How did 15 million COVID deaths happen with zero independent investigation—while smaller catastrophes sparked Pulitzer-winning inquiries? Bill Gurley reveals why expert 'blockers' prevented root-cause analysis and what prevented the journalism that exposed Challenger, Boeing 737 MAX, and Fukushima failures. Institutional failures occur when organizations circle wagons under scrutiny instead of supporting transparent root-cause analysis, as seen across Challenger, 737 MAX, Fukushima, and COVID-19.