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. Gary Douglas Webb of Radnor, PA, passed away on October 19, 2021 Born January 3rd, 1943 in Montreal, Quebec, he was the son of the late John Douglas Webb and the late Jeannie (Penny) Hardie. Newsweek called Kerry a "randy conspiracy buff". "If there was an eye to the storm," Katz wrote, "if there was a mastermind behind crack's decade-long reign, if there was one outlaw most responsible for flooding LA's streets with mass-marketed cocaine, his name was Freeway Rick. Garcia is deputy director of the John S Knight Fellowships in Journalism at Stanford University. "[62] It also found no evidence to support Webb's suggestion that several other drug smugglers mentioned in the series were associated with the CIA, or that anyone associated with the CIA or other intelligence agencies was involved in supplying or selling drugs in Los Angeles.[62]. "[38], Surprised by The Washington Post article, The Mercury News's executive editor Jerome Ceppos wrote to the Post defending the series. Ceppos initially defended Webb, and reportedly showed up at an in-house party wearing a military helmet. Celebrezze eventually sued the Plain Dealer and won an undisclosed out of court settlement. According to the report's "Epilogue," the report was completed in December 1997 but was not released because the DEA was still attempting to use Danilo Blandn in an investigation of international drug dealers and was concerned that the report would affect the viability of the investigation. The second article described Blandn's background and how he began smuggling cocaine to support the Contras. This is why Webb's "Dark Alliance" series is an essential source, a primary text that every journalism student should study. By: E&P Staff The death of investigative reporter Gary Webb has been confirmed as a suicide, according to a coroner's statement. The series revolves around the first crack epidemic and its impact on the culture of the city. At the end of March, Ceppos told Webb that he was going to present the internal review findings in a column. Can these things possibly be? ". When Ross discovered the market for crack in Los Angeles, he began buying cocaine from Blandn. Every year since investigative journalist Gary Webb took his own life in 2004, I have marked the anniversary of that sad event by recalling the debt that American history owes to Webb for his. [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. "The cause of death was determined to be self . padding:0!important; In interviews after leaving The Mercury News, Webb described the 1997 controversy as media manipulation. For two years, Blum and Kerry supervised the interrogation of dozens of witnesses who described CIA-related drug deals in central America. Gary Webb became, quite unfairly, the victim of one of the most extraordinary examples of piling on by the mainstream press, ever.". [35] The second article, by McManus, was the longest of the series and dealt with the role of the Contras in the drug trade and CIA knowledge of drug activities by the Contras. Even 10 years after his tragic death, the media refuse to let him rest. Leen, who covered the cocaine trade for the Miami Herald in the 1980s, rejects the claim that "because the report uncovered an agency mindset of indifference to drug-smuggling allegations", it vindicated Webb's reporting. in Central America", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Gary_Webb&oldid=1138520387, This page was last edited on 10 February 2023, at 03:36. [73], On the other hand, many of the writers and editors who worked with him have had high praise for him. The three articles in the series were written by four reporters: Jesse Katz, Doyle McManus, John Mitchell and Sam Fulwood. Gary Webb, friends say, was a far more combative character than either the Mercury News's executive editor Ceppos or page editor Garcia. He crashed and shredded his clothes, face and body on a barbed-wire fence." On one road trip, in 2001, he came off the motorcycle and split his helmet open. Webb resigned from The Mercury News in December 1997. But the report was correct. "Do you think that a part of him did this out of revenge?" Webb's then-wife Sue remembers coming home from the shops and finding her. "He definitely was depressed. The article suggested this was in retribution for Ross' testimony in the corruption case. Gary Webb was a journalist of outsized talent. A series of expose articles in the San Jose Mercury-News by reporter Gary Webb told tales of a drug triangle during the 1980s that linked CIA officials in Central America, a San Francisco drug . [21] This artwork proved controversial, and