Center For Investigative Reporting
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Center for Investigative Reporting (CIR) is a nonprofit news organization based in
San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
, California. CIR was founded in 1977 as the nation’s first nonprofit investigative journalism organization. It subsequently grew into a multi-platform newsroom, with its flagship distribution platform being '' Reveal''. In February 2024, it merged with '' Mother Jones'' and became the magazine's publisher.


History


Beginnings

David Weir, Dan Noyes, and Lowell Bergman founded The Center for Investigative Reporting in 1977. This was the first nonprofit news organization in the United States to be focused on investigative reporting.


1980s

In 1982, reporters from the center worked with ''Mother Jones'' magazine to report testing fraud in consumer products. The investigation won several awards, including Sigma Delta Chi and
Investigative Reporters and Editors Investigative Reporters and Editors, Inc. (IRE) is an American nonprofit organization that focuses on improving the quality of journalism, in particular investigative journalism. Formed in 1975, it presents the IRE Awards and holds conferences a ...
awards. CIR began producing television documentaries in 1980. It has since produced more than 30 documentaries for '' Frontline'' and ''Frontline/World'', dozens of reports for other television outlets, and three independent feature documentaries. ABC’s '' 20/20'' and CBS’s ''
60 Minutes ''60 Minutes'' is an American television news magazine broadcast on the CBS television network. Debuting in 1968, the program was created by Don Hewitt and Bill Leonard, who distinguished it from other news programs by using a unique style o ...
'' have featured reporting from CIR. Major investigations in the 1980s resulted in reporting of the toxicity of ordinary consumer products, an exposé of nuclear accidents in the world's navies, and coverage of questionable tactics by the
FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...
during the administration of President
Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...
.


1990s

In 1990, CIR produced its first independent TV documentary, ''Global Dumping Ground'', reported by Bill Moyers on PBS’s '' Frontline''. The film spurred federal investigations and was rebroadcast in at least 18 nations. In 1992, CIR produced ''The Best Campaign Money Can Buy'' for ''Frontline'', an investigation of the top funders of that year's presidential campaign. It featured correspondent Robert Krulwich, and was produced by Stephen Talbot with reporters Eve Pell and Dan Noyes. The documentary won a DuPont/Columbia Journalism Award. Other notable CIR reports included an investigation of General Motors, one on the rise of conservative media figure
Rush Limbaugh Rush Hudson Limbaugh III ( ; January 12, 1951 – February 17, 2021) was an American Conservatism in the United States, conservative political commentator who was the host of ''The Rush Limbaugh Show'', which first aired in 1984 and was nati ...
and another on Congressman
Newt Gingrich Newton Leroy Gingrich (; né McPherson; born June 17, 1943) is an American politician and author who served as the List of speakers of the United States House of Representatives, 50th speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1 ...
(R-Georgia), as well as a study of education and race in an urban high school, ''School Colors.'' An investigation for the ''
New York Daily News The ''Daily News'' is an American newspaper based in Jersey City, New Jersey. It was founded in 1919 by Joseph Medill Patterson in New York City as the ''Illustrated Daily News''. It was the first U.S. daily printed in Tabloid (newspaper format ...
'' and FOX's ''Front Page'' revealed lethal dangers in a common diet drug.


