California Watch
{{Short description|Nonprofit investigative journalism organization}}
{{Infobox organization
| name = California Watch
| logo = Calwatchlogo.png
| type =
| founded_date = August 2009
| location = Berkeley, California
| origins =
| key_people = Robert Rosenthal, Executive Director of CIR
Mark Katches, Editorial Director
Christa Scharfenberg, Associate Director of CIR
Louis Freedberg, Founding Director
| area_served =
| focus = Investigative journalism
| method = Foundation and member-supported
| revenue =
| endowment =
| num_volunteers =
| num_employees =
| num_members =
| owner =
| homepage = [https://inn.org/tag/california-watch/]
| dissolved = May 29, 2013
| footnotes =
}}
California Watch, part of the nonprofit Center for Investigative Reporting, began producing stories in 2009.{{cite web |url=http://www.sacbee.com/static/weblogs/i-tool_tips/2010/01/california-watch-launches-with.html |title=California Watch launches with investigations and data |author=Pete Basofin |date=5 January 2010 |publisher=The Sacramento Bee |access-date=10 January 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100108151923/http://www.sacbee.com/static/weblogs/i-tool_tips/2010/01/california-watch-launches-with.html |archive-date=2010-01-08 |url-status=dead }} The official launch of the California Watch website took place in January 2010.{{cite web |url=http://www.niemanlab.org/2010/01/california-watch-the-latest-entrant-in-the-dot-org-journalism-boom/ |date=5 January 2010 |title=California Watch: The latest entrant in the dot-org journalism boom |publisher=Nieman Journalism Lab |author=Martin Langeveld |access-date=10 January 2013}} The team was best known for producing well researched and widely distributed investigative stories on topics of interest to Californians.{{cite web |url=http://newsonomics.com/3-reasons-to-watch-california-watch/ |title=3 Reasons to Watch California Watch |author=Ken Doctor |date=23 March 2010 |publisher=Newsonomics |access-date=10 January 2013}} In small ways, the newsroom pioneered in the digital space, including listing the names of editors and copy editors at the bottom of each story, custom-editing stories for multiple partners, developing unique methods to engage with audiences and distributing the same essential investigative stories to newsrooms across the state. It worked with many news outlets, including newspapers throughout the state, all of the ABC television affiliates in California, KQED radio and television and dozens of websites. The Center for Investigative Reporting created California Watch with $3.5 million in seed funding.{{cite web |url=http://californiawatch.org/files/press_room/Cir%20history.pdf |title=CIR History |access-date=10 January 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120625014846/http://californiawatch.org/files/press_room/Cir%20history.pdf |archive-date=25 June 2012 |url-status=dead }} The team won several industry awards for its public interest reporting, including the George Polk Award in 2012.{{cite web |url=http://businessjournalism.org/2012/02/20/asu-professor-wins-george-polk-award-for-medical-reporting/ |date=10 February 2012 |title=ASU professor wins George Polk Award for Medical Reporting |publisher=BusinessJournalism.org |author=Kelly Carr |access-date=10 January 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120927202421/http://businessjournalism.org/2012/02/20/asu-professor-wins-george-polk-award-for-medical-reporting/ |archive-date=27 September 2012 |url-status=dead }}{{cite web |url=http://www.poynter.org/latest-news/mediawire/163662/polk-awards-honor-sara-ganim-anthony-shadid-california-watch-advertiser-democrat/ |date=21 February 2012 |title=Polk Awards honor Sara Ganim, Anthony Shadid, California Watch, Advertiser Democrat |publisher=The Poynter Institute |author=Julie Moos |access-date=10 January 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121014033422/http://www.poynter.org/latest-news/mediawire/163662/polk-awards-honor-sara-ganim-anthony-shadid-california-watch-advertiser-democrat/ |archive-date=14 October 2012 |url-status=dead }}{{cite web |url=http://www.mediabistro.com/fishbowlla/california-watch-wins-the-george-polk-award-for-medical-reporting_b53730 |date=20 February 2012 |title=California Watch Wins the George Polk Award for Medical Reporting |publisher=FishBowlLA |author=Matthew Fleischer |access-date=10 January 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120504221203/http://www.mediabistro.com/fishbowlla/california-watch-wins-the-george-polk-award-for-medical-reporting_b53730 |archive-date=4 May 2012 |url-status=dead }}{{cite web |url=http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2012/02/kudos_to_california_watch.php |date=19 February 2012 |title=Kudos to California Watch for Polk Award |publisher=LA Observed |author=Kevin Roderick |access-date=10 January 2013}} In addition to numerous awards won for its investigative reports, the California Watch website also won an Online Journalism Award in the general excellence category from the Online News Association in its first year of existence.{{Cite web|url=https://awards.journalists.org/winners/2010/|title=2010 Online Journalism Awards Winners|website=Online Journalism Awards|language=en-US|access-date=2019-12-20}}
History
In 2009, the California Watch team began creating reports on statewide issues. The team's mission was to highlight stories related to education, immigration, the environment, politics, public safety, and other areas of public interest.{{cite web |url=http://www.editorsweblog.org/2010/01/19/are-non-profits-the-future-of-investigate-reporting |date=19 January 2010 |title=Are Non-Profits the Future of Investigate Reporting? |author=Trafton Kenney |publisher=World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers |access-date=10 January 2013}}
At the time of its launch, California Watch had seven reporters, two multimedia producers, and two editors. Robert J. Rosenthal hired Mark Katches as the editorial director and Louis Freedberg as director. Katches had led investigative reporting teams at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, where he edited two Pulitzer Prize winning projects and at the Orange County Register. Freedberg was previously a reporter, Washington correspondent, editorial board member and columnist at the San Francisco
Chronicle, and had reported for a wide range of outlets in both radio and print. The reporting team included Lance Williams, who uncovered the BALCO steroids in sports scandal while an investigative reporter at the San Francisco Chronicle.
{{cite web |url=http://www.sfgate.com/sports/article/What-Bonds-told-BALCO-grand-jury-2667365.php |date=3 December 2004 |author=Lance Williams |author2=Mark Fainaru-Wada |title=What Bonds told BALCO grand jury |publisher=The San Francisco Chronicle |access-date=13 January 2013}}{{cite web |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/newswar/interviews/williams.html |date=13 February 2007 |title=Interview Lance Williams |publisher=Frontline |access-date=13 January 2013}}
California Watch started with offices in Berkeley and Sacramento, California.
California Watch hired three additional reporters in mid-2010.{{cite web |url=http://www.lostremote.com/2010/03/15/california-watch-rewards-civility-with-ipods/ |date=15 March 2012 |author=Steve Safran |title=California Watch rewards civility – with iPods |publisher=Lost Remote |access-date=13 January 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120513060202/http://www.lostremote.com/2010/03/15/california-watch-rewards-civility-with-ipods/ |archive-date=2012-05-13 |url-status=dead }} Among them was Ryan Gabrielson, who won a Pulitzer Prize for his reporting on abusive practices in the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office.{{cite web |url=http://blogs.phoenixnewtimes.com/valleyfever/2010/06/ryan_gabrielson_former_pulitze.php |date=1 June 2010 |author=James King |title=Ryan Gabrielson, Former Pulitzer-Prize-Winning East Valley Tribune Reporter, Gets New Gig With California Watch |publisher=Phoenix New Times |access-date=13 January 2013}} California Watch shares its editors, TV producers, multimedia producers, news applications developers, data analysts and radio production with the Center for Investigative Reporting.
In March 2010, California Watch launched the “Politics Verbatim” website created by Chase Davis. The site tracked the statements and promises of the state's candidates for governor, Meg Whitman and Jerry Brown.{{cite web |url=http://www.editorsweblog.org/2010/06/22/california-watch-launches-politics-verbatim-to-track-candidates |date=22 June 2010 |author=Emma Goodman |title=California Watch launches Politics Verbatim to track candidates |publisher=World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers |access-date=13 January 2013}} The site featured search tools, and users could sort statements by topic and geographic location.{{cite web |url=https://abcnews.go.com/WN/changing-life-preventing-maternal-mortality/story?id=9914009#.UEc8DI1lTWw |date=4 March 2010 |author=Kate Snow |author2=Sarah Amos |title=Maternal Mortality Rates Rising in California |work=ABC News |access-date=13 January 2013}}
Reporting targeted at younger audiences included age-specific media, such as coloring books and finger puppet videos.{{cite web |url=http://www.niemanlab.org/2012/04/coloring-books-and-puppets-california-watch-unveils-a-new-section-just-for-kids/ |date=18 April 2012 |author=Adrienne LaFrance |title=Coloring books and puppets: California Watch unveils a new section just for kids |publisher=Nieman Journalism Lab |access-date=13 January 2013}}
California Watch merged into the Center for Investigative Reporting in May 2013.{{cite web | url=https://www.poynter.org/reporting-editing/2013/cir-rebrands-california-watch-bay-citizen/ | title=CIR rebrands California Watch, Bay Citizen | date=20 May 2013 }}
Investigations
- Majority of California's Largest Districts Eye Shorter School Year, by Louis Freedberg.{{cite web |url=http://www.niemanlab.org/2010/08/california-watchs-distribution-model-by-the-numbers/ |date=3 August 2010 |author=Megan Garber |title=California Watch's distribution model, by the numbers |publisher=Nieman Journalism Lab |access-date=13 January 2013}}
- More Women Dying from Pregnancy Complications; State Holds On to Report, by Nathanael Johnson.
- Death at San Jose Nursing Home Leaves Family in Search of Answers, by Lisa Pickoff White, in partnership with the Orange County Register, the San Jose Mercury News, Sacramental Bee, KQED and others.{{cite web |url=http://californiawatch.org/dailyreport/governor-requests-additional-nursing-home-auditors-2246 |date=24 May 2010 |author=Christina Jewett |title=Governor requests additional nursing home auditors |publisher=California Watch |access-date=13 January 2013}}{{cite web |url=http://www.californiahealthline.org/articles/2010/4/19/nursing-homes-cut-staff-despite-funding-boosts-california-watch-reports.aspx#ixzz2Ht1prIXm |title=Nursing Homes Cut Staff Despite Funding Boosts |publisher=California Healthline |access-date=13 January 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100423040521/http://www.californiahealthline.org/articles/2010/4/19/nursing-homes-cut-staff-despite-funding-boosts-california-watch-reports.aspx#ixzz2Ht1prIXm |archive-date=23 April 2010 |url-status=dead }}
- Nitrate Contamination Spreading in California Communities, by Julia Scott.{{cite web |url=http://bayarea.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/05/17/sampler-bay-to-breakers-and-nitrates-in-drinking-water/ |date=17 May 2010 |author=Katharine Mieszkowski |title=Sampler: Bay to Breakers, and Nitrates in Drinking Water |work=The New York Times |access-date=13 January 2013}}
- Car Seizures at DUI Checkpoints Prove Profitable for Cities, Raise Legal Questions, by Ryan Gabrielson.{{cite web |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/02/14/car-seizures-at-dui-check_n_462142.html |date=25 May 2011 |title=Car Seizures At DUI Checkpoints Raise Money, Legal Questions |work=The Huffington Post |access-date=13 January 2013}}
- Prime Healthcare's Treatment of Rare Ailments Stands Out, by Christina Jewett and Stephen K. Doig.{{cite web |url=https://abc7news.com/archive/8465550/ |author=Christina Jewett for California Watch |date=13 December 2011 |title=FBI questioning former Prime hospital coders |work=ABC News |access-date=13 January 2013 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130216035318/http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/state&id=8465550 |archive-date=16 February 2013 |url-status=live }}{{cite web |url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/health/july-dec11/medicare_12-19.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111220110633/http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/health/july-dec11/medicare_12-19.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=December 20, 2011 |author= |date=19 December 2011 |title=California Hospital Chain Eyed for Possibly Bilking Medicare for Millions |publisher=PBS Newshour |access-date=13 January 2013}}
- On Shaky Ground, a three-part California Watch and KQED-TV investigation.{{cite web |url=http://www.poynter.org/latest-news/als-morning-meeting/169986/how-pulitzer-contender-on-shaky-ground-developed-at-california-watch/ |author=Al Tompkins |date=16 April 2012 |title=How Pulitzer contender 'On Shaky Ground' developed at California Watch |publisher=The Poynter Institute |access-date=13 January 2013}}{{cite web |url=http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2012/06/on_shaky_ground_wins_anot.php |author=Kevin Roderick |date=17 June 2012 |title='On Shaky Ground' wins another honor for California Watch |publisher=LA Observed |access-date=13 January 2013}}
- Broken Shield, a series of investigations into police failures and abuses.{{cite web |url=http://www.innovativeinteractivity.com/2012/02/27/california-watch-publishes-multimedia-investigation-broken-shield/ |author=Tracy Boyer Clark |date=27 February 2012 |title=California Watch publishes multimedia investigation "Broken Shield" |publisher=Innovative Interactivity |access-date=13 January 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130225122434/http://innovativeinteractivity.com/2012/02/27/california-watch-publishes-multimedia-investigation-broken-shield/ |archive-date=2013-02-25 |url-status=dead }}
- Spain's High-speed Rail System Offers Lessons for California, by Tim Sheehan, part of a joint series with the Fresno Bee and news outlets around the state, on the peril and promise of bullet trains in California.{{cite web |url=http://www.fresnobee.com/2012/07/11/2905096/new-bullet-train-plan-mangled.html |author=Lance Williams |date=11 July 2012 |title=New Bullet Train Plan 'Mangled,' Perhaps Illegal, ex-rail Booster Says |publisher=The Fresno Bee |access-date=13 January 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121030144935/http://www.fresnobee.com/2012/07/11/2905096/new-bullet-train-plan-mangled.html |archive-date=2012-10-30 |url-status=dead }}{{cite web |url=http://www.sacbee.com/2012/06/26/4591995/some-senators-want-dramatic-shift.html |author=Lance Williams |date=27 June 2012 |title=Some Senators want Dramatic Shift in Bullet Train Plan |publisher=The Sacramento Bee |access-date=13 January 2013 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130216185954/http://www.sacbee.com/2012/06/26/4591995/some-senators-want-dramatic-shift.html |archive-date=2013-02-16 |url-status=dead }}
- Scrutiny of Oakland Church School Grows, by Will Evans.{{cite web |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/07/oakland-unified-school-district_n_1866292.html |author=Will Evans |date=7 September 2012 |title=Oakland Unified School District Cuts off Funding for Private School |work=The Huffington Post |access-date=13 January 2013}}
Operations model
The Center for Investigative Reporting, which runs California Watch, depends largely on foundation grants and individual donors. It also charges for its content. California Watch publishes content on its website and also distributes content to other news outlets, such as The San Francisco Chronicle, San Diego Union Tribune, Sacramento Bee, Orange County Register, KQED, all of the ABC TV affiliates in California and National Public Radio. California Watch has an agreement with New American Media to help distribute translated versions of the team's reports to ethnic news outlets.
Distribution is important for the success of California Watch's efforts. In the case of the story on school-district budget cuts, California Watch had 20 media partners for the story. It was distributed in print, on TV, the web, and radio.
California Watch has experimented with new ways of distributing its work. To spread the word on a story about earthquake safety at public universities, the team produced fliers. They handed out these fliers on the UC Berkeley campus, which has more unsafe buildings than any other California university.{{cite web |url=http://www.niemanlab.org/2010/04/the-future-is%E2%80%A6fliers-california-watch-experiments-with-a-hyper-hyper-hyperlocal-distribution-model/ |date=8 April 2010 |author=Megan Garber |title=The future is…fliers? California Watch experiments with a hyper-hyper-hyperlocal distribution model |publisher=Nieman Journalism Lab |access-date=13 January 2013}} As part of the investigation into the seismic safety of K-12 schools in California, California Watch produced and distributed more than 30,000 coloring books in multiple languages, to help children learn about earthquake safety. In 2012, it partnered with the UCSF Children's Hospital to distribute 50,000 more at San Francisco's Fleet Week.
Awards and recognition
In 2012, California Watch won the George Polk Award for medical reporting. Its investigation exposed fraudulent medical billing at Prime Healthcare Services. California Watch was the only nonprofit organization on the list of winners. Lance Williams and Christina Jewett were the lead reporters on the investigation.
In 2010, California Watch initiated the “Open Newsroom” project. The team works from coffee houses and other public areas with free Wi-Fi. Director Mark Katches envisioned the open newsroom as a way to engage with the local community.{{cite web |url=https://www.cjr.org/the_news_frontier/california_watch_launches_open.php |date=27 January 2010 |author=Megan Garber |title=California Watch Launches "Open Newsroom" Project |publisher=Columbia Journalism Review |access-date=13 January 2013}} In June 2012, California Watch partnered with KQED to hold a series of five open newsrooms around the San Francisco Bay Area.
The far-reaching “On Shaky Ground” investigation was a finalist for a Pulitzer Prize in 2012. In 2011, the story earned the Roy W. Howard Award and a $10,000 grant from the Scripps Howard Foundation.{{cite web |url=http://www.shawards.org/winners.aspx |title=Scripps Howard Awards - 2011 Winners |publisher=Scripps Howard Foundatipn |access-date=13 January 2013 |archive-date=3 May 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120503195235/http://www.shawards.org/winners.aspx |url-status=dead }}
The Northern California Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists awarded California Watch a Journalism Innovation award in 2011.{{cite web |url=http://californiawatch.org/dailyreport/cir-california-watch-win-2-society-professional-journalists-awards-13162 |date=19 October 2011 |author=Christa Scharfenberg |publisher=California Watch |title=CIR, California Watch win 2 Society of Professional Journalists awards |access-date=10 January 2013}}{{Self-published inline|date=August 2020}} In the previous year, the society named the group Journalist of the Year.{{cite web |url=http://www.sfbaj.org/2011/06/excellence-in-journalism-winning-ways-in-new-media/ |date=6 June 2011 |publisher=San Francisco Bay Area Journalists |title=Excellence in Journalism: Winning Ways in New Media |access-date=10 January 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120129020600/http://www.sfbaj.org/2011/06/excellence-in-journalism-winning-ways-in-new-media/ |archive-date=29 January 2012 |url-status=dead }}
The Broken Shield series of investigations into police failures and abuses picked up the Online News Association’s Gannett Foundation Award for Innovative Investigative Journalism in 2012.{{cite web |url=http://journalists.org/2012/09/24/2012-online-journalism-award-winners-announced/ |date=24 September 2012 |publisher=Online News Association |title=2012 Online Journalism Award winners announced |access-date=10 January 2013}} California Watch was nominated for four ONA awards in 2011.{{cite web |url=http://cironline.org/blog/post/center-investigative-reporting-california-watch-named-finalists-online-news-awards-917 |date=1 September 2011 |author=Meghann Farnsworth |publisher=Center for Investigative Reporting |title=Center for Investigative Reporting, California Watch named finalists in online news awards |access-date=10 January 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130407133038/http://cironline.org/blog/post/center-investigative-reporting-california-watch-named-finalists-online-news-awards-917 |archive-date=7 April 2013 |url-status=dead }}
References
{{reflist|30em}}
External links
- [http://www.californiawatch.org/ California Watch]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20070621082444/http://centerforinvestigativereporting.org/ Center For Investigative Reporting]
Category:Investigative journalism
Category:Non-profit organizations based in California
Category:American journalism organizations