[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. Webb's experience came as no surprise to Jack Blum, senior prosecutor for the Kerry Committee. Their explosive report, which appeared in 1989, was either ignored, or marginalised, by the American press. One of these was a 1986 raid on Blandn's drug organization by the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department, which the article suggested had produced evidence of CIA ties to drug smuggling that was later suppressed. I realise now he was thinking about suicide.". "[72] California Representative Maxine Waters, who was Webb's strongest supporter in Congress after the "Dark Alliance" controversy broke, issued a statement after Webb's death calling him "one of the finest investigative journalists that our country has ever seen. [71] "The way he was acting it would be hard for me to believe it was anything but suicide," she said. ". Gary Webb's family says his death was Suicide. He was born Sept.10, 1957 in Willcox, Ariz. to RG Webb and Winnie Mae Shelton. Gary Webb was at his desk in the Mercury News's Sacramento office, in July 1995, when he received a message to call Coral Baca, a Hispanic woman from the San Francisco Bay area, allegedly connected to a Colombian drug cartel. 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. Join iconic brands and world-class marketing leaders at Brandweek to unlock powerful insights and impact-driven strategies. [33] Golden also referred to the controversy over Webb's contacts with Ross's lawyer. He also defended the series in interviews with all three papers. Webb's corpse was found in the bedroom, with two gunshot wounds to the head. n 1996, journalist Gary Webb wrote a series of articles under the title "Dark Alliance" for the suggesting a CIA connection between anti-government contras in Nicaragua and monies raised from. [52] Webb was allowed to keep working on the story and made one more trip to Nicaragua in March. [36] McManus wrote that Blandn's and Meneses's contributions to Contra organizations were significantly less than the "millions" claimed in the series, and stated there was no evidence that the CIA had tried to protect them. The review was conducted primarily by editor Jonathan Krim and reporter Pete Carey, who had written the paper's first published analysis of the series. Am J Mens Health, 2018 Mar 1:1557988318758788. doi: 10.1177/1557988318758788. Army. The complete lack of desire to ask the difficult questions makes me want to scream. Garry Webb wrote the 1996 "Dark Alliance" series for the San Jose. (Strawser) Webb. 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. After Ceppos' column, The Mercury News spent the next several months conducting an internal review of the story. GARY WEBB: His wife's office was burglarized. 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. padding:0!important; I felt she really trashed me. According to Schou, the investigation "confirmed key chunks of Webb's allegations." "You do not understand the power of these people," he adds, referring to the US intelligence services. The new movie Kill the Messenger, based in part on a 2006 book by a former student of mine, eulogizes Webb . "He definitely was depressed. I felt weak and distressed; the whole thing was so fresh. Webb became a staff reporter for the San Jose Mercury News in 1988. "I had to warn Gary that what he was looking at was probably true, but that he would run very big risks," Parry recalls. padding-bottom: 20px; "[82], Kill the Messenger (2014) is based on Webb's book Dark Alliance and Nick Schou's biography of Webb. GARY WEBB OBITUARY Gary Frank Webb Sept. 27, 1944 - Oct. 23, 2022 Gary passed away peacefully of complications following cardiovascular surgery. In a 2013 article in the LA Weekly, Schou wrote that Webb was "vindicated by a 1998 CIA Inspector General report, which revealed that for more than a decade the agency had covered up a business relationship it had with Nicaraguan drug dealers like Blandn. . In the final few months of his life, Bell says, Webb became increasingly withdrawn. With hindsight, Bell says, "the signs were there. Talking about his wife, Mariah Webb is a nurse who also educates about essential products . [60], It found nothing to support the claim that "the drug trafficking activities of Blandn and Meneses were motivated by any commitment to support the Contra cause or Contra activities undertaken by CIA." Nobody who heads a government agency can let such an allegation stand.". On one road trip, in 2001, he came off the motorcycle and split his helmet open. Gary Hays (304) 778-7090: and Drugs Has a Life of Its Own", "Pivotal Figures of Newspaper Series May Be Only Bit Players", "Tracking the Genesis of the Crack Trade", "Examining Charges of CIA Role in Crack Sales", "History Fuels Outrage Over Crack Allegations", "Ex-L.A. Times Writer Apologizes for "Tawdry" Attacks", "Mercury News Executive Editor Jerry Ceppos' Letter to the Washington Post", "Washington Post response to Mercury News Executive Editor Jerry Ceppos", "Despite critics, a good story Crack and the contras", "CIA-Contra-Crack Cocaine Controversy: Epilogue", "CIA-Contra-Crack Cocaine Controversy: Conclusions", United States House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, "Are You Sure You Want to Ruin Your Career? Gary Webb became, quite unfairly, the victim of one of the most extraordinary examples of piling on by the mainstream press, ever.". 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.". In city after city, local dealers either bought from Ross or got left behind."