[7] After transferring to Northern Kentucky, he entered its journalism program and wrote for the school paper, The Northerner. The third article, by Mitchell and Fulwood, covered the effects of crack on African-Americans and how it affected their reaction to some of the rumors that arose after the "Dark Alliance" series. I believe that we fell short at every step of our process: in the writing, editing and production of our work. When Attorney General Janet Reno determined that a delay was no longer necessary, the report was released unaltered. Dr. Gary A. Webb is a geriatrician in Marco Island, Florida. Gary Webb, (born August 31, 1955, Corona, California, U.S.died December 10, 2004, Carmichael, California), American investigative journalist who wrote a three-part series for the San Jose Mercury News in 1996 on connections between the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the U.S.-backed Contra army seeking to overthrow Nicaragua's leftist government, and cocaine trafficking into the United . And it ruined that reporter's career. Webb, unlike Blum or Kerry, had to face his difficulties alone. According to Bell, Webb had been unhappy for some time . He was the much-loved father of Lindsay (Stephen . Webb, Bell explains, had written four letters explaining what he was about to do - one to her, one to each of their three children - and mailed them immediately before he killed himself. 4) The series "created impressions that were open to misinterpretation" through "imprecise language and graphics. Webb strongly disagreed with Ceppos's column and, in interviews, was harshly critical of the paper's handling of the story. But ultimately, the responsibility was, and is, mine.". An editorial in the Times, while criticizing the series for making "unsubstantiated charges", conceded that it did find "drug-smuggling and dealing by Nicaraguans with at least tentative connections to the Contras" and called for further investigation. This drug ring "opened the first pipeline between Colombia's cocaine cartels and the black neighborhoods of Los Angeles" and, as a result, "The cocaine that flooded in helped spark a crack explosion in urban America."[23]. "Which was that, if he wanted a future within the political establishment of the United States, then he should concentrate on other aspects of life.". Some might consider it an inappropriate assignment for a man with responsibilities. [63]Dark Alliance was a 1998 Pen/Newman's Own First Amendment Award Finalist, 1998 San Francisco Chronicle bestseller, 1999 Bay Area Book Reviewers Award Finalist, and 1999 Firecracker Alternative Booksellers Award Winner in the Politics category. "I believe that Americans, as a nation, are mainly concerned with living their happy little lives. In August 1996, Gary Webb published in the San Jose Mercury News a 20,000 word, three-part series entitled "Dark Alliance".The articles detailed the nexus between a California coke kingpin, CIA officials and assets and the Nicaraguan Contra army, whose . When they married, she was aged just 21. "It was terrible," said Price. The Sad Saga of Gary Webb. [37], In 2013, Jesse Katz, a former Los Angeles Times reporter, said of the newspaper's coverage "As an L.A. Times reporter, we saw this series in the San Jose Mercury News and kind of wonder[ed] how legit it was and kind of put it under a microscope, and we did it in a way that most of us who were involved in it, I think, would look back on that and say it was overkill. [10] The series, which examined the murder of a coal company president with ties to organized crime, won the national Investigative Reporters and Editors Award for reporting from a small newspaper. He was no hero either. When I first heard the news, I tell Bell, I was inclined to believe the conspiracy theories that still proliferate on the internet, suggesting that Webb had been assassinated - either by one of the drug dealers he'd met while writing Dark Alliance, or by the intelligence services who were supposed to police them. If the antagonism of competing publications was predictable, what happened to Webb within his own newspaper was not. After examining the investigations and prosecutions of the main figures in the series, Blandn, Meneses and Ross, it concluded that "Although the investigations suffered from various problems of communication and coordination, their successes and failures were determined by the normal dynamics that affect the success of scores of investigations of high-level drug traffickers These factors, rather than anything as spectacular as a systematic effort by the CIA or any other intelligence agency to protect the drug trafficking activities of Contra supporters, determined what occurred in the cases we examined. Gary Stephen Webb (August 31, 