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ABOUT THIS PROJECT
:: TEACHING GUIDE
credits
About
the Center for Investigative Reporting
Producer and Reporter Bios
Full Documentary Credits
Project Funders
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Center
image courtesy of KnowGangs |
About the Center for Investigative Reporting
CIR is a nonprofit
journalism organization that reveals injustice and abuse of power through
the tools of journalism. Our focus is to make an impact, rather than a
profit, injecting our style of investigative reporting into the news media.
Specifically, we do this through three distinct ways. First, CIR is a
journalism venture fund, investing in promising investigations at their
early stages to give them a chance in the increasingly competitive news
marketplace. Second, we produce in-depth, high impact investigations for
print and broadcast. Last, CIR maximizes the impact of investigations
by promoting them to decision makers, citizen groups and our journalism
peers. Together, these activities equip citizens with the information
they need to participate fully in the democratic process. Visit www.muckraker.org
for more information.
Producer
and Reporter Bios
Oriana
Zill de Granados, Producer/Director: Ms. Zill de Granados is
an investigative reporter and documentary filmmaker with twelve years
experience, including extensive reporting on Latino communities in the
U.S. and Latin America. Since joining CIR, she has developed and acted
as Senior Producer on investigative documentaries for Frontline/World,
ABC News - Peter Jennings Reporting and CNN Presents. She produced “The
Lawless Sea,” which tells the inside story of an oil disaster caused
by a broken tanker off the coast of Spain. It aired on PBS Frontline/World
in January 2004. Previously, Zill de Granados produced segments for the
weekly PBS series, Now with Bill Moyers, about terrorists from the United
States and abroad purchasing U.S. guns, the tobacco industry’s involvement
in international cigarette smuggling, and the Israel/Palestinian war and
the Israeli settlers of the West Bank. Zill de Granados was a producer
and writer on the PBS Frontline series “Drug Wars,” which
aired in October 2000 and received the national Peabody award and an Emmy
award. She has produced segments for ABC News Nightline; for Science Times,
a National Geographic Channel program; and for The Travel Channel, among
others.
Julia
Reynolds, Co-Producer and Reporter: Ms. Reynolds is a staff writer
for The Monterey County Herald, where she has investigated and reported
on the influence organized prison gangs have on rural communities in central
California. Previously, she covered criminal and social justice for CIR,
where she started this investigation into Latino gangs, resulting in stories
for the San Francisco Chronicle, Oakland Tribune, MotherJones.com and
the Mexico City daily La Jornada. Reynolds also reported for stories on
the topic for NPR and an hour-long radio documentary produced by American
RadioWorks. Her other recent investigations include reporting for The
New York Times and the Frontline/World Web site, which won the 2002 Investigative
Reporters and Editors online reporting award, and led to the arrest of
one of only two arms dealers ever charged with violating a U.N. arms embargo.
She also is the editorial director of ElAndar.com, an online journal of
Latino politics and culture that has won more than 16 awards for journalism
and photography. She won the 2000 New California Media Award for investigative
reporting and the 1996 World Affairs Council award for international reporting,
and was a grantee of the Fund for Investigative Journalism.
George Sanchez, Associate Reporter: George Sanchez is currently a crime and courts reporter at The Monterey County Herald, where has covered state prison issues and the justice system’s handling of Nuestra Familia and other gang cases. Previously, he covered the courts for The Californian, in Salinas, California. He was a 2002 fellow with CIR, reporting for this project and contributing to stories for the San Francisco Chronicle, Oakland Tribune, La Jornada, and on NPR. He has freelanced for publications including the bilingual San Francisco newspaper El Tecolote, SF Weekly, and East Bay Express. During an editorial fellowship at Mother Jones, Sanchez was awarded a minority scholarship by the Independent Press Association. Sanchez has written about immigrant day laborers, community activism, punk rock and its subculture, and has done scores of record reviews for Punk Planet.