[24]. She and Gary were married from 1979 to 2000 and had three children. He went into the bedroom, and picked up a .38 that had belonged to his father. "[75], Jonathan Krim, The Mercury News editor who recruited Webb from The Plain Dealer and who supervised The Mercury News internal review of "Dark Alliance," told AJR editor Paterno that Webb "had all the qualities you'd want in a reporter: curious, dogged, a very high sense of wanting to expose wrongdoing and to hold private and public officials accountable." Writing on the Los Angeles Times opinion page, Schou said, "Webb asserted, improbably, that the Blandn-Meneses-Ross drug ring opened 'the first pipeline between Colombia's cocaine cartels and the black neighborhoods of Los Angeles,' helping to 'spark a crack explosion in urban America.' [42] The extent of the criticism, however, convinced Ceppos that The Mercury News had to acknowledge to its readers that the series had been subjected to strong criticism. . } We were dismissed as a bunch of nuts." [19] The series was published in The Mercury News in three parts, from Sunday, 18 August 1996 to 20 August 1996, with a first long article and one or two shorter articles appearing each day. "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 . Contemporary discussions of the series are discussed in the section on, Webb 2011, "Caltrans Ignored Elevated Freeway Safety. "Because of Gary Webb's work," said Senator John Kerry, "the CIA launched an investigation that found dozens of connections to drug runners. "[38], Surprised by The Washington Post article, The Mercury News's executive editor Jerome Ceppos wrote to the Post defending the series. Webb, whose plans to become a journalist had begun when he was 13, but never included equine death notices, resigned from the Mercury News a few months later. His erstwhile editors on the Mercury News, meanwhile, saw their careers thrive. Ceppos and Garcia have long since lost any taste for public discussion of "Dark Alliance". Actor Jeremy Renner portrays Webb.[83]. [15], In 1988, Webb was recruited by the San Jose Mercury News, which was looking for an investigative reporter. OR was he like Epstein? 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. "The government side of the story is coming through the Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, The Washington Post", he stated. } "Ross," his report went on, dealt "on a scale never before conceived," with "a staggering turnover" of "50 to 100 kilos of cocaine a day". Few reporters I've known could match his nose for an investigative story. In and out of work, he had a reputation for taking risks. Ross was a major drug dealer in Los Angeles. But Ian Webbknows all too well the emotions that come with that experience. Parry, the first reporter to write about the US authorities' drug-running on behalf of the Contras, had survived a campaign by the White House to discredit first his story, then his reputation. It was truthful. He also stated "the series presented dangerous ideas" by suggesting "crimes of state had been committed" (i.e. [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. He made that very clear. The passing of Gary ends more than 50 years with his best friend and loving wife, Marilyn J. It was written by Jesse Katz, the same reporter who, less than two years earlier, had described Ross's conglomerate as "the Wal-Mart of crack dealing". "[79], Writing after Webb's death in 2005, The Nation magazine's former Washington Editor David Corn said that Webb "was on to something but botched part of how he handled it." Blandn and Meneses' high-volume supply of low-priced high-purity cocaine "allowed Ross to sew up the Los Angeles market and move on. Gary Stephen Webb(August 31, 1955 - December 10, 2004) was an American investigative journalist. The reports of the three federal investigations into the claims of "Dark Alliance" were not released until over a year after the series's publication. "Exactly," replied Kornbluh, who - referring specifically to the LA Times, said he is "baffled as to how they could be so gullible. Webb undeniably made mistakes of detail and emphasis in the newspaper version of "Dark Alliance". E&P Staff. color:rgb(46,179,178); He died by suicide on December 10, 2004. By William Kennedy / Jan. 22, 2023 12:00 pm EST. He also had this inherent belief that the truth could not harm him. It reads: "There should be no fetters on reporters, nor must they tamper with the truth, but give light so the people will find their own way." Today, Narco News, with support from The Fund for Authentic Journalism, is pleased to announce that the Dark Alliance website has a new, and this time permanent, home at Narco News. He was previously married to Sue Bell. When facts didn't fit his theory, he tended to shove them to the sidelines. Gary-Webb TL, Walker EA, Realmuto L, Kamler A, Lukin J, Tyson W, Carrasquillo O, Weiss L. Translation of the National Diabetes Prevention Program to Engage Men in Disadvantaged Neighborhoods in New York City: A Description of Power Up for Health. Who Is Gary Webb's Wife? Although Blandn's cartel was undoubtedly one of the first to bring crack to LA, Webb was almost certainly suffering a rush of blood when he described the group as "the first pipeline" into the city. One of his last articles examined America's Army, a video game designed by the U.S. . One time he called me and he said: 'I have this plan that will benefit us both.' We are in the living room of Bell's house just outside Sacramento, California. The "Dark Alliance" series remains controversial. [60], It found no information to support the claim that the agency interfered with law enforcement actions against Ross, Blandn or Meneses. His corpse was discovered on the seventh anniversary of his resignation from the Mercury News. Gary Webb, 64, Oroville, Wash., died Oct. 30, 2021. A time of fellowship and remembrance is scheduled from 6 to 8 p.m. on Wednesday, March 6, 2019, at Lake Ridge Chapel and Memorial Designers. Nick Schou, a journalist who wrote a 2006 biography of Webb, has claimed that this was the most important error in the series. ", Webb had already been cremated and his ashes scattered in the bay off Santa Cruz two weeks before. He was assigned to its Sacramento bureau, where he was allowed to choose most of his own stories. Thank you." He told me: 'If I can't do what I want to do, what's the point?' Cooper and Mariah were engaged before they finally tied the knot. A secret deal allowed drugs to go unreported by the DCI. [51] After discussions with Webb, the column was published on May 11, 1997.[53]. 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. Webb followed up Baca's leads at the California State Library, examining Congressional records and FBI reports. An investigative journalist, Webb became interested in the covert activities of the Central Intelligence Agency. Webb's ex wife, Susan Bell told reporters that she believed Webb had died by suicide. The Los Angeles Times and other major papers published articles suggesting the "Dark Alliance" claims were overstated and, in November 1996, Jerome Ceppos, the executive editor at Mercury News, wrote about being "in the eye of the storm". The first shot went through his face, and exited at his left cheek. What was new about Webb's reports, published under the title "Dark Alliance" in the Californian paper the San Jose Mercury News, was that for the first time it brought the story back home. His career ended, his livelihood was destroyed and certain games were started to be . But Webb had one huge blind side: He was fundamentally a man of passion, not of fairness. This emotive last phrase refers to Webb's experience in the immediate aftermath of publication of his three lengthy articles, in the summer of 1996. But the report was correct. "They tried to make us look like crazies," says Blum. By the time Webb began researching Dark Alliance, Bell was 38 and they had three children. Webb's research took a year, in the course of which he received death threats. Gary Webb's "Approach Split" in the atrium of 20 Triton Street London. Cooper Webb Wife Name Revealed. Film of this encounter survives. The whole business, I suggested to Blum, has echoes of a classic Alfred Hitchcock plot. The coroner's staff concluded that the second shot hit an artery.[70]. "He was crying. *, 'Dark Alliance: The CIA, The Contras and the Crack Cocaine Explosion' is published in the UK by Seven Stories Press, priced 11.99, Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies. "He started having motorcycle crashes," Bell says. Webb resigned from The Mercury News in December 1997. By a fortunate coincidence of timing, the report was released on a day when the Monica Lewinsky scandal dominated every front page in the country. "That's right," says Blum. Shortly before his death, his motorcycle had been stolen (it was recovered by his family after his death). His own paper, the Mercury News, criticized the series in 1997 without providing many specifics. font-size: 34px; [6], Webb first began writing for the student newspaper at his college in Indianapolis. [39] Carey's critique appeared in mid-October and went through several of the Post's criticisms of the series, including the importance of Blandn's drug ring in spreading crack, questions about Blandn's testimony in court, and how specific series allegations about CIA involvement had been, giving Webb's responses. The story was picked up by black talk-radio stations. 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. Shortly before I left for Sacramento, Moreira, who knew Webb, had shown me unbroadcast footage which shows the French reporter making a phone call to a media commentator in the US, asking him about Webb's death. During and immediately after the controversy over "Dark Alliance," Webb's earlier writing was examined closely. 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. He concluded, "How did these shortcomings occur? [73], On the other hand, many of the writers and editors who worked with him have had high praise for him. We had been here before." [51], The editors met with Webb several times in February to discuss the results of the paper's internal review and eventually decided to print neither Carey's draft article nor the articles Webb had filed. Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? But "Dark Alliance" was also posted on the Mercury News's website, with the image of a crack smoker superimposed on the CIA badge. Jeff Leen, assistant managing editor for investigative reporting at The Washington Post, wrote in a 2014 opinion page article that "the report found no CIA relationship with the drug ring Webb had written about." His was the story of a man who gains information of wrongdoing, then, attempting to act in the public interest, seeks protection from his superiors, and the forces of law, and does not receive it. [9], Webb's first major investigative work appeared in 1980, when the Cincinnati Post published "The Coal Connection," a seventeen-part series by Webb and Post reporter Thomas Scheffey. For two years, Blum and Kerry supervised the interrogation of dozens of witnesses who described CIA-related drug deals in central America. He was preceded in death by his wife, Melody Webb; parents and three brothers, Albert, Duane and Ronald. And when he got something in his head, he was determined to do it. His death was especially traumatic to the family since - as the coroner said - it could not be established whether he died instantly, or bled to death. As a result, some major US newspapers ignored its findings completely, while others relegated a brief summary to their inside pages. Gary Webb, friends say, was a far more combative character than either the Mercury News's executive editor Ceppos or page editor Garcia. "[74] Mary Anne Sharkey, Webb's editor at The Plain Dealer, told writer Alicia Shepard in 1997 that Webb was known as 'the carpenter' "because he had everything nailed down.