At The Intercept, we were deeply disturbed by the reports of rape and other abuses by former staff member Morgan Marquis-Boire that were described in detail this past weekend in The Verge. We had no knowledge of any such allegations against him until they surfaced publicly last month, at which time his employment with the company had already ended. (He left The Intercept in 2015, and First Look in September of this year.) Our organization has no ties whatsoever to him now. As members of the community affected by these actions, we are shaken by this news, and we stand with the women who reported the abuse.
As the media world awakens to the harassment, assault, misogyny, and sexist power dynamics that pervade the industry, we are attuned to the presence of these pernicious forces in our orbit, and we are determined to stamp them out. In the coming weeks and months, we will be ramping up The Intercept’s editorial coverage of these issues. We are committed to a workplace that is free of harassment and violence, and to using our journalism to uncover the truth about these incidents and amplify voices that have historically been silenced, including those of survivors of sexual assault.
IT’S EVEN WORSE THAN WE THOUGHT.
What we’re seeing right now from Donald Trump is a full-on authoritarian takeover of the U.S. government.
This is not hyperbole.
Court orders are being ignored. MAGA loyalists have been put in charge of the military and federal law enforcement agencies. The Department of Government Efficiency has stripped Congress of its power of the purse. News outlets that challenge Trump have been banished or put under investigation.
Yet far too many are still covering Trump’s assault on democracy like politics as usual, with flattering headlines describing Trump as “unconventional,” “testing the boundaries,” and “aggressively flexing power.”
The Intercept has long covered authoritarian governments, billionaire oligarchs, and backsliding democracies around the world. We understand the challenge we face in Trump and the vital importance of press freedom in defending democracy.
We’re independent of corporate interests. Will you help us?
IT’S BEEN A DEVASTATING year for journalism — the worst in modern U.S. history.
We have a president with utter contempt for truth aggressively using the government’s full powers to dismantle the free press. Corporate news outlets have cowered, becoming accessories in Trump’s project to create a post-truth America. Right-wing billionaires have pounced, buying up media organizations and rebuilding the information environment to their liking.
In this most perilous moment for democracy, The Intercept is fighting back. But to do so effectively, we need to grow.
That’s where you come in. Will you help us expand our reporting capacity in time to hit the ground running in 2026?
We’re independent of corporate interests. Will you help us?
I’M BEN MUESSIG, The Intercept’s editor-in-chief. It’s been a devastating year for journalism — the worst in modern U.S. history.
We have a president with utter contempt for truth aggressively using the government’s full powers to dismantle the free press. Corporate news outlets have cowered, becoming accessories in Trump’s project to create a post-truth America. Right-wing billionaires have pounced, buying up media organizations and rebuilding the information environment to their liking.
In this most perilous moment for democracy, The Intercept is fighting back. But to do so effectively, we need to grow.
That’s where you come in. Will you help us expand our reporting capacity in time to hit the ground running in 2026?
We’re independent of corporate interests. Will you help us?
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