The Mercury News later removed it. After the publication of "Dark Alliance," The Mercury News continued to pursue the story, publishing follow-ups to the original series for the next three months. ", As Webb would tell a friend, after he had been ostracised: "You have to look out, when the big dog gets off the porch.". He was born Sept.10, 1957 in Willcox, Ariz. to RG Webb and Winnie Mae Shelton. Family and friends will gather to celebrate his life of 59 years at 10 a.m. on Thursday, March 7, 2019, at Lamesa Continue Reading Leave a Message, Share a Memory Webb chose the second option. The second volume, "The Contra Story," was issued in a classified version on April 27, 1998, and in an unclassified version on October 8, 1998. When she got indignant," she adds, "he went to meet her.". After the series's publication, the Northern California branch of the national Society of Professional Journalists voted Webb "Journalist of the Year" for 1996. He was born August 27, 1968 in Saginaw, Michigan to Taylor Jr. and Loretta Webb. When he told me, I said it sounded crazy. I realise now he was thinking about suicide.". Dr. Gary A. Webb is a geriatrician in Marco Island, Florida. 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. One instalment of the LA Times's 18,000-word rebuttal of Webb's piece, published in October 1996, sought to minimise the importance of his key witness, Ricky Ross. "And to an extent, they succeeded.". Gary's documentation is awesome and his work ethic is unbelievable. . Relationships with other women ended badly. Born January 3rd, 1943 in Montreal, Quebec, he was the son of the late John Douglas Webb and the late Jeannie (Penny) Hardie Penman. color: #ddd; Webb, unlike Blum or Kerry, had to face his difficulties alone. Webb joined the Mercury News in 1988, via the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in, Please refresh your browser to be logged in, Extra 20% off selected fashion and sportswear at Very, Up to 20% off & extra perks with Booking.com Genius Membership, $6 off a $50+ order with this AliExpress discount code, 10% off selected orders over 100 - eBay discount code, Compare broadband packages side by side to find the best deal for you, Compare cheap broadband deals from providers with fastest speed in your area, All you need to know about fibre broadband, Best Apple iPhone Deals in the UK March 2023, Compare iPhone contract deals and get the best offer this March, Compare the best mobile phone deals from the top networks and brands. The response from the American press took two months to arrive. [67], Webb later moved to the State Assembly's Office of Majority Services. [49], The paper also gave Webb permission to visit Central America again to get more evidence supporting the story. He told me: 'If I can't do what I want to do, what's the point?' Webb had become, as somebody put it, "radioactive". "Back then. In 1996, the award-winning journalist Gary Webb uncovered CIA links to Los Angeles drug dealers. "[64] Webb's longest response to the controversy was in "The Mighty Wurlitzer Plays On," a chapter he contributed to an anthology of press criticism: .mw-parser-output .templatequote{overflow:hidden;margin:1em 0;padding:0 40px}.mw-parser-output .templatequote .templatequotecite{line-height:1.5em;text-align:left;padding-left:1.6em;margin-top:0}, If we had met five years ago, you wouldn't have found a more staunch defender of the newspaper industry than me And then I wrote some stories that made me realize how sadly misplaced my bliss had been. Webb, Gary Gary T. Webb, age 67, of Hamilton, Michigan, passed away peacefully surrounded by his loving family Thursday, November 11, 2021. But they underestimated the paradigm shifting power of the internet, and the intelligence of Webb, who not only listed the explosive story online . margin-bottom: 20px; Begun 1996, the divorce and battle over cash of Grammy winner Jimmy Webb age 75, father of six, wed 22 years to Patsy, 64, daughter of late actor Barry Sullivan is getting longer. According to Corn, Webb "was wrong on some important details, but he was, in a way, closer to the truth than many of his establishment media critics who neglected the story of the real CIA-contra-cocaine connection." 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. [62], Examining the support that Meneses and Blandn gave to the local Contra organization in San Francisco, the report concluded that it was "not sufficient to finance the organization" and did not consist of "millions," contrary to the claims of the "Dark Alliance" series. 