Gary Webb, the investigative reporter who broke the story on the CIA connection to the crack cocaine epidemic and later took his own life, is remembered by Jeffrey Klein and Robert Parry; Kevin Kamps, of BeyondNuclear.org, updates us on the nuclear crisis and coverup in Japan. Both guests contributed to a new book of Webb’s reporting, The Killing Game; Selected Writings by the Author of Dark Alliance. Klein, co-founder of Mother Jones and a former editor at the San Jose Mercury News, knew Webb and the managers at the paper who initially supported Webb’s “Dark Alliance” series. He explains the inside story from the newsroom angle, and how The Mercury was competing with The New York Times and The Washington Post–and how the Times and Post helped the government undermine the story and attack Webb. Parry, a frequent contributor to the PBC show, worked for AP, Newsweek and PBS Frontline, and took lots of flak for his great reporting on Iran/Contra. Parry warned Webb to expect attacks, and talked to him after the first report from the CIA inspector general, which validated Webb’s reporting. Klein and Parry offer great comparisons between Webb and Bob Woodward, and offer comments on the sad state of journalism today.
At about 41:50, Kevin Kamps returns. He is “Radioactive Waste Watchdog” at BeyondNuclear.org, and gives a chilling update on the 75-day coverup of 3 reactor meltdowns at Fukushima Daiichi, as well as the releases of radiation to air and water, contamination of fish, plants and farm animals, the risk to Americans, and Obama’s failure to respond by banning new nukes and shutting down old ones. And Kamps reports how the Green Party in Germany has forced Chancellor Merkel to agree to shut down all nuclear power plants in Germany over the next 10-12 years.
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