Gary Webb: In his own words

To be an Authentic Journalist in 2004 is to be a soldier at war. When a hero dies in battle first we must drape the coffin, sound the slow, sad bugle song of Taps, and remember this great man who died fighting for all of us. Among the soldiers I have known in my foxhole, there were none finer, more effective in a firefight, than Gary. – Al Giordano

Director’s note: Gary Webb, the Pulitzer prize-winning reporter who broke the story of the CIA’s involvement in the importation of cocaine into the U.S., died on Friday, December 10, reportedly from self-inflicted gunshots to the head.

It was a tragic end to a brilliant, and tragic, career.

This interview was conducted as part of a video course GNN’s Stephen Marshall and I gave at the School of Authentic Journalism’s 2003 seminar in Merída and Isla de las Mujeres, Mexico. Here Webb discusses the media battle that erupted in the aftermath of his groundbreaking 1996 investigation into the CIA’s drug dealing operations during the 1980s to aid the Nicaraguan Contras.

GNN would like to express our deepest condolences to the family and friends of a man who, as much as anyone, has inspired what we do, and aspire to be, here at the Guerrilla News Network.

In memory:

Dark Alliance
Cocaine pipeline financed rebels: Evidence points to CIA knowing of high-volume drug network
Gary Webb, San Jose Mercury News, Aug. 22, 1996

Gary Webb: Do What He Did
Al Giordano, Narconews

Gary Webb: A hero of authentic journalism
Anthony Lappé, GNN

Gary Webb, RIP
No thanks to the L.A. Times
Marc Cooper, LA Weekly

Trashed by the CIA’s Claque
Gary Webb: a Great Reporter
Alexander Cockburn and Jeffery St. Clair, Counterpunch

Why They Hated Gary Webb
Alexander Cockburn and Jeffery St. Clair, Counterpunch

How Webb Saved My Ass from the FBI
Gary Webb was the Real Deal
Bill Conroy, Counterpunch

I Knew It Was the Truth and That’s What Kept Me Going
My Last Talk with Gary Webb
Richard Thieme, Counterpunch

A Giant Falls
Press accounts fail to mention his vindication by CIA Inspector General reports and congressional investigations
Michael C. Ruppert, From the Wilderness

The Pariah
“Two years ago, Gary Webb wrote a series of articles that said some bad things about the CIA. The CIA denied the charges, and every major paper in the country took the agency’s word for it. Gary was ruined. Which is a shame, because he was right.”
Charles Bowden, Esquire

Gary Webb’s recent work archive
Sacramento News and Review

Credits

Produced at the School of Authentic Journalism

Mexico, 2003

Student producers:

Ana Cernov, Andrea Daugirdas, Blanca Eekhout, Helena Klang, Zabeth Flores, Carola Mittrany, Karine Melissa Muller, Ugo Vallauri, Adriana Veloso Meireles

Directed and edited by:

Anthony Lappé & Stephen Marshall

Guerrilla News Network

Additional camera:

Ian Inaba

Music:

Joe Strummer, “Redemption Song”

Hans Zimmer, “The Thin Red Line”

Special thanks Al Giordano

Publisher, NarcoNews Bulletin

Dean, School of Authentic Journalism

Posted by anthony
Anthony Lappé is GNN's Executive Editor. He's written for The New York Times, Details, New York, Paper, The Fader and Vice, among many others. He has worked as a producer for MTV and Fuse. He is the co-author of GNN's True Lies and the producer of their Iraq doc, BattleGround.