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About the Courting Influence Project "Courting Influence" is a project of the Center for Investigative Reporting, an independent, nonprofit news organization led by staff in San Francisco and Washington D.C., and powered by a nationwide team of independent reporters and producers. "Courting Influence" Project Team: Lead Reporter: William Kistner Senior Reporter for CIR: Dan Noyes Lead Editor: Mark Schapiro Reporters: Vanessa Gregory, Andy Isaacson, Ann McArthur, Jeff Stensland and Leah Watson Website: Andy Isaacson for CIR and Workbox This project was primarily funded by the Open Society Institute, through its U.S. Justice Fund program. Supplementary funding was provided by the Ford Foundation, through its program supporting justice-related journalism. About the Center for Investigative Reporting The democratic process requires well-informed citizens to hold society's most powerful institutions and individuals accountable. Yet too often the actions of these institutions and individuals are hidden from public scrutiny, inevitably leading to abuse or wrongdoing. Worse, the news media devotes increasingly fewer resources to the kind of investigative reporting that can reveal abuse of power. CIR seeks to serve as a remedy. CIR operates as a journalism venture fund, investing in promising investigations at their early stages to give them a chance in the news marketplace. CIR also functions as a documentary production house, producing investigative projects for television and radio from start to finish. Finally, CIR works as a publicity firm, promoting the best investigations from the journalism community to maximize their impact in the world. Together, our activities equip citizens with the information they need to participate fully in the democratic process and bring about needed changes in laws, regulations, and the operations of government, corporations, and institutions. By exposing injustice and abuse of power through investigative reporting, we seek to strengthen our democracy. Since our founding in 1977, CIR reports have sparked Congressional hearings and legislation, U.N. resolutions, public interest lawsuits, and change in corporate policies. They have reached millions of people in every state and overseas, appearing in news outlets such as 60 Minutes, 20/20, ABC World News Tonight, CBS Evening News, NBC Nightly News, PBS Frontline, CNN, National Public Radio, The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, USA Today, U.S. News & World Report. In turn, they have received the recognition of the journalism community, including awards such as the Alfred I. du Pont-Columbia University Silver Baton, George Polk Award, Emmy Award, Society of Professional Journalists' Sigma Delta Chi Award, Investigative Reporters and Editors Award and National Magazine Award for Reporting Excellence. For more information about CIR and its other investigations, visit: www.muckraker.org. To offer feedback or suggestions, contact CIR Editorial Director Mark Schapiro: Center for Investigative Reporting 131 Steuart Street, Suite 600 San Francisco, CA 94105 mschapiro@cironline.org Copyright 2004 Center for Investigative Reporting |