Dean Starkman Talks About the Uber Files on Euronews

“The principal takeaway of the Uber Files for me was the ease with which Uber was able to gain access to some of the most powerful democratically elected leaders on the face of the earth,” CMDS Fellow and ICIJ Senior Editor Dean Starkman told television channel Euronews.

Dean Starkman served as a senior editor on the investigation by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, which revealed how Uber won access to political leaders, often in secret, duped investigators, upended workers’ rights and tried to hobble government probes as it barged into new markets in the face of fierce resistance.

Speaking on European news channel Euronews, Dean Starkman said he found it striking that hundreds of left-centrist political figures were deployed to gain access to some of the most important people in Europe, including Emmanuel Macron, with whom Uber developed a particularly intimate relationship.

He said the investigation shows the clear advantages that wealth and capital have on the democratic process.