Robert Earle Parry (June 24, 1949 – January 27, 2018) was an American investigative journalist. He was known for his role in covering the

Iran–Contra affair The Iran–Contra affair (; ), also referred to as the Iran–Contra scandal, the Iran Initiative, or simply Iran–Contra, was a political scandal in the United States that centered on arms trafficking to Iran between 1981 and 1986, facilitat ...

for the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...

(AP) and ''

Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly news magazine based in New York City. Founded as a weekly print magazine in 1933, it was widely distributed during the 20th century and has had many notable editors-in-chief. It is currently co-owned by Dev P ...

'', including breaking the

Psychological Operations in Guerrilla Warfare ''Psychological Operations in Guerrilla Warfare'' (') was a manual written by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) for the Nicaraguan Contras, who were involved in a civil war with the Nicaraguan government. It was revealed by the Associated Pre ...

(CIA manual provided to the Nicaraguan contras) and the CIA involvement in Contra cocaine trafficking in the U.S. scandal in 1985. He was awarded the

George Polk Award The George Polk Awards in Journalism are a series of American journalism awards presented annually by Long Island University in New York in the United States. A writer for Idea Lab, a group blog hosted on the website of PBS, described the awar ...

for National Reporting in 1984 and the I.F. Stone Medal for Journalistic Independence by Harvard's

Nieman Foundation The Nieman Foundation for Journalism is the primary journalism institution at Harvard University. History It was founded in February 1938 as the result of a $1.4 million bequest by Agnes Wahl Nieman, the widow of Lucius W. Nieman, founder of ' ...

in 2015. Parry was the editor of ' (''consortiumnews.com'') from 1995 until his death in 2018.

Life and career

Born in

Hartford, Connecticut Hartford is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The city, located in Hartford County, Connecticut, Hartford County, had a population of 121,054 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ce ...

, Parry received a

B.A. A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree ...

in English from

Colby College Colby College is a private liberal arts college in Waterville, Maine, United States. Founded in 1813 as the Maine Literary and Theological Institution, it was renamed Waterville College in 1821. The donations of Christian philanthropist Gardner ...

Waterville, Maine Waterville is a city in Kennebec County, Maine, United States, on the west bank of the Kennebec River. A college town, the city is home to Colby College, a New England Small College Athletic Conference, NESCAC college, and Thomas College. As ...

in 1971 and began his career in journalism in

Framingham, Massachusetts Framingham () is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States. Incorporated in 1700, it is located in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Middlesex County and the MetroWest subregion of the Greater Boston ...

working for his father's newspaper ''The Middlesex Daily News''. He joined the

in 1974, moving to its

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

bureau in 1977. Following the 1980 presidential election he was assigned to its Special Assignment (investigative reporting) unit, where he began working on

Central America Central America is a subregion of North America. Its political boundaries are defined as bordering Mexico to the north, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest. Central America is usually ...

.Robert Parry, realhistoryarchives.com
A talk by Robert Parry given in Santa Monica on March 28, 1993
/ref> Parry was a finalist for the 1985

Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting This Pulitzer Prize has been awarded since 1942 for a distinguished example of reporting on national affairs in the United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily ...

and received the

for National Reporting in 1984 for his work with the Associated Press on Iran-Contra, where he broke the story that the

Central Intelligence Agency The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...

had provided an assassination manual to the Nicaraguan Contras (

). In mid-1985, he wrote the first article on

Oliver North Oliver Laurence North (born October 7, 1943) is an American political commentator, television host, military historian, author, and retired United States Marine Corps lieutenant colonel. A veteran of the Vietnam War, North was a National Sec ...

's involvement in the affair and, together with

Brian Barger Brian (sometimes spelled Bryan in English) is a male given name of Irish and Breton origin, as well as a surname of Occitan origin. It is common in the English-speaking world. It is possible that the name is derived from an Old Celtic word mean ...

in late 1985, he broke the

CIA and Contras cocaine trafficking in the US A number of writers have alleged that the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) was involved in the Nicaraguan Contras' cocaine trafficking operations during the 1980s Nicaraguan civil war in efforts to finance the Contra group that ...

scandal, helping to spark Senator

John Kerry John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is an American attorney, politician, and diplomat who served as the 68th United States secretary of state from 2013 to 2017 in the Presidency of Barack Obama#Administration, administration of Barac ...

's interest in investigating Iran–Contra. The Associated Press had refused to publish the drug trafficking story, and only relented when its Spanish-language newswire service accidentally published a translation. Barger and Parry continued to press their investigation of North even as most of the media declined to follow it up, eventually publishing a story in mid-1986, based on 24 sources, which led to a Congressional committee asking questions of North. After North denied the allegations, Barger was pushed out of the Associated Press, and Parry was unable to publish any further follow-ups to the story until after Eugene Hasenfus' plane ( Corporate Air Services HPF821) was shot down in Nicaragua in October 1986. After finding out that his boss had been "conferring with

liver The liver is a major metabolic organ (anatomy), organ exclusively found in vertebrates, which performs many essential biological Function (biology), functions such as detoxification of the organism, and the Protein biosynthesis, synthesis of var ...

North on a regular basis", Parry left AP in 1987 to join ''

'', leaving the publication in 1990. In August 1990,

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

' '' Frontline'' asked Parry to work on the

1980 October Surprise theory The 1980 October Surprise theory refers to the claim that members of Ronald Reagan's presidential campaign covertly negotiated with Iranian leaders to undermine incumbent President Jimmy Carter by delaying the release of 66 American hostages d ...

, leading to Parry making several documentaries for the program, broadcast in 1991 and 1992. In 1996, ''

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, ...

'' wrote about his work on the theory, saying that "his continuing quest to unearth the facts of the alleged October Surprise has made him ''

persona non grata In diplomacy, a ' (PNG) is a foreign diplomat that is asked by the host country to be recalled to their home country. If the person is not recalled as requested, the host state may refuse to recognize the person concerned as a member of the diplo ...

'' among those who worship at the altar of conventional wisdom."Dan Kennedy, 11 June 1996, Salon.com
Parry's Thrust
() When journalist

Gary Webb Gary Stephen Webb (August 31, 1955 – December 10, 2004) was an American investigative journalist. He began his career working for newspapers in Kentucky and Ohio, winning numerous awards, and building a reputation for investigative writing. ...

published his newspaper series " Dark Alliance" in 1996 alleging that the

Reagan administration Ronald Reagan's tenure as the 40th president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 1981, and ended on January 20, 1989. Reagan, a Republican from California, took office following his landslide victory over ...

had allowed the Contras to smuggle cocaine into the US to make money for their efforts, Parry supported Webb amidst heavy criticism from the media. In 1995, Parry founded the Consortium for Independent Journalism Inc. (CIJ) as a non-profit, US-based independent news service which publishes the website ''Consortium News''.Robert Parry, 28 December 2011
A Brief Narrative of Consortiumnews
Consortiumnews.com In October 2015, Parry was awarded the I.F. Stone Medal for Journalistic Independence by Harvard's

Nieman Foundation for Journalism The Nieman Foundation for Journalism is the primary journalism institution at Harvard University. History It was founded in February 1938 as the result of a $1.4 million bequest by Agnes Wahl Nieman, the widow of Lucius W. Nieman, founder of ...

, "for his career distinguished by meticulously researched investigations, intrepid questioning, and reporting that has challenged mainstream media.". In June 2017, Parry was awarded the

Martha Gellhorn Prize for Journalism The Martha Gellhorn Prize for Journalism, named for the war correspondent, Martha Gellhorn, was established in 1999 by the Martha Gellhorn Trust. The Trust is a UK-registered charity. The award is founded on the following principles: The award ...

. Parry died on January 27, 2018, following several strokes caused by undiagnosed

pancreatic cancer Pancreatic cancer arises when cell (biology), cells in the pancreas, a glandular organ behind the stomach, begin to multiply out of control and form a Neoplasm, mass. These cancerous cells have the malignant, ability to invade other parts of ...

he had suffered from for the previous four or five years of his life."Robert Parry's Legacy and the Future of Consortiumnews"
Parry, Nat. ''Consortiumnews'', 28 January. Retrieved 4 February 2018.

Publications

Books

* ''Fooling America: How Washington Insiders Twist the Truth and Manufacture the Conventional Wisdom''. William Morrow, 1992. * ''Trick or Treason: The October Surprise Mystery''. Sheridan Square Press, 1993. . . * ''The October Surprise X-Files: The Hidden Origins of the Reagan-Bush Era''. 1996. * ''Lost History: Contras, Cocaine, The Press & Project Truth''. Media Consortium, 1999. * ''Secrecy & Privilege: Rise of the Bush Dynasty from Watergate to Iraq''. Media Consortium, 2004. * ''Neck Deep: The Disastrous Presidency of George W. Bush'', with Sam and Nat Parry. Media Consortium, 2007. * ''America's Stolen Narrative: From Washington and Madison to Nixon, Reagan and the Bushes to Obama''. 2012.

Articles

* "Iran-Contra's Untold Story." ''

Foreign Policy Foreign policy, also known as external policy, is the set of strategies and actions a State (polity), state employs in its interactions with other states, unions, and international entities. It encompasses a wide range of objectives, includ ...

'', no. 72 (Autumn 1988), pp. 3–30. . .
"Contra-Cocaine: Big Media's Big Mistakes."
''I.F. Magazine'' (July/August 1997), pp. 9–12.
US House Admits Nazi Role in Ukraine
''Consortium News'', June 12, 2015.

References

External links

*
Consortium News
'
Articles by Robert Parry at ''Consortium News'' website

Interview with Robert Parry on Lost History & Death of U.S. Journalism

Outpouring of Support Honors Robert Parry
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Parry, Robert 1949 births 2018 deaths Writers from Hartford, Connecticut Colby College alumni Journalists from Connecticut American alternative journalists American investigative journalists American online journalists Associated Press reporters Deaths from pancreatic cancer in Virginia George Polk Award recipients American political writers American male non-fiction writers