His father was a Marine sergeant, and the family moved frequently, as his career took him to new assignments. Managed by: Pam Wilson (may be slow to respond) Last Updated: Notably, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and the Los Angeles Times ran articles calling his allegations unfounded. By the autumn of 1997, on medication for clinical depression, he was given leave of absence from the paper. [4] When Webb's father retired from the Marines, the family settled in a suburb of Indianapolis, where Webb and his brother attended high school. 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. 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. It was accurate. Contemporary discussions of the series are discussed in the section on, Webb 2011, "Caltrans Ignored Elevated Freeway Safety. 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. Gary Webb's income source is mostly from being a successful . His behavior became increasingly unpredictable and he embarked on a series of affairs, eventually divorcing from his wife Sue in 2000. . Webb put in a call to Robert Parry. He then transferred to nearby Northern Kentucky University. Newsweek called Kerry a "randy conspiracy buff". Gary Webb, Into the Buzzsaw, CH 13, Prometheus Books. 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. Age 43 years. He was born in Jacksonville, Texas, on March 13, 1954, to Carroll and Waldine Webb, the younger brother of Diane Webb. "Do not quote me. [5], After high school, Webb attended an Indianapolis community college on a scholarship until his family moved to Cincinnati. 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. He was found dead on Friday morning in what the police said was an apparent suicide. Blandn and Meneses were Nicaraguans who smuggled drugs into the U.S. and supplied dealers like Ross. 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. To show this, the series focused on three men: Ricky Ross, Oscar Danilo Blandn, and Norwin Meneses. [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. [8] In 1979, Webb married Susan Bell; the couple eventually had three children. Survivors include his wife, Karla Webb; their children, Kimberly Ware and husband, Kyle, Laci Higgins and husband, Wesley, Kenna Logan and Heath Webb and . In 1997 Ceppos was awarded the US Society of Professional Journalists' National Ethics Award. 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. "He thought I was being cowardly. [32], The New York Times published two articles on the series in mid-October, both written by reporter Tim Golden. But Webb Gary Stephen Webb (August 31, 1955 - December 10, 2004) was an American investigative journalist. Thank you." 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. It was good that his story forced those reports to come out, but part of what made that happen was based on misleading information. After the series's publication, the Northern California branch of the national Society of Professional Journalists voted Webb "Journalist of the Year" for 1996. The truth was that, in all those years, I hadn't written anything important enough to suppress. "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". Osborn, Barbara Bliss (MarchApril 1998). 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. Sue remarried two years ago. Gary Stephen Webb was a Pulitzer prize winning American investigative reporter who exposed cocaine trafficking by the CIA. The drugs went to South Central LA. Born January 3rd, 1943 in Montreal, Quebec, he was the son of the late John Douglas Webb and the late Jeannie (Penny) Hardie Penman. "It was the worst day of my life." [11], In 1983, Webb moved to the Cleveland Plain Dealer, where he continued doing investigative work. Her husband began his career on The Kentucky Post, and rapidly proved himself to be the sort of character who can be a secretive agency's worst nightmare: a full-blooded provocateur who liked to put the hours in at the library. Jeremy Renner plays Gary Webb in "Kill the Messenger." (Chuck Zlotnick/Focus Features) Webb resigned and wrote a book defending his reporting. Webb is best known for his "Dark Alliance" series, which appeared in The Mercury News in 1996. In addition, Gary left multiple suicide notes to family members which were confirmed to be in his own hand by them. 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. Gary Webb was born in Corona, California, in 1955. 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. [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. Because Blandn cooperated with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), he spent only 28 months in prison, became a paid government informant, and received permanent resident status. While police were preparing the case against her boyfriend, Baca alleged, officers had disclosed documents which revealed that one of her lover's associates had been working for the Contras. [33] Golden also referred to the controversy over Webb's contacts with Ross's lawyer. "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. 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 . [49], The paper also gave Webb permission to visit Central America again to get more evidence supporting the story. 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. 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. "He started having motorcycle crashes," Bell says. It was an amazing scoop - but one that would ruin his career and drive him to 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. "It says the CIA helped introduce poison into our children. [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. 