But the tragedy had a deeper meaning. Born in Corona, California, son of a conservatively minded Marine, he met Bell, whose father was a university lecturer, at high school in Indianapolis. His career ended, his livelihood was destroyed and certain games were started to be . Gary is survived by his wife of 48 years, Beverly Webb; children Margaret . Garry Webb wrote the 1996 "Dark Alliance" series for the San Jose. "[62] It also found no evidence to support Webb's suggestion that several other drug smugglers mentioned in the series were associated with the CIA, or that anyone associated with the CIA or other intelligence agencies was involved in supplying or selling drugs in Los Angeles.[62]. The Tragic 2004 Death Of Investigative Journalist, Gary Webb Gary Webb Obituary (1944 - 2022) - Portland, OR - The Oregonian Webb became a staff reporter for the San Jose Mercury News in 1988. "He was sleeping more, he hated to get up in the morning, he started having a lot of motorcycle. Gary Webb, 49, Journalist Who Wrote Disputed Articles, Is Dead 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." [69], Webb was found dead in his Carmichael home on December 10, 2004, with two gunshot wounds to the head. 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. The reports rejected the series's main claims but were critical of some CIA and law enforcement actions. Gary Webb | Okanogan Valley Gazette-Tribune Gary Webb (304) 778-2546: Jamie Webb (304) 778-2546: Status: Homeowner. 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 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. It was published in 1998 as Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion. 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. Call 911 for assistance. He wrote that the series likely "oversimplified" the crack epidemic in America and the supposed "critical role" the dealers written about in the series played in it. 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." Gary is survived by his loving wife of 41 years, Barbara; their son, Jeff; his nephew, Christopher (Stephanie) Webb; niece, Sara (Gary) Dugan; and . Emma Lee Webb of Crossett, Arkansas | 1947 - 2023 | Obituary His former wife, her voice lowered to a whisper, explains that Webb missed with the first shot (which exited through his left cheek). [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. Work with a bunch of drug dealers to run guns? The series provoked outrage, particularly in the Los Angeles African-American community, and led to four major investigations of its charges. This is why Webb's "Dark Alliance" series is an essential source, a primary text that every journalism student should study. Webb's then-wife Sue remembers coming home from the shops and finding her. The response from the American press took two months to arrive. Gary Webb, (born August 31, 1955, Corona, California, U.S.died December 10, 2004, Carmichael, California), American investigative journalist who wrote a three-part series for the San Jose Mercury News in 1996 on connections between the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the U.S.-backed Contra army seeking to overthrow Nicaragua's leftist 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. Gary Webb, MD, FRCPC, FACC - The Donohue Funeral Homes Inc. 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 margin: 0 45px; 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. The Death of Gary Webb - Beyond Chron The third article discussed the social effects of the crack trade, noting that it had a disparate effect on African-Americans. But "Dark Alliance" was also posted on the Mercury News's website, with the image of a crack smoker superimposed on the CIA badge. Gary Webb - Wikipedia So he blew her off. The film broadened the debate which led to the decriminalisation of . . Gary Webb - Biography - IMDb The truth was that, in all those years, I hadn't written anything important enough to suppress. The first article in "Dark Alliance" that discussed the failure of law enforcement agencies to prosecute Blandn and Meneses had mentioned several cases. Nick Schou, a journalist who wrote a 2006 biography of Webb, has claimed that this was the most important error in the series. Webb 'Suicide' Looking More Like Murder - rense.com Webb strongly disagreed with Ceppos's column and, in interviews, was harshly critical of the paper's handling of the story. A perceptive, engaging woman of 48, she has turned an adjoining study into a small shrine to her late husband, who would have celebrated his 50th birthday five weeks ago. [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. A Celebration of Life will be . WRITTEN IN PAIN - Los Angeles Times Osborn, Barbara Bliss (MarchApril 1998). [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. A flood of inquiries about Gary Webb's shooting death prompts statement. He was the much-loved father of Lindsay (Stephen . "Gary was given the choice of relocating either to San Jose," says Bell, "or to Cupertino". Kill the Messenger review - what really happened to Gary Webb But the report was correct. GARY WEBB OBITUARY Gary Frank Webb Sept. 27, 1944 - Oct. 23, 2022 Gary passed away peacefully of complications following cardiovascular surgery. 