David Ritsher, Editor: David Ritsher is currently the
Production Coordinator/Editor for Frontline/World. He has extensive experience
in documentary production and editing. He was editor of “Lawless
Sea,” CIR’s documentary about the 2002 sinking of the oil
tanker Prestige off the coast of Spain, which aired on Frontline/World
in 2004. Recent documentaries include Lou Harrison: A World of Music,
GunShots, a CIR co-production for KQED’s Bay Window, and numerous
documents and segments for Frontline, Fronline/World, and NOVA, among
others. Ritsher was Associate Producer, Production Manager and AVID Consultant
for Hiroshima: Why the Bomb Was Dropped, a 1995 Peter Jennings Special
Report for ABC News, which won the Peabody Award and Overseas Press Club
Award for Outstanding Journalism.
Full Documentary
Credits
REAL LIFE CAST
Armando R. Frias, Former gang member
Kristen Thoeni, Salinas mother's group
Deborah Aguilar, Salinas mother's group
Mark Lazzarini, Salinas Police Department
Norteño Gang Member (Unnamed)
Armando Tizok Frias ("Lil' Mando")
Former NF associate
Epi Cortina, Former NF member
George Collord, Retired Santa Rosa Police officer, NF
investigator
Willie Stokes-Ramirez, Fomer NF associate
Fidel De La Riva, Former NF general
Devan Hawkes, CDC gang specialist
Elsa Sandoval, Salinas mother's group
Nancy Novoa, Salinas mother's group
Daniel Ortega, Salinas Chief of Police
Julian Soto, Salinas youth
Jose Castañeda, Staff Salinas Barrios Unidos
Antonio Avalos, Exec. Dir., Salinas Barrios Unidos
CREDITS
Producer and Director
Oriana Zill de Granados
Co-producer and Reporter
Julia Reynolds
Editor
David Ritsher
Writers
Julia Reynolds
David Ritsher
Oriana Zill de Granados
Narrator
Pepe
Urquijo
Additional Reporting
Dan Noyes
George Sanchez
Associate Producer/Assistant Editor
Rob Harris
Niall McKay
Francine Miller
Jorge Partida
Alison Pierce
Director of Photography
Luis Granados
Additional Camera
Janjaap Dekker
Josiah Hooper
Sigurdur Matthiasson
Niall McKay
Francine Miller
Julia Reynolds
George Sanchez
Oriana Zill de Granados
Sound
Luis Granados
Rob Harris
Niall McKay
Jorge Partida
Reporting and Research
Daffodil Altan
Michael Chandler
Justin Kane
David Montero
Michael Montgomery
Mara Reynolds
Marlena Telvick
Music Thanks
Gabriel "Gypsy" Avalos/Salad Bowl Music
Marcos Cabrera/Baktun 12
Doom the OriGinal
José Cuellar/Dr. Loco's Rockin' Jalapeño Band
Luis Granados
Juan Caipo/Orixa
John Reynolds
David Rocha
Armando Sarabia
Jorge Zamorano
Thanks to
Michael Montgomery
American RadioWorks
The Monterey Herald
San Francisco Chronicle
KQED
Monterey County Sheriff's Department
Salinas Police Department
California Department of Corrections
Steven Perez and Devan Hawkes
Pelican Bay State Prison
Jared Lewis, Know Gangs
California Correctional Peace Officers Association
Production Managers
Erika Baker
Zusita Bakker
Innbo Shim
Maryann Sargent
Communications Director
Christa Scharfenberg
Executive Producer for LPB
Luca Bentivoglio
Executive Producer
for CIR
Burt Glass
Project
Funders
The Ford Foundation
The Kaiser Family Foundation
Latino Public Broadcasting
Frank McCulloch Fund at CIR
Reproduction
of any content without written permission is prohibited
Copyright © 2005-2008 Center for Investigative Reporting. All rights
reserved.