Journalists: On the Subject of Courage
Courage, as these journalists remind us, exposes itself in different guises. It can be found in the wisdom of understanding when danger finally has outweighed the risk. Or it can surface when threats to personal safety lurk but the lessons of training combine with inner strength to push fear aside and persevere. Courage can reside, too, in a journalist's isolation when editorial stands taken shake the foundation of friendship and sever long-held ties to one's community. In this issue, glimpses of such journalistic courage are offered.
From its founding in 1989 to the end of 2004, when I stepped down as its director, the nonpartisan Center for Public Integrity grew to a full-time staff of 40 people and roughly 20 paid rotating college intern researchers each year. During the center's first 15 years, more than 275 investigative reports, including 14 books, were produced. The center's findings or perspective have been covered in approximately 10,000 news stories in the United States and throughout the world. Its reports are best known for tracking political influence in Washington, D.C. and in the 50 state capitals. Utilizing dozens of researchers, writers and editors and studying thousands of pages and half a dozen types of federal and state records, a signature product has been the center's quadrennial investigative dissection of the powerful economic interests behind the major presidential candidate, "The Buying of the President," published in each presidential election year. In 1997, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) project was initiated by the center. It is the first working network of 95 preeminent reporters in 48 countries on six continents and has produced more than half a dozen reports across borders.
More information about the center, including its reports, funding and the awards its work has won, can be found at www.publicintegrity.org.
More information about the center, including its reports, funding and the awards its work has won, can be found at www.publicintegrity.org.
