zaterdag 11 oktober 2014

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New Film Is Redemption for Gary Webb, Journalist Who Exposed CIA Ties to the Crack Trade

A new film tells the story of Webb, whose "Dark Alliance" series provoked a fierce reaction from the media establishment.
The new Hollywood film "Kill the Messenger" tells the story of Gary Webb, one of the most maligned figures in investigative journalism. Webb’s explosive 1996 investigative series "Dark Alliance" for the San Jose Mercury News revealed ties between the CIA, Nicaraguan contras and the crack cocaine trade ravaging African-American communities. The exposé provoked protests and congressional hearings, as well as a fierce reaction from the media establishment, which went to great lengths to discredit Webb’s reporting. We revisit Webb’s story with an extended clip from the documentary "Shadows of Liberty," and speak with Robert Parry, a veteran investigative journalist who advised Webb before he published the series. 
Below is an interview with Parry, followed by a transcript.
NERMEEN  SHAIKH: A new film out in theaters this week tells the story of one of the most maligned figures in investigative journalism: Gary Webb. In 1996, Webb published an explosive series in the  San Jose Mercury News titled "Dark Alliance." It began, quote, "For the better part of a decade, a San Francisco Bay Area drug ring sold tons of cocaine to the Crips and Bloods street gangs of Los Angeles and funneled millions in drug profits to a Latin American guerrilla army run by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency." 
AMY  GOODMAN: The series revealed ties between the  CIA, the Nicaraguan contras, the crack cocaine trade ravaging African-American communities here in the U.S. This is a trailer for the new film  Kill the Messenger, starring Jeremy Renner as Gary Webb. 
GARY  WEBB: [played by Jeremy Renner] Gary Webb,  San Jose Mercury News.
RONALD  QUAIL: [played by Robert Patrick] Do you believe in conspiracy theories, Gary? 
GARY  WEBB: No, I don’t believe in conspiracy theories. Conspiracies, yes. If I believe it, there’s nothing theory about it. 
ALAN  FENSTER: [played by Tim Blake Nelson] Was the government aware that you were smuggling tons of cocaine into the United States? 
DANILO BLANDÓN: [played by Yul Vázquez] Yes, the government knew. 
RUSSELL  DODSON: [played by Barry Pepper] This leads to very sensitive national security matters. 
GARY  WEBB: Natural security and crack cocaine in the same sentence, does that not sound strange to you? 
NORWIN  MENESES: [played by Andy García] I’m going to tell you the whole truth. I’m going to introduce you to people you should talk to. And then you will be faced with the most important decision of your life. 
GARY  WEBB: Oh, yeah? What’s that? 
NORWIN  MENESES: Deciding whether to share it or not. 
GARY  WEBB: One of the DEA’s most wanted brought in thousands of kilos of cocaine to the U.S. every day for them. 
JERRY  CEPPOS: [played by Oliver Platt] For who? 
GARY  WEBB: The U.S. government. Or with them. Or at least while they were looking the other way. 
JERRY  CEPPOS: Jesus. 
"FREEWAY"  RICKY  ROSS: [played by Michael Kenneth Williams] L.A., New York, Atlanta. I couldn’t sell it fast enough to keep up with supply. 
FRED  WEIL: [played by Michael Sheen] Fancy information you have there. Dangerous. 
JOHN  CULLEN: [played by Ray Liotta] What you found here, Gary, is a monster. 
FRED  WEIL: You have no idea what you’re getting into. 
GARY  WEBB: You really telling me that I should just walk away from this? 
FRED  WEIL: You’d be an idiot not to. 
ANNA  SIMONS: [played by Mary Elizabeth Winstead] This story scares people. 

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