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. [45], The Post's response came from the paper's ombudsman, Geneva Overholser. Unfortunately, the railroading of Gary Webb had begun and he was run over. It also examined "how CIA handled and responded to information regarding allegations of drug trafficking" by people involved in Contra activities or support. According to Bell, Webb had been unhappy for some time over his inability to get a job at another major newspaper. 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. Webb was born in Corona, California. ", Many of these are in the series archive at. He began his career working for newspapers in Kentucky and Ohio, winning numerous awards, and building a strong reputation for investigative writing. Steven Webb . Start your Independent Premium subscription today. GARY WEBB was an investigative reporter who focused on government and private sector corruption and who won more than thirty journalism awards. "People told me that," she says. He made that very clear. 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. Gary Webb's family says his death was Suicide. When they married, she was aged just 21. Every year since investigative journalist Gary Webb took his own life in 2004, I have marked the anniversary of that sad event by recalling the debt that American history owes to Webb for his. Gary Webb's "Approach Split" in the atrium of 20 Triton Street London. By the late spring of 1996, Webb was ready to publish. The Los Angeles Sheriff's Department began its own investigation into the "Dark Alliance" claims.[30]. [52] Webb was allowed to keep working on the story and made one more trip to Nicaragua in March. Webb came home and put his belongings in order, dropping his Kentucky Post poster in the bin. The first shot went through his face, and exited at his left cheek. "Because of Gary Webb's work," said Senator John Kerry, "the CIA launched an investigation that found dozens of connections to drug runners. When his body was found, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly was on the DVD machine, and his favourite CD, Ian Hunter's live album Welcome to the Club, was in the CD player. Baca claimed that a drug dealer with close links to the CIA had framed her boyfriend, who was also in the cocaine business. ", The report called several of its findings "troubling." She kept crying about how terrible it all was - by which I mean that she was, physically, crying. [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. . [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." I felt she really trashed me. [48] Despite the controversy that soon overtook the series, and the request of one board member to reconsider, the branch's board went ahead with the award in November. Occupation: Machine Operators, Assemblers, and Inspectors Occupations. Newsweek called Kerry a "randy conspiracy buff". "[2], Ceppos noted that Webb did not agree with these conclusions. 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). [39] The Post refused to print his letter. The first article, by Katz, developed a different picture of the origins of the crack trade than "Dark Alliance" had described, with more gangs and smugglers participating. [22], The lede of the first article set out the series' basic claims: "For the better part of a decade, a San Francisco Bay Area drug ring sold tons of cocaine to the Crips and Bloods street gangs of Los Angeles and funneled millions in drug profits to a Latin American guerrilla army run by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency." How the Press and the CIA Killed Gary Webb's Career And it was ignored by the US media, for all of those reasons. Webb began to shift from cynicism to curiosity. . We are in the living room of Bell's house just outside Sacramento, California. There was no coffin, casket or tombstone. 3) The series oversimplified how the crack epidemic grew. In the final few months of his life, Bell says, Webb became increasingly withdrawn. But you say - dear God. The story had little immediate impact. 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. Gary's family found that old, storied, ("priceless to us," as his ex-wife, Susan Bell, described it to me) CDROM among his possessions. [5], After high school, Webb attended an Indianapolis community college on a scholarship until his family moved to Cincinnati. Who Is Gary Webb's Wife? In addition, Gary left multiple suicide notes to family members which were confirmed to be in his own hand by them. He crashed and shredded his clothes, face and body on a barbed-wire fence." 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's "Dark Alliance" Returns to the Internet - Narco News One article, dealing mostly with the response of the Los Angeles Black community to the stories, described the series's evidence as "thin". Am J Mens Health, 2018 Mar 1:1557988318758788. doi: 10.1177/1557988318758788. .article-native-ad strong { Both sides were left angry and disappointed. "[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."
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