EMERYVILLE, CA (October 12, 2016) – The Center for Investigative Reporting, (CIR), welcomes William R. Hearst III, celebrated editor, publisher, philanthropist, and chairman of the board of Hearst, to its distinguished Board of Directors. Mr. Hearst will provide strategic guidance and advance the mission and sustainability of CIR as the nonprofit news organization continues to expand its wide-ranging, award-winning investigative journalism, including its nationally distributed public radio show and podcast, Reveal, and its various fellowship programs.
“All of us at CIR have long admired Will’s unflinching commitment to furthering high quality, high impact journalism,” said Phil Bronstein, executive chair of CIR’s Board of Directors. “I worked with Will for many years at Hearst and witnessed first-hand how his deep roots in the media industry, endless sense of curiosity, courage to take risks in the name of good journalism, and his natural understanding of both business direction and media technologies inspired those who have worked for and with him. We look forward to seeing his imprint on our organization and are truly thrilled to welcome him to the CIR family.”
Speaking about his decision to join the Board of Directors, Hearst said, “CIR is a unique institution devoted to investigative journalism. They have a staff of experienced reporters, producers and database experts. They follow a story wherever it leads and present the result in a clear and fair way. Their investigations become available to newspapers, radio, TV, and directly to the public via the internet. In an era of shrinking budgets for news and reporting, they are the vanguard for presenting the news without filters, and without fear or favor to powerful, or official sources. A free society needs a free press, but also a fearless press.”
Hearst, the grandson of William Randolph Hearst, currently serves as the chairman of the board of Hearst, one of the nation’s largest diversified media and information companies. Having been actively engaged in the charitable activities and programs of the Hearst Foundations for the last 20 years, Hearst also served for 10 years as editor and publisher of the San Francisco Examiner, where he began as a reporter and assistant editor in 1972. He also held positions at Outside magazine and at the Los Angeles Herald Examiner. Hearst serves on the boards of numerous other organizations, including Carnegie Institution for Science and the San Francisco Film Society, and is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
For more on CIR and to engage with our latest investigations, please visit www.revealnews.org.
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About The Center for Investigative Reporting
Founded in 1977, The Center for Investigative Reporting is the nation’s first independent, nonprofit, nonpartisan media organization dedicated to public service journalism. CIR empowers the public through groundbreaking investigative storytelling that sparks action, improves lives and protects our democracy. CIR informs an audience of more than a million each month through its RevealNews.org website and its nationally distributed Reveal public radio show and podcast, which it produces with PRX. CIR is the recipient of a prestigious MacArthur Award for Creative and Effective Institutions, 2013, 2015 and 2016 Emmy Awards, five 2016 Edward R. Murrow Awards, and was twice a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize.