Legendary Reporters out of a job
I first saw Donald Bartlett and James Steele speak at an IRE conference, maybe the first I went to in Portland, 15 years ago or so. They worked for the Philadelphia Inquirer at the time, and had done a legendary investigative project on tax breaks for the well-connected, for which they won a 1989 Pulitzer, their second for the paper on that topic.
The duo moved to Time Magazine a few years later. Now, as Time reorganizes, they've been let go, just two among the 650 recently laid off. From the story, by Steve Lovelady, in CJR:
The duo moved to Time Magazine a few years later. Now, as Time reorganizes, they've been let go, just two among the 650 recently laid off. From the story, by Steve Lovelady, in CJR:
This morning, as word moved through the journalism community that Barlett and Steele had been sacked by a corporation as wealthy as Time Warner, the all-but-universal response was dismay. "This," said Sandy Padwe, a professor at the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism and a pretty fair investigative reporter himself, "is a disgrace. Two of the best investigative reporters ever, and they're on the street? It's a fucking travesty."
posted by liz at
1:07 PM
1 Comments:
It amounts to censorship. Steele and Bartlett have always put government and corporations in their sites. That may have worked with the management at the old Inquirer but as things get more corporate...
The report on tax breaks for the wealthy was INCREDIBLE. It was published in book form and updated with new info several times. I must have bought a half dozen copies and each time I loaned it out, to never see it again. (Yeah, Liz, I know that's asking for it.)
God, reading your blog just makes an information junkie feel like their is so much to dig. There is so much that never sees the surface of a newspaper or any other popular or mainstream media. Incredible. Thanks Liz.
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