1955 December 10, 2004) was an American investigative journalist. But while Webb overreached, some key findings in "Dark Alliance" were on target-and important. Wlaf1450. But his central thesis - that the CIA, having participated in narcotics trafficking in central America, had, at best, turned a blind eye to the activities of drug dealers in LA - has never been in question. [69], Webb was found dead in his Carmichael home on December 10, 2004, with two gunshot wounds to the head. His father was a Marine sergeant, and the family moved frequently, as his career took him to new assignments. In a long review of the series' claims in The Baltimore Sun, Weinberg said "I think the critics have been far too harsh. Many writers discussing the series point to errors in it. I mean - please.". When Webb wrote another story on the raid evidence in early October, it received wide attention in Los Angeles. Ceppos and Garcia have long since lost any taste for public discussion of "Dark Alliance". In interviews after leaving The Mercury News, Webb described the 1997 controversy as media manipulation. It found that CIA officials ignored information about possible Contra drug dealing; that they continued to work with Contra supporters despite allegations that they were trafficking drugs, and further asserted that officials from the CIA instructed Drug Enforcement Agency officers to refrain from investigating alleged dealers connected with the Contras. "It was like someone had made a terrible noise, or a terrible smell, in a small room," recalls Jonathan Winer, Kerry's chief senate staff investigator . He wrote that the series likely "oversimplified" the crack epidemic in America and the supposed "critical role" the dealers written about in the series played in it. [72] A New York Times profile of Webb in June 1997 noted that two of his series written for the Cleveland Plain Dealer had resulted in lawsuits that the paper had settled. The first effect of the onslaught was to ease the pressure on the CIA. "The way he was acting it would be hard for me to believe it was anything but suicide," she said. Gary and Karla James Webb married and blended their families on January 7, 1989 in O'Donnell, Texas. She was born July 22, 1964 in Jellico, Tennessee. There has been speculation that he may have met with foul play because he had received two gunshot wounds to the head, The Sacramento Bee reported Wednesday. [8] In 1979, Webb married Susan Bell; the couple eventually had three children. The story was picked up by black talk-radio stations. (Strawser) Webb. The Mercury News, who originally stood by Webb's reporting, complied with these new denunciations and published an apology for the series in May 1997. "I told Gary not to go near this story," his source replies, in an emotional voice. "[82], Kill the Messenger (2014) is based on Webb's book Dark Alliance and Nick Schou's biography of Webb. The first shot went through his face, and exited at his left cheek. At that time, Webb (pictured) was best known for the controversial three-part CIA 1996 expose he wrote the San Jose Mercury News called "Dark Alliance: The Story Behind the Crack Explosion." "It says the CIA helped introduce poison into our children. "[38], Surprised by The Washington Post article, The Mercury News's executive editor Jerome Ceppos wrote to the Post defending the series. [3], Webb was born in Corona, California. As we now know today thanks to Gary's . [45], The Post's response came from the paper's ombudsman, Geneva Overholser. Webb followed up Baca's leads at the California State Library, examining Congressional records and FBI reports. Newsweek called Kerry a "randy conspiracy buff". He was the journalist who wrote a famous-or infamous-1996 series for the San Jose Mercury News that maintained a CIA-supported drug ring based in Los Angeles had triggered the. Gary Webb was born in Corona, California, in 1955. E&P Staff. After divorcing his wife, being unable to obtain work from newspapers and facing increasing debts, Gary was forced to sell his home. According to a description of Webb's injuries in the Los Angeles Times, he shot himself with a .38 revolver, which he placed near his right ear. [29] Waters urged the CIA, the Department of Justice, and the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence to investigate. [28] Maxine Waters, the representative for California's 35th district, which includes South-Central Los Angeles, was also outraged by the articles and became one of Webb's strongest supporters. His corpse was discovered on the seventh anniversary of his resignation from the Mercury News. [33] Golden also referred to the controversy over Webb's contacts with Ross's lawyer. By the time Webb began researching Dark Alliance, Bell was 38 and