bloom.bg/40UTBMp
- New gift link (3/22 - 3/29): www.bloomberg.com/graphics/202...
- Reposted by Leon YinThis Friday at @ire-nicar.bsky.social myself and @leonyin.org will be teaching how to can find and use undocumented API and build your own datasets. Come say hi and learn something new!
- After a big story we (reporters) go back to zero. It's a lifeless and cold wasteland. Sometimes we shine a light down a new rabbit hole and see new potential to start digging again.
- Wrote about how Bloomberg used WhatsApp to crowdsource data on rideshare labor practices for @gijn.org. gijn.org/stories/what...
- I'll be speaking about crowdsourcing data using WhatsApp at @ire-nicar.bsky.social NICAR in about a week with @asiafields.bsky.social and @jeremybmerrill.com Friday March 7th at 10:15am. Come say hi! schedules.ire.org/nicar-2025/i...
- Reposted by Leon YinAn absolute pleasure to talk to @davey.bsky.social and @leonyin.org about their blockbuster Bloomberg investigation into the podcasts building support for Trump's agenda. Via @columjournreview.bsky.social www.cjr.org/the_media_to...
- Read our Oct. investigation into Uber and Lyft's driver lockouts, which the FTC is now looking into for illegally limiting driver pay in New York City bloom.bg/3WHra1X
- New from me and @natalielung.com: The US Federal Trade Commission is probing whether Uber Technologies Inc. and Lyft Inc. illegally coordinated to limit driver pay in New York City, according to documents reviewed by Bloomberg News
- If you’re looking for a weekend read, please check out our new data investigation on podcasters and streamers. bloom.bg/4jnaKW1
- NEW: Bloomberg reviewed +1K hours of YouTube vids from 9 popular streamers and podcasters who cater to American men. We analyzed 2 yrs of guests and transcripts to see how they discussed political topics and understand their role as a new mainstream info hub www.bloomberg.com/graphics/202...
- Reposted by Leon YinThe story behind RFK Jr. in Samoa's measles crisis has never been reported. He wasn't there to spread misinformation about vaccines (though he did). He wanted to study a "natural experiment" of unvaccinated kids. “I can’t imagine anything less ethical or more cruel.” www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news...
- Reposted by Leon YinTransgender identity was mentioned in 29% of the most highly viewed YouTube videos from top male podcasters/YouTubers. 30% videos discussing trans identity also mention children.
- Reposted by Leon YinBecca’s 2018 study on the reactionary right on YouTube was so illuminating and prescient, and inspired this piece in so many ways! Grateful that she paved the path for us datasociety.net/library/alte...
- Incredible new piece of data journalism from a crack team at Bloomberg, led by @davey.bsky.social and @leonyin.org 🔥 bloom.bg/4jnaKW1
- Reposted by Leon YinIncredible new piece of data journalism from a crack team at Bloomberg, led by @davey.bsky.social and @leonyin.org 🔥 bloom.bg/4jnaKW1
- @dmehro.bsky.social has been reporting on the serial school swatter Torswatz for over 2 years. Read this thrilling piece about the private detective who discovered the identity of Torswatz. www.wired.com/story/school...
- In response to driver lockouts, NYC is working to close the loophole that Uber and Lyft used to deprive drivers of millions in future pay. The answer? Fix the variable efficiency rate that companies were trying to inflate with lockouts. From @natalielung.com www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
- @denisedslu.bsky.social's graphics for Bloomberg's investigation into Uber and Lyft locking drivers out of work made it to @flowingdata.com's top data viz projects of 2024. flowingdata.com/2024/12/30/b... cc: @natalielung.com @agordon.me
- Professors and researchers: are you booking speakers for the Spring semester? I have talks and workshops on data-driven investigations using crowdsourcing with WhatsApp, auditing black box AI systems and advanced web scraping. inspectelement.org/apis.html gist.github.com/yinleon/4e39...
- Reposted by Leon YinHow do I feel when I find an undocumented API and get it to serve my purpose. Thanks👏 @leonyin.org for making such a great resource inspectelement.org/apis.html

- Reposted by Leon YinNEW: Alan Filion, believed to have operated under the handle “Torswats,” admitted to making more than 375 fake threats against schools, places of worship, and government buildings around the United States. New details in here: www.wired.com/story/alan-f...
- One thing about me that most of you prob don’t know is that I cook Thai food frequently… So much so that I broke through a mortar.