Patricia Clarke

I’m a London-based investigative journalist with a background in data reporting, currently working as a Reporter/Producer across Tortoise’s slate of podcasts and newsletters.

I joined the company in 2020, and was a lead reporter on Hunt for the Porn King, which was nominated for Scoop of the Year at the British Journalism Awards and an Aria. I was nominated for Audio Journalist of the Year at the Wincott Awards for my investigation into boardroom battles at OpenAI. My data work on the podcast series Hidden Homicides was nominated for an Orwell prize, and my investigation into injection spiking was Tortoise’s most-shared podcast on Spotify Wrapped in 2023. My investigation into the shortage of secure homes in Britain was nominated for an ARIA award in 2024.

I wrote, researched and produced episodes of Visible Women with Caroline Criado Perez, a weekly podcast that investigated data bias and was named among The Guardian’s Best Podcasts of 2022 and Time Out’s Best Podcasts to Listen to in 2024.

I joined Tortoise as a data journalist, working on large-scale indices and data projects. I frequently use my Python and analytical skills in my investigative reporting. Before that, I was a Commissioning Editor in the arts & culture sector.

I regularly speak at events, on the radio, and on camera for Tortoise’s social media. I speak native Spanish and fluent French. You can read more on my Linkedin page.

Long-form investigative journalism samples

Helen versus Sam: The battle for OpenAI for The Slow Newscast

Hunt for the porn king for The Slow Newcast

Modern family: I had my dead son’s baby at 68 for The Slow Newscast

Spiking: An injection of fear for The Slow Newscast

Children locked away: Britain’s modern bedlam for The Slow Newscast

A Hidden Hell: the prison for children for The Slow Newscast

Stripped. Searched. Traumatised. Children and the police for The Slow Newscast

Safe country: A death, and a deal, in Rwanda for The Slow Newscast

After the fall: A death on the Lansdowne Estate for The Slow Newscast

Dangerous games: Red Bull’s killer PR for The Slow Newscast

The super divorce: The Akhmedovs and a game of hide and seek for The Slow Newcast

Data reporting

For a year and a half, I worked on and eventually led updates of Tortoise’s Responsibility100 Index and Global AI Index, two large-scale data projects. I collected, cleaned and analysed the data (using Python and Excel) and wrote stories about the findings

Hidden Homicides – The Uncounted for Tortoise (data collected and analysed from FOI requests, part of a package that was nominated for an Orwell Prize)

Uncharted territory for Tortoise (analysis of polling data)

Visible Women for Tortoise (I did data scraping, analysis and reporting for two series of the podcast Visible Women with Caroline Criado Perez, which investigated data bias)