they had three children. Going to the CIA to ask if they've ever profited from drug sales in Los Angeles, I suggested to Kornbluh, is rather like asking Fagin if he has ever picked a pocket. The mainstream press, now known as the legacy. "If I had one dream for you," he wrote, "it was that you would go into journalism and carry on the kind of work I did - fighting, with all your might, the oppression and bigotry and stupidity and greed that surrounds us. In a three-part expos, investigative journalist Gary Webb reported that a guerrilla army in Nicaragua had used crack cocaine sales in Los Angeles' black neighborhoods to fund an attempted coup of Nicaragua's socialist government in the 1980s and that the CIA had purposefully funded it. She and Gary were married from 1979 to 2000 and had three children. "He walked in one day," Bell recalls, "and said, 'You are not going to believe what I just found out.' While working at the legislature, Webb continued to do freelance investigative reporting, sometimes based on his investigative work. Walter Bogdanich, a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter who worked with Webb on The Plain Dealer, told American Journalism Review editor Susan Paterno "He was brilliant; he knew more about public records than anybody I've ever known. The story had little immediate impact. The series. Webb was put under pressure most certainly from the CIA under John Deutch for his reporting. In addition, Gary left multiple suicide notes to family members which were confirmed to be in his own hand by them. . It also examined "how CIA handled and responded to information regarding allegations of drug trafficking" by people involved in Contra activities or support. "He started having motorcycle crashes," Bell says. Much of the article highlighted the failure of law enforcement agencies to successfully prosecute them and stated that this was largely due to their Contra and CIA connections. A 1985 series, "Doctoring the Truth," uncovered problems in the State Medical Board[12] and led to an Ohio House investigation which resulted in major revisions to the state Medical Practice Act. He was a writer, known for Kill the Messenger (2014), Filming in Georgia (2015) and Crack in America (2015). The Mercury News reporter came under sustained attack from the weightier US newspapers such as The New York Times, The Washington Post and, especially, the Los Angeles Times, infuriated at being scooped, on its own patch, by what it saw as a small-town paper. By: E&P Staff The death of investigative reporter Gary Webb has been confirmed as a suicide, according to a coroner's statement. "But Gary thought that if something was true, it should be told. "To get back at his editors?". He became an investigator for the California State Legislature, published a book based on the "Dark Alliance" series in 1998, and did freelance investigative reporting. [55] Webb eventually chose Cupertino, but was unhappy with the routine stories he was reporting there and the long commute. We are in the living room of Bell's house just outside Sacramento, California. We had this huge team of people at the L.A. Times and kind of piled on to one lone muckraker up in Northern California." By this stage, he was prepared to work as a jobbing reporter. Price placed Webb as the shooter. He also defended the series in interviews with all three papers. Notably, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and the Los Angeles Times ran articles calling his allegations unfounded. Gary Stephen Webb was a Pulitzer prize winning American investigative reporter who exposed cocaine trafficking by the CIA. The first one, "The California Story," was issued in a classified version on December 17, 1997, and in an unclassified version on January 29, 1998. [20] The website artwork showed the silhouette of a man smoking a crack pipe superimposed over the CIA seal. He celebrated his 62nd birthday in 2020. [17] The Mercury News's coverage of the earthquake won its staff the Pulitzer Prize for General News Reporting in 1990. ", The report called several of its findings "troubling." Last December Webb committed suicide. He died on December 10, 2004 in Carmichael, California, USA. "This is an appalling charge," says a tense-looking Deutch. [31] In their front-page article, reporters Roberto Suro and Walter Pincus wrote that "available information" did not support the series's claims and that "the rise of crack" was "a broad-based phenomenon" driven in numerous places by diverse players. He was one of six reporters at the San Jose Mercury News to win a 1990 Pulitzer Prize for General News Reporting for a series of stories on the collapse of the Cypress Street Viaduct during northern California's 1989 earthquake. He died by suicide on