4) The series "created impressions that were open to misinterpretation" through "imprecise language and graphics. When he was engaged, he worked hard. To Read the Full Story Become an Adweek+ Subscriber. Gary E. Webb, a dedicated husband, dad, pappy, coach, mentor, teacher, supporter, hero, and best friend, was called home by the Lord while surrounded by family. "Because of Gary Webb's work," said Senator John Kerry, "the CIA launched an investigation that found dozens of connections to drug runners. According to the report, the Inspector-General's office (OIG) examined all information the agency had "relating to CIA knowledge of drug trafficking allegations in regard to any person directly or indirectly involved in Contra activities." He went into the bedroom, and picked up a .38 that had belonged to his father. "He walked in one day," Bell recalls, "and said, 'You are not going to believe what I just found out.' Webb's continuing reporting also triggered a fourth investigation. Views on Webb's journalism have been polarized. 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. Instead, he found work in 1978 as a reporter at the Kentucky Post, a local paper affiliated with the larger Cincinnati Post. Blandn and Meneses were Nicaraguans who smuggled drugs into the U.S. and supplied dealers like Ross. Like Schou, Corn cites the inspector general's report, which he says "acknowledged that the CIA had indeed worked with suspected drugrunners (sic) while supporting the contras. As it turned out," she adds, "that was not their intent.". 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. Video courtesy of documentary FREEWAY: CRACK IN THE SYSTEM premiering on Al Jazeera America in early 2015. Gary Stephen Webb (August 31, 1955 December 10, 2004) was an American investigative journalist. [29] Waters urged the CIA, the Department of Justice, and the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence to investigate. "I told Gary not to go near this story," his source replies, in an emotional voice. Regarding issues raised in the series's shorter sidebar stories, it found that some in the government were "not eager" to have DEA agent Celerino Castillo "openly probe" activities at Ilopango Airport in El Salvador, where covert operations in support of the Contras were undertaken, and that the CIA had indeed intervened in a case involving smuggler Julio Zavala. }. [45], The Post's response came from the paper's ombudsman, Geneva Overholser. Emma Lee Webb. Poor Gary Webb. His erstwhile editors on the Mercury News, meanwhile, saw their careers thrive. "He told the guys with him he was fine," she recalls, "got back on the bike, then passed out, half an hour later. Gary was born Sept. 4, 1947, to Percy and Pauline (Haas) Webb. And this is not a happy story - or," she adds, "a little one.". Gary Webb, Into the Buzzsaw, CH 13, Prometheus Books. American racer Cooper Webb is married to his wife named Mariah Williams Webb. Occupation: Machine Operators, Assemblers, and Inspectors Occupations. Cooper Webb Wife Name Revealed. Gary Douglas Webb of Radnor, PA, passed away on October 19, 2021. One time he called me and he said: 'I have this plan that will benefit us both.' If you work through friendly reporters on major newspapers, it comes off as The New York Times saying it and not a mouthpiece of the CIA. Although it did find that both men were major drug dealers, "guilty of enriching themselves at the expense of countless drug users," and that they had contributed money to the Contra cause, "we did not find that their activities were responsible for the crack cocaine epidemic in South Central Los Angeles, much less the rise of crack throughout the nation, or that they were a significant source of support for the Contras. In the six years he worked at its Sacramento office, he won the HL Mencken award, for a story exposing corruption in California's drug enforcement agency, and his Pulitzer prize - won jointly, as part of a Mercury News team covering the 1990 Loma Prieta earthquake. After a local newspaper reported that Webb had died from multiple gunshots, the coroner's office received so many calls asking about Webb's death that Sacramento County Coroner Robert Lyons issued a statement confirming Webb had died by suicide. [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. The CIA Inspector-General's report was issued in two volumes. [18], Webb began researching "Dark Alliance" in July 1995. Some might consider it an inappropriate assignment for a man with responsibilities. Gary was preceded in death by his mother and father, Donna and James Webb of Carpentersville. Cuts and amendments were made at the request of Ceppos, executive editor of the Mercury News, and Webb's immediate editor Dawn Garcia, among others.