Harry Karafin

{{Short description|American investigative journalist (1915–1973)}}

Harry J. Karafin (September 4, 1915 – October 23, 1973"[http://www.mocavo.com/Harry-Karafin-1915-1973-Social-Security-Death-Index/00416812193959692183 Social Security Death Index]" database online at Mocavo.com (Boulder, CO: 2013). Original Data: The United States Social Security Administration) was an American investigative journalist associated with The Philadelphia Inquirer. He was a reporter at the Inquirer for 24 years (having worked his way up from copyboy, beginning in 1939Time, 21 April 1967, [http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,843617,00.html Magazines: Harry the Muckraker]), and in the 1950s and 1960s was considered the paper's star reporter as well as the city's best-known journalist, known for exposing corruption (partly through privileged access to district attorney files).Christopher Ogden (2009), [https://books.google.com/books?id=Fdw2AQAAQBAJ&pg=PT235 Legacy: A Biography of Moses and Walter Annenberg], Hachette, p235-6 Together with a colleague, Karafin was one of three finalists for the 1965 Pulitzer Prize for Local Investigative Specialized Reporting.Heinz-D Fischer and Erika J. Fischer (2003), [https://books.google.com/books?id=w3CdrctE80IC&pg=PA119 Complete Historical Handbook of the Pulitzer Prize System 1917-2000: Decision-Making Processes in all Award Categories based on unpublished Sources], Walter de Gruyter, p. 118–9

He was dismissed in 1967 after a Philadelphia magazine article exposed his willingness to accept payment from potential reporting subjects in order to avoid negative coverage.New York Times News Service, The Milwaukee Journal, 19 April 1967, [https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1499&dat=19670419&id=WlIaAAAAIBAJ&sjid=8icEAAAAIBAJ&pg=7347,4818545 Veteran Philadelphia Reporter Fired for Alleged Shakedowns] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160509013738/https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1499&dat=19670419&id=WlIaAAAAIBAJ&sjid=8icEAAAAIBAJ&pg=7347,4818545 |date=2016-05-09 }}Gaeton Fonzi and Gregory Walter, Philadelphia, 25 September 2008, [http://www.phillymag.com/articles/the-reporter/?all=1 The Reporter] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203184901/http://www.phillymag.com/articles/the-reporter/?all=1 |date=2013-12-03 }} Karafin was convicted on 40 counts of blackmail and corrupt solicitation in 1968AP, Observer-Reporter, 3 October 1968, [https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=rt8jAAAAIBAJ&sjid=EygEAAAAIBAJ&pg=7378,1437390&dq=harry+karafin&hl=en Karafin Found Guilty In His Blackmail Trial] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160420085317/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=rt8jAAAAIBAJ&sjid=EygEAAAAIBAJ&pg=7378,1437390&dq=harry+karafin&hl=en |date=2016-04-20 }}UPI, The Milwaukee Journal, 3 October 1968, [https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=rt8jAAAAIBAJ&sjid=EygEAAAAIBAJ&pg=7378,1437390&dq=harry+karafin&hl=en Ex-Reporter Convicted in Shakedowns] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160420085317/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=rt8jAAAAIBAJ&sjid=EygEAAAAIBAJ&pg=7378,1437390&dq=harry+karafin&hl=en |date=2016-04-20 }} and sentenced to 4-to-9 years; he was additionally convicted of perjury in 1971 in relation to statements in the 1968 trial, with a concurrent 2- to 7-year sentence.AP, 9 December 1971, Gettysburg Times, [https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=3q0lAAAAIBAJ&sjid=4fIFAAAAIBAJ&pg=6042,2074476&dq=harry+karafin&hl=en Harry Karafin Sent To Prison] The perjury conviction was overturned by the Superior Court of Pennsylvania.{{cite web | url = https://law.justia.com/cases/pennsylvania/superior-court/1973/224-pa-super-449-1.html| title = Commonwealth v. Karafin, 224 Pa. Super. Ct. 449 (1973) | date= March 28, 1973 | access-date = July 14, 2024| website = Justia}} Harry died in prison in 1973.Paul McLeary, Columbia Journalism Review, 10 April 2006, [https://www.cjr.org/behind_the_news/wheres_harry_karafin_now_that.php?page=all Where’s Harry Karafin Now That We Need Him?]