Journalism

Before launching his own journalism project, Sirota was an investigative reporter for Capital & Main and the Senior Editor for Investigations at IBT/Newsweek. The New York Times has credited his Wall Street reporting for showing “that secrecy can hide high fees, low returns, excess risk and the identity of politically connected dealmakers.”

In 2014, Sirota’s investigative series for PandoDaily about public broadcasting compelled a PBS flagship station to return a $3.5 million contribution from a hedge fund billionaire. In response, PBS’s ombudsman called Sirota’s journalism “important,” and credited him for “shining a light on what seems (to) be ethical compromises in funding arrangements and lack of real transparency for viewers.” The ombudsman added that “nobody really knew (about the problem) until Sirota wrote about it.”

That same year, Sirota’s investigative reporting about pensions for PandoDaily and then for the International Business Times led the New Jersey state government to open a formal pay to play investigation and to divest state holdings in a venture capital firm. Sirota’s reporting for International Business Times also led San Francisco officials to delay a proposed $3 billion investment in hedge funds. In both cases, newspapers credited Sirota’s work for breaking the stories.

Along with his work at Capital & Main and IBT/Newsweek, Sirota has also written for The New York Times Magazine, Politico Magazine, Harper’s, Wired, Vice, The Nation and Salon.com. Sirota also served as an investigative journalist for CNN’s Death Row Stories, which was produced by Robert Redford and Academy Award winning director Alex Gibney. In 2016, Sirota began working with First Look Media to help journalists develop their work into television shows, films and documentary series.

Awards

Sirota is a two-time winner of the Best In Business Award award from the Society for American Business Editors and Writers. In 2018, he won “Top of the Rockies” awards for environmental and political reporting from the Society of Professional Journalists. He also won 2nd place for political/government reporting in the LA Press Club’s annual awards. In 2014, Sirota won Ithaca College’s Izzy Award for Journalism, was a finalist for UCLA’s Gerald R. Loeb Award for financial journalism, and was a finalist for Syracuse University’s Mirror Award for Journalism. That year, the Denver Business Journal listed Sirota as one of the most influential Coloradans in the social media sphere.
In reviews of his writing, the New York Times called Sirota a “populist rabble-rouser” with a “take-no-prisoners mind-set.” The legendary columnist Molly Ivins said, “Sirota is a new-generation populist who instinctively understands that the only real questions are ‘Who’s getting screwed?’ and ‘Who’s doing the screwing?’”

Nationally Syndicated Columnist

From 2007 until 2015, Sirota wrote a weekly newspaper column that was nationally syndicated by Creators Syndicate and ran in (among others) the San Francisco Chronicle, Portland Oregonian and Seattle Times. In total, the column appeared in newspapers with a combined daily circulation of more than 1.8 million readers. In 2008 and 2009, Sirota was named best columnist by 5280 magazine.

Bestselling Author

In his long-form writing work, Sirota has published three books. The first two, Hostile Takeover (Crown, 2006) and The Uprising (Crown, 2008), were both New York Times bestsellers. The third book, Back to Our Future (Ballantine, 2011), was met with strong reviews and a cover story in USA Today (see here). In 2013, Back to Our Future became the basis for the National Geographic Channel’s miniseries “The ’80s: The Decade that Made Us.”

Television Commentator

Sirota is a frequent television guest on major cable networks, including MSNBC, CNN and Current TV. Additionally, in conjunction with the release of his books, he has appeared on (among other shows) Comedy Central’s “The Colbert Report” and NBC’s “Last Call with Carson Daly.”

Radio Host

From 2009 to 2012, Sirota was an award winning daily radio talk show host in Denver. For most of that time, he solo hosted the morning show host on KKZN AM760 in Colorado. In 2010, that program was named Readers’ Choice for best radio program by Westword and Editors’ Choice for best program by 5280 magazine. Sirota has also appeared as a guest on National Public Radio, and has done radio commentary for BBC World Service.

Previous Political Work

Before becoming a journalist in 2006, Sirota was a political strategist serving as a senior campaign aide to Gov. Brian Schweitzer, Montana’s first Democratic governor in 16 years; a campaign adviser to Connecticut’s antiwar icon Ned Lamont, who defeated Sen. Joe Lieberman in the 2006 Democratic primary; and the press secretary for Vermont Congressman Bernie Sanders, the longest-serving independent in congressional history. He also worked at the Center for American Progress. In 2020, he took a temporary leave of absence from journalism to serve as Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign speechwriter.

Sirota grew up outside of Philadelphia and received a degree in journalism and political science from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. After graduating in 1998, he lived for five years in Washington, D.C., and then for two and a half years in Helena, Mont., before moving to Denver. He is married to Emily Sirota, who was elected to the Colorado House in 2018. 

To download a high-resolution press photo of Sirota, click here. (photo credit: Zach Lipp of Zach Lipp Photography, CC BY-SA 2.0 Creative Commons License)