James LaPorta

James "Jim" LaPorta is an American investigative reporter covering national security, the Department of Defense and the Intelligence Community for Rolling Stone. His work has appeared in major outlets including The New York Times, The Washington Post, and Newsweek. A Marine, LaPorta served two tours in the Afghanistan as an infantry squad leader and intelligence cell chief. He has written extensively on the veteran community, and the social impacts of the war on terror. He has also served as a technical consultant in the film industry. His controversial

Investigative reporting LaPorta's reporting has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Newsweek, Vice News, CBS News, CNN, NBC News, MSNBC, PBS NewsHour, and BBC News. Others asserted the ban was retaliation for prior reporting.

Film industry work LaPorta has served as a technical advisor to 20th Century Studios and Wolf Entertainment for This is Us, Chicago P.D., and FBI.

Personal life and military career

LaPorta joined the United States Marine Corps in June 2006, leaving active duty in 2014 and separating from the service in 2017. He has an undergraduate certificate in Homeland Security from American Military University, and attended the University of North Carolina Wilmington, studying political science and journalism from 2014 to 2017.

He has written at length about his struggles stemming from his experiences in Afghanistan, which he has called "a monster in my life" which he attributes to his failed marriage, health issues, fellow servicemembers' deaths and suicides, and fears of developing cancer from exposure to burn pits. In 2021, he wrote about confronting his memories of watching a child in Helmand Province jump on, and ultimately initiate, a buried victim-operated improvised explosive device while now having a child of a similar age himself.