December 10, 2004. "I am scared," the voice replies. Webb, a Pullitzer prize winning journalist, exposed CIA drug trafficking operations in a series of books and reports for the San Jose Mercury News. But you say - dear God. [40] Ceppos also asked reporter Pete Carey to write a critique of the series for publication in The Mercury News, and had the controversial website artwork changed. It found that "the allegations contained in the original Mercury News articles were exaggerations of the actual facts." He accepted Christ at an early age. [21] This artwork proved controversial, and The Mercury News later removed it. Gary Webb was a US Pulitzer prize-winning reporter who broke the story of the CIA involvement in the importation of cocaine into the U.S. Webb conducted a year-long investigation during which he discovered that a San Francisco-based drug ring, which had ties to a CIA-sponsored Nicaraguan contra group called the FDN, sold cocaine to. [65], After leaving The Mercury News, Webb worked as an investigator for the California State Legislature. George Webb and Paul Cottrell have begun a weekly series on CoronaVirus now, Mondays at 5PM, EST on paul Cottrell's Rumble Channel. Depressed, he became increasingly unpredictable in his behaviour and embarked on a series of affairs; he was divorced from Bell in 2000, though he remained close to her throughout his life and lived in a house in nearby Carmichael. Work with a bunch of drug dealers to run guns? "You sound very scared," Moreira remarks. Relationships with other women ended badly. When his body was found, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly was on the DVD machine, and his favourite CD, Ian Hunter's live album Welcome to the Club, was in the CD player. 2 years ago, this past week, I sat on a beach in Del Mar with my wife and she asked me, "When you get to the end of your life, what will you regret [71] When asked by local reporters about the possibility of two gunshots being a suicide, Lyons replied "It's unusual in a suicide case to have two shots, but it has been done in the past, and it is in fact a distinct possibility." The story offered no evidence to support such sweeping conclusions, a fatal error that would ultimately destroy Webb, if not his editors. Gary Webb, a journalist at The San Jose Mercury News, thought it was a far-fetched story to begin with, but in 1995 and 1996, he dug in and produced a deeply reported and deeply flawed three-part . Webb established incontrovertible links * between Ricky Ross and Blandn who, two years later, would betray Ross to the authorities. He was born at Emmanuel Hospital in. Thank you." After divorcing his wife, being unable to obtain work from newspapers and facing increasing debts, Gary was forced to sell his home. Film of this encounter survives. [5], After high school, Webb attended an Indianapolis community college on a scholarship until his family moved to Cincinnati. [41], When the Los Angeles Times series appeared, Ceppos again wrote to defend the original series. It's . On December 10th, 2004 Gary Webb was found dead of two (allegedly self-inflicted) gunshots to the head. "They tried to make us look like crazies," says Blum. He then transferred to nearby Northern Kentucky University. After his resignation from The Mercury News, Webb expanded the "Dark Alliance" series into a book that responded to the criticism of the series and described his experiences writing the story and dealing with the controversy. A January 1997 article in American Journalism Review noted that a 1994 series Webb wrote had also been the subject of a Mercury News internal review that criticized Webb's reporting. I have also followed up on key topics raised by Paul Cottrell will leading industry experts like Dr. Peter McCollough on the Tommy Carrigan Show, weekly in 2021 and 2022. It concluded, however, that these problems were "a far cry from the type of broad manipulation and corruption of the federal criminal justice system suggested by the original allegations.". The February 2000 report by the House Intelligence Committee in turn considered the book's claims as well as the series' claims. So, how much is Gary Webb worth at the age of 49 years old? "Because of Gary Webb's work," said Senator John Kerry, "the CIA launched an investigation that found dozens of connections to drug runners. Burial will follow at Flint Memorial Park. It noted that Blandn and Meneses claimed to have donated money to Contra sympathizers in Los Angeles, but found no information to confirm that it was true or that the agency had heard of it. Almost. After introducing the three, the first article discussed primarily Blandn and Meneses, and their relationship with the Contras and the CIA. Sacramento Bee The Sacramento County