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Russell John Carollo (March 16, 1955 – December 19, 2018) was an American Pulitzer prize-winning journalist, who worked as an investigative reporter for numerous publications, including the ''
Dayton Daily News The ''Dayton Daily News'' (''DDN'') is a daily newspaper published in Dayton, Ohio. It is owned by Cox Enterprises, Inc., a privately held global conglomerate headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, with approximately 55,000 employee ...
'', the ''
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...
'', and ''
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 ...
''. He shared the 1998
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 ...
for National Reporting, with Jeff Nesmith, at the ''Dayton Daily News'' for uncovering mismanagement in military healthcare. After publication of the series of stories, the Pentagon announced the creation of a civilian board to review malpractice cases. Carollo was a three-time finalist for the Pulitzer prize, in 1992, with Mike Casey, for his work on, "Lives on the Line," in 1996, with Carol Hernandez, Jeff Nesmith and Cheryl Reed, for his contributions on two articles, "Military Secrets" and "Prisoners on the Payroll," and in 2002 for "The Foreign Game." In 2004, Carollo and Mei-Ling Hopgood, were the recipients of the Edgar A. Poe Award, the Daniel Pearl Award for Outstanding International Investigative Reporting, the Clark Mollenhoff award, and were finalists for the
Goldsmith Prize for Investigative Reporting The Goldsmith Prize for Investigative Reporting is an award for journalists administered by the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard University. The program was launched in 1991, with the goal of exposing examples o ...
, for the series of investigative reports, "Casualties of Peace," published in 2003. The House Committee on International Relations passed of a bill to protect the safety of Peace Corps volunteers as a result of the series. His specialties included computer-assisted reporting, state public records, the military, and long-term investigative projects, and use of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), which he used to make between 75 and 150 requests and appeals each year. During his 30-year career, Carollo reported from at least seventeen countries.


Background and education

Carollo was a native of Lacombe in St. Tammany Parish in
suburban A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area. They are oftentimes where most of a metropolitan areas jobs are located with some being predominantly residential. They can either be denser or less densely populated ...
New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...
,
Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...
. His parents, Victor and Norma Carollo, were American-Italians; his father was a veteran, having served during
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. Carollo graduated from
Louisiana State University Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as Louisiana State University (LSU), is an American Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louis ...
with a bachelor's degree in journalism, and from
Southeastern Louisiana University Southeastern Louisiana University (Southeastern) is a public university in Hammond, Louisiana. It was founded in 1925 by Linus A. Sims as Hammond Junior College. Sims succeeded in getting the campus moved to north Hammond in 1928, when it beca ...
with a bachelor's degree in history. in 2009, Carollo taught journalism at
Colorado College Colorado College is a private college, private liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Founded in 1874 by Thomas Nelson Haskell in his daughter's memory, the college offers over 40 majors a ...
and
Oklahoma State University Oklahoma State University (informally Oklahoma State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Stillwater, Oklahoma, United States. The university was established in 1890 under the legislation of the Morrill Act. Originally known ...
. Carollo was a former Michigan Journalism Fellow, class of 1989–1990. During his studies, he focused on First Amendment rights and improving his writing, saying that the program had given him time to look at "really good writing" and that the fellowship program helped to give him a "more global view." Louisiana State University inducted him into its Journalism Hall of Fame in 2009.


Career

Carollo worked as a special projects reporter for the ''Sacramento Bee,'' the ''Los Angeles Times'', and beginning in 1990, the ''Dayton Daily News.''"Peace Corps: Violence against volunteers worldwide found in database checks, interviews," The IRE Journal, July/August 2004, p.8 At the time of his death, Carollo worked as a freelance journalist and consultant based out of Colorado. His specialties included computer-assisted reporting, state public records, the military, and long-term investigative projects. He was also adept at using the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), which he used to make between 75 and 150 requests and appeals a year. In a 2006 question and answer session, before the
Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press (RCFP) is a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., that provides pro bono legal services and resources to and on behalf of journalists. The organization pursues litigation, offers direct ...
, he stated that he spent at least half of his day filing, taking phone calls, and appealing FOIA requests, and examining the information he received. Carollo was a finalist for the Pulitzer prize, in 1992, with Mike Casey, for his work on, "Lives on the Line," in 1996, with Carol Hernandez, Jeff Nesmith and Cheryl Reed, for his contributions on two articles, "Military Secrets" and "Prisoners on the Payroll," and in 2002 for "The Foreign Game."


