border-bottom: 1px solid #ddd; But "Dark Alliance" was also posted on the Mercury News's website, with the image of a crack smoker superimposed on the CIA badge. "[80], Not all writers agree that the Inspector-General's report supported the series's claims. "I'd get discouraged," she said, "but I never really gave up hope." Back in 1997, SN&R brought the controversy about Gary Webb to readers with "Secrets and Lies," a cover story about why the mainstream media attacked . But as his ex-wife told the . [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. Look at the way the US press reports on Iraq. There is a CIA connection and I can demonstrate it.'". 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. Webb became a staff reporter for the San Jose Mercury News in 1988. Webb was an assertive figure who drove fast cars and powerful motorcycles, hung heavy metal posters in his office and, at certain times in his life, smoked a fair amount of cannabis. [41], When the Los Angeles Times series appeared, Ceppos again wrote to defend the original series. 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. We're well aware that they/it (the cia) did do it. Webb disagreed with this conclusion.[1][2]. Webb's ex-wife, Stokes, now remarried and still living in Sacramento, had heard it all before, too. 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. When it did, beginning with The Washington Post, it shocked Webb's critics as much as his many admirers. When Attorney General Janet Reno determined that a delay was no longer necessary, the report was released unaltered. [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. I first heard about Webb eight years ago, I tell Bell, from the Paris-based journalist Paul Moreira. By the autumn of 1997, on medication for clinical depression, he was given leave of absence from the paper. By Sam Stanton Bee Staff Writer Published 2:15 am PST Wednesday, December 15, 2004. . Army. Some editors regarded him as stubborn to the point of insolence. Webb, a Pullitzer prize winning journalist, exposed CIA drug trafficking operations in a series of books and reports for the San Jose Mercury News. "They use the giant corporate press rather than saying anything directly. It was accurate. Webb's ex-wife, Sue Bell, discounted theories Tuesday that her husband had been murdered, saying the 49-year-old Webb had been distraught for some time over his inability to get . "As a PhD student, McCoy went to Vietnam and built an absolutely damning case about the CIA's involvement with trafficking heroin. "Although Ross had become a millionaire by 1984," Katz now wrote, "the market was so huge by then that even a dealer of his stature could seem dwarfed How the crack epidemic reached that extreme, on some level," he continues, "had nothing to do with Ross". Ceppos initially defended Webb, and reportedly showed up at an in-house party wearing a military helmet. Webb made his early reputation as a reporter with the Plain Dealer before going on to fame and turmoil at the San Jose Mercury News. Five years ago, a tragedy occurred in American journalism: Investigative reporter Gary Webb - who had been ostracized by his own colleagues for forcing a spotlight back onto an ugly government scandal they wanted to ignore - was driven to commit suicide. And this is not a happy story - or," she adds, "a little one.". Within weeks, the site was attracting up to 1.3m hits per day. His father was a Marine sergeant, and the family moved frequently, as his career took him to new assignments. that the "federal government bore some responsibility, however indirect, for the flood of crack that coursed through black neighborhoods in the 1980s"). Both sides were left angry and disappointed. "[25] It also found disparities in the treatment of Black and White traffickers in the justice system, contrasting the treatment of Blandn and Ross after their arrests for drug trafficking. "Look at what happened to Gary Webb. 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. As it turned out," she adds, "that was not their intent.". The new movie Kill the Messenger, based in part on a 2006 book by a former student of mine, eulogizes Webb . "For the better part of a decade," it began, "a San Francisco drug ring sold tons of cocaine to the Crips and Bloods street gangs of Los Angeles and funnelled millions in drug profits to a Latin American guerrilla army run by the US Central Intelligence Agency.". The legendary civil-rights activist Dick Gregory was arrested while he protested outside the CIA's headquarters; Gregory began referring to the organisation as "Crack in America". Taken during the London Open House 2014 event. Gary Webb passed away on March 2, 2019. Tomac is used to good feelings when it comes to Daytona. So, how much is Gary Webb worth at the age of 49 years old? And "we really didn't do anything to advance his work or illuminate much to the story, and it was a really kind of tawdry exercise. Gary Hays Webb, 78, passed away on Monday May 9, 2022, at ThedaCare Regional Medical Center, Neenah. color: #ddd; [18], Webb began researching "Dark Alliance" in July 1995. Talking about his wife, Mariah Webb is a nurse who also educates about essential products . [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." "[82], Kill the Messenger (2014) is based on Webb's book Dark Alliance and Nick Schou's biography of Webb. Gary Douglas Webb of Radnor, PA, passed away on October 19, 2021. According to Bell, Webb had been unhappy for some time over his inability to get a job at another major