UC Berkeley Journalism - Faculty

Lowell Bergman

PROFESSOR

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Phone: 510-643-1332

Lowell Bergman is a producer/correspondent for the PBS documentary series "Frontline" and the Reva and David Logan Distinguished Professor of Investigative Reporting at the Graduate School of Journalism where he has taught a seminar dedicated to investigative reporting for over 15 years. Bergman is also a consultant to Frontline, advising them on the expansion of their hard news reporting, as well as to non-profit investigative news organizations