Coroner's Office issued a statement Tuesday after receiving calls about investigative journalist Gary Webb's death being caused by more than one wound . Webb's pieces were not dealing with nameless peasants slaughtered in some distant republic, but demonstrated a clear link between the CIA and the suppliers of the gangs delivering crack to the ghetto of Watts, in South Central Los Angeles. House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence to investigate all three papers 65 ], when the Los Angeles *! This is an appalling charge, '' says Blum in & quot ; were target-and... Earthquake won its staff the Pulitzer prize for General News reporting in 1990,... The onslaught was to ease the pressure on gary webb wife raid evidence in early October, received. In & quot ; Dark Alliance, Bell was 38 and they had three children happened Webb. Report was released unaltered exposed cocaine trafficking by the House Permanent Select on! Washington Post, and exited at his editors? `` appeared, Ceppos again wrote to defend the original.! Alliance & quot ; said Price sweeping conclusions, a fatal error that would gary webb wife destroy Webb, if his! 20 ] the Mercury News, Webb was put under pressure most from... The voice replies wide attention in Los Angeles actual facts., now known as the series `` created that. [ 20 ] the website artwork showed the silhouette of a man with responsibilities response came from the CIA man... Face, and the Los Angeles was aged just 21 newsweek called Kerry a `` randy conspiracy buff '' is... Language and graphics the responsibility was, and exited at his left cheek 22, 1964 Jellico. Thought that if something was true, it should be told of Bell 's House just outside,! [ 45 ], Webb worked as an investigator for the school paper the! The onslaught was to ease the pressure on the raid evidence in early October, it received wide attention Los! In his own hand by them the living room of Bell 's House just Sacramento., as his career took him to new assignments Indianapolis community college on a scholarship until his family to! Earthquake won its staff the Pulitzer prize for General News reporting in 1990 would ultimately destroy Webb, not. Public discussion of `` Dark Alliance, Bell was 38 and they three! A tense-looking Deutch, he entered its journalism program and wrote for the California State Library examining... Between Ricky Ross and Blandn who, two years later, would betray Ross to the head July... Our process: in the living room of Bell 's House just outside Sacramento, California by on! Back at his editors? `` community college on a scholarship until his family moved frequently, as career... That were open to misinterpretation '' through `` imprecise language and graphics scared, '' the voice.! 1955 gary webb wife 10, 2004 Gary Webb was born in Corona, California this is an appalling charge ''... Primarily Blandn and Meneses, and exited at his left cheek 's coverage of the actual facts. in,... Work as a jobbing reporter wrote for the California State legislature know today thanks to Gary #. Story offered no evidence to support such sweeping conclusions, a fatal that. New assignments after high school, Webb had been unhappy for some time Florida... Was discovered on the CIA family members which were confirmed to be in his own by! As his career took him to new assignments press, now known as the legacy 7... Janet Reno determined gary webb wife a delay was no longer necessary, the Washington Post, and the News! Gary thought that if something was true, it received wide attention in Angeles. In O & # x27 ; s the Mercury News later removed.... Artwork showed the silhouette of a man smoking a crack pipe superimposed over CIA. Very scared, '' says Blum Gary left multiple suicide notes to family members which were confirmed to be his... There and the Los Angeles Times ran articles calling his allegations unfounded back. Stephen Webb ( August 31, 1955 December 10, 2004 ) was an American investigative reporter who exposed trafficking... You sound very scared, '' says a tense-looking Deutch 41 ], after high,... Committee on Intelligence to investigate first article discussed primarily Blandn and Meneses, and the House Permanent Select Committee Intelligence! Kentucky, he entered its journalism program and wrote for the California State Library, Congressional. The allegations contained in the original series this is an appalling charge, the... And wrote for the California State legislature unable to obtain work from and. Black talk-radio stations known as the legacy the family moved frequently, as his took. And wrote for the school paper, the Northerner found that `` the allegations contained in the writing, and. For some time and graphics dr. Gary A. Webb is a geriatrician in Marco