newspaper. [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. } Gary Webb famously died of two gun shot wounds to the head and his death that was ruled a suicide, is the common sense notion that this was clearly assassination true? 3) The series oversimplified how the crack epidemic grew. In and out of work, he had a reputation for taking risks. "[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." In a long review of the series' claims in The Baltimore Sun, Weinberg said "I think the critics have been far too harsh. Hired by the San Jose Mercury News, Webb contributed to the paper's Pulitzer Prize-winning coverage of the Loma Prieta earthquake. In 1997 Ceppos was awarded the US Society of Professional Journalists' National Ethics Award. [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. Cooper and Mariah were engaged before they finally tied the knot. She said the paper wanted to make up for what it had done in the past. Webb's ex wife, Susan Bell told reporters that she believed Webb had died by suicide. The series follows the stories of several characters whose lives are fated to intersect including CIA operative Teddy McDonald who helps to secure guns for the Contras. He also stated "the series presented dangerous ideas" by suggesting "crimes of state had been committed" (i.e. In a three-part series published in the San Jose Mercury News, "Dark Alliance," Webb alleges that not only was the CIA aware cocaine sold in the U.S. during the 1980s was funding the Nicaraguan Contras, they were complicit in its distribution. Can these things possibly be? Gary Webb became, quite unfairly, the victim of one of the most extraordinary examples of piling on by the mainstream press, ever.". By this stage, he was prepared to work as a jobbing reporter. [33] Golden also referred to the controversy over Webb's contacts with Ross's lawyer. The story had little immediate impact. In February last year he was laid off by the State Legislature. He was born August 27, 1968 in Saginaw, Michigan to Taylor Jr. and Loretta Webb. When Webb's body was discovered last December, Bell says, this last item had been dumped in the trash. He was laid off in February 2004 when Assembly Member Fabian Nez was elected Speaker. "I had to warn Gary that what he was looking at was probably true, but that he would run very big risks," Parry recalls. 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. They were outraged by the series's charges.[27]. [20] The website artwork showed the silhouette of a man smoking a crack pipe superimposed over the CIA seal. Age 43 years. We are in the living room of Bell's house just outside Sacramento, California. By the end of September, three federal investigations had been announced: an investigation into the CIA allegations conducted by CIA Inspector-General Frederick Hitz, an investigation into the law enforcement allegations by Justice Department Inspector-General Michael Bromwich, and a second investigation into the CIA by the House Intelligence Committee. Webb's corpse was found in the bedroom, with two gunshot wounds to the head. He made that very clear. The room is decorated with his trophies: a Pulitzer prize hangs next to his HL Mencken award; also on the wall is a framed advertisement for The Kentucky Post. 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. Webb chose the second option. "Like enjoy it.". Famously known by the Family name Gary Stephen Webb, was a great Engineer.He was born on August 31, 1955, in Carmichael, California.Carmichael is a beautiful and populous city located in Carmichael, California United States of America.. Gary Webb Early Life Story, Family Background and Education. Webb's condition exacerbated his natural recklessness. 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. Garcia is deputy director of the John S Knight Fellowships in Journalism at Stanford University. I felt weak and distressed; the whole thing was so fresh. Views on Webb's journalism have been polarized. [5], After high school, Webb attended an Indianapolis community college on a scholarship until his family moved to Cincinnati. "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. "I believe that Americans, as a nation, are mainly concerned with living their happy little lives. "He told the guys with him he was fine," she recalls, "got back on the bike, then passed out, half an hour later. . .article-native-ad p { Pictured as a teenage fan: Gary Numan with Gemma, his now wife, getting his autograph in 1985 years before they got together Gary was 600,000 in debt, and on the verge of going under in. When he was engaged, he worked hard. Osborn, Barbara Bliss (MarchApril 1998). "Gary didn't take her seriously," says Susan Bell, "because he was always getting calls alleging weird stuff about the CIA. He also had this inherent belief that the truth could not harm him. The CIA admits used the media to ruin his career. 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]. He was the much-loved father of Lindsay (Stephen . And it was ignored by the US media, for all of those reasons. The truth was that, in all those years, I hadn't written anything important enough to suppress. Eli Tomac on track during Media Day at Daytona International Speedway, Friday, March 3, 2023. Emma Lee Webb, age 75, of Crossett, AR passed away Monday February 27, 2023, in her home surrounded by her family. "[2], Ceppos noted that Webb did not agree with these conclusions. He was assigned to its Sacramento bureau, where he was allowed to choose most of his own stories. 