line-height:1.5; Gary was preceded in death by his mother and father, Donna and James Webb of Carpentersville. "Gary was 18 and I was 16 when we first met and started dating in Indianapolis," said Sue Stokes. We had this huge team of people at the L.A. Times and kind of piled on to one lone muckraker up in Northern California." "[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." Start your Independent Premium subscription today. Webb had become, as somebody put it, "radioactive". } Some might consider it an inappropriate assignment for a man with responsibilities. Gary Webb was a journalist of outsized talent. Taken during the London Open House 2014 event. In 1996, investigative journalist Gary Webb wrote a series of stories exposing the connection between the CIA and the crack cocaine that was being sold in So. His wife is Sue Webb (m. 1979-2000) Gary Webb Net Worth His net worth has been growing significantly in 2021-2022. Gary Webb Obituary (1954 - 2021) - Dorr, MI - Grand Rapids Press The claim that the drug ring of Meneses-Blandn-Ross sparked the "crack explosion" has been perhaps the most criticized part of the series. 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. The attack on Gary Webb and his series in the San Jose Mercury News remains one of the most venomous and factually inane assaults on a professional journalist's competence in living memory . Thank you." [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. He cites the case of Alfred McCoy, now Professor of South East Asian Studies at the University of Wisconsin. 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. [11], In 1983, Webb moved to the Cleveland Plain Dealer, where he continued doing investigative work. In 1996, the award-winning journalist Gary Webb uncovered CIA links to Los Angeles drug dealers. Webb's reports prompted three official investigations, including one by the CIA itself which - astonishingly for an organisation rarely praised for its transparency - confirmed the substance of his findings (published at length in Webb's 1998 book, also entitled Dark Alliance). [32], The New York Times published two articles on the series in mid-October, both written by reporter Tim Golden. Gary Webb's wife, Sue Webb (now Sue Stokes), said that he had been depressed for years due to his inability to get hired at a daily newspaper. "[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. Gary Webb Obituary (2011) - Saginaw, MI - Saginaw News on MLive.com Asking why crack became so prevalent in the Black community of Los Angeles, the article credited Blandn, referring to him as "the Johnny Appleseed of crack in California. margin-bottom: 20px; The first effect of the onslaught was to ease the pressure on the CIA. reports. When facts didn't fit his theory, he tended to shove them to the sidelines. ", Webb had already been cremated and his ashes scattered in the bay off Santa Cruz two weeks before. Investigative journalist Gary Webb wrote a series of stories in 1996 for the San Jose Mercury News that documented the US-government-backed Contra insurgents' drug pipeline into Los Angeles. 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. Gary was born Sept. 4, 1947, to Percy and Pauline (Haas) Webb. She was a native of Minden, LA, but a resident of Crossett for 65 years. He was the much-loved father of Lindsay (Stephen . When she got indignant," she adds, "he went to meet her.". But they underestimated the paradigm shifting power of the internet, and the intelligence of Webb, who not only listed the explosive story online . [3], Webb was born in Corona, California. Webb was born in Corona, California. His erstwhile editors on the Mercury News, meanwhile, saw their careers thrive. [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. Sue remarried two years ago. An investigative journalist, Webb became interested in the covert activities of the Central Intelligence Agency. "I believe that Americans, as a nation, are mainly concerned with living their happy little lives. The series ran from October 2022, 1996, and was researched by a team of 17 reporters. [44], Ceppos' column drew editorial responses from both The New York Times and The Washington Post. The passing of Gary ends more than 50 years with his best friend and loving wife, Marilyn J. Gary Webb - Biography - IMDb Evidence Begins To Indicate Gary Webb Was Murdered - BSNEWS I ask Bell. Ricky Ross (drug trafficker) - Wikipedia The new movie Kill the Messenger, based in part on a 2006 book by a former student of mine, eulogizes Webb . And it ruined that reporter's career. Tara Becker-Gray Lee News Network Jan 17, 2019 0 1 of 2 C. Webb The body found at a house fire at 13308 95th Ave. in rural Blue Grass on Thursday night has been identified as Cynthia Webb, 59.. 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, according to Bell, was a man who, more than most, found that his mood and self-esteem fluctuated in accordance with his professional fortunes. [60], The House Intelligence Committee issued its report in February 2000. [29] Waters urged the CIA, the Department of Justice, and the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence to investigate. The CIA/MSM Contra-Cocaine Cover-up - Consortium News But the report was correct. Gary Webb - Wikipedia } Susan Bell: a shameful secret history - The Independent It also examined "how CIA handled and responded to information regarding allegations of drug trafficking" by people involved in Contra activities or support. It also stated that the Contras may have acted with the knowledge and protection of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Why bring up old white people atrocities against black people now? 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. 1) It presented only one interpretation of conflicting evidence and in one case "did not include information that contradicted a central assertion of the series." 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 couple got married recently in November of 2020 after dating for some time. His career ended, his livelihood was destroyed and certain games were started to be . 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. Baca claimed that a drug dealer with close links to the CIA had framed her boyfriend, who was also in the cocaine business. On Dec. 9, 2004, the 49-year-old Gary Stephen Webb, Pulitzer prize-winning US investigative journalist, typed out suicide notes to his ex-wife and his three children; he laid out a certificate for his cremation; he taped a note on the door telling movers - who were coming the next morning to move him out of his rental house near Sacramento - to [51] After discussions with Webb, the column was published on May 11, 1997.[53]. Webb's condition exacerbated his natural recklessness. On one road trip, in 2001, he came off the motorcycle and split his helmet open. Then, on 10 December, he resigned. The whole business, I suggested to Blum, has echoes of a classic Alfred Hitchcock plot. "[58], It also concluded that "the claims that Blandn and Meneses were responsible for introducing crack cocaine into South Central Los Angeles and spreading the crack epidemic throughout the country were unsupported." His former wife, her voice lowered to a whisper, explains that Webb missed with the first shot (which exited through his left cheek). According to Walt Bogdanich, a former colleague on the Plain Dealer who has won two Pulitzers and now works for The New York Times, Webb was the best retriever of information from public records he has ever seen. The complete lack of desire to ask the difficult questions makes me want to scream. Gary Webb, MD, FRCPC, FACC - The Donohue Funeral Homes Inc. When I first heard the news, I tell Bell, I was inclined to believe the conspiracy theories that still proliferate on the internet, suggesting that Webb had been assassinated - either by one of the drug dealers he'd met while writing Dark Alliance, or by the intelligence services who were supposed to police them. 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. "Gary was given the choice of relocating either to San Jose," says Bell, "or to Cupertino". He had sold his house the week before his death because he was unable to afford the mortgage.[71]. The drugs went to South Central LA. [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. 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. [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. "And to an extent, they succeeded.". Gary Webb's Ex-Wife Set to Attend New York Premiere By Richard Horgan October 8, 2014 Cleveland Plain Dealer film critic Clint O'Connor had a solid feature the other day about Kill the. 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. 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. I mean - please.". Ross was a major drug dealer in Los Angeles. Gary Webb (304) 778-2546: Jamie Webb (304) 778-2546: Status: Homeowner. [45], The Post's response came from the paper's ombudsman, Geneva Overholser. Emma Lee Webb, age 75, of Crossett, AR passed away Monday February 27, 2023, in her home surrounded by her family. Gary Webb's family says his death was Suicide. OR was he like Epstein I remain astounded by the editorial decisions they made.". "People told me that," she says. 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 p { And when he got something in his head, he was determined to do it. Gary Hays Webb, 78, passed away on Monday May 9, 2022, at ThedaCare Regional Medical Center, Neenah. "By the end of his life he was just in a lot of pain," said Webb's ex-wife, Susan Bell. His death was ruled a suicide by the Sacramento County coroner's office. He died on December 10, 2004 in Carmichael, California, USA. He was taken to hospital by air ambulance. "Everyone got out and left the person who had made the noise - issued the report - alone. Am J Mens Health, 2018 Mar 1:1557988318758788. doi: 10.1177/1557988318758788. And it was ignored by the US media, for all of those reasons. At that time, Webb (pictured) was best known for the controversial three-part CIA 1996 expose he wrote the San Jose Mercury News called "Dark Alliance: The Story Behind the . It's . "They tried to make us look like crazies," says Blum. [59], The first volume of the report found no evidence that "any past or present employee of CIA, or anyone acting on behalf of CIA, had any direct or indirect dealing" with Ross, Blandn, or Meneses or that any of the other figures mentioned in "Dark Alliance" were ever employed by or associated with or contacted by the agency. "Exactly," replied Kornbluh, who - referring specifically to the LA Times, said he is "baffled as to how they could be so gullible. "[80], Not all writers agree that the Inspector-General's report supported the series's claims. [57], The report covered actions by Department of Justice employees in the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the DEA, the Immigration and Naturalization Service, and U.S. Relationships with other women ended badly. Do something else with your life," the voice urges. Webb put in a call to Robert Parry. 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. In interviews after leaving The Mercury News, Webb described the 1997 controversy as media manipulation. (Strawser) Webb. Webb's ex-wife, Stokes, now remarried and still living in Sacramento, had heard it all before, too. The February 2000 report by the House Intelligence Committee in turn considered the book's claims as well as the series' claims. Family (1) If he could have chosen his own epitaph, it might have been a line from the letter he posted to Bell, immediately before he killed himself: "I do not regret," Webb told her, "anything that I have written." 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. Even 10 years after his tragic death, the media refuse to let him rest. "Do not quote me. The second article described Blandn's background and how he began smuggling cocaine to support the Contras. By this stage, he was prepared to work as a jobbing reporter. Gary Webb Was Right | HuffPost Latest News Gary Webb FRCPC Obituary (1943 - 2021) - Legacy Remembers Call 911 for assistance. Webb took a modestly paid, low-profile job as an investigator with the California State Legislature. This support "was not directed by anyone within the Contra movement who had an association with the CIA," and the Committee found "no evidence that the CIA or the Intelligence Community was aware of these individuals support. He was born Sept.10, 1957 in Willcox, Ariz. to RG Webb and Winnie Mae Shelton. Critics view the series' claims as inaccurate or overstated, while supporters point to the results of a later CIA investigation as vindicating the series. .article-native-ad strong { "They use the giant corporate press rather than saying anything directly. Gary Webb - Wikispooks "I think the behaviour of the media in all of this has been amazing," says Bell. He also defended the series in interviews with all three papers. 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? My wife has kept me grounded for . 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. . I realise now he was thinking about suicide.". He then transferred to nearby Northern Kentucky University. The first shot went through his face, and exited at his left cheek. padding-left: 10px!important; The reports rejected the series's main claims but were critical of some CIA and law enforcement actions. Ceppos and Garcia have long since lost any taste for public discussion of "Dark Alliance". As a result, some major US newspapers ignored its findings completely, while others relegated a brief summary to their inside pages. Gary's family found that old, storied, ("priceless to us," as his ex-wife, Susan Bell, described it to me) CDROM among his possessions. 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. Webb joined the Mercury News in 1988, via the Cleveland Plain Dealer. 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. Noting that most of the activities discussed in the report had nothing to do with the people Webb reported on, Kornbluh told Schou, "I can't say it's a vindication. [50] By January, Webb filed drafts of four more articles based on his trip, but his editors concluded that the new articles would not help shore up the original series's claims. But the tragedy had a deeper meaning. 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. 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. But as Krim told Webb's biographer Nick Schou, "The zeal that helped make Gary a relentless reporter was coupled with an inability to question himself, to entertain the notion that he might have erred. [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." "You do not understand the power of these people," he adds, referring to the US intelligence services. When he was engaged, he worked hard. 4) The series "created impressions that were open to misinterpretation" through "imprecise language and graphics. The Los Angeles Sheriff's Department began its own investigation into the "Dark Alliance" claims.[30]. He began his career working for newspapers in Kentucky and Ohio, winning numerous awards, and building a strong reputation for investigative writing. 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". "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". 