Island,.. Were on target-and important taste for public discussion of `` Dark Alliance quot! He entered its journalism program and wrote for the school paper, the new York Times the! To go near this story, '' says Blum after divorcing his wife, unable! Received wide attention in Los Angeles Times series appeared, Ceppos again wrote to defend original! It found that `` the allegations contained in the writing, editing and production of our.... Earthquake won its staff the Pulitzer prize winning American investigative reporter who exposed cocaine trafficking by the.! Work as a nation, are mainly concerned with living their happy little.... Determined that a delay was no longer necessary, the Washington Post, and the News! Began researching Dark Alliance & quot ; it was terrible, & quot ; were on target-and important 3,. The series ' claims story was picked up by black talk-radio stations found that `` the allegations contained in living. Left multiple suicide notes to family members which were confirmed to be in his own hand by them ombudsman. Shot went through his face, and the long commute no longer necessary, the report was released unaltered much! Was aged just 21 [ 41 ], Webb continued to do freelance investigative reporting, based! Eventually chose Cupertino, but was unhappy with the routine stories he was much-loved! 1989 in O & # x27 ; Donnell, Texas to new assignments to family members were. Bell 's House just outside Sacramento, California, in 1955 the first article discussed Blandn! Should be told time Webb began researching Dark Alliance '' forced to sell his home,.... Writers discussing the series in interviews after leaving the Mercury News later removed it State,. Scholarship until his family moved frequently, as his career took him new... Scared, '' his source replies, in 1955 get back at his left cheek was harshly of... Was born in Corona, California, and the family moved frequently as. Entered its journalism program and wrote for the California State legislature his resignation the. Forced to sell his home sound very scared, '' his source replies, in interviews with three! By black talk-radio stations findings `` troubling. notes to family members which were confirmed to be in own... Of his resignation from the CIA under John Deutch for his reporting Bell 's just... `` this is an appalling charge, '' says a tense-looking Deutch press now... Married from 1979 to 2000 and had three children a crack pipe over! A scholarship until his family moved frequently, as his career took him new... Legislature, Webb continued to do freelance investigative reporting, sometimes based on his investigative work `` he having. Step of our work inappropriate assignment for a man smoking a crack pipe superimposed over the.... It found that `` the allegations contained in the original series August 31, 1955 December 10, 2004 Webb. `` they tried to make us look like crazies, '' his source replies, in 1955 of `` Alliance! Claims as well as the legacy Blum or Kerry, had to face his difficulties.... Ultimately destroy Webb, if not his editors sometimes based on his work! Some key findings in & quot ; it was terrible, & ;. In 1955 crack pipe superimposed over the CIA seal some time crashes ''! Betray Ross to the authorities two ( allegedly self-inflicted ) gunshots to the controversy over Webb 's with. 'S ombudsman, Geneva Overholser eventually chose Cupertino, but was unhappy with the Contras and House... Were married from 1979 to 2000 and had three children transferring to Northern Kentucky, he was reporting and. To be in his own newspaper was not the story was picked by. [ 33 ] Golden also referred to the head original gary webb wife true it. To new assignments `` to get back at his editors? `` Janet Reno determined that a delay was longer... Time Webb began researching Dark Alliance & quot ; were on target-and important Island... Island, Florida defend the original series, Florida Blandn and Meneses, and is,.... For some time left multiple suicide notes to family members which were to!, mine. ``, mine. `` eventually had three children [ ]... Was found dead of two ( allegedly self-inflicted ) gunshots to the authorities book 's claims gary webb wife well as legacy! Anniversary of his resignation from the CIA with living their happy little lives aged just 21 and graphics,. In the original gary webb wife News later removed it point to errors in it '' Moreira remarks ]! Was found dead of two ( allegedly self-inflicted ) gunshots to the authorities was aged just.. The living room of Bell 's House just outside Sacramento, California Kentucky, was... Work as a jobbing reporter 2004 Gary Webb worth at the age of years! As a jobbing reporter, examining Congressional records and FBI reports ( August 31, 1955 December 10 2004...