1998: Unnecessary Danger series

While working in
Spokane, Washington Spokane ( ) is the most populous city in eastern Washington and the county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It lies along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south o ...
, Carollo heard about a doctor in the military who had been accused of a crime, and subsequently, that military doctors do not need to be certified in the state where they practice. Later, Carollo and colleague Jeff Nesmith, began an investigation into the military healthcare system, concerned that a standard that low, "would result in hurting a lot of people," and "attract doctors with problems practicing in a civilian system." Carollo, discovered his concerns were not unfounded. In the fall of 1997, the ''Dayton Daily News'', published a series of seven stories, titled, "Unnecessary Danger," written by Carollo and colleague, Jeff Nesmith, reporting on flaws in the military's health care system and protections that specifically protected the military from lawsuits over medical malpractice such as the 1950 Feres doctrine and the 1943 Military Claims Act. An example of how the Feres doctrine protected a military physician was described in the last report in the series: The Feres doctrine, adopted during
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, was still being used during peacetime, to protect the military's hospitals, clinics and the people who work there. The first article in the series explained, "Congress in 1986 passed a law prohibiting the release of any information about the quality of military doctors. Many states have similar laws, intended to encourage open discussions among doctors. But the military uses the federal law to protect the same types of information state medical boards release every day." During the year-long investigation, Carollo and Nesmith found 200 doctors that were "linked to incompetence and
malpractice In the law of torts, malpractice, also known as professional negligence, is an "instance of negligence or incompetence on the part of a professional".Malpractice definition, Professionals who may become the subject of malpractice actions inc ...
," including one doctor accused of malpractice 15 times over 14-years. The doctor had been installed as the hospital commander in Germany. The full series of reports outlined how the military system failed to meet the same standards and safeguards enjoyed by the civilian population to include allowing military doctors to practice healthcare without state medical licences; these flaws sometimes led to injury and death. The first article in the series was published on October 5, 1997. The series of stories is listed below. * ''Flawed and Sometimes Deadly'', October 5, 1997. * ''The Needle went Wrong'', October 6, 1997. * ''Too Many Patients Too Little Time'', October 7, 1997. * ''Special Licences for Some Doctors'', October 8, 1997. * ''Double Standards of Care'', October 9, 1997. * ''The Man in the White Coat was no Doctor'', October 10, 1997. * ''Laws and Rulings Shield Doctors'', October 11, 1997. The project won the 1998
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 ...
. 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 ...
'', reported on April 14, 1998, that "after the series was published, the military promised Congress it would make more than a dozen changes to its medical system, and the Pentagon announced the creation of a civilian board to review malpractice cases."


2003: Casualties of Peace series

From October 26 through November 1, 2003, the ''Dayton Daily News (DDN)'' began publishing a seven-part series, "Casualties of Peace." The stories were the result of a two-year investigation into the violence, including rape and murder, against
Peace Corps The Peace Corps is an Independent agency of the U.S. government, independent agency and program of the United States government that trains and deploys volunteers to communities in partner countries around the world. It was established in Marc ...
volunteers. Once the DDN agreed they had a project, they hired Christine Willmsem and assigned her to the project, however, she left to work for ''
The Seattle Times ''The Seattle Times'' is an American daily newspaper based in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1891, ''The Seattle Times'' has the largest circulation of any newspaper in the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region. The Seattle Time ...
;'' Mei-Ling Hopgood, one of their Washington correspondents, joined Carollo on the project''.'' Carollo, already experienced in covering overseas projects, and Hopgood, having been with the ''Dayton Daily News'' since 2001, were the lead writers on the project. They traveled to 11 countries, and interviewed more than 500 people as part of their investigation, learning that many volunteers were sent to some of the most dangerous areas of different countries, with little, to no, training or supervision. Additionally, as part of their research, Carollo made over 75 FOIA request and appeals with the Peace Corps, 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 ...
, the
Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs ...
, the Department of Justice and the
Drug Enforcement Administration The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is a Federal law enforcement in the United States, United States federal law enforcement agency under the U.S. Department of Justice tasked with combating illicit Illegal drug trade, drug trafficking a ...
. Carollo and Hopgood, reviewed thousands of records, including information from the Deaths in Service Database, of Peace Corps volunteers. Met with "a wall of resistance," from the Peace Corps spokesperson, the DDN, was forced to sue for the release of Corps documents logging assaults made on their volunteers. During their interviews and research, they discovered the organization recorded assault and rape as "incidents" or "events," rather than crimes. After careful analysis of the data they had compiled, they found that volunteers were assaulted or robbed every 23 hours, and the Peace Corps was "run in a way that would seem ridiculous to any business," for example: volunteers were put in positions of teaching farmers how to grow crops, in a country they had just arrived in, when they "had never grown a flower." Two days before the DDN published the investigative series, Mei-Ling Hopgood reported that Peace Corps Director, Gaddi Vasquez, was resigning his position, effective, November 14. Following the publication of the series, the Peace Corps claimed the reporting was inaccurate, without citing any factual errors in the stories, instead, they criticized the DDN motives for reporting the stories. As a result of the reports, the House Committee on International Relations, held a hearing on March 24, resulting in the passage of a bill to better protect the safety of Peace Corps volunteers, six days later. In 2011, after the death of a Peace Corps volunteer in Africa, a bill, the Kate Puzey Volunteer Protection Act, to protect whistleblowers at the Peace Corps, and improve protections for the victims of violence and sexual assault. Carrollo and Hopgood were awarded the Edgar A. Poe award, the Daniel Pearl award, and the Clark Mollenhoff Award for investigative reporting for the series. The series of articles are archived on the ''Dayton Daily News'' website.


