ICIJ founder Charles “Chuck” Lewis is among a select group of muckrakers who have been named as the newest alumni members of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, honoring their years of contributions to global investigative reporting.
The alumni membership category was created to acknowledge dedicated journalists who have retired from active investigative work, but who still maintain a close relationship with ICIJ’s network.
“Even after a reporter retires, it’s rare that they can ever fully step away from journalism — for these ICIJ alumni members, it’s often baked into their DNA,” said ICIJ member Francisca Skoknic, who currently chairs ICIJ’s Network Committee. “It’s important that we continue to find ways to draw on their expertise, while also acknowledging the impact they’ve had on our profession.”
The reporters being honored as alumni today are:
- Chuck Lewis (United States), a former ABC News and CBS News 60 Minutes producer, best-selling author or co-author of six books, and the founder of two Pulitzer Prize-winning nonprofit news organizations.
- Bill Birnbauer (Australia), an investigative reporter and senior editor at The Age and The Sunday Age newspapers for more than three decades, who has authored multiple books and produced television documentaries.
- Julio Godoy (Guatemala), one of Guatemala’s top investigative reporters who was forced to flee the country in 1990 after facing down violent attempts to silence him, including being kidnapped and having his newspaper office bombed.
- Pete Carey (United States), a multi award-winning former investigative and business reporter for the The (San Jose) Mercury News.
- Charles Onyango-Obbo (Uganda), a veteran reporter who has written for a variety of publications in Uganda and the region and whose work has been honored with numerous awards.
For Chuck Lewis, this is one of a number of recent honors marking his impact on journalism. In June, he received the Investigative Reporters and Editor’s Ring of Honor and the Global Investigative Journalism Network’s Award for Extraordinary Service to International Investigative Journalism, capping a decades-long career crammed with both groundbreaking reporting and dozens of awards and accolades.
Lewis left CBS News’ 60 Minutes program to found the Center for Public Integrity in 1989, envisioning a nonprofit nirvana for investigative journalists who would be able to dive deep into any issue free from the pressures of a commercial newsroom. Eight years later, he founded ICIJ to take this investigative reporting across borders.
Reporters in both newsrooms went on to win Pulitzer Prizes, the Center for Public Integrity in 2014 for an investigation on black lung in coal workers, and ICIJ in 2017 for its work on the Panama Papers. ICIJ became an independent organization that same year, and continues to pioneer global collaborative journalism through its membership and partnership network.
“As the founder of the ICIJ, he has been one of the pioneers in the field of the nonprofit news organization. His personal contribution decisively shaped the journalism landscape in the U.S. and around the world,” ICIJ’s Network Committee said in its alumni invitation to Lewis. The ICIJ Network Committee has created a special category of membership — honorary alumnus — to recognize Chuck’s unique and essential part of ICIJ’s story.
Lewis went on to become a professor of journalism at American University in Washington, D.C., and continued to inspire generations of journalists, urging them to “investigate the bastards, whoever they are.”
Between them, the five new alumni members have about two centuries’ worth of journalism experience, and all participated in some of ICIJ’s earliest investigative projects.
Australian reporter Bill Birnbauer remembers receiving his invitation to join ICIJ in 1998, and at first wondering if it was a scam — the idea of journalists working together was a novel concept.
“After researching the journalists who signed the invitation — Charles Lewis and Maud Beelman — I thought that perhaps it was for real. It might just work,” Birnbauer said in an email to ICIJ. “The more I thought about it, the more I could see how it could advance accountability into a new age. The rest, as they say, is history.”
Birnbauer now runs Democracy’s Watchdogs, an Australian-based nonprofit that highlights investigative journalism and provides resources to aspiring reporters. But he still looks forward to staying in touch with the ICIJ network as an alumni.
“Being part of the ICIJ has been a highlight of my career professionally and also has introduced me to many people who became lifelong friends,” he said.
“We’re lucky to have worked with all these reporters for so long, and look forward to continuing our relationship with them as alumni,” said ICIJ Executive Director Gerard Ryle. “Congratulations to all of you, and thank you for your incredible contributions to our craft.”
Another ICIJ member, former New York Times reporter David Burnham, had also been invited to become a network alumni, however unfortunately died in October. Burnham, who rose to prominence for exposés on New York City’s police department, was remembered by colleagues as a tenacious journalist with a fierce dedication to the facts.