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. There is a CIA connection and I can demonstrate it.'". "Report on Alleged Involvement: Findings" 43. Webb had become, as somebody put it, "radioactive". "They use the giant corporate press rather than saying anything directly. [68], In August 2004, Webb joined the Sacramento News & Review, an alternative weekly newspaper, where he continued doing investigative writing. As it turned out," she adds, "that was not their intent.". that the "federal government bore some responsibility, however indirect, for the flood of crack that coursed through black neighborhoods in the 1980s"). The Real Housewives of Atlanta The Bachelor Sister Wives 90 Day Fiance Wife Swap The Amazing Race Australia Married at First Sight The Real Housewives of Dallas My 600-lb Life Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. He recently told the American Journalism Review (whose scrupulously researched piece, by Susan Paterno, is the only serious documentation of the Webb case I could find anywhere in the orthodox American media) that Webb's critics in rival newspapers, "quoted these CIA guys - who had a tremendous amount to hide - as though they were telling the truth. [26] Other papers were slow to pick up the story, but African Americans quickly took note, especially in South Central Los Angeles where the dealers discussed in the series had been active. Yes. 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. A revised version was published in 1999 that incorporated Webb's response to the CIA and Justice Department reports. 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. A passing motorist - a heavily tattooed young man - gave him a lift home, then returned and stole the motorcycle, which police recovered from him three days after Webb's death. And it ruined that reporter's career. [41], When the Los Angeles Times series appeared, Ceppos again wrote to defend the original series. 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. On December 10th, 2004 Gary Webb was found dead of two (allegedly self-inflicted) gunshots to the head. When they married, she was aged just 21. The coroner's staff concluded that the second shot hit an artery.[70]. On the last day Webb was alive, his motorbike broke down while he was moving to his mother's house. The Pariah. In 1986, Webb wrote an article saying that the Chief Justice of the Ohio Supreme Court, Frank D. Celebrezze accepted contributions from groups with organized crime 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. The whole business, I suggested to Blum, has echoes of a classic Alfred Hitchcock plot. He cites the case of Alfred McCoy, now Professor of South East Asian Studies at the University of Wisconsin. "He told the guys with him he was fine," she recalls, "got back on the bike, then passed out, half an hour later. "[2], Ceppos noted that Webb did not agree with these conclusions. [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. One time he called me and he said: 'I have this plan that will benefit us both.' Edmund Webb: Birthdate: estimated between 1751 and 1805 : Death: Immediate Family: Son of Edmund Webb and Nancy Webb Husband of Milly Clark Brother of Daniel Gary Webb; Nancy Lester; Polly Webb; John Webb; Elizabeth "Betsey" Webb and 1 other. In . Ross was also released early after cooperating in an investigation of police corruption, but was rearrested a few months later in a sting operation arranged with Blandn's help. Uncharacteristically, Persia added her vocals to her father's 2017 song, 'My Name is Ruin'. His corpse was discovered on the seventh anniversary of his resignation from the Mercury News. Webb's corpse was found in the bedroom, with two gunshot wounds to the head. 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. 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. He was the much-loved father of Lindsay (Stephen . "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 . She kept crying about how terrible it all was - by which I mean that she was, physically, crying. The series ran from October 2022, 1996, and was researched by a team of 17 reporters. News coverage noted that there were widespread rumors on the Internet at the time that Webb had been killed as retribution for his "Dark Alliance" series, published eight years before. The story they printed was just awful. When Webb pressed the Mercury News to allow him to investigate the LA connection further, his own newspaper issued a retraction which earned its editor, Jerry Ceppos, wide praise from rival publications, but effectively disowned Webb, who then suffered the kind of corporate lynching that reporters are usually expected to dispense rather than endure. But while Webb overreached, some key findings in "Dark Alliance" were on target-and important. Do not quote me on anything.". Furthermore, the duo has been blessed with two daughters, Persia Numan and Raven Numan. He was assigned to its Sacramento bureau, where he was allowed to choose most of his own stories. 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. Celebrezze eventually sued the Plain Dealer and won an undisclosed out of court settlement. Attorneys' Offices. Webb's experience came as no surprise to Jack Blum, senior prosecutor for the Kerry Committee. 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." For instance, he published an article on racial profiling in traffic stops in Esquire magazine, in April 1999. in Central America", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Gary_Webb&oldid=1149653447, This page was last edited on 13 April 2023, at 15:41. On December 10th, 2004 Gary Webb was found dead of two (allegedly self-inflicted) gunshots to the head. 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