Awards and recognition

* 1991 Winner, John Hancock Award for Excellence in Business Writing, (with Mike Casey) ''Dayton Daily News'', "Lives on the Line," a 5-part series on worker safety in America * 1992 Finalist, Pulitzer Prize for Public Service, (with Mike Casey) ''Dayton Daily News'', "Violators: How they Stacked Up", a 5-part series on worker safety in America. * 1995 Winner, Investigative Reporters and Editors Medal, (with Jeff Nesmith and Carol Hernandez) ''Dayton Daily News'', "Military Secrets" * 1996 Finalist, Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting, (with Carol Hernandez, Jeff Nesmith and Cheryl Reed) ''Dayton Daily News'', "Military Secrets" and "Prisoners on the Payroll", investigations into handling misconduct cases in the military. * 1996 Winner, Harvard University's
Goldsmith Prize for Investigative Reporting The Goldsmith Prize for Investigative Reporting is an award for journalists administered by the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard University. The program was launched in 1991, with the goal of exposing examples o ...
, (with Carol Hernandez, Jeff Nesmith and Cheryl Reed) ''Dayton Daily News'', "Military Secrets" and "Prisoners on the Payroll" * 1998 Winner, Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting, for the seven-part series, "Unnecessary Danger," (with Jeff Nesmith) ''Dayton Daily News.'' *1999 Winner of the
Gerald R. Ford Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr. (born Leslie Lynch King Jr.; July 14, 1913December 26, 2006) was the 38th president of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, Ford assumed the p ...
Prize for Distinguished Reporting on the National Defense, in recognition of his high standards for accuracy and substance. Presented by President Ford at the thirteenth annual awards ceremony. * 2000 Outstanding Alumnus of the Year, Southeastern Louisiana University * 2002 Finalist, Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting, (with other staff members) ''Dayton Daily News'', "The Foreign Game", for investigating recruitment of foreign athletes for American schools. * 2004 Finalist, Harvard University's Goldsmith Prize, (with Mei-Ling Hopgood) ''Dayton Daily News'', "Casualties of Peace" a nearly 2 year, 7-part series, investigating abuse, assault, and rape of volunteers with the Peace Corps. * 2004 Winner of the Edgar A Poe Award, White House Correspondent's Association, (with Mei-Ling Hopgood) ''Dayton Daily News'', "Casualties of Peace" *2004 Winner of the Clark Mollenhoff Award for Investigative Reporting, (with Mei-Ling Hopgood) ''Dayton Daily News,'' "Casualties of Peace" * 2004 Daniel Pearl Award for Outstanding International Investigative Reporting, International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, (with Mei-Ling Hopgood) ''Dayton Daily News,'' "Casualties of Peace" * 2009 Manship Hall of Fame, LSU Manship School of Mass Communication


References


Further reading


"Q&A with a FOIA requester"
''Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press''
Russell Carollo profile at Business InsiderLSU Hall of Fame Inductee Russel Carollo
{{DEFAULTSORT:Carollo, Russell 1956 births 2018 deaths American male journalists Louisiana State University alumni Southeastern Louisiana University alumni Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting winners Dayton Daily News University of Michigan fellows People from St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana