California Watch

California Watch collaborates with USC students to tackle hunger in Golden State

Robert Rosenthal — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 14:09:59 -0700

After months of hard work, Califoria Watch and USC’s Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism will launch a multi-part series Friday on hunger in California.

Part of our collaboration model calls for working with students. This partnership with 13 graduate students at USC was by far the most ambitious student project we've done at the Center for Investigative Reporting. Keep in mind when you see the series that these students did all this while juggling a full and demanding class load. Is this getting ready for the real world or what?

The first story looks at the growing number of Californians facing challenges feeding themselves and their families, and how this problem may worsen because of the recession and state budget crisis. The second story, coming next week, examines food stamps, their usage, and how more people could benefit from their use. The third major story looks at the how much food is wasted and potential solutions. Each story is accompanied by several sidebars, including video.

USC Associate Professor Sandy Tolan managed the project and the editing and reporting effort. Marcia Parker, the project launch manager for California Watch, who is now with Patch.com worked closely with Sandy in the editing and managing of the series. It’s a first-rate body of work.

We continue to learn how to collaborate with different news organizations and university journalism programs and believe these partnerships benefit all involved – most importantly the public, who will have access to all of the stories through our Web site and a special site developed by USC. Parts of the hunger project will also be broadcast on KQED Radio, television stations and newspapers around the state.

Good luck.

California Watch is a project of the Center for Investigative Reporting and is now the largest investigative reporting team operating in the state. Visit the Web site at www.californiawatch.org for in-depth coverage of K-12 schools, higher education, money and politics, health and welfare, public safety and the environment.

Want a free iPod Touch? Wow us with your commenting skills

Sarah McHie — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 11:14:04 -0800

We have iPod Touches just lying around in unopened boxes.

When we equipped our staff with new Macs, Apple threw in a bunch of free iPods. We’ve been talking about how we could put them to good use. And we think we have an answer.

California Watch is announcing a debate championship and you could win a free iPod Touch.

Over each of the next six months, our staff will select the best comments entered on our site during the previous calendar month in response to stories, blog posts, data and other content we publish.

The selected comments will be entered into a drawing – and one lucky winner will be chosen each month. Comments posted in the month of March will be eligible for a drawing held the first week in April. Same goes for April, May, June and so on.

You don’t have to agree with our content to be eligible. You just have to be thoughtful, focused and articulate in making your argument. Comments will be judged also on clarity of thinking and persuasiveness. And we could be swayed by clever humor. The judging is totally subjective. But we all know a good comment when we see one. Oh, and you can’t be related to any of us to win – or have worked or interned here during the past five years.

Once your e-mail address gets entered into our shoebox, fishbowl or whatever we end up using, we’ll draw out a single winner. Since we no longer allow any anonymous commenting, we’ll notify the winner based on the e-mail address given to us when they registered. If it bounces back, or we don’t hear from the winner within 72 hours, we’ll draw another name.

The more terrific comments you post during a month, the more chances you’ll have of being nominated for the drawing.

Good luck.

California Watch site now features enhanced commenting

Sarah McHie — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 10:57:04 -0800

Almost immediately after launching our California Watch Web site in early January, we went to work on changes for our “Phase 2.”

The first results of that work relate to our commenting. And the changes just went live.

It is now dramatically easier to register on our site. That means instead of filling out a longer form, we now are requiring only a few simple steps before registered users can comment on our stories, blog posts and databases.

The flipside is that we have eliminated anonymous commenting. We believe this change adds greater credibility and accountability to the online discussion surrounding our work. We recognize that we might lose some comments. But we think the tradeoff is worth it.

It’s also going to be a lot easier to respond to other comments by simply hitting “reply.” Your comment will appear underneath the comment you're responding to.

Expect other refinements on our commenting area in the near future. We really want to add a rating system, allowing readers to weigh in on other comments. It’s another step we can take to encourage responsible commenting.

In the next few days we are going to announce a special contest/promotion on our site that we hope will be fun and will help elevate the debate. It will work like this: At the end of every month through this summer, our staff will choose the most reasoned, incisive comments that appear on our site. There will be no limit to the number we select. It could be one. It could be 100. It could be any number in between. Comments will be judged on clarity of thinking and persuasiveness. The authors will then be entered into a drawing to win a free iPod Touch. You don’t have to agree with our content to be entered into the drawing. You just have to be thoughtful, focused and articulate in making your argument. We think it’s a fun way to encourage a healthy debate and discussion. Watch for more details soon.

In the meantime, I hope you try out our new commenting system. What do you think about our story this weekend that detailed how state workers are walking away from their government jobs with massive vacation payouts? Or how about our story about DUI checkpoints where police are more likely to seize cars from sober, unlicensed drivers? Our staff is also generating several blog items a day on our California Watchblog, And now a better forum for discussion awaits.

Conventions tie state officials to drug makers, raise conflict concerns

Sarah McHie — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 10:21:24 -0800

Three California officials that are responsible for millions of dollars in Medi-Cal prescription drug spending are said to not be disclosing important travel perks such as free meals, flights and hotel rooms. The three officials’ travel was paid for by several nonprofit business groups that solely exist to fund conferences. These nonprofit groups are funded by drugmakers who benefit greatly from the power of these officials.

California's media in crisis

Louis Freedberg — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 15:47:55 -0800

At precisely the time California newsrooms are shrinking, the state is experiencing its worst budget and governance crisis in decades.

Come meet members of the California Watch leadership team and other media professionals this Friday at noon at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco as they consider the implications of these simultaneous realities.

Quality journalism is still being done around the state, but in a less sustained way than a decade ago. This is certainly the case nationally as a number of reports have asserted. The downsizing of the news media raises troubling questions about how Californians will be informed about what is happening in the state -- in both public and private institutions that affect their lives in fundamental ways.

I'll be moderating the panel, which will consist of Sandy Close, executive director of New America Media; Stuart Drown, executive director of the Little Hoover Commission; Mark Katches, California Watch's editorial director; Martin Reynolds, editor of the Oakland Tribune; and David Lauter, assistant managing editor/California, Los Angeles Times.

For more information, or to buy a ticket, check out this listing on the Commonwealth Club Web site.

A diary of one crazy week inside California Watch

Mark Katches — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 10:12:40 -0800

Every Monday it feels like our entire staff gets shot out of a cannon.

In the past few weeks we’ve produced a story examining an unusual, and lucrative, stimulus contract; a story detailing the alarming increase in maternal death rates in California; and a story this past weekend revealing how police at sobriety checkpoints are far more likely to seize cars from unlicensed motorists than take drunks off the road.

Sunday’s DUI checkpoint story served as a good example of our hectic, intense workflow. Here’s a day-by-day breakdown of how our collaboration with the Investigative Reporting Program at the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism, KQED Radio and other news outlets came together last week:

Monday: We started contacting news partners about the checkpoint story, first giving them a several paragraph “budget line.” It pretty closely mirrored the top of the story as written:

California police departments are increasingly turning sobriety checkpoints into profitable operations that are far more likely to seize cars from unlicensed minority motorists than catch drunken drivers on the state’s roadways.
Many of the drivers losing their cars at checkpoints are illegal immigrants, an examination by the University of California, Berkeley’s Investigative Reporting Program in collaboration with California Watch has found.
These unlicensed motorists rarely challenge the impounds, or have the cash to recover their cars.
Impounds at checkpoints in 2009 generated tens of millions of dollars in towing fees and police fines. Additionally, police officers collected checks for about more than $25 million in overtime pay for the DUI crackdowns, funded by the California Office of Traffic Safety.
In the course of its examination, The Investigative Reporting Program reviewed hundreds of pages of city financial records and police reports, and analyzed data documenting the results from checkpoints the past two years. Other findings include:
• Sobriety checkpoints frequently screen traffic within, or near, Hispanic neighborhoods.
• The seizures appear to defy a 2005 federal appellate court ruling that determined police cannot impound cars solely because the driver is unlicensed.
• Departments frequently overstaff checkpoints with officers, all earning overtime pay.

Every day in newsrooms across the country, editors and reporters try to capture the interest of their bosses with tantalizing budget lines. Our situation is unique. We pitch our work to multiple outlets at the same time. Will they want our story? And if so, how will they play it?

Robert Rosenthal, the executive director of the Center for Investigative Reporting, and Louis Freedberg, the California Watch director who oversees our distribution efforts, began drumming up interest. They sent the budget line to numerous news organizations and followed up with e-mails and phone calls.

In the meantime, our copy editor William Cooley was looking over the story. Copy editors are a rare breed. The best ones are pains in the behind. And they consider it the highest possible compliment to be labeled as such. That’s what I love about Cooley. He is a talented intern from San Jose State. But he carries himself like a veteran.

He has not shied away from asking major prize-winning veteran reporters and editors to explain their methods or their premise. He asks uncomfortable but important questions. And he’s made some outstanding catches that have saved us from potentially embarrassing moments.

Tuesday: The reporter on the project, Ryan Gabrielson, sat down to go over Cooley’s comments and final questions from Rosenthal and me. Gabrielson is a fellow at the UC Berkeley Investigative Reporting Program. He won both the Pulitzer Prize and George Polk Award in 2009.

Last summer, he was offered a fellowship at UC Berkeley under the direction of the legendary Lowell Bergman. Soon after arriving in California, he began working on the checkpoint story. Bergman and Gabrielson started talking to us about it late last year and a first draft was submitted in January. I started editing it during our “Open Newsroom” on January 21.

We went back and forth on several drafts and were feeling really good about it. But there was work to do. Cooley had thought we needed more attribution and additional context. Gabrielson and I agreed. I also asked to have his methodology reviewed, so Gabrielson sent it to Steve Doig, a Pulitzer-winning journalism professor at Arizona State University and former board member at Investigative Reporters and Editors.

In the meantime, Data analyst Agustin Armendariz and multimedia producer Lisa Pickoff-White polished a snazzy interactive map of all the cities that got federal funding for checkpoints in 2008 and 2009. They built the map with data Gabrielson had gathered during his reporting.

Wednesday: Time to cut the story. The full-length version of Gabrielson’s draft was about 4,500 words – well over 150 inches. No daily newspaper in California would likely print a story of that length. We trimmed it to about 3,800 words – an appropriate length for the California Watch Web site.

Once that was done, the hard work began. I cut the story again – this time by more than half – to about 1,800 words. At that length it could fit in the news pages of our newspaper partners.

I showed it to Gabrielson, and he didn’t have a heart attack. A good sign. Rosenthal and Freedberg continued to work the phones to find media partners and to keep editors informed about our progress.

Based on our budget line, the Sacramento Bee seemed interested. So did the Orange County Register. The Bakersfield Californian and Stockton Record soon came on board. In addition to showing our methodology to an expert in computer-assisted reporting and statistical analysis, such as Doig, Rosenthal thought we needed to write about our methodology so that readers could understand how the reporting process evolved. Gabrielson banged that out.

He also wrote the text for two data pieces that Armendariz helped put together – one focusing on overtime costs and another looking at the UC Berkeley program that helps administer DUI checkpoint money.

Working with Gabrielson was a pleasure. It's comforting to an editor when a reporter can quickly answer every question you toss their way. Gabrielson had great command of the subject, and he worked quickly and efficiently to turn around all of our requests. By midday, we were ready to distribute both versions of the story.

Even though we didn't expect any newsroom to publish the full-length story, we made it available in case editors saw things in the longer draft that they wanted in the condensed version. Once the drafts are dispatched to news outlets, we await questions from editors. Because we're almost always dealing with multiple partners, we end up fielding lots of inquiries from copy editors, project editors and managing editors as the week progresses.

When we launched California Watch last fall, I worried that it might be a little overwhelming to have so many layers of editors. We all know what it’s like to have too many cooks trying to season the soup. So far, knock on wood, it has actually worked. And we saw a perfect example of that just a few hours later. Sacramento Bee Projects Editor Amy Pyle suggested tweaking the first paragraph of our story. It made the top better and tighter. We made a couple of other adjustments and added a new fourth paragraph.

This was the new start (You can see how it differs slightly from the budget line):
Sobriety checkpoints in California are increasingly turning into profitable operations for local police departments that are far more likely to seize cars from unlicensed motorists than catch drunken drivers.

And this was the added fourth paragraph:
In dozens of interviews over the past three months, law enforcement officials and tow truck operators say that vehicles are predominantly taken from minority motorists – often illegal immigrants.

Doig, the Arizona State professor, got back to us and said he was comfortable with our methods. In the meantime, Gabrielson was going through an entirely different editing process with the New York Times. Bergman, who had won a Pulitzer Prize working with the Times, had gotten the newspaper's new Bay Area edition and PBS NewsHour interested months ago.

Gabrielson tailored a tightly focused draft for the Times that contained mostly information about Bay Area checkpoints. And he was going back and forth with editors there about changes to the story. He also prepped for a KQED Radio interview with Michael Montgomery and reviewed final video.

Thursday: La Opinion had begun to translate the story into Spanish. Web production assistant Sarah McHie made sure all our articles and pieces were coming together for our Web site. Pickoff-White produced a cool graphic showing the cities with the highest impound rates. She did this even though she had been laid up in a hospital for two days over the weekend. Now she had been ordered by her doctors to rest at home because she had what appeared to be swine flu. But a little H1N1 wasn't going to stop her.

Gabrielson, meanwhile, headed over to KQED Radio in the morning to tape his radio interview. Later, he watched the NewsHour piece one last time before it got shipped to New York. He also went over the story line-by-line with the New York Times to make more changes to their draft.

Friday: We prepared a Word document with final fixes – just two revised paragraphs that added context in response to a question from Orange County Register Investigative Editor Chris Knap and another from the Sacramento Bee. Through this editing process, the story kept getting stronger.

Some news organizations were still weighing whether to run it. The Modesto Bee told us they would publish the story the following week. The Fresno Bee said they also would like to run it later. Freedberg got back the translated version from La Opinion.

One more time, we all looked over the final pieces that McHie had loaded into our content management system. We rewrote one headline on a graphic, but otherwise everything looked ready. Just as we were leaving the office, we received word that three more Southern California newspapers were interested.

Saturday: Logging in from home, Pickoff-White made sure everything went live at the right time. We posted the stories, charts, graphics and interactive map around 6 p.m.

Our California Watch News Alert went out shortly after, and we started sending out our “tweets” announcing the story. We also posted a link on Facebook. As a small startup, these social media tools are especially important to help spread the word about our work.

The New York Times posted their version early Saturday evening. In the meantime, around the state, several newspaper staffs were getting ready to put the story on their front pages for Sunday. KQED Radio would broadcast an interview with Gabrielson on Monday and the PBS NewsHour would devote a segment to the story Monday night.

Sunday: Finally, an opportunity to exhale – but not all of us. Sarah Terry-Cobo, a freelance journalist who also helps with distribution, scoured the Web for newspaper front pages for our own archives. We also kept pushing the story on Twitter and Facebook. Huffington Post picked up the story, driving thousands of new readers to our site. By the time the day was over, we had shattered our record for the most traffic on californiawatch.org in a single day.

Monday: The cannon goes off again.

Car seizures at DUI checkpoints prove profitable for cities, raise legal questions

Sarah McHie — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 17:04:27 -0800

Law enforcement agencies are more likely to seize cars from sober, unlicensed drivers than take drunks off the road at the state's sobriety checkpoints, investigation finds.

Adapting to the news cycle

Louis Freedberg — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 10:42:37 -0800

As California Watch ramps up distribution of its work, we are experimenting with different ways to reach the California public.

Our goal is to distribute our stories as widely as possible, in as many media formats as possible – in the hope that we will be able to spark a conversation on critically important issues affecting many Californians.

Typically, we like to give media outlets interested in running a story a heads up of a week or two – or more – so they will have an opportunity to supplement our reports with their own local reporting. They may even collaborate with us in the reporting.

This week, however, we had to shorten our distribution time frame considerably on a story Nathanael Johnson had been working on for weeks – the near tripling of maternal mortality rates in California over the past decade.

Nathanael discovered that California's Department of Public Health had been sitting on a report written in 2008 detailing this trend.

On January 26, a nonprofit health organization published an alert pointing to similar distressing trends nationwide. The alert was beginning to attract press attention. A story could break at any time that would take the wind out of all the work Nathanael had already done. So we felt that we should release our story quickly to provide a strong California perspective on a breaking national story.

We knew we could put the story on our Web site and hope that it would go "viral." We considered that as an option but decided even with late notice, we would reach out to other news organizations.

Imagine trying to coordinate publication of a major story with a dozen news outlets, encompassing print, broadcast and online media. With just a day's notice, several media partners responded rapidly, and ran the story on their front pages, including the San Francisco Chronicle, Sacramento Bee, Bakersfield Californian, Santa Rosa Press Democrat and Orange County Register.

Michael Montgomery, who works jointly for California Watch and KQED, prepared a report for KQED's the California Report, which aired on 28 public radio stations around the state. KGO-TV in San Francisco aired a report on its 11 p.m. newscast. New America Media distributed the story to ethnic media outlets. The issue was the subject of a one-hour discussion on KQED's Forum, hosted by Michael Krasny. Alternet also carried the story.

This heartbreaking issue is likely to get even wider attention in the days ahead, as it should. While we would far prefer to give our media partners adequate time to localize our stories, there will be times that we will have to throw out preconceived timetables, and we will have no choice but to move rapidly to get a story into circulation. Being nimble is the name of today's game.

More women dying from pregnancy complications; state holds on to report

Sarah McHie — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 10:17:07 -0800

Investigators confirm the most significant spike in pregnancy-related deaths since the 1930s.

Federal stimulus program pours $54 million into Wine Train project

Sarah McHie — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 10:54:47 -0800

NAPA – The corporate shareholders live in tribal villages in the outback of western Alaska.

The CEO is in South Carolina, where his prior multimillion-dollar venture – a dot-com for sail boaters – collapsed in bankruptcy.

But the main action today is in Napa, where, without competitive bidding, this unusual construction company won a $54 million federal contract to build a new railroad bridge and other structures for the famed Napa Valley Wine Train tourist attraction.

This is the world of Anchorage-based Suulutaaq Inc. Because the company was founded by Alaska natives, it enjoys special access to federal contracts.

That’s how it obtained one of the biggest federal stimulus contracts in California – a key segment of a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ flood-control project on the Napa River.

Army and Napa city officials say they’re pleased with Suulutaaq’s work on what they describe as an environmentally friendly project to curtail devastating winter flooding. It’s an ideal stimulus project, says Napa Mayor Jill Techel: “shovel-ready, green, and it provides jobs.”

But in December, U.S. Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Tom Coburn, R-Okla., issued a report listing the Wine Train among 100 stimulus projects that they derided as “silly and shortsighted” and a waste of money.

The lawmakers also suggested the project wasn’t doing much for the economy. According to a report submitted by Suulutaaq late last year, the $54 million project had so far created 12 jobs. Officials involved with the project say that more recently roughly 40 workers have been on the scene, and they hope the project will ultimately create up to 200 jobs.

A Walnut Creek construction executive whose firm built a prior phase of the flood-control project said the government likely overspent by millions when it negotiated a contract with Suulutaaq rather than seeking competitive bids.

Meanwhile, investors aggrieved over the bankruptcy of the South Carolina dot-com called Sailnet said they were surprised to learn of former CEO Samuel Boyle’s new job as CEO of Suulutaaq. Boyle did not mention having construction experience or ties to Alaska tribes, they told California Watch. Some said Boyle’s involvement in Suulutaaq boded ill for the Alaska firm.

“My comment to anybody connected to this thing – if Sam Boyle is involved, watch out,” said Arizona venture capitalist Kent Mueller, who said he lost more than $1 million in Sailnet. Based on that experience, “I would not invest a nickel with this guy,” Mueller said.

Suulutaaq officials declined to be interviewed. In response to written questions, the company issued a statement saying that taxpayers were getting a “fair and reasonable” price on the project. The statement said that although Boyle lacked “specific construction experience,” he had “invaluable business experience” to make the Napa project a success.

But the company declined to answer most questions about the project, saying the information was confidential. It rebuffed a query about whether Suulutaaq employed lobbyists by asserting that the question “has potential undertones of a race-based presumption.”

Boyle also declined to be interviewed. In a statement, he wrote that the dot-com’s bankruptcy was “a tragedy” for which he was not responsible because he had left the company by the time it occurred.

Emerging players

Suulutaaq is one of dozens of Alaska Native corporations that have emerged as players in federal contracting via measures crafted in the 1980s and 1990s by former U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, a powerful lawmaker whose career ended with a contracting scandal.

For decades, the U.S. Small Business Administration has run a preferential contracting program to aid disadvantaged businesses. Qualifying firms can get federal contracts worth up to $5.5 million by negotiation, rather than competitive bidding.

The Stevens measures gave corporations that were set up by Alaska Natives special access to the program – with no cap on the size of contracts they can obtain. The share of federal contracts going toward Alaska Native corporations has grown rapidly. It was $508 million in 2000 and $5.2 billion in 2008, records show.

Advocates say the program has provided crucial economic development for impoverished Alaskan tribes. It’s a way of redressing centuries of grievous wrongs against them, they say.

But critics have complained that the no-bid contracts provide relatively few jobs and little investment income to the tribes while costing taxpayers a fortune.

“Alaska Native corporations don’t have to prove that they’re socially or economically disadvantaged,” U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., said at a 2009 hearing. “They don’t have to be small businesses. And they can receive no-bid contracts worth billions of dollars.”

The companies employ few Alaska natives and “rely heavily on non-native managers,” McCaskill claimed. Thus the firms create relatively few jobs for the people they are supposed to benefit, she argued.

McCaskill also contended that some of the companies “may also be passing through work to their subcontractors.” In those cases, the companies were collecting a profit simply because they had special access to federal contracts, not because they were performing actual work, she said.

McCaskill proposed putting a cap on the no-bid contracts, but the measure stalled in the face of intense lobbying by tribal corporations.

West of Anchorage

Suulutaaq is a subsidiary of the Kuskokwim Corp., also called TKC, which was formed in 1977 by Yupik Eskimos and Athabaskan Indians on the remote Kuskokwim River, 350 miles west of Anchorage.

Suulutaaq is a Yupik word for gold, and the company was initially formed to develop a nearby goldfield.

Hoping to ease “poverty in the isolated and rural villages of its region,” the company said it began competing for federal contracts. Suulutaaq wouldn’t describe how that came about. Experts say tribal corporations often get into federal contracting by hiring consultants in the lower 48 states who have connections with contracting officers.

Many federal agencies find it simpler and faster to negotiate a contract with a single vendor rather than put a contract out to bid. But sole-source contracts are generally more costly to taxpayers, experts say.

In April 2006, Suulutaaq negotiated a federal contract: $68,000 to replace a sewage pump at McClellan Air Force Base near Sacramento.

Four months later, it obtained a $14.1 million, no-bid contract to rebuild meat lockers in Honolulu for the U.S. Defense Commissary Agency, which runs supermarkets on military bases. Since then, the tribal company has built a headquarters building for the Department of Homeland Security in Arizona and repaired meat lockers on military bases in California, Nevada and Japan.

Before it won the job in 2008, Suulutaaq had negotiated about $45 million in federal contracts, records show. Most of the projects were outside Alaska.

Two other TKC subsidiaries have also sought federal contracts. In 2007 and 2008, API Inc. won a series of no-bid contracts for army uniforms that totaled $94.7 million. The uniforms were sewn at plants in Puerto Rico, records show.

In 2007, a subsidiary called TKC Aerospace, with an office on Daniel Island, S.C., began obtaining no-bid contracts from the Air Force. Its CEO was Boyle, the former CEO of Sailnet.

In his statement to California Watch, Boyle described himself as a former consultant for government agencies, and said he lived in Alaska for four years in the early 1980s. In a handout for potential dot-com investors, Boyle said he was a marketing expert with a background in Air Force logistics. He told investors he began selling sailing gear on the Internet when he lived in Detroit in the 1990s, and moved the business to South Carolina to be near the sea.

Under Boyle, Sailnet burned through more than $13 million in venture capital, company documents show, but it never made a profit. Boyle was terminated in 2004, according to a former director and published reports.

The company went bankrupt the following year. Investor Larry French said he thought Boyle had gone on to run another sailing dot-com.

“He was a good talker, but a lousy businessman,” French said. “This is the first time I have heard about him and Alaska.”

In his statement, Boyle said hundreds of start-ups failed when the dot-com bubble burst, with many “burning through millions more in venture capital than Sailnet ultimately did.” After leaving Sailnet, Boyle wrote that he was hired as a consultant at TKC Aerospace and in 2005 became CEO.

In all, TKC Aerospace has obtained $117 million in contracts. In 2009, the U.S. Department of State paid the company $9 million to retrofit light-wing aircraft for use in the war in Afghanistan.

By then, Boyle also was working as the CEO of Suulutaaq.

A history of flooding

For decades, the Napa River has been prone to disastrous flooding. In the 1980s, the corps of engineers proposed forcing the river into a concrete channel to control floods, but the idea met local resistance.

Then, in 1998, environmentalists proposed what they called a “living river” project to manage floods. Floodwater would be absorbed and diverted through a system of wetlands and a bypass channel. Napa County voters agreed to tax themselves $6 million per year for 20 years to help pay for the project.

The rest is being paid with federal funds. The total price has ballooned from $250 million to more than $400 million.

The price tag might have been significantly lower but for the Wine Train, a private rail line established by the late Vincent DeDomenico, the wealthy creator of Rice-A-Roni pasta.

Sixteen times each week, according to the Wine Train’s Web site, the train transports tourists from Napa to St. Helena aboard restored dining cars. A champagne dinner on the Vista Dome car costs $129 per person. About 125,000 people ride the train each year.

The train’s rail bridge in downtown Napa was too narrow for the wider river channel proposed, so it’s being replaced. A new floodwall will also be built to protect the train’s Napa station. Tracks are being relocated as well.

The added expense of accommodating the Wine Train was politically necessary, said Chris Malan, manager of the Living Rivers Council environmental group and a proponent of the tax measure. Without the support of the politically influential DeDomenico, the tax measure would never have passed, she said.

“He came out right from the beginning, saying, ‘If you do not take care of me, I will campaign against you,’” she recalled.

The corps of engineers solicited bids for the early phases of the project. In 2005, a Walnut Creek engineering firm, R&L Brosamer Inc., won a $25 million contract to build floodwalls and a promenade in Napa. Brosamer’s work was honored by the American Public Works Association as Northern California “project of the year.”

President Robert G. Brosamer planned to bid on the job as well. But in 2008, he said he learned that no bids were being sought. The project “was a done deal with an ANC,” as he put it, using contractors’ jargon for an Alaska Native corporation.

“It was very frustrating,” he said. “Particularly because the job we did was a tough thing, and the community loved us – and then we didn’t even get a shot.”

In September 2008 the corps of engineers awarded a $6.2 million contract to Suulutaaq to begin work on the Wine Train segment. The flood control project was already years behind schedule, said Bert Brown, the corps’ project manager.

“One of the mechanisms to expedite (a project) is to use qualified firms and go to them and negotiate a price,” he said.

Brown, who said he was not yet involved in the project, said he doesn’t know who contacted Suulutaaq on behalf of the corps of engineers.

A corps official said that someone on the project design team had recommended the company. But this official, who spoke only on condition of anonymity, said that no one could recall who made the recommendation. California Watch sought documents on this point via the Freedom of Information Act, but the corps said the information was exempt from disclosure.

A few months after Suulutaaq got its contract, the federal stimulus program was announced. The corps recommended the project, hoping to further speed its completion. With the support of U.S. Rep. Mike Thompson, D-Napa, $54 million in stimulus funds also went to Suulutaaq. That puts the company in the top 10 of largest stimulus contract recipients in California, records show.

Brosamer, the Walnut Creek contractor, said the public was paying a premium for the project, saying, “It would have been a hell of a lot cheaper if they had put it out to bid.”

But the quality of the construction is first rate, Brosamer said, because Suulutaaq subcontracted much of the job to the giant Peter W. Kiewit & Co. engineering firm, which is also a contractor on the Bay Bridge.

“The reality is, Suulutaaq isn’t doing much,” Brosamer said, “They’ve got some staff on the job, and they’re running some subs, but Kiewit is doing the work.”

Federal records show that Suulutaaq is paying Kiewit $28.1 million – 53 percent of the total stimulus contract. Suulutaaq is keeping about $20.4 million, or 38 percent of the total. The rest, about $4.7 million, goes to other subcontractors, all from the lower 48 states.

In its statement, Suulutaaq said the company was complying with federal law regarding hiring subcontractors.

“Obviously, there cannot be any sort of guaranteed profit” built into the contract, the statement said.

The company said Boyle was a “transitional” CEO, and would soon be replaced by an Alaska native CEO.

California Watch reporter Agustin Armendariz contributed to this report.

Throwing out the old rule books and starting fresh

Mark Katches — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 10:52:10 -0800

We really had no institutional baggage to overcome when we built our California Watch team from scratch. No voices telling us, “You can’t do that.” Or, “That’s not the way we do it here.” We weren’t weighted down by the kind of intractable culture that has made it hard for lots of newsrooms across America to adjust and adapt quickly enough to a fast-changing world.

We have pretty much thrown out the old rule books. Here editors will write and report and – gasp – reporters will edit. And even crazier than that: investigative journalists are blogging – a ton. Our hard-working staff has generated close to 100 blog posts in a little more than three weeks, on top of some kick-ass stories, terrific multimedia and nearly two dozen searchable databases. If you missed it, be sure to check out the video by Mark S. Luckie about our team and mission.

In our first few months of operation, the staff of California Watch has begun to mold its own way of doing things – one that stresses innovation, ideas, and a can-do spirit. We will try new things, and we will occasionally miss the mark, but you can’t move forward without throwing out antiquated, obsolete rules and challenging the way journalists have operated. It’s one of the endearing things in our little newsroom that makes this an absolutely thrilling place to be.

Open Newsroom: Bringing our team to a WiFi spot near you

Mark Katches — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 12:58:40 -0800

If you're sipping your mocha at a coffee shop somewhere in California on Thursday, keep an ear out for the furious tapping on the keyboard. It could be one of us blogging or tweeting, building multimedia packages or pounding out the next big story.

Members of the California Watch and Center for Investigative Reporting staffs will be fanning out around the state and working in coffee shops with WiFi access on Jan. 21 as part of our first "Open Newsroom."

Here's how the idea came about: For most of this week, our operations are being disrupted by an office move. We’re packing up and transporting the whole shebang from our existing location on Newbury Street to a beautifully remodeled landmark building on Center Street in downtown Berkeley. Our Internet connection went down Friday at our old location, and we don't have a place to sit in the new space. If you're trying to call right now, our phones are unattended, if they're plugged in at all. After the holiday today, we're mostly going to be working from home until Jan. 25 when the doors open at our new digs.

We figured we should turn this temporary inconvenience into an opportunity. So we decided to set up shop on Thursday at various WiFi hotspots.

The Open Newsroom concept is part of a goal to connect with readers and get out of the office. We’re hoping it will be a regular part of what we do. On Thursday, please stop by to say hello. We're looking forward to meeting you. And if you have any great story tips, we'll be there to listen.

The locations and hours to find us are on the map below.

The next phase of our Web site is already in the works

Mark Katches — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 10:29:16 -0800

We’ve gotten lots of feedback on our new California Watch site. People are commenting on the clean look and applauding the simple organization. Several readers have complemented us for the array of searchable databases on our Data Center.

I’ve also gotten some really great feedback about the way we’re making our staff more accessible to readers. Carrie Brown-Smith, a University of Memphis journalism professor, commended us for our bio pages, which include each staffer’s list of coverage priorities and some details about what they are working on – even the stories, journals or Web sites they’re reading.

We felt strongly that our reporters, multimedia producers and editors should let their personalities shine through on these pages and that it might help lift the veil on who we are and what we do.

“I just think that is incredibly smart and utilizes the research on credibility as well,” Brown-Smith wrote in an e-mail to me.

We’ve implemented other subtle innovations – including the way our reporters and a couple of other acclaimed investigative journalists have helped organize our Resources pages. Our resources are organized by topic. They serve as a guide for civic-minded citizens, students, bloggers and young journalists to conduct their own basic investigative reporting.

And we’ve also broken the traditional mold of story crediting by adding the names of our editors who work on each of our major stories. (One reader "tweeted" that it was her favorite thing about our new site.) We think it’s a way to increase accountability and credibility – and also to give props to the traditionally nameless and faceless journalists who partner with our reporters and multimedia producers on stories.

Since our site went live on Jan. 2, we've heard excellent criticisms as well. Some have worried that we’re allowing anonymous commenting, which can encourage the lunatics to dominate discussion boards (although that, thankfully, hasn't happened here). Others have expressed hope that we would allow some type of rating system of comments as a way to encourage responsible commenting. We couldn’t agree more, and we want to make this a top priority to add soon. We hoped to tackle that before our launch, but we set it aside. Too many other things needed to get done first.

We’ve also had readers tell us it's way too difficult to register to comment and to e-mail our staff. We agree. Our site was set up so that you have to be logged in as a registered user to connect with our reporting, editing and multimedia teams. We’re going to try to figure out a way to break down those barriers during the next phase of our site's development. And we're not wasting any time. We're planning to start moving ahead with a slate of enhancements and refinements in the coming weeks.

So if you would like to see changes on our site, now is a perfect time to share your thoughts.

California's top greenhouse gas polluters

Sarah McHie — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 17:03:37 -0800

The top 100 carbon dioxide-producing facilities in California generated 101,890,944 metric tons of CO2 in 2007, according to data recently released by the California Air Resources Board. We¹ve mapped that data to show where the 100 largest polluters are located. Power plants and oil refineries appear to be the largest culprits.

DISCLAIMER FROM AIR RESOURCES BOARD: This is the first year of reporting, and these numbers are self-reported and have not been verified. The air resources board has accredited the first batch of third-party verifiers and we will begin that process in 2010. Thus, these numbers are subject to change and could contain errors.The measurements reported here are CO2E, "carbon dioxide equivalent," as some greenhouse gas emissions might be other gases, like methane, which have different "global warming potentials." Almost all emissions reported are CO2.

CO2 conversions are from the EPA Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies Calculator.

Business group loses ‘green’ members in global-warming fight

Sarah McHie — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 13:32:09 -0800

An organization representing some of California’s biggest carbon polluters is working to alter the state’s global-warming law, while claiming to represent several “green” environmental companies that have since left the coalition after learning of its recent actions. >> Read the full story on California Watch.

Stimulus funds aiding companies fined for pollution, accused of fraud

Sarah McHie — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 12:47:22 -0800

Large corporations working in California have reaped tens of millions of dollars in new federal stimulus funds, despite previous pollution violations, criminal probes, and allegations of fraud, a California Watch investigation has found.

Multimedia takes investigative reporting to the next level

Mark S. Luckie — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 09:52:16 -0800

In my first job as a crime and legal affairs reporter for the Daytona Beach News-Journal, I spent many days searching through dusty records in courtrooms, police headquarters and the newsroom's library to create extensive news reports based on statistics and data. I hadn't yet heard of "multimedia journalism" and even though I was computer savvy, I didn't know how computers could be used to elevate my work. Fast forward a few years later and I am combining my love of online technology and software with my passion for hardcore news reporting.

There are many ways for investigative reporters to use multimedia and digital journalism tools to give the reader a better understanding of the story at hand. The web serves as an all-encompassing platform for publishing interactive maps, multimedia stories built in Flash or other software, video, audio and other forms of media besides text.

As this blog post from Journalism.co.uk about my transition to California Watch points out, news audiences digest stories in several different ways. If investigative reporters tell a single story using various media or use visual media to quickly convey information, the more readers and viewers the story is likely to attract.

My current position at California Watch allows me to help shape investigative reports using several forms of media and visualizations. The responsibility, however, requires the judgment to know which media is appropriate for a particular story. For example, interactive maps are great, but they aren't appropriate for every story.

At the very least, investigative reporters should be knowledgeable about the tools that can help elevate their reporting with web producers or other newsroom staff to create stories that have the greatest impact possible.

Expect to see a California Watch investigative story just about every week

Mark Katches — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 11:16:19 -0800

We’ve published more than 80 blog posts on our two blogs, and our new site isn’t even two weeks old. But one question I’ve been asked lately is how often we will be publishing big investigative stories on our site – stories that will also be distributed to news outlets throughout California.

Nailing down publication dates can be tricky. Years of managing investigative projects has taught me how wildly unpredictable these complex, high-stakes stories can be.

But our sincere hope is to have at least one strong enterprise or investigative story each week. We’ve hit that mark so far this month. Reporter Chase Davis analyzed contribution data for a story about local party committees that funnel campaign money to individual candidates in a way that sidesteps state campaign finance laws. It ran January 3 in the San Francisco Chronicle, the Sacramento Bee, the Modesto Bee, the Stockton Record, the Ventura County Star, the Voice of San Diego and the Bakersfield Californian. Last weekend, we distributed a story by freelancer and former Center for Investigative Reporting staffer Will Evans about stimulus grants going to large corporations despite records as environmental polluters and other problems. The Chronicle and Ventura County Star also took that story, as did the San Diego Union Tribune, the Orange County Register, the Los Angeles Daily News and La Opinion, which translated the story into Spanish. We have an exciting environmental-themed story ready for this weekend. We're working now to shore up our distribution partners for that piece. We should have another strong story the week after that.

And the week after that.

Our philosophy is to distribute and publish stories when they are ready, and not to worry about trying so hard to hit a once-a-week target. Some stories will need more time to cook. When we collaborate with news partners on joint reporting projects, it adds a whole new set of moving parts to the machine. And we have to coordinate with our partners to make sure the machine is both well-oiled and moving in the right direction. It's not as easy as it might look.

But when I scan the list of our upcoming stories, I see a lot of machines humming along, nearing the end of the tunnel. So I feel pretty confident we'll be releasing a regular dose of the big story.

That’s on top of the aggressive daily blogging. Our target is to generate eight to 10 new blog posts each day. We'll be using the blog to break news. (We posted details and quotes from the governor's press conference on the budget last week before he had left the podium.) We'll also be updating readers on the status of our investigations, offering up nuggets from our notebooks and providing more insights on our two blogs – the California WatchBlog and the Inside the Newsroom blog.

Additionally, we’ll be adding searchable databases in our Data Center – many of them connected to stories we’re producing along our priority topic areas: money and politics, K-12 schools, higher education, health and welfare, public safety and the environment.

It all adds up to a site that will be active – a dynamic place we hope readers will want to visit multiple times a day.

Enjoying a cup of coffee and seven Sunday morning papers

Mark Katches — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 00:00:00 -0800

One of my favorite things to do each morning is to go through the nonprofit Newseum site to check out front pages around the world. It’s especially fun to do when so many of the California papers carry our work. The combined daily circulation of newspapers that ran California Watch content today was in the neighborhood of 1.2 million.

We had two stories out there today. One by Will Evans about stimulus funds going to environmental polluters and other companies with legal woes ran on the front pages of the San Francisco Chronicle, the Orange County Register, the San Diego Union Tribune, Monterey Herald, Los Angeles Daily News and La Opinion.

Here are links to PDF versions of the front pages of the papers that carried our story today:

Los Angeles Daily News
La Opinion
San Diego Union Tribune
Orange County Register
San Francisco Chronicle
Monterey Herald

Meanwhile, the Stockton Record and Bakersfield Californian ran versions of our story released last week about party central committees routinely funneling campaign cash to candidates around the state in a way that sidesteps individual candidate contribution limits.

Check out the PDFs below:

Stockton Record
Bakersfield Californian

No better way to enjoy the morning coffee.

California Watch is a project of the Center for Investigative Reporting and is now the largest investigative reporting team operating in the state. Visit the Web site for in-depth coverage of K-12 schools, higher education, money and politics, health and welfare, public safety and the environment.

California Watch site tour: React and Act

Mark Katches — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 12:15:53 -0800

The best watchdog journalism exposes problems. But it can be frustrating for readers when investigative stories leave them feeling hopeless – like nothing can be done about a bad situation.

At California Watch, we hope that our stories will be the starting point – a catalyst for discussion debate and change. We want to facilitate that to the extent that we can by providing a venue or forum about the key topics we’re writing about. We want readers to feel engaged and empowered to be part of the solution. We’re going to try to make that as easy as possible with our React and Act features that will accompany most of our stories. You can find the feature on the right rail of our story pages.

We plan to give you the names, numbers and e-mail addresses of major stakeholders who can make a difference. We used React and Act on our story about stimulus funding going to companies with histories of environmental pollution and other legal woes. We also used React and Act for our story about party central committees sidestepping campaign limits. Check out the way we did it. I think it's pretty cool.

We’ll also be hosting chats with key players – a sort of "virtual round table" discussion set around important issues. After the chats are completed, I'd like our chat moderators to review the chat transcripts and develop talking points from those conversations that policy leaders can use as a roadmap for reform. We’ll also make it easy for you to track the changes that come as a result of our investigative reporting. And we’ll be exploring other ways to help readers engage.

As always, let us know how we’re doing. We’re going to count on feedback from our readers to make refinements and improvements.

The scoop on how California Watch finds its news partners

Mark Katches — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 12:10:54 -0800

More than 40 media partners have carried California Watch stories – a pretty extraordinary number given that we haven’t been around that long. You can see the names of all our partners if you scroll about half way down our About page.

Here’s the scoop on how we partner up with news organizations. First we look for geographic symmetry. If a story has a strong tie to say, Ventura County, it’s a no brainer for us to approach the Ventura County Star. That's just one example. Newsroom leaders up and down the state have told us they are especially interested in our content provided the stories have a strong local hook.

We also know that stories about statewide politics will appeal to the Sacramento Bee and the San Francisco Chronicle. Other newsrooms have told us they like these stories too, but without a local connection, they probably won’t bite.

Some newsroom leaders have told us that environment and higher education top their lists of topics of interest. Others say public safety and health and welfare coverage matter most.

That works for us. We have plans to cover all of these topics.

Our goal is to reach as broad an audience as we can. But we also understand that individual stories we produce will not appeal to every news outlet in the state. We can live with that. The trick is to find the news outlets that do want the work we’re trying to place. We have a lot of balls in the air and couldn’t be happier with the response we’re receiving from newspapers, TV and radio and online outlets.

Collaboration can take many forms. In some cases, we will partner early with news organizations to tailor our project to regional interests. With the largest investigative team in California on our staff, more often we hope to develop stories that are ready to publish.We are also working in unique ways to partner with ethnic media outlets. So far, our stories have been translated into four languages.

In most ways, my job is no different than the last two places I worked and where I built investigative teams. I manage and edit projects and prepare them for publication. But where things change radically is toward the end of the process. That can mean editing multiple versions of a story and then working with my boss Robert Rosenthal and colleague Louis Freedberg to distribute the stories and find partners who want our work. Each stage of the process has its thrills and its frustrations. But it’s a new world we’ve embraced here at California Watch – a new world with enormous possibilities.

Coming Saturday night: another California Watch barnburner

Mark Katches — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 04:04:19 -0800

Freelance reporter and Center for Investigative Reporting veteran Will Evans came on board with California Watch in October to look specifically for a focused, compelling story having to do with the awarding of stimulus grants and contracts in California.

And he found a barnburner.

Evans combed through a database of stimulus funding in California, looking specifically at some of the biggest recipients. He also reviewed public records and other databases to find details about stimulus recipients that may surprise you.

Stay tuned. We’ll be posting our story on this site Saturday night by 10 p.m. Several newspapers – including the San Francisco Chronicle, San Diego Union Tribune, Los Angeles Daily News, Ventura County Star, the Orange County Register and La Opinion – are planning to run our story Sunday.

And if you want to check out our database on stimulus recipients to find your own nuggets, have at it. We have $18.5 billion in stimulus spending on our Data Center site, and we’ll be updating it every quarter.

No let up in the pace at California Watch

Robert Rosenthal — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 17:00:22 -0800

We're airborne, and this is a jamming little office here at California Watch. Jamming and cramming in our too small digs. Thankfully, we are moving in two weeks. Another disruption for us but our new home looks great, and we will have some breathing room. Meanwhile this week has been exhilarating for all of us here. There has been no let up in the pace. It has only intensified as our California Watch site went live. Our blogs and Data Center have been excellent, if I don't say so, and our next California Watch story about stimulus spending is set for a bunch of newspapers and other media partners across California this coming Sunday. We will have strong major investigative stories every week this month and more are in the pipeline. We spent a chunk of this week looking at the site and thinking of ways to make it more user-friendly and accessible. We will be tweaking, and we welcome feedback from you. The positive feedback we have seen from bloggers and media commentators has given us more fuel to go forward. Seeing editorial commentary off our story last weekend on both the Democrats and Republicans moving money around the state feels good, and the decision by the Fair Political Practices Commission to look into some of the money movements Chase Davis detailed is the type of scrutiny we hope to provoke regularly. And we're mostly having fun, which is what journalists in the day were also about. So there's something old, but something very new happening at California Watch.

California Watch site tour: Data Center

Mark Katches — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 14:27:34 -0800

The Data Center on the new California Watch website will be the place to go for searchable databases of interest in California.

We expect to build this site over time, mostly adding new databases in connection with our stories. Right now, we’re starting with an impressive array of searchable databases. Our list includes stimulus contracts, lobbying and campaign finance records, university fees, FBI crime statistics and California census statistics.

We have close to 20 searchable databases online right now. The steward of our Data Center will be Agustin Armendariz, our computer assisted reporting guru. Agustin has prepared most of the data sets available with lots of help from one of our contributors Sarah Terry-Cobo, California Watch multimedia producer Lisa Pickoff-White and Chase Davis, one of our two money and politics reporters.

If you have ideas for available electronic data that we ought to add, please drop Agustin a line.

Building a newsroom, not tearing it down

Robert Salladay — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 08:54:00 -0800

The gestation period, from the first conversations about creating California Watch, to its launch today, was nearly two years. It has been a long haul but well worth it.

We are excited and energized about where we are. For me on a personal level, it's a gift and huge source of inspiration to be building a newsroom and hiring journalists after too many years of working in environments where innovation and risk taking were not welcome, and, to be candid, the work of the journalists was devalued.

As a highly visible project of the Center for Investigative Reporting, California Watch is a turn in a new direction. For 32 years, CIR has done valuable investigative reporting, much of it with "Frontline" and "60 Minutes." But never before has CIR had a team of investigative journalists this large, and never before have we had the flexibility to pursue stories that focus on what arguably is the most important, most complicated, and most messed-up state in the nation.

CIR will continue to do stories of national and international importance. And all of the critical values – accuracy, credibility, operating with a non-partisan approach – will be part of California Watch's ethos.

A core belief and value of California Watch will be collaboration with other organizations. They will be media organizations, large and small, traditional and new, legacy and ethnic. We will partner with universities and research organizations, with content creators and distributors. We will use social networking as it exists, and as it evolves, to reach people and have them reach us. Getting information to communities at every level, through their interests and by geography, will be a core strategy.

But the real value will be our stories. We will reveal, disclose and get information into the sunlight that otherwise might stay hidden or inaccessible, and our goal is to tell stories in multiple platforms – in ways that people want to get them.

Through our publishing partners in print, radio, television, on Web sites and on hand-held devices, we will reach a wide range of audiences. We are going to experiment. We are going to have some big successes, and we will learn from what works and does not work. And we will share this information. We want to be a transparent organization that functions as a team, where we are all valued and where we also value those we serve, the public.

Public service journalism will be goal of California's largest investigative team

Mark S. Luckie — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 08:48:00 -0800

California Watch, a project of the Center for Investigative Reporting, was created to investigate the issues that matter most to Californians. Find out more about the state's largest investigative team, our mission and our new Web site by watching this brief introductory video.

Editorial: Feinstein needs to balance interests

CIR Staff — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 10:33:25 -0800

California Watch’s story on corporate farmer Stewart Resnick and Dianne Feinstein sparked a Sac Bee editorial.

Dianne Feinstein was quick to respond in September when a big corporate farmer sought her help in challenging limits on the export of water out of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. Unfortunately, she's rarely shown that level of interest in representing the concerns of commercial salmon fishermen. They are arguably far more vulnerable to how those flows are regulated. An article by the investigative group California Watch, which appeared in last Monday's Bee, revealed some of Feinstein's priorities. ... It would behoove Feinstein, and the state she represents, if she spent as much personal time with dry-docked salmon fishermenas corporate farmers who have a fairly limited view on the subject of water. The salmon fishermen's claim on the water flows that course though the Delta is just as compelling as agriculture's.

Class size report reaches diverse communities

CIR Staff — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 14:43:11 -0800

California Watch, a project of the Center for Investigative Reporting, is implementing a new distribution model to reach diverse California communities in multimedia formats. On November 19, California Watch published an in-depth report, which found that class sizes in K-3 grades in California are reverting in some districts to levels not seen for over a decade, despite more than $20 billion spent on a program to reduce class size. Since then, the story has been distributed in five languages, through a variety of media outlets – web, broadcast, and print – highlighting California Watch’s approach of focusing on important statewide issues with local appeal and collaborating with media outlets to customize the content and engage local communities. The combined daily print circulation was close to 1,000,000. Many more Californians had access to the story through television, radio and Web-based media. Distribution outlets included the following:

Through a new collaboration with New America Media, Spanish, Korean, Vietnamese and Chinese translations of the story were distributed to ethnic media around the state. The story ran in The Cali Today (Vietnamese), La Opinion (Spanish), Nguoi Viet (Vietnamese), Sing Tao Daily (Chinese), sina.com (Chinese), Sun-Reporter (African-American), TheLoop21 (African-American), Viet Tribune (Vietnamese), IndyBayArea and topix.com. New America Media also supplemented California Watch’s coverage, with essays by young people from the Central Valley about how crowded classrooms impact their learning experience, and with a report on how class sizes affect African-American students.
The Los Angeles Daily News, San Diego Union Tribune, Modesto Bee and Oakland Tribune published the story on their front pages. The Contra Costa Times, San Mateo County Times, Tri-Valley Herald, Fremont Argus and Hayward Daily Review also carried the story.
KGO-TV (San Francisco) and KCRA-TV (Sacramento) produced television news reports to supplement the California Watch story. (KCRA is a new media partner for California Watch.)
As part of a newly formed partnership with KQED FM, a 6 ½ minute radio report on class size, produced by Michael Montgomery, hired jointly by KQED and California Watch, was broadcast on KQED’s The California Report, airing on 28 public radio stations around the state. KQED’s call-in talk show Forum dedicated an hour to the subject, including participation by the story’s co-author, Louis Freedberg.
The story appeared on more than a dozen Web sites, including truthdig.com, newamericamedia.org, educatedguess.org, and those of all the media partners. It was made available to Associated Press subscribers around the state through AP’s Marketplace feature.

The story was accompanied by a set of interactive tools produced by California Watch including a state-by-state comparison of teacher-student ratios, a Web video featuring interviews with teachers from Plummer Elementary School in Los Angeles, and an interactive map with detailed information on class sizes in the state’s 30 largest school districts. The full report, plus related multimedia material, can be viewed at www.californiawatch.org. About The Investigation California Watch reporters Louis Freedberg and Hugo Cabrera took an in-depth look at a class-size reduction program initiated in 1996 that provided generous subsidies to schools that limited K-3 classrooms to 20 students per teacher. Since then, the state has invested over $20 billion to keep classes at or close to that level. Today, most of California's largest school districts are increasing class sizes – some to as many as 30 students -- eroding the most expensive education reform in the state’s history. The shift has parents and teachers concerned that the academic performance of millions of children will suffer. California’s K-12 teacher-student ratios already rank 48th in the nation. The overall project was coordinated and edited by editorial director Mark Katches. About California Watch and The Center for Investigative Reporting California Watch, the largest investigative team operating in the state, was launched in 2009 by the nonprofit, nonpartisan Center for Investigative Reporting (CIR). Priority areas of coverage include education, health and welfare, public safety, the environment and the influence of money on the political and regulatory process. The goal is to expose hidden truths, prompt debate and spark change. California Watch receives funding from The James Irvine Foundation, The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. Founded in 1977, the Center for Investigative Reporting is the nation's oldest nonprofit investigative news organization. CIR reports have reached the public through television, print, radio and the web, appearing in outlets such as 60 Minutes, PBS Frontline, NPR, The Los Angeles Times<, Washington Post, Politico and U.S. News & World Report. CIR stories have received numerous journalism awards including the Alfred I. du Pont-Columbia University Silver Baton, George Polk Award, Emmy Award, Investigative Reporters and Editors Award, and National Magazine Award for Reporting Excellence. More importantly, its reports have sparked congressional hearings and legislation, United Nations resolutions, public interest lawsuits and change in corporate policies. CIR founded California Watch to help create a new model for regional investigative and other high-impact reporting.

The document trail

Sarah McHie — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 21:21:58 -0800

See letters tracking how Stewart Resnick asked for help, and got it.

Spreading the money around

Sarah McHie — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 21:18:05 -0800

Explore major contributions made to candidates and political committees by Stewart Resnick, his wife, and executives of his companies.

Corporate farmer calls upon political allies to influence delta dispute

Lisa Pickoff-White — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 14:21:27 -0800

Wealthy corporate farmer Stewart Resnick has written check after check to U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s political campaigns. He’s hosted a party in her honor at his Beverly Hills mansion, and he’s entertained her at his second home in Aspen. And in September, when Resnick asked Feinstein to weigh in on the side of agribusiness in a drought-fueled environmental dispute over the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, this wealthy grower and political donor got quick results, documents show. On Sept. 4, Resnick wrote to Feinstein, complaining that the latest federal plan to rescue the Delta’s endangered salmon and smelt fisheries was “exacerbating the state’s severe drought” because it cut back on water available to irrigate crops. “Sloppy science” by federal wildlife agencies had led to “regulatory-induced water shortages,” he claimed. “I really appreciate your involvement in this issue,” he wrote to Feinstein. One week later, Feinstein forwarded Resnick’s letter to two U.S. Cabinet secretaries. In her own letter, she urged the administration to spend $750,000 for a sweeping re-examination of the science behind the entire Delta environmental protection plan. The Obama administration quickly agreed, authorizing another review of whether restrictions on pumping irrigation water were necessary to save the Delta’s fish. The results could delay or change the course of the protection effort. To environmentalists concerned with protecting the Delta, it was a dispiriting display of the political clout wielded by Resnick, who is among California’s biggest growers and among its biggest political donors. Resnick’s Paramount Farms owns 118,000 acres of heavily irrigated California orchards. And since he began buying farmland 25 years ago, Resnick, his wife, and executives of his companies have donated $3.97 million to candidates and political committees, mostly in the Golden State, a California Watch review of public records shows. They have given $29,000 to Feinstein and $246,000 more to Democratic political committees during years when she has sought re-election. “It is very disappointing that one person can make this kind of request, and all of a sudden he has a senator on the phone, calling up (U.S. Interior Secretary Ken) Salazar,” says Jim Metropulos, senior advocate for the Sierra Club. Feinstein’s letter was “based on what she believes to be the best policy for California and the nation,” spokesman Gil Duran said in a statement. “No other factors play a role in her decisions.” With the Valley’s economy battered by recession and drought, Feinstein believed it was important to reconsider the restrictions on pumping Delta water for irrigation, he said. Many farmers have urged such a review, he added. In an interview, Resnick said he didn’t leverage his relationship with Feinstein to persuade her to intervene. “Honestly, I’m not saying we could not have done that, but I don’t think that’s the way it happened,” he said. Feinstein long has had an interest in water issues, and “she just wanted to get to the bottom of this,” Resnick said. A Troubled Estuary The Delta provides drinking water for 20 million people and irrigation for the state’s vast agriculture industry. But after decades of water diversions, Delta fish populations are in catastrophic decline, scientists say. Prodded by lawsuits from environmentalists, federal wildlife agencies commissioned scientific studies of the Delta’s ecological crisis. Based on the studies, the agencies launched a restoration program that curtailed pumping for irrigation and increased water flows for migrating fish. Meanwhile three years of drought have forced big cuts in water allotments for farmers, and swaths of valley farmland lie fallow. The recession pushed the unemployment rate in some valley towns to 40 percent. As a result, the restrictions on pumping Delta water became the target of a series of noisy protests that played out over the summer. Farmers and politicians blamed “radical environmentalists” – and the Obama administration – for ignoring the drought’s impact on the valley’s economy. “The government decided that the farmers come second and the delta smelt come first,” as Sean Hannity of Fox News put it on a visit to Fresno. Farm groups filed 13 different lawsuits to overturn the restoration plans, arguing that climate change, urbanization, and discharges from sewers and factories are causing the Delta’s problems. One suit was filed in August by the Coalition for a Sustainable Delta, a non-profit founded by three executives of Resnick’s Paramount Farms. Resnick said he is “on the periphery” of the non-profit. People familiar with Resnick’s political operation say Feinstein’s letter is a reminder of the power he can wield on water issues. “Paramount Farms is a huge player,” says Gerald Meral, former director of the Planning and Conservation League environmental lobby. “They are just way different from the average farmer – far more strategic” in their thinking, Meral says. Wealth and Philanthropy In Los Angeles, Resnick, 72, is known as one of the city’s wealthiest men and among its most generous philanthropists. He’s given $55 million to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, millions more for a psychiatric hospital at UCLA and an energy institute at Cal Tech. His wife and business partner, Lynda Resnick, is an entrepreneur, socialite and writer. Her 2008 marketing book, “Rubies in the Orchard,” had blurbs from Martha Stewart and Rupert Murdoch, and her “Ruby Tuesday” blog is sometimes featured on huffingtonpost.com. The couple live in a Beverly Hills mansion that writer Amy Wilentz called “Little Versailles.” It’s the scene of parties for celebrities, charities and politicians – governors, senators and presidential candidates. Resnick said he worked his way through UCLA “washing windows,” and made his first million running a burglar alarm service. Since then, the couple’s Roll International holding company has profitably operated a long list of businesses: Teleflora florist wire service; POM Wonderful pomegranate juice; Franklin Mint, a mail-order collectibles firm; and FIJI bottled water, imported from the South Seas. Underpinning their fortune is agribusiness – 70,000 acres of pistachios and almonds, 48,000 acres of citrus and pomegranates – most of it in Kern County at the south end of the San Joaquin Valley, and all requiring irrigation to survive. Resnick said he makes political donations “without much real strategy,” other than to give to centrists from both parties. Water issues aren’t a major factor, he said. Records show Resnick often contributes to politicians with power over the bureaucracies that make decisions affecting farming’s financial bottom line. Since 1993, the Resnicks have given $1.6 million to California governors, key players in determining state water policy. Their donation pattern seems non-partisan, with the money following who’s in power. In the 1990s, they gave $238,000 to Republican Gov. Pete Wilson, records show, although Resnick says he doesn’t recall giving to Wilson and doesn’t think he ever met him. The Resnicks also backed the Democrat who replaced Wilson, Gray Davis. They gave Davis $643,000 and $91,500 more to oppose Davis’ recall in 2003. With Davis gone, Resnick began donating to Arnold Schwarzenegger — $221,000, records show — plus $50,000 to a foundation that pays for the governor’s foreign travel. Other big donations include $776,000 to Democratic political committees; $134,000 to agribusiness political committees and initiatives; and $59,000 to Republican committees. Hedging Bets The Resnicks have developed easy access to some of the politicians to whom they donate. Schwarzenegger has called them “some of my dearest, dearest friends,” and like Feinstein, he has urged a review of the science behind the Delta restoration plan. Davis appointed Resnick co-chair to a special state committee on water and agriculture. A more enduring benefit came during Wilson’s administration, when Paramount Farms gained part ownership of what was to have been a state-owned storage bank for surplus water. As recounted in a report by the advocacy group Public Citizen, in the 1980s state water officials devised a plan to ease the impact of future droughts by collecting excess water during rainy years and storing it underground. The water was to be pumped south via the California Aqueduct, then put into a vast aquifer in Kern County that could hold a year’s water supply for one million homes. The state spent about $75 million to buy a 20,000-acre site and to design the water bank. But in 1994, state water officials transferred the water bank site to the local Kern County Water Agency in exchange for significant water rights, Resnick said. The water agency developed the water bank in partnership with four other public agencies and one private business — a subsidiary of Paramount Farms. Paramount wound up controlling a 48 percent share of the bank. Resnick said the state had been unable to develop the water bank and gave up on the project. The local agencies and his company spent about $50 million to engineer the project and make the bank a success, he said. Paramount’s control of the bank continues to infuriate some environmentalists. In recent dry years, the bank sold some of its stored water back to the state at a premium, Public Citizen reported. “Resnick likes to call himself a farmer, but he is in the business of selling public water, with none of the profits returned to the taxpayers,” says Walter Shubin, a director of the Revive the San Joaquin environmental group in Fresno. A supportive community When she first emerged as a statewide candidate in the 1990 governor’s race, Feinstein made little headway in the Central Valley, and she was defeated by Wilson. After she was elected to the Senate two years later, Feinstein set out to befriend farmers. Her attention to agriculture and water issues has paid off, says Dan Schnur, director of the Unruh Institute of Politics at USC and a former Wilson aide “That community has been very supportive of her, much more for her than for most statewide Democrats,” Schnur says. The Resnicks contributed $4,000 to Feinstein’s 1994 re-election campaign. When she ran again in 2000, they gave her $7,000. Resnick also donated $225,000 to Democratic political committees that were active in key Democratic races. Resnick said he first got to know Feinstein personally 10 or 12 years ago because the senator also has a second home in Aspen. In August 2000, when the Democratic National convention was in Los Angeles, the Resnicks hosted a cocktail party for Feinstein in their home. Among the guests were the singer Nancy Sinatra, then-Gov. Davis and former President Jimmy Carter, the Los Angeles Times reported. In 2007, they gave $10,000 to the Fund for the Majority, Feinstein’s political action committee. In June, another committee to which Resnick has contributed, the California Citrus Mutual PAC, spent $2,500 to host a fundraiser for Feinstein, records show. Feinstein also socializes with the Resnicks. Arianna Huffington, the blog editor and former candidate for governor, told the New York Observer in 2006 that she had spent New Year’s with Feinstein at the Resnicks’ home in Aspen. “We wore silly hats and had lots of streamers and everything,” she said of the party. On Aug. 26, Feinstein met with growers and water agency officials in Coalinga, Fresno County. While there, she told the Fresno Bee that she wanted the U.S. Interior Department to reconsider the biological opinions underlying the Delta protection plan. The following week, she received the letter from Resnick, which was first reported by the Contra Costa Times. She then sent her own letters to Interior Secretary Salazar and U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke. Days later, the administration agreed to pay $750,000 to have the National Academy of Sciences re-study the scientific issues underlying the Delta protection plan. Last month, state lawmakers enacted a package of measures aimed at reforming the state’s outmoded water allocation system. The centerpiece – an $11 billion bond to build new dams and canals – must be approved by voters.

California Watch is a project of the Center for Investigative Reporting with offices in the Bay Area and Sacramento.
This story was edited by Mark Katches and copy edited by William Cooley at California Watch

Talk about increasing class sizes on KQED's Forum

CIR Staff — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 17:36:23 -0800

California Watch's report on class size increasing in kindergarten through third grade—also carried in broadcast form on KQED’s The California Report—is generating wide interest across the state. As a follow up to the report, KQED’s Forum live call-in program will devote an hour to the topic tomorrow (Friday November 20) beginning at 10 a.m. The programs are a product of a new, innovative arrangement between KQED and the Center for Investigative Reporting, in which the two organizations will collaborate on multiple reporting projects during the year. California Watch director Louis Freedberg, co-author of the report, will participate as a guest on in the program. Other guests will be Norton Grubb, UC Berkeley professor Norton Grubb, Sheila Jordan, Alameda County Superintendent of Schools, and Camille Haroldsen, a third grade teacher from Watsonville. For more details, go to http://www.kqed.org/radio/programs/forum. Tune in at 88.5 FM in the San Francisco Bay Area, and 89.3 FM in the Sacramento area.

FAQ: How class-size reduction works in California

Mark S. Luckie — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 13:39:07 -0800

Get the answers to your questions about California's class-size reduction program as well as who to contact How did the program start? The program was initiated in 1996, to reduce average class sizes in K-3 grades to 20 students to every teacher. At the time, K-3 class sizes in California averaged 28.6 students, among the highest teacher-student ratios in the nation. It was motivated by research in Tennessee that showed that students in classes from 13 to 17 students did better academically. Do school districts have to participate? No. The program is voluntary. School districts don't have to participate, but the financial incentives – along with the program's popularity among parents and teachers – have resulted in almost every school district participating. Roughly 1.85 million K-3 students benefit from the program, at an annual cost of $1.8 billion to the state, according to 2007-08 figures. How does the subsidy work? School districts are required to monitor how many students are in a class, and report attendance figures to the state. To qualify for the full subsidy – currently $1,071 per student – school districts have to have average enrollment of 20.4-students-per teacher or fewer. The 20-to-1 ratio is an average of the daily attendance counts for each of a school's classes. School districts qualify for half of the subsidy if they limit class size to 20 students or fewer just during the time they receive instruction in math and reading, not for the entire school day. Can California still afford the program? Because of its popularity, the Legislature has preserved funding for class-size reduction, making it one of the few education programs to survive the budget axe. But because Sacramento does not cover the full costs, the Legislature has made it easier for school districts to raise class sizes. Until recently, schools lost their entire subsidy if the average reached 21.9 students. Now they will lose 20 percent of the subsidy if K-3 class size reach 24 students and 30 percent if class sizes go to 25 or more. How does California class size compare with other states? In 1996, California's K-3 class sizes were an average of 28.6 children – among the largest in the nation. The class-size reduction program brought California's K-3 class sizes in line with those in many other states. However, when looking across all 12 grades, California still lags far behind most states on another standard measure, teacher-student ratios. In 2007-08 California still had a higher teacher-student ratio than all other states except Utah and Arizona. Recent teacher layoffs, along with increases in class sizes, threaten to push California even further behind other states. (The ratios are reached by dividing student enrollments by the total number of full-time equivalent teachers, even though not all are classroom teachers.) Who do I contact about the program? Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger 916.445.2841 gov.ca.gov/interact#email The governor is the major single decision-maker in how education dollars are spent.
Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento 916.651.4006 senator.steinberg@senate.ca.gov The Senate leader is often considered the second most powerful politician in the state – behind only Schwarzenegger. He can shape and influence budget and policy decisions coming out of the Legislature.
Assembly Speaker Karen Bass, D-Los Angeles 916.319.2047 speaker.bass@assembly.ca.gov Bass' office was instrumental in providing school districts more flexibility in how they spend class-size reduction funds. She has influence over all education policy coming out of the Legislature.
Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell 916.319.0800 superintendent@cde.ca.gov The state's highest-ranking education official was a major backer of class-size reduction and helps set policy for the state.

Rising Class Sizes: Where the story appeared

Mark S. Luckie — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 11:46:04 -0800

California Watch’s report on class size appeared in various media, including several newspapers including the Los Angeles Daily News, Modesto Bee and the San Diego Union-Tribune. As a part of our collaboration with KQED Radio, the class size story also aired on KQED's The California Report. The program was also heard on more than two dozen other public radio stations around California. California Watch Director Louis Freedberg will appear on KQED's Forum to discuss the class size issue.
Bay Area television station KGO (Channel 7) also carried a report by investigative reporter Dan Noyes on the class size issue.

In a new collaboration, KCRA, the #1 station in the Sacramento market, will also carry a story on California's class size issue. We thank all partners for being a part of this important story.

Are California class sizes increasing?

Sarah McHie — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 16:19:50 -0800

A California Watch survey of the state's 30 largest, K-12 school districts found that class sizes in kindergarten through third grade are increasing beyond 20 in many districts. In general, the figures in this map refer to teacher-student ratios set by the district for the 2009-10 school year. Actual class size may vary at individual schools depending on enrollments and attendance. District officials provided all responses.

How do California student-teacher ratios compare?

Sarah McHie — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 16:09:06 -0800

Select any state on the left to see how it compares to California in terms of student-to-teacher ration for public, K-12 schools. Source: National Education Association (NEA) Rankings and Estimates 2006–07. Figures refer to the ratio between students and all full-time, credentialed teaching staff in a school during the 2006-2007 school year. This is the most recent year for which figures are available.

VIDEO: How are larger class sizes affecting California teachers?

Sarah McHie — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 15:42:57 -0800

Teachers and administrators at Plummer Elementary in California's San Fernando Valley discuss how large class sizes affect their instruction.

What does large class size mean for teachers? (Part 1) How do teachers manage their classrooms with more students? (Part 2) What does larger class size mean for teachers? (Part 3)

Despite state subsidies, class sizes begin to rise again in California schools

Sarah McHie — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 13:12:40 -0800

Most of California's largest school districts are increasing class sizes in kindergarten through third grade, eroding the most expensive education reform in the state’s history.   California Watch surveyed the 30 largest K-12 school districts in the state and found that many schools are pushing class sizes to 24 in some or all of the early grades. Other districts have raised class sizes to 30 students – reverting to levels not seen in more than a decade. The changes at more than two-thirds of the districts surveyed have parents and teachers concerned that the academic performance of millions of children will suffer. California already ranks 48th in the nation in terms of student to teacher ratios. And new measures are in place that will allow districts statewide to raise class sizes even higher and still receive more than $1 billion in state aid — money that was originally intended to reward schools that kept class sizes low. The class-size reduction program was adopted 13 years ago with much fanfare. Its goal was to bring the state’s overcrowded K-3 classrooms down to a maximum of 20 students for every teacher in the lower grades. As an incentive to participate, Sacramento gave school districts a generous annual subsidy for every child – now $1,071 per child. Carol Kocivar, California PTA’s president-elect, said that adding just four students more than the base level of 20 represents a significant increase. “When you start inching up above 20, kids don’t get the individual attention they need,” she said. The state has invested about $22 billion in direct subsidies into reducing class size, including $1.8 billion this school year. This is on top of billions more that individual school districts have had to pay to cover the full costs. The program was rooted in research from other states that showed students in smaller classrooms were more successful academically. Even though the state never implemented measurements to track the academic impact of class-size reduction, the program has been enormously popular among parents and teachers. Yet because of the state’s budget crisis, school officials are finding it harder than ever to sustain. That’s the case in both the Mount Diablo Unified School District, in Contra Costa County, and the San Jose Unified School District. In Orange County’s Capistrano Unified School District, second and third grade classes have grown to an average of 30.5 students. In Los Angeles, which enrolls 10 percent of California’s students, K-3 class sizes are creeping up to 24 in many schools. “In better times it is something that should be protected, but in the times we are in, it is not something we can afford to continue,” said Don Iglesias, San Jose’s superintendent, noting that raising class sizes to 30 will save his district $4 million this year alone. At Oliveira Elementary School, in a quiet residential neighborhood of Fremont, kindergarten teacher Cheryl Accurso is adjusting to a 30-student classroom for the first time in her 11-year career. “My worry is that with 30 kids in the class, I won’t be able to reach out and touch, and get to every child in my classroom,” she said. “When they come in the morning, I make sure I tap them on the shoulder or pat them on the head, and say their names, so that there is at least one time when I know I can get to all the children.” California’s Superintendent of Public Instruction, Jack O’Connell, who authored the class-size-reduction legislation when he was a state senator, said that it is no accident that elementary school students in recent years have achieved significant academic gains. “That is now in jeopardy because we have so many school districts walking away from class-size reduction,” he said. For most of the program’s existence, schools lost the entire subsidy if the average class size hit 21. That has proved to be a powerful incentive for schools to participate. All but about a dozen of the state’s 883 eligible districts have done so. The state Legislature has designated lower class sizes as a top priority for education spending. The program was one of a handful that escaped the budget axe this year. At the same time, however, lawmakers acted earlier this year to make it easier for schools to abandon the program. The move allows school districts to raise K-3 classes to as high as 31 students on average — at least for the next three years. Schools that raise the class size above 25 can still receive 70 percent of the subsidies they have received in the past. In past years, K-3 classes of 22 or more students would have been denied state funding through the program. In theory, school districts could spend more than $1.2 billion of the $1.8 billion set aside for the program on classes with 25 or more students. Rick Simpson, deputy chief of staff to Assembly Speaker Karen Bass, and her chief adviser on education policy, said lawmakers are hoping the popularity of the program will force school districts to keep class sizes small, despite reducing the penalties for exceeding the 20-student cap. He said the goal was to give school districts more flexibility in how they spend class-size reduction funds, something they have sought for years. But former Gov. Pete Wilson, who initiated class-size reduction when the state enjoyed a budget surplus in 1996, said the recent changes “totally defeat the purpose of the program. If you get 70 percent of the funds for doing nothing, where is that money going? It is not accomplishing the purpose for which the program was devised.” One purpose was to bring California’s class sizes down — to get them in line with those of other states. That did happen in the elementary grades. But by 2007, California had larger student-teacher ratios than every state except Utah and Arizona across all 12 grades. Larger K-3 class sizes now threaten to push California even further behind. “Having the largest class size in America is a crime and a shame,” said Delaine Eastin, the former superintendent of public instruction who oversaw the implementation of the class-size-reduction initiative until 2002. It is not only poor districts that are affected. In fact, in some cases, districts serving large numbers of low-income and minority students have benefited from the additional $1.25 billion in Title 1 stimulus funds California receives from the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. And nearly 500 of the state’s lowest-performing schools are still receiving funds from the Quality Education Investment Act, passed by the Legislature in 2007. These funds have allowed school districts like Los Angeles to maintain some of their K-3 class sizes at previous levels. The Fremont Unified School District has so far been able to keep class sizes to 20 in the first, second and third grades. But in kindergarten, enrollments have risen to 30. This year, at Oliveira Elementary, Accurso has her students sitting in groups of six, at five tables, instead of groups of four, at five tables, as in previous years. Across the yard, one of the bungalows brought to the school when the class-size reduction program began in 1996, now stands empty. But Accurso isn’t nostalgic about the smaller class sizes. “My focus is on the 30 kids I have in front of me and what I can do for each of them,” she said. “I can’t be thinking about what might have been. I can’t go there.” She says she is managing with the extra kids – in part because she gets help from another teacher for about two hours, as well as parent volunteers. “We’re just worried that we won’t be able to get them where they need to be at the end of the year,” she said. In Los Angeles, each of the district’s 524 elementary schools could choose between retaining all their teachers and keeping class sizes low – or laying off teachers and keeping support staff such as school nurses, math coaches and “intervention coordinators.” At Plummer Elementary in the San Fernando Valley, principal Angel Barrett, made the painful choice to let go seven of the school’s first and second year teachers, out of a teaching staff of 45. As in many schools across Los Angeles, her classrooms are more crowded this year. “You guys are doing a great job at listening,” Norma Plascencia, a teacher with 22 years of classroom experience, told her 24 second-graders on a recent morning, before launching into a lesson about family trees. “It doesn’t make it impossible to teach, it just makes it harder,” she said. Plascencia said she and other teachers are doing much more advance planning to take into account the extra students. “We are not mass-producing items; we’re not making shoes or pizza. We are dealing with human beings — so four extra bodies are not just four extra bodies — it is everything that comes with them, or doesn’t come with them.” Will it affect how her students will do this year? “It better not,” she said. “You have to assume they can reach for the stars. Are some going to fall by the wayside? We’ll find out this year. Is there a possibility? Yes, I think there is.’’ Her comment points to the controversy that has so far been waged mostly in academic circles – whether class-size reduction makes a difference in boosting student performance. Dominic Brewer, a USC professor, said there is no compelling research showing that class-size reduction results in improved academic performance in California. What research does exist has typically been done in other states and in classrooms with even smaller enrollments than in California. “A class of 20 may be terrible for an ineffective teacher,” he said. “And a great teacher can do great things with 30.” Some education leaders who have been lukewarm about the program are now making the case that the funds could be better used. “I don’t think 20-to-1 is sacred,” said L.A. schools Superintendent Ramon Cortines. More important, he said, “is the kind of quality time you spend with your students, and how you divide your time in the classroom.” To tackle high drop-out rates, he believes the real need is for smaller classes in middle and high schools, where class sizes in his district have soared to 40 and higher in some schools. San Jose’s Iglesias said that even if the state’s economy rebounds, he’s not sure he’d put money back into the class-size-reduction program. “I’d put it into longer school days or Saturday classes rather than this,” he said. But California superintendent O’Connell doesn’t share any of these concerns. He said his experience as a teacher in Ventura County convinced him of the merits of smaller classes. The same goes for Doug Wheeler, a veteran kindergarten teacher in San Pablo, just north of Richmond, who said that the larger the class, the more difficult it is for teachers to “deliver the goods.” This year he volunteered to take more students into his bilingual class rather than having some of them be cut from the program. He now has 27 students. “Teaching is not just standing in front of the class and delivering a lesson,” he said. “It’s about working with kids who are in danger of falling far behind. To get really good results, it has to be one on two, or even one on one.” This story was edited by Editorial Director Mark Katches and copy edited by William Cooley.

California Watch and KQED announce editorial collaboration

CIR Staff — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 12:42:27 -0800

California Watch, a division of the Center for Investigative Reporting, and KQED Public Radio today announced a new editorial collaboration that will expand the exposure of investigative and other high-impact stories produced by California Watch, for the benefit of listeners statewide. The new collaboration will result in reports airing on KQED Public Radio’s The California Report, which is distributed to 28 stations throughout the California region, reaching 620,000 listeners per week. The collaboration will include the production of interactive multimedia tools that will be featured on the websites of both organizations; in-depth radio reports produced exclusively for KQED; radio and television appearances by California Watch journalists on KQED programs; and the pooling of editorial resources. Veteran investigative journalist Michael Montgomery will produce the California Watch reports that will air on KQED. In addition, California Watch’s Sacramento-based reporters will share office space with KQED’s Capitol Bureau. “Public radio is a critical distribution outlet and this opportunity to reach large numbers of public radio listeners in California fits right into our strategy of maximizing the impact of our stories by using multiple media platforms,” said Robert Rosenthal, executive director of the Center for Investigative Reporting. “KQED has been a long-time partner of the CIR and we are excited about expanding the relationship even further -- in a way that benefits both of our organizations and most importantly, serves Californians.” “This collaboration is groundbreaking, and we are excited to be a part of it,” said Jo Anne Wallace, KQED vice president and general manager. “KQED is always looking for new ways to inform, educate, and engage our audiences. California Watch plans to produce exactly the kind of high quality journalism along with innovative interactive multimedia tools that our audiences want.” The editorial collaboration between KQED and California Watch began earlier in November. Michael Montgomery, who will be based at CIR, and who has reported extensively on the criminal justice system in California, will produce original radio reports for KQED. In addition, he will work with other California Watch journalists on radio releases of their stories that will air on KQED. Montgomery comes to California Watch from American RadioWorks, where he has been a correspondent and producer since 1999. In addition to statewide broadcasts, KQED will seek to distribute California Watch stories nationally and internationally. California Watch broadcasts will also be available for download at www.kqed.org. For more information, contact Scott Walton at KQED, swalton@kqed.org/415-553-2145, or Lisa Cohen at California Watch, 310-395-2544.

Media organizations team together to host Data Camp and Data Contest

CIR Staff — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 10:16:03 -0700

The Center for Investigative Reporting’s California Watch project, Spot.Us, MAPLight.org, Craigslist founder Craig Newmark, Information technology pioneer and philanthropist Mitchell Kapor, and the Sunlight Foundation have teamed up to sponsor the first California Data Camp & DataSF App Contest on November 7, 2009. The one day gathering is open to developers, journalists, community organizers, policy wonks, students and others interested in working with government data to provide insights and information into California and its communities. A variety of issues will be tackled including computer-assisted reporting, data visualization, data access, data transparency, and data management. “This will be a great opportunity to share ideas and brainstorm about ways to use data and technology to bring more transparency and accountability to local, regional and statewide reporting,” said Mark Katches, Editorial Director of California Watch, a new reporting team within CIR that is devoted to statewide watchdog reporting. There will also be a day-long app-building contest using DataSF.org., the clearinghouse of data sets created by the city and county of San Francisco. The winning team will be awarded a prize. “Who knows what could be created out of the Data SF App contest? It could bring us a great new tool to improve civic life by shining a light on public data,” said Spot.Us founder David Cohn. “When government makes data available online for anybody to build over, you can see how government works and where the money goes. That's really good for democracy and for San Francisco,” said Craigslist’s Newmark. “Maps bring to life complex data that's otherwise hidden in excel spreadsheets, making the abstract meaningful and identifiable. Simply, maps make the intangible, tangible," said MAPLight.org’s executive director Daniel Newman. "In the spirit of true participatory democracy MAPLight.org is proud to support this project and development of the next killer transparency app." The event will be held at Citizen Space, 425 Second Street, San Francisco and runs from 8:00 a.m. – 6:30 p.m., followed by dinner. To register, visit http://datacamp.eventbrite.com/. The cost is $10. About The Sponsors California Watch was launched in 2009 by the Center for Investigative Reporting to fill a serious gap in in-depth, solutions-based reporting in the state, to make government more transparent, and to engage the public in new ways on the critically important issues of the day. California Watch is supported by The James Irvine Foundation, The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. Visit www.californiawatch.org for more information. Spot.Us is a nonprofit project that is pioneering community-funded reporting. Through Spot.Us the public can commission journalists to do investigations on important and overlooked stories. The content is then made available to all through a Creative Commons license. It’s a marketplace where independent reporters, community members and news organizations can come together and collaborate. Visit www.spot.us for more information. MAPLight.org is a non-partisan nonprofit that offers users a powerful database that illuminates the connection between campaign donations and legislative votes in unprecedented ways. Visit www.maplight.org for more information. Kapor is the founder of Lotus Development Corp. and has been the chair of the Mozilla Foundation since its inception in 2003. Kapor is also co-founder of the Electronic Frontier Foundation and served as its chairman until 1994. He is the original chair and currently sits on the Board of Directors of Linden Lab, the San Francisco company that created the popular virtual world Second World. Kapor is also a member of the advisory board for the Wikimedia Foundation. The Sunlight Foundation is committed to helping citizens, bloggers and journalists be their own best watchdogs, by improving access to existing information and digitizing new information, and by creating new tools and Web sites to enable all of us to collaborate in fostering greater transparency. Visit www.sunlightfoundation.com for more information. Gov 2.0 gathers thought leaders from the information industry, not-for-profits, citizen creators of applications, and decision-makers from all levels of government to improve the ways that we carry out the business of the country. Download

Countdown for new California Watch Web site

Louis Freedberg — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 12:59:18 -0700

This week, California Watch staffers crowded into CIR's tiny conference room to meet with two guests, Laura Scott and Katherine Lawrence, who had arrived from Denver for the day. They're principals in PingVision, the Web design firm we have chosen from among several excellent candidates to design and develop California Watch's new Web site. PingVision's clients have included BlogHer, Popular Science, the New York Public Library, the Stanford University Center for Internet and Society and Red Blue America. There was a sense of urgency in the room - and not just because Laura and Katherine's plane had been delayed. The launch date for our Web site - and the formal launch of California Watch - is set for early November, which gives PingVision about a month to get the site up and running. The Web site will be the only one devoted to statewide investigative and other in-depth reporting about California. Mark Katches, California Watch's editorial director, articulated a broad and ambitious vision for the site. A major focus would be to highlight solutions. It would showcase the blogs that all California Watch bloggers will begin writing in the next several weeks. "We want this to be a place that people will check in on several times a day," he said. The site also will house searchable databases and be a "one-stop center" for anyone seeking information in California on state and federal campaign contributions, lobbying, business licenses and more. The countdown has begun. Watch out for our new site in a month or so from now.

Where the Story Appeared

Louis Freedberg — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 16:11:24 -0700

California Watch’s report on homeland security appeared in more than 30 California media outlets with an estimated daily newspaper circulation of 1.8 million and over 27 Web sites with an estimated total of more than14 million monthly unique visitors. Many newspapers carried the story on their front pages. KGO TV in San Francisco also carried a detailed broadcast version of the story on two successive nights. Outlets included the Orange County Register, La Opinion, Voice of San Diego Online, the Bakersfield Californian, the San Jose Mercury News, the Oakland Tribune, the Contra Costa Times, the Marin Independent Journal, the Santa Rosa Press Democrat, the Lodi News Sentinel and the Sacramento Bee.

California homeland security chief responds to questions

CIR Staff — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 16:34:57 -0700

On KGO-TV, Matthew Bettenhausen, Acting Secretary of the California Emergency Management Agency, responds to questions in unedited interview with investigative reporter Dan Noyes about homeland security expenditures in California:

California Watch story on KGO and two dozen other outlets around the state

CIR Staff — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 09:44:05 -0700

California Watch launched its first project today, an investigation into homeland security grant spending by agencies around the Golden State. Versions of this story ran in more than two dozen news organizations—newspapers, TV, and online news sites. It's the broadest release of a nonprofit news initiative to date, reaching more than a million newspaper subscribers. This is part of a collaborative project by California Watch, the Center for Public Integrity and CIR examining the effectiveness of America’s homeland security efforts. This report by Dan Noyes ran on ABC KGO-TV: Other news partners included The San Jose Mercury News, Sacramento Bee, Contra Costa Times, Lodi News, Santa Rosa Press Democrat, Los Angeles Daily News, Orange County Register and the Voice of San Diego. A few of our media partners pitched in with valuable in-kind contributions to the project. Our friends at La Opinión translated the story into Spanish, and the Marin Independent Journal sent one of their photographers out to shoot the unopened boxes of equipment purchased and then shared their photos with all of the other outlets around the state running the story. Thanks to all of our inaugural media partners for making this project such a success!

Track Anti-Terrorism Grants in California

Lisa Pickoff-White — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 17:33:29 -0700

California cities, counties and agencies have been awarded at least $1.9 billion worth of major anti-terrorism grants in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Once grant amounts are awarded, local agencies have up to three years to spend the money on approved purchases such as night-vision goggles, consultants for emergency-response plans, SWAT trucks and other equipment. After the money is spent, the agencies notify the state of the purchases. Because there is a lag time between grant awards and the reporting requirements, the subtotals of what a community or government agency actually spent may not match the amounts awarded. Click through the map to find out how much your county spent and on what. View the project http://centerforinvestigativereporting.org/files/flash/homelandsecurity/questionablecosts.html

The Center for Investigative Reporting announces California Watch reporting, editing and multimedia team