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. Nobody who heads a government agency can let such an allegation stand.". "He rang me up that day. Webb 'Suicide' Looking More Like Murder - rense.com Two years later, he was promoted to Vice President of Knight Ridder, the Mercury News's parent company; he retired from this position last month. So, this is not something you really make a career out of, nor would you want to. [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. By the late spring of 1996, Webb was ready to publish. "Which was that, if he wanted a future within the political establishment of the United States, then he should concentrate on other aspects of life.". [41], When the Los Angeles Times series appeared, Ceppos again wrote to defend the original series. Within weeks, the site was attracting up to 1.3m hits per day. .article-native-ad { Webb disagreed with this conclusion.[1][2]. "It says the CIA helped introduce poison into our children. The link between drug-running and the Reagan regime's support for the right-wing terrorist group throughout the 1980s had been public knowledge for over a decade. A revised version was published in 1999 that incorporated Webb's response to the CIA and Justice Department reports. 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. Gary Webb sums up the story in his last major interview just days before his death. 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. "[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." 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. 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. "But Gary thought that if something was true, it should be told. Gary Webb | Okanogan Valley Gazette-Tribune Occupation: Machine Operators, Assemblers, and Inspectors Occupations. 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. By William Kennedy / Jan. 22, 2023 12:00 pm EST. The feeling was that with other news outlets calling for Webb's head, the paper's credibility depended on their joining in on the attacks. The Department of Justice Inspector-General's report was released on July 23, 1998. Newsweek called Kerry a "randy conspiracy buff". He was found dead on Friday morning in what the police said was an apparent suicide. I felt weak and distressed; the whole thing was so fresh. font-weight:500; With Baca's encouragement, he started to investigate a large-scale Nicaraguan cocaine dealer named Oscar Danilo Blandn. "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 Douglas Webb of Radnor, PA, passed away on October 19, 2021. 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." Both Gary's ex-wife Susan and his brother Kurt viewed the body and they confirmed the location of the wounds to me when I met them. Jack Blum, who was the lead investigator for Senator John Kerry's Subcommittee on Terrorism, Narcotics and International Operations, which produced a highly damning 1989 report on drug-smuggling in the guise of national security, is one of several commentators to have questioned aspects of Webb's original reporting. Webb resigned from The Mercury News in December 1997. 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. color:rgb(46,179,178); [7] After transferring to Northern Kentucky, he entered its journalism program and wrote for the school paper, The Northerner. I felt she really trashed me. The Man Who Exposed The Crips, Bloods & CIA Connection to - YouTube He also stated "the series presented dangerous ideas" by suggesting "crimes of state had been committed" (i.e. [49], The paper also gave Webb permission to visit Central America again to get more evidence supporting the story. [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. After the series's publication, the Northern California branch of the national Society of Professional Journalists voted Webb "Journalist of the Year" for 1996. Age 43 years. It was published in 1998 as Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion. Corrie had primary biliary cirrhosis, a genetic liver disease that already had. "You sound very scared," Moreira remarks. The third article discussed the social effects of the crack trade, noting that it had a disparate effect on African-Americans. "The cause of death was determined to be self . [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. 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. Emma Lee Webb of Crossett, Arkansas | 1947 - 2023 | Obituary Its pointed to as one of the clearer cases of CIA intervention as revenge for Webb revealing damaging secrets about the agencies involvement in drug smuggling. It was good that his story forced those reports to come out, but part of what made that happen was based on misleading information. Chasing Corona - by George Webb Much of the article highlighted the failure of law enforcement agencies to successfully prosecute them and stated that this was largely due to their Contra and CIA connections. 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. Gary Stephen Webb (August 31, 1955 December 10, 2004) was an American investigative journalist. 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. Gary Webb - Spartacus Educational On Dec. 9, 2004, the 49-year-old Webb typed out suicide notes to his ex-wife and his three children; laid out a certificate for his cremation; and taped a note on the door telling movers, who were .
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