2000–2021

In 2005, the center's investigations into wiretapping and data mining stimulated Congressional hearings on privacy issues. The center also exposed the forensic practices of the
FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...
that resulted in wrongful convictions and imprisonments. Robert Jon Rosenthal became executive director of the center in 2007. He had more than thirty years of experience as a journalist and editor at the ''
San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. ...
'', ''
The Philadelphia Inquirer ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'', often referred to simply as ''The Inquirer'', is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded on June 1, 1829, ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is the third-longest continuously operating da ...
'', ''
The Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe,'' also known locally as ''the Globe'', is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes. ''The Boston Globe'' is the oldest and largest daily new ...
,'' and ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
''. Rosenthal hired Mark Katches as the editorial director of the start-up news organization called California Watch in 2009. Katches would later be named editorial director for all of CIR, a position he held until 2014, when he left to become the editor and vice president of content at
The Oregonian ''The Oregonian'' is a daily newspaper based in Portland, Oregon, United States, owned by Advance Publications. It is the oldest continuously published newspaper on the West Coast of the United States, U.S. West Coast, founded as a weekly by Tho ...
, in Portland Oregon. In 2010, the center released the documentary film, ''Dirty Business''. It explored problems with the myth of clean coal and the extensive lobbying tactics of the coal industry. The organization's reports have been published in news outlets around the country and in California including NPR News, PBS Frontline, PBS NEWSHOUR, ''Los Angeles Times'', ''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...
'', ''San Francisco Chronicle'', ''
The Sacramento Bee ''The Sacramento Bee'' is a daily newspaper published in Sacramento, California, in the United States. Since its foundation in 1857, ''The Bee'' has become the largest newspaper in Sacramento, the fifth largest newspaper in California, and the 2 ...
'', ''
The Daily Beast ''The Daily Beast'' is an American news website focused on politics, media, and pop culture. Founded in 2008, the website is owned by IAC Inc. It has been characterized as a "high-end tabloid" by Noah Shachtman, the site's editor-in-chief ...
'', ''
Salon Salon may refer to: Common meanings * Beauty salon A beauty salon or beauty parlor is an establishment that provides Cosmetics, cosmetic treatments for people. Other variations of this type of business include hair salons, spas, day spas, ...
,'' ''
Al Jazeera English Al Jazeera English (AJE; , ) is a 24-hour English-language News broadcasting, news channel operating under Al Jazeera Media Network, which is funded by the government of Qatar. Al Jazeera introduced an English-language division in 2006. It is ...
,'' and American Public Media's Marketplace. In April 2012, it partnered with
Google Google LLC (, ) is an American multinational corporation and technology company focusing on online advertising, search engine technology, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, consumer electronics, and artificial ...
to host ''TechRaking'', an informal conference that brought together journalists and technologists. In September 2012, the second ''TechRaking'' brought together journalists and gamers, at IGN in San Francisco. CIR announced a partnership with
Univision Univision () is an American Spanish-language terrestrial television, free-to-air television network owned by TelevisaUnivision. It is the United States' largest provider of Spanish-language content. The network's programming is aimed at the L ...
News in 2012 to bring investigative stories to Hispanic households in the United States. CIR acquired The Bay Citizen in 2012. In 2013 The Bay Citizen and California Watch merged into the CIR brand.


California Watch and merger with The Bay Citizen

In 2009, The Center for Investigative Reporting created California Watch, a reporting team dedicated to state-focused stories. Its website launched in 2010. The site acted as a watchdog team focusing on government oversight, criminal justice, education, health, and the environment. In 2010, the
Online News Association The Online News Association (ONA), founded in 1999, is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization of digital journalists headquartered in Washington, D.C., Washington D.C., United States. The founding members first convened in December 1999 in Chicago. ...
honored California Watch with a general excellence award. In 2012, California Watch won the George Polk Award for its series on Medicare billing fraud. California Watch also was a Pulitzer finalist for its ''On Shaky Ground'' series. The series detailed flaws in state oversight of seismic safety at K-12 schools. The ''On Shaky Ground'' reporting team won a Scripps Howard National Journalism Award for Public Service. California Watch won a second Polk award in 2012, this time for Ryan Gabrielson's series about the failures of a unique police force to solve crimes committed against the developmentally disabled living in state board-and-care hospitals. The series also won an Online Journalism Award from the Online News Association. In April 2012 CIR merged with '' The Bay Citizen'', a nonprofit, investigative news group based in
San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
.


Reveal YouTube Channel

In August 2012, The Center for Investigative Reporting created "The I Files" channel on
YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
. The Knight Foundation provided grant funding to make the channel possible. The channel, renamed as Reveal, presents investigative videos produced by CIR and from a variety of news outlets, including ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'',
BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
,
Al Jazeera English Al Jazeera English (AJE; , ) is a 24-hour English-language News broadcasting, news channel operating under Al Jazeera Media Network, which is funded by the government of Qatar. Al Jazeera introduced an English-language division in 2006. It is ...
,
ABC News ABC News most commonly refers to: * ABC News (Australia), a national news service of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation * ABC News (United States), a news-gathering and broadcasting division of the American Broadcasting Company ABC News may a ...
,
National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...
, and member organizations of the Investigative News Network.