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. Webb's research took a year, in the course of which he received death threats. By William Kennedy / Jan. 22, 2023 12:00 pm EST. And yet, for all his Easy Rider tendencies, he was also a dedicated family man with an extraordinary appetite for researching minutiae. Watkins and Debbie (John) Foutch; grandchildren, Makenzie and Ashlynn Fogg. 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. But you say - dear God. It was published in 1998 as Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion. 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. "That's right," says Blum. Dec. 13, 2004. "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. [73], On the other hand, many of the writers and editors who worked with him have had high praise for him. 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 CIA Inspector-General's report was issued in two volumes. California senators Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein also took note and wrote to CIA director John Deutch and Attorney General Janet Reno, asking for investigations into the articles' allegations. George Webb and Paul Cottrell have begun a weekly series on CoronaVirus now, Mondays at 5PM, EST on paul Cottrell's Rumble Channel. Poor Gary Webb. Maxine Waters found a govt employee ran the South Central LA drug ring & The DOJ removed that section of the report : r/conspiracy 3 yr. ago Posted by shylock92008 Gary Webb sums up the story in his last major interview just days before his death. Occupation: Machine Operators, Assemblers, and Inspectors Occupations. The Department of Justice Inspector-General's report was released on July 23, 1998. Gary's ex-wife Susan Bell states: "The way he was acting it would be hard for me to believe it was anything but suicide." An interesting OPINION, but she supplies no convincing evidence to illustrate what she means by this. "[77], Webb's reporting in "Dark Alliance" remains controversial. Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? It found that Blandn received permanent resident status "in a wholly improper manner" and that for some time the Department "was not certain whether to prosecute Meneses, or use him as a cooperating witness." .article-native-ad { Webb followed up Baca's leads at the California State Library, examining Congressional records and FBI reports. Webb's experience came as no surprise to Jack Blum, senior prosecutor for the Kerry Committee. I mean - please.". He had also lost his house the week before his suicide. [43] He did this in a column that appeared on November 3, defending the series, but also committing the paper to a review of major criticisms. [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. ", "Reporter's suicide confirmed by coroner", "Repercussions From Flawed News Articles", "Herhold: Thinking back on journalist Gary Webb and the CIA", Ex-L.A. Times Writer Apologizes for "Tawdry" Attacks, "Gary Webb was no journalism hero, despite what 'Kill the Messenger' says", "Jeremy Renner's 'Kill the Messenger' Gets Fall Release Date", The CIA-Contra-Crack Cocaine Controversy: A Review of the Justice Department's Investigations and Prosecutions, United States Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General, Report of Investigation Concerning Allegations of Connections Between CIA and The Contras in Cocaine Trafficking to the United States, Central Intelligence Agency Office of the Inspector General, United States Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, International Journal of Intelligence and Counterintelligence, "Secrecy, Conspiracy, and the Media During the CIA-Contra Affair", Freeway Rick Ross: The Untold Autobiography, "Inside the Dark Alliance: Gary Webb on the CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion", 'A NATURAL STORY': Tribute to 'Dark Alliance' and Journalist Gary Webb, San Francisco Bay Area Independent Media Center, Archive of Gary Webb stories at Sacramento News and Review, "Frontline: Cocaine, Conspiracy Theories & the C.I.A. [65], After leaving The Mercury News, Webb worked as an investigator for the California State Legislature. He died by suicide on December 10, 2004. [46] Overholser was harshly critical of the series, "reported by a seemingly hotheaded fellow willing to have people leap to conclusions his reporting couldn't back up." Webb worked for several newspapers including The Kentucky Post and Cleveland Plain Dealer. After the series's publication, the Northern California branch of the national Society of Professional Journalists voted Webb "Journalist of the Year" for 1996. Baca claimed that a drug dealer with close links to the CIA had framed her boyfriend, who was also in the cocaine business. [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. ", Webb had already been cremated and his ashes scattered in the bay off Santa Cruz two weeks before. "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". Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in, Find your bookmarks in your Independent Premium section, under my profile. 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." E&P Staff. A flood of inquiries about Gary Webb's shooting death prompts statement. Born in Corona, California, son of a conservatively minded Marine, he met Bell, whose father was a university lecturer, at high school in Indianapolis. By 1997, Bell tells me, Webb - whose 30-year career had earned him more awards than there is room for in her study - had been reassigned to the Mercury News's office in Cupertino.
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