CIR Staff — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0700

The Center for Investigative Reporting has recruited a diverse team of 11 reporters, multimedia producers and editors to produce investigative, high impact reporting for its new California Watch initiative. “This dynamic and accomplished group of journalists will drive our latest entrepreneurial venture and focus on solutions to improve the quality of life in the state,” said CIR Executive Director Robert J. Rosenthal. California Watch is being launched at a time when the state is confronting one of the worst budget crises in its history, the recession is inflicting pain and hardship on millions of Californians, and the need for oversight is greater than ever. More than 700 journalists applied for a range of positions with California Watch, an indication of the depth of talent available to cover underreported California stories. "We have built one of the largest investigative teams in the state at a critical time," said Editorial Director Mark Katches, a native Californian and an award-winning investigative reporter and editor. "We will focus on delivering stories that shape the debate and prompt change." The California Watch team collectively brings extensive experience covering the state and exceptional multimedia and data analysis skills: AGUSTIN ARMENDARIZ – DATA ANALYST AND REPORTER: Armendariz worked at the San Diego Union-Tribune where he was a database specialist on the watchdog reporting team. He previously worked at the Center for Public Integrity as a database developer and researcher, where he helped produce investigative projects such as Party Lines, an in-depth look at who pulls the political strings in all 50 states. Armendariz also was a contributor to The Buying of the President 2004, a New York Times bestseller. He earned his M.A. in journalism from American University. CHASE DAVIS – MONEY AND POLITICS REPORTER: Davis previously worked at the Des Moines Register, where he recently wrote about how weak standards and deception hurt Iowa’s ability to monitor air pollution. Before that, he worked as an investigative reporter at the Houston Chronicle, where he uncovered waste and fraud within NASA and exposed glaring ethics issues within the nation’s third-largest county government. Davis is a partner in the media-technology firm Hot Type Consulting. He is a graduate of the University of Missouri School of Journalism. CHRISTINA JEWETT – HEALTH AND WELFARE REPORTER: Jewett worked at ProPublica, where she wrote about a chain of psychiatric hospitals plagued by substandard care and about the FDA’s failures to regulate medical-device safety. Her stories for ProPublica have appeared in the Chicago Tribune and Los Angeles Times. A native of Indiana, Jewett previously worked at the Sacramento Bee. Her reporting on criminal justice has been honored with awards from the John Jay College of Criminal Justice and the National Council on Crime and Delinquency. She graduated from Indiana University. COREY G. JOHNSON – K-12 EDUCATION REPORTER: Johnson was a reporter at the Fayetteville Observer in North Carolina where he covered higher education and criminal justice issues. A native of Atlanta, Johnson has exposed secrecy, mismanagement, corruption and abuse of power inside governmental, university and police organizations. He is a graduate of Florida A&M University. MARK S. LUCKIE – MULTIMEDIA PRODUCER: Luckie has worked as a multimedia producer for the Los Angeles Times, the Contra Costa Times and Entertainment Weekly. He is a former crime and justice reporter for the Daytona Beach News-Journal. Mark also is the author of 10,000 Words, a multimedia blog dedicated to digital media trends. Luckie graduated from Bethune-Cookman College in Florida and earned his M.A. from the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism. ERICA PEREZ – HIGHER EDUCATION REPORTER: Perez was a reporter with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, where she covered the University of Wisconsin system, the Wisconsin Technical College system and private colleges. A California native, she previously covered K-12 education for the Orange County Register. Before earning her M.A. in journalism from the USC Annenberg School for Communication, Perez taught high school English for two years. She graduated from Stanford University. LISA PICKOFF-WHITE – MULTIMEDIA PRODUCER: Pickoff-White has been a print, multimedia and radio reporter in the Bay Area and Washington, D.C. Her work has appeared in the Washington Post, San Francisco Chronicle, National Journal, KALX, San Francisco Bay Guardian and UPI. She recently graduated from the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism with an emphasis in new media and was a 2009 Carnegie-Knight News21 Fellow, one of a team of talented journalists from top journalism schools who collaborate to produce innovative journalism on the Web. LANCE WILLIAMS – MONEY AND POLITICS SENIOR REPORTER: Williams was an investigative reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle, where he helped break many of the newspaper’s exclusive stories on the BALCO steroid scandal. With Mark Fainaru-Wada, he wrote Game of Shadows: Barry Bonds, BALCO and the Steroids Scandal that Rocked Professional Sports. He has been a reporter in California for 34 years. He has won the George Polk Award, the Scripps Howard First Amendment Award and the Gerald Loeb Award, among other honors. Williams graduated from Brown University and earned his M.A. from the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism. Before joining the Chronicle, he worked at the San Francisco Examiner, the Oakland Tribune and the Hayward Daily Review. ROBERT SALLADAY – SPECIAL ADVISER AND CONTRIBUTING EDITOR: Salladay has covered California politics and government for more than a decade, including most recently as a reporter and blogger for the Los Angeles Times. His coverage has included the 2000 presidential recount, the California recall election, the administration of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, and numerous analytical and investigative pieces about the state. A California native and graduate of UC Berkeley, he received a M.S. from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism and began his career as a reporter for the Fremont Argus, followed by the Oakland Tribune, the San Francisco Examiner, the San Francisco Chronicle and the Los Angeles Times. While at the Times, he wrote the successful Political Muscle blog. The team reports to California Watch Editorial Director Mark Katches, who is working in tandem with California Watch Director Louis Freedberg and CIR Executive Director Robert Rosenthal. California Watch is a response to the diminished capacity of newsrooms in the state to cover critically important issues affecting all Californians. These include the state of our public schools and community colleges, the impact of budget cuts on the health and welfare of individuals and communities, and the influence of money on politics. Other beats will be added within the coming year. “Working collaboratively with news organizations around the state, our reporting team will help Californians become engaged and participate more fully in the democratic process,” said California Watch Director Louis Freedberg. A project of the 32-year-old Center for Investigative Reporting, California Watch represents a significant step in the growth of non-profit regional and state-focused journalism. It is underwritten by grants from The James Irvine Foundation, The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, and The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. For more information please visit http://centerforinvestigativereporting.org/projects/californiawatch/.

CIR hires Lance Williams to join California Watch reporting team

CIR Staff — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0700

The Center for Investigative Reporting announced today that it has hired Lance Williams as an investigative reporter covering money and politics for CIR’s new California Watch project. Williams joins California Watch from the San Francisco Chronicle, where he helped break many of the newspaper’s exclusive stories on the BALCO steroid scandal. With Mark Fainaru-Wada, he wrote Game of Shadows: Barry Bonds, BALCO and the Steroids Scandal that Rocked Professional Sports. The book, combined with the Chronicle articles, prompted Sen. George Mitchell’s investigation of baseball’s steroid era and led to many reforms. In 2006, Williams and Fainaru-Wada were held in contempt of court and threatened with 18 months in federal prison for refusing to testify about their confidential sources on BALCO. The subpoenas were later withdrawn. Williams has been a reporter in California for 34 years. He has been recognized for his work by winning the George Polk Award, the Scripps Howard First Amendment Award and the Gerald Loeb Award, among other honors. Born in Ohio, he graduated from Brown University and the University of California-Berkeley. Before joining the Chronicle, he worked at the San Francisco Examiner, the Oakland Tribune and the Hayward Daily Review. CIR has received more than 600 applications to the California Watch project. The complete reporting and multimedia team will be announced in early August once final hires are made. “We are pleased to have a veteran reporter of the caliber of Lance Williams join our team,” said CIR Executive Director Robert J. Rosenthal. At a time when newsrooms across the state are shrinking, California Watch will produce high-impact watchdog journalism on a range of issues including the economy, health care, the environment, and education. The project is funded by The James Irvine Foundation, The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. For further information contact CIR Executive Director Robert J. Rosenthal at 510-809-3162 or California Watch Director Louis Freedberg at 510-809-3168.

CIR receives $1.32 million from Knight for California project

CIR Staff — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 00:00:00 -0700

A new Knight Foundation initiative seeks new models for investigative reporting, and three journalism organization have received funds:

The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation today announced a $15 million initiative to help develop new economic models for investigative reporting on digital platforms. The grants, some on-going, some new and some yet-to-be announced, will promote both local and national investigative reporting in order to help provide the vital stories that citizens need to run their communities and their lives. “Communities are harmed by what they do not know. A community can’t clean up a toxic dump, or remove a corrupt official or right any other wrong if its citizens do not know about it,” said Eric Newton, Knight Foundation’s vice president for journalism. “We’re awash in information, yet it seems to be getting harder to find good investigative reporting.” America’s daily newspapers employ some 10,000 fewer journalists in their newsrooms than they did a decade ago, he noted, and membership in groups like Investigative Reporters and Editors has declined in recent years. By looking for projects that emphasize high-impact stories, digital platforms, diverse revenue streams and national leadership, he said the foundation hopes to “help pioneer models that help keep this important journalism flowing.” The three newest grants are:
Center for Investigative Reporting ($1.32 million): to launch a new multimedia investigative reporting project in California that encourages print, digital and student journalists to collaborate on stories;

Sunlight Foundation ($565,000): to develop web tools so the public can easily access information on Congressional lawmakers, from their campaign contributions and votes;

ProPublica ($1.01 million): to help the investigative reporting organization create a sustainable business model

>> Read the full press release here.

Editorial Director named for California reporting project

CIR Staff — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 16:17:56 -0700

We are pleased to announce that Mark Katches will be joining the Center for Investigative Reporting as Editorial Director of CIR's new reporting initiative focusing on California. Katches, a native Californian who spent 20 years as a reporter and editor covering major issues in the state, will be leaving the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, which he joined in 2006 to help start a nine-person investigative reporting team there. Since joining the Journal Sentinel his team has won numerous national awards for investigative reporting including the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for Local Reporting for a story that exposed a $50 million Milwaukee County pension scandal. That same year, the Journal Sentinel was named "Innovator of the Year" by the Associated Press Managing Editors for its watchdog work. This year, another project he managed, a series that exposed the failures of the Environmental Protection Agency and the Food and Drug Administration to protect the public from dangerous household chemicals was a Pulitzer finalist in investigative reporting. That story also won the George Polk Award, the John B. Oakes award, and a Scripps-Howard National Journalism Award. Before moving to Milwaukee, Katches worked at the Orange County Register, where he twice directed projects that were Pulitzer finalists, including one in public service. In 2001, he was part of a reporting team that won the Gerald Loeb, Sigma Delta Chi and Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE) awards for detailing rising profits from the human tissue trade. "We are very pleased to have Mark Katches direct our editorial team for this new California reporting initiative," said Robert Rosenthal, CIR's Executive Director. "He is a first-rate journalist with a long track record of leading award-winning teams that produce high impact stories in innovative ways." "Katches' deep roots in California, as well as his extensive experience as a journalist reporting and investigating critically important California issues, will help us develop new strategies for informing and engaging Californians about crucial issues that affect them in their daily lives and their communities," said Louis Freedberg, Director of CIR's California reporting venture. Katches served on the board of IRE from 2004 to 2008. He continues to oversee IRE's mentorship program. He taught journalism as an adjunct professor at the University of Southern California from 2003 through 2006. "California is a state facing immense challenges,"Katches said. "It has never been more important for a strong watchdog team to hold those in power accountable and to shine a light on important issues facing citizens of the state. I'm thrilled about returning home to help build and manage a team that will do just that." For more information about CIR's California reporting initiative, read the announcement: "Powerful Journalism to Help Solve Key Issues in California."

The Center for Investigative Reporting launches California-focused initiative

CIR Staff — Fri, 08 May 2009 00:00:00 -0700

The Center for Investigative Reporting is launching a new statewide reporting initiative to produce in-depth multimedia journalism specific to California and to engage the public on issues of critical importance to the state. It will launch with a grant of $1.2 million over three years from The James Irvine Foundation. The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation also has awarded a grant of $1.2 million for the same time period, primarily for reporting on education, which is in part a challenge grant to encourage other funders to support this new initiative. The project, a new department within CIR, will combine the experience and resources of CIR, the oldest nonprofit investigative reporting organization in the country, and the skills and resources of the California Media Collaborative, established to devise new strategies to improve coverage of key statewide issues. Targeting regional and statewide journalism offers a solution to the crisis in journalism. The project will serve as a watchdog for government and powerful institutions, fulfilling the core mandate of CIR. It will partner with existing news organizations, journalism schools and other institutions to develop innovative ways to inform and engage Californians on issues that affect them in their communities and in their daily lives. “The turmoil in the news industry has had the greatest impact on local and regional news organizations. Their ability to produce investigative and in-depth reporting is becoming more difficult every day. We will monitor government, track private interests and reveal abuses that threaten our democracy,” said Robert J. Rosenthal, CIR’s executive director, and former managing editor of the San Francisco Chronicle and executive editor of the Philadelphia Inquirer. Rosenthal, who will have overall responsibility for the project, added, “We will hire top journalistic talent to tell stories in new and creative ways and to distribute them throughout the state, to reach a wide and varied audience across multiple platforms.” CIR is pleased to announce that Louis Freedberg will direct the project. Freedberg is founder and director of the California Media Collaborative, which was based at the Commonwealth Club of California, and a veteran journalist who was most recently on the editorial board of the San Francisco Chronicle. ”How the media cover California matters, arguably more than in any other state,” said Freedberg. “As newsrooms shrink in size, the media have less and less capacity to cover the innovations, institutions and ideas that have made California such a force in the nation and the world, as well as the multiple challenges clouding the state’s future. The need for a vibrant, watchdog press is as acute as ever. “ The project will cover key California issues, including education, the environment, immigration, state governance and public safety. A major focus will be on making statewide data accessible to journalists and the public, connecting the dots on particular issues between communities throughout the state. It also will emphasize “solutions-based” reporting, identifying ways that ordinary Californians, as well as policy makers, can address the issues covered. Social networking tools will encourage audience interaction and help communities solve problems and identify potential issues to be investigated. “This effort holds considerable promise to develop a new model for coverage of state-level issues here and in other parts of the country,” said Kristi Kimball, program officer at the Hewlett Foundation. “We hope other funders will join us to ensure its success and maximize its impact on the state.” CIR is also in discussion with the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation about supporting the project because of Knight’s interest in experimental new investigative reporting models. CIR will hire an editorial director and additional reporting staff and will make further announcements about collaborations with media outlets and other partners in the near future.

Irvine Foundation awards CIR with $1.2 million

CIR Staff — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 00:00:00 -0800

The James Irvine Foundation announced $21 million in new grants, including $1.2 million to fund an innovative reporting project by the Center for Investigative Reporting as part of Irvine’s California Perspectives program. Read full press release here.