Reveal

Reveal uses multiple digital platforms to publish its reporting. Its website
revealnews.org
features data-driven digital investigations, videos and multimedia stories, and links to collaborative reporting and podcast episodes published through local media partnerships and reporting networks. CIR is also active on social media including Facebook
Twitter
an
Instagram
The flagship distribution platform is a weekly public radio program and podcast, Reveal, co-produced with Public Radio Exchange. The program airs on 588 radio stations in the Public Radio Exchange network, and the
podcast A podcast is a Radio program, program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. Typically, a podcast is an Episode, episodic series of digital audio Computer file, files that users can download to a personal device or str ...
, available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher and other major podcast platforms, is downloaded 1.3 million times a month. Reveal’s newest platform is serial podcasts. The first,
American Rehab
” on court-ordered drug rehab facilities, led to a
Government Accountability Office The United States Government Accountability Office (GAO) is an independent, nonpartisan government agency within the legislative branch that provides auditing, evaluative, and investigative services for the United States Congress. It is the s ...
investigation, numerous federal class-action lawsuits, canceled contracts, a criminal investigation, the closure of a rehab facility, Walmart shareholder activism, and multiple state investigations. “American Rehab” was the recipient of the 2020 IRE medal, the 2021 Edward R. Murrow Award, and the 2021 Gerald Loeb Award. The second serial,
Mississippi Goddam: The Ballad of Billey Joe
” is a seven-part deep dive into the problematic investigation of the 2008 death of a young Black athlete in Lucedale, Mississippi. A third serial,
After Ayotzinapa
" is a three-part investigation into the cover-up of the mass kidnapping of 43 students of the Ayotzinapa Rural Teachers’ College in Iguala, Mexico in 2014.


Awards and recognition

In 2012, CIR received the MacArthur Award for Creative and Effective Leadership. The award was a monetary prize from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. CIR received a prize of $1 million. Executive Director Robert Rosenthal explained that the money would go toward new forms of video distribution. CIR stories received numerous journalism awards, including the
Gerald Loeb Award The Gerald Loeb Awards, also referred to as the Gerald Loeb Awards for Distinguished Business and Financial Journalism, is a recognition of excellence in journalism, especially in the fields of business, finance and the economy. The award was e ...
, the Edward R. Murrow Award, the Hillman Prize, the Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Silver Baton, the George Polk Award,
Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...
, Scripps Howard Award, the
Sigma Delta Chi Award The Sigma Delta Chi Awards are presented annually by the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) (formerly Sigma Delta Chi) for excellence in journalism. The SPJ states the purpose of the award is to promote "the free flow of information vital ...
(from the
Society of Professional Journalists The Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ), formerly known as Sigma Delta Chi, is the oldest organization representing journalists in the United States. It was established on April 17, 1909, at DePauw University,2009 SPJ Annual Report, lette ...
), and numerous Investigative Reporters and Editors Awards. The '' Reveal'' radio show and podcast received a
Peabody Award The George Foster Peabody Awards (or simply Peabody Awards or the Peabodys) program, named for the American businessman and philanthropist George Foster Peabody, George Peabody, honor what are described as the most powerful, enlightening, and in ...
in 2013 for "The VA's Opiate Overload" and in 2018 for “Kept Out” and “Monumental Lies.” The film ''Heroin(e)'', on the opioid epidemic in West Virginia, was nominated for an Academy Award for best documentary short in 2018. CIR was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize five times. In 2012, "On Shaky Ground," an investigation into seismic safety in California public schools, was a finalist for the
Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prizes () are 23 annual awards given by Columbia University in New York City for achievements in the United States in "journalism, arts and letters". They were established in 1917 by the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made his fo ...
in Local Reporting. In 2013, “Broken Shield,” an investigation into California state police’s inability to solve crimes against severely disabled patients at state developmental centers, was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Public Service. In 2018, “All Work, No Pay,” a major investigation into work camps operating under the guise of drug rehabilitation facilities, was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting. In 2019, “Kept Out,” an investigation on
Redlining Redlining is a Discrimination, discriminatory practice in which financial services are withheld from neighborhoods that have significant numbers of Race (human categorization), racial and Ethnic group, ethnic minorities. Redlining has been mos ...
in the mortgage industry, was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Explanatory Reporting. CIR was a finalist in Explanatory Reporting again, in 2020, for “Amazon: Behind the Smiles,” an investigation into high worker injury rates in Amazon warehouses.


