Who does the work

Two founders, equal partners. One runs the research and commercial side, one runs the newsroom, and neither can overrule the other.

Christopher Sweat

Co-founder · Chief Executive

Leads the research practice, client engagements, and the DPVI. Publishes under his own name on state programs, public finance, and federal trade procedure, and the measures behind the index came out of that field work rather than out of a search for available data.

christopher@graystak.com

Ryan David Lazarus

Co-founder · Editor-in-Chief

Runs GrayStak Media and directs the field network. Holds final editorial judgment on what is covered and what is published, including where a commercial engagement is affected.

ryan@graystak.com

How the firewall works

The two founders hold equal ownership. Editorial judgment sits entirely with the editor, and a commercial objection cannot override it, including one from the chief executive.

A client holds no review rights over GrayStak Media, and coverage decisions are not visible to commercial functions before publication. If Media develops reporting in which a client is a subject, the engagement ends and the reporting continues.

That arrangement is structural rather than stated. It is the reason the research record is worth buying: a record is only useful if the party keeping it will say what it found.

Read the limits · Read the standard