Jordan Chariton

Chariton was born and raised in Long Island, New York, graduating from Massapequa High School in 2004.[3][7] He graduated from the University of Tampa in 2008.[3]

Chariton was the first investigative reporter hired by The Young Turks network. He was hired to run "The Young Turks Politics" arm of the network, involved largely in on-the-scene reporting rather than reporting from the network's main studio in Culver City, California. He is best known for covering (at the scene) the Flint water crisis,[6] the protests at Standing Rock, North Dakota,[5] and the DNC Wikileaks scandal[8] as well as the Podesta emails.[9] He reported on the controversy involving Democratic National Committee interim chairwoman Donna Brazile during the 2016 presidential election.[4] He also reported on the water crisis at Cape Fear, North Carolina.[10]

Prior to joining The Young Turks, Chariton worked as a contributor for cable news networks Fox News[3] and MSNBC[3] for a total of four years. When Gloria Allred accidentally publicly released her press email list in 2012, Chariton was on it representing MSNBC.[11] Chariton also reported for TheWrap[12] and TVNewser, Salon,[3] and Mediaite,[3] as well as the non-profit 92nd Street Y[3][13] where he was nominated for a 2013 Webby Award.

Chariton and The Young Turks cameraman Ty Bayliss were arrested in St. Louis on October 3, 2017 while reporting on a demonstration against police violence. The protest was organized in response to the acquittal (in September 2017) of Jason Stockley, a St. Louis police officer who fatally shot Anthony Lamar Smith. After the arrest, on misdemeanor charges of trespassing,[14] Cenk Uygur tweeted to demand the immediate release of Chariton and Bayliss and to declare that the arrest was a violation of the First Amendment and a clear attack on the freedom of the press.[14]

On November 17, 2017, Chariton parted from The Young Turks, days after he was accused of sexual assault in a contributor HuffPost blog post by Christian Chiakulas, which was quickly removed by the platform.[15][16] He was alleged to have assaulted an activist and reporter, Carly Hammond, who worked with him at his former news organization, Truth Against the Machine.[17][18] During an online broadcast on November 22, 2017, host Cenk Uygur alleged that Chariton had misused company resources in promoting Truth Against the Machine.[19] The Young Turks gave the misuse of company resources and having a sexual relationship with a subordinate as the grounds for his firing.[18] Carly Hammond narrated her version of events in a livestream recorded and broadcast by commentator Tim Black[20] that has since been delisted or deleted from youtube. Another political activist who was a witness to the events provided a detailed narrative disputing Hammond's version of events, likewise via the medium of youtube.[21] Chariton published a defense of himself declaring innocence of all allegations, and his intent to pursue litigation.[22][23][24]

The Young Turks later revised their initial public statement on January 12, 2018, saying in part, "we never said, or meant to infer, that he 'stole' anything from us. This chapter is now closed."[25] Chariton settled the matter with TYT.[26] Chiakulas also later apologized for the way he used private information without permission in an earlier post in an additional post on HuffPost.[27] On January 18, 2018, HuffPost fully removed their contributor blogging platform due to misuse and unverifiable postings.[26]

In February, 2018, Chariton launched a YouTube channel and reporting website under an umbrella of reporting called Jordan Chariton Reports. As part of Jordan Chariton Reports, on May 27, 2018, he released an investigative piece on TruthDig showing that the science and data used to declare the water safe in Flint, Michigan was suspect,[28] which was later featured on May 31, 2018, on the Thom Hartmann Program.[29]

In 2018 Chariton started, a progressive independent investigative reporting network and media outlet, called Status Coup,[30][31][32] which features in-field and investigative reporting around the country from both them and other reporters.[33] For Status Coup, Chariton has reported extensively in Flint Michigan continuing to cover the ongoing water crisis and government cover-up. In 2020 and 2021, in a publishing collaboration with VICE News, The Intercept, and The Guardian, Chariton's Status Coup broke four significant investigative stories on the Flint water cover-up in those outlets. One of those stories, which Status Coup's Chariton and Dize co-published with The Intercept and Detroit Metro Times, revealed top officials part of ex-Michigan Governor Rick Snyder's administration had their phones "wiped clean" shortly before the launch of the Flint water criminal investigation. In response to the story, Congressional House Oversight Committee Chairman Rep. Carolyn Maloney issued a statement condemning Governor Snyder for his "choice to put money over the lives of the children in Flint." Sources with the Congressional Oversight committee told Status Coup News it would be investigating the potential destruction of evidence by top Snyder administration officials revealed in the story. Chariton and Status Coup's Flint water investigative reporting has led to Chariton appearing on Flint native Michael Moore's "Rumble" podcast twice along with other high-profile media appearances.

Beyond Flint, Status Coup covered the 2020 presidential campaign as Chariton reported from the Iowa Caucus, New Hampshire Primary, South Carolina primary, and in California on Super Tuesday with a primary focus on interviewing political activists, volunteers for candidates, and voters. In 2021, freelance videographer Jon Farina, shooting live footage for Status Coup, captured the historic footage from the U.S. Capitol on January 6th, 2021 that showed Capitol Police officer Daniel Hodges' full body and head being rammed into a door by supporters of President Donald Trump. Status Coup News licensed the footage to dozens of U.S. and global media outlets including CNN, NBC News, ABC News, CBS News, BBC News, The New York Times, Washington Post, Associated Press, Showtime, PBS, ITV, ITN, LeMonde, ProPublica, and more. Status Coup has also used freelance reporters in different parts of the U.S. to cover Black Lives Matter protests and other protest movements. When not on-the-ground, Chariton hosts a daily livestream on Status Coup's YouTube channel covering similar underreported stories along with political news of the day.