Notable investigations

* In
Mississippi Goddam
, a 2021 serial podcast, CIR found new details that shed doubt on the investigation into the 2008 death of a Black teenage football star, Billey Joe Johnson Jr. The podcast was included in ''Rolling Stones "The 10 Best Crime Podcasts of 2021" and Spotify's
Best Episodes of 2021
. * For
The Disappeared
, a 2020 investigation into migrant children kept in long-term custody by the U.S. government, Reveal sued the federal government to find evidence that the government held refugee children in custody for far longer than was previously known, including one girl who was held for more than six years even though her family was ready to take her in. All told, Reveal found, the government held nearl
1,000 migrant children
for longer than one year since fall 2014. This investigation won the IRE FOI Award and the Hillman Prize for Web Journalism. * In
American Rehab
, a 2020 serial podcast, Reveal showed how U.S. drug rehabilitation facilities built their business model on using unpaid labor from their participants. The investigation led to federal and class-action lawsuits and a Government Accountability Office investigation, and won an IRE Award, an Edward R. Murrow Award, and a Gerald Loeb Award. * Th
tell-tale hearts
(2020) exposed how unborn babies' hearts are at risk from the use of
trichloroethylene Trichloroethylene (TCE) is an organochloride with the formula C2HCl3, commonly used as an industrial metal-degreasing solvent. It is a clear, colourless, non-flammable, volatile liquid with a chloroform-like pleasant mild smell and sweet taste.
(TCE). The investigation exposed how the Trump administration bowed to chemical companies' 20-year efforts to discredit the solid science linking the dangerous chemical to fetal heart defects. As a result of CIR's reporting, the EPA's Science Advisory Committee on Chemicals called for an investigation, and New York passed a bill banning TCE. *
Behind the Smiles
is a multi-part investigation, ongoing since 2019, into the consequences of
Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology company * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek myth ...
's relentless drive for domination. It uncovered Amazon's workplace safety crisis and how the company profoundly misled the public, press and lawmakers about it. The reporting has also shown how the company failed to protect user and business data, resulting in serious data security incidents that affected customers and small businesses. The investigation won the IRE Award in Radio/Audio, the Society of American Business Editors and Writers Best in Business Award, and a Gerald Loeb Award for business journalism. It was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Explanatory Reporting. * In 2018, Reveal's
Kept Out
investigation uncovered how modern-day redlining continues to exist in communities across the country. Based on an analysis of 31 million mortgage loan records, the reporters found evidence that banks continued to discriminate against Latino and African American homeowners across the country. The investigation won the duPont Award, the Selden Ring Award for Investigative Reporting, the Sigma Delta Chi Award for Public Service in TV Journalism, the Edward R. Murrow Award for Excellence in Social Media, and a George Peabody Award. It was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Explanatory Reporting. *
The Office of Missing Children
(2018) is an acclaimed animated video that provided the unique perspective of a child and mother who were forcibly separated under President Donald Trump's “zero tolerance” policy. Built on Reveal's immigration reporting, the video is a Vimeo staff pick and won the Animayo International Film Festival Social Awareness Award, the Edward R. Murrow Award for Feature Reporting, and the National Headliner Award for Online Video. * " Heroin(e)" is a 2017 Netflix documentary that follows three women working to break the cycle of drug abuse in Huntington, West Virginia, where the overdose rate is 10 times the national average. The film was nominated for an Academy Award in the category of Best Documentary Short Subject. *
Rape on the Night Shift
(2015), a joint investigation by Reveal, Frontline, Univision, the Investigative Reporting Program at UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism and KQED, uncovered the sexual abuse of immigrant women who "clean the malls where you shop, banks where you do business, and offices where you work." The documentary won the Sigma Delta Chi Award for Online Investigative Reporting, the IRE Award for Broadcast/Video, and the Society of Professional Journalists Northern California Chapter award for Investigative Reporting in TV/video. *
The Dark Side of the Strawberry
is a 2014 series that used data, government documents, and community engagement to expose the dangerous pesticides required to grow strawberries to meet market demand. The investigation was awarded the Al Neuharth Innovation in Investigative Journalism award from the Online News Association. * In
The Man Who Killed Osama Bin Laden…Is Screwed
, published in 2013 by ''Esquire'', Phil Bronstein interviews the Navy SEAL officer about being sent to kill Al-Qaeda leader Bin Laden and how that mission reshaped his life.


References


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Center for Investigative Reporting 1977 establishments in California American journalism organizations Emeryville, California Investigative journalism Non-profit organizations based in California Organizations based in Berkeley, California Organizations established in 1977