When we opened our first office of the Center for Investigative Reporting in downtown Oakland in 1977, it was in a corner suite on the sixth floor of the old Broadway Building in what was at that time a sleepy downtown area.
We had a nameplate on the door and one of our first potential customers was a woman who wanted us to follow her husband, because she was sure he must be having an affair.
We explained we were not that kind of agency exactly and referred her to some private eyes that we knew. But our little company did have a certain Sam Spade-like air to it, as we figured out how to establish something then without precedent — a non-profit that would do its own original investigative stories and then sell them to a wide variety of outlets.
Lowell Bergman and I brought some unfinished projects with us from Rolling Stone, and Dan Noyes had additional ideas and contacts. Soon we had a few magazines and television networks interested in our work and we were up and running.
But finding the funds to sustain our operation was a constant struggle and we often found ourselves cutting our salaries in half for a while until the next grant or contract came through.
Two years later we had one of our first big hits when we shared the National Magazine Award for a story package that was called the “Corporate Crime of the Century” in Mother Jones.
The main story in this package also became the centerpiece of our book Circle of Poison in 1981.
By that point, CIR was here to stay, and 46 years later it is still producing stories.
LINKS:
Palestinians flee Israel's ongoing raid on West Bank refugee camp (CBS)
Israeli troops and drones hit Jenin in major West Bank operation (Reuters)
Israel Launches Biggest Air Attack on West Bank in Nearly Two Decades (NYT)
The Taliban are outlawing women's beauty salons in Afghanistan (ABC)
Activists in Lebanon are fighting to reclaim dwindling public spaces (WP)
Signs of life — and support — for Prigozhin with Wagner's future still a mystery after mutiny (NBC)
Unrest in France Eases Nearly a Week After Fatal Police Shooting (NYT)
Temperatures are expected to soar further across large parts of the world after the El Nino weather pattern emerged in the tropical Pacific for the first time in seven years, the World Meteorological Organization said. (Reuters)
Judge blocks new Florida election law, signed by DeSantis this spring, calling it the 'latest assault on the right to vote' (Insider)
5 people killed in Philadelphia mass shooting (ABC)
What the U.S. Military Still Hasn’t Learned From Iraq (Foreign Affairs)
Stability AI CEO: There Will Be No (Human) Programmers in Five Years (Decrypt)
AI is already linked to layoffs in the industry that created it (CNN)
Written in the Stars? More Like Written by A.I. (NYT)
The Last Place on Earth Any Tourist Should Go (Atlantic)
‘10 Palestinians Dead After Israeli Raid,’ Reads Headline That Could Have Run Any Week For Past 75 Years (The Onion)
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