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"The cause of death was determined to be self . 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 . Gary Webb Obituary (2009) - Elgin, IL - Elgin Courier News - Legacy.com In interviews after leaving The Mercury News, Webb described the 1997 controversy as media manipulation. Gary Stephen Webb(August 31, 1955 - December 10, 2004) was an American investigative journalist. Gary Webb: Vindicated - Narco News It was good that his story forced those reports to come out, but part of what made that happen was based on misleading information. We had been here before." [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. "People told me that," she says. Webb took a modestly paid, low-profile job as an investigator with the California State Legislature. It found that "the allegations contained in the original Mercury News articles were exaggerations of the actual facts." He had sold his house the week before his death because he was unable to afford the mortgage.[71]. 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.' The first detailed article on the series's claims appeared in The Washington Post in early October. Dec. 13, 2004. As it turned out," she adds, "that was not their intent.". "He was sleeping more, he hated to get up in the morning, he started having a lot of motorcycle. "As a PhD student, McCoy went to Vietnam and built an absolutely damning case about the CIA's involvement with trafficking heroin. Ross was a major drug dealer in Los Angeles. 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. Part of what makes OConnors article so compelling are the candid thoughts of Webbs former wife Sue Stokes. 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. 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? [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. And it ruined that reporter's career. In August of 1996, investigative journalist Gary Webb broke the biggest story of his life. 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. "[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. He began his career working for newspapers in Kentucky and Ohio, winning numerous awards, and building a strong reputation for investigative writing. "[38], Surprised by The Washington Post article, The Mercury News's executive editor Jerome Ceppos wrote to the Post defending the series. In the column, Ceppos defended parts of the article, writing that the series had "solidly documented" that the drug ring described in the series did have connections with the Contras and did sell large quantities of cocaine in inner-city Los Angeles. .article-native-ad strong { The third article discussed the social effects of the crack trade, noting that it had a disparate effect on African-Americans. Webb's then-wife Sue remembers coming home from the shops and finding her. Ross, currently serving life, was already infamous; he had been profiled in the LA Times in December 1994, by writer Jesse Katz, at a time when Ross was at liberty and in penitent mood. Blandn and Meneses were Nicaraguans who smuggled drugs into the U.S. and supplied dealers like Ross. I realise now he was thinking about suicide.". Webb, unlike Blum or Kerry, had to face his difficulties alone. I ask Bell. In city after city, local dealers either bought from Ross or got left behind."[24]. He began his career working for newspapers in Kentucky and Ohio, winning numerous awards, and building a strong reputation for investigative writing. 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. In 1997 Ceppos was awarded the US Society of Professional Journalists' National Ethics Award. 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. Gary Webb | Obituary | The Daily Item 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. Talking about his wife, Mariah Webb is a nurse who also educates about essential products . [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. ", In contrast, the series received support from Steve Weinberg, a former executive director of Investigative Reporters and Editors. When Attorney General Janet Reno determined that a delay was no longer necessary, the report was released unaltered. The consensus, insofar as one exists, is that he probably overstated both the amount of drug money made by Ross and Blandn, and the percentage of those profits diverted to the Contras. I believe that we fell short at every step of our process: in the writing, editing and production of our work. Gary Webb's "Dark Alliance" Returns to the Internet - Narco News Join iconic brands and world-class marketing leaders at Brandweek to unlock powerful insights and impact-driven strategies. Occupation: Machine Operators, Assemblers, and Inspectors Occupations. [8] In 1979, Webb married Susan Bell; the couple eventually had three children. [41], When the Los Angeles Times series appeared, Ceppos again wrote to defend the original series. Gary Webb's son on new movie "Kill the Messenger" - YouTube Jeremy Renner as Gary Webb How Kill the Messenger Will Vindicate Investigative Journalist Gary Webb Melinda Welsh September 29, 2014 This one has all the ingredients of a dreamed-up Hollywood. The other article, citing interviews with current and former intelligence and law-enforcement officials, questioned the importance of the drug dealers discussed in the series, both in the crack cocaine trade and in supporting the Nicaraguan Contras' fight against the Sandinista government in Nicaragua. It was just more than he could take.". [3], Webb was born in Corona, California. A Celebration of Life will be . In May 1997, after an internal review, Ceppos stated that, although the story was right on many important points, there were shortcomings in the writing, editing and production of the series. To pay off his mounting debts, Webb sold the Carmichael property, where he was living alone, and arranged to move in with his mother. The CIA admits used the media to ruin his career. Man Donates Liver To Ex-Wife - CBS News For instance, he published an article on racial profiling in traffic stops in Esquire magazine, in April 1999. 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. [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." Gary Webb - Wikispooks At the commemorative service for Webb, held at the Doubletree Hotel in Sacramento, Bell read out the letter Webb had written to his son Eric, now 17. Webb's continuing reporting also triggered a fourth investigation. Webb began to shift from cynicism to curiosity. Webb resigned from The Mercury News in December 1997. padding:0!important; [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. "[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." I felt weak and distressed; the whole thing was so fresh. "This is an appalling charge," says a tense-looking Deutch. Webb disagreed with this conclusion.[1][2]. "Allow Gary Webb to be there [in the CIA investigation]," a heckler shouts. They were outraged by the series's charges.[27]. Gary Webb Obituary (1954 - 2021) - Dorr, MI - Grand Rapids Press [69], Webb was found dead in his Carmichael home on December 10, 2004, with two gunshot wounds to the head. Gary's family found that old, storied, ("priceless to us," as his ex-wife, Susan Bell, described it to me) CDROM among his possessions. 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. Tomac is used to good feelings when it comes to Daytona. When his medical insurance expired, he stopped taking his antidepressants. Actor Jeremy Renner portrays Webb.[83]. He cites the case of Alfred McCoy, now Professor of South East Asian Studies at the University of Wisconsin. Gary Webb, 64, Oroville, Wash., died Oct. 30, 2021. The couple got married recently in November of 2020 after dating for some time. 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". 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. ", She pauses: "That said, he did sleep with a gun under his bed.". His corpse was discovered on the seventh anniversary of his resignation from the Mercury News. Unfortunately, the railroading of Gary Webb had begun and he was run over. The truth was that, in all those years, I hadn't written anything important enough to suppress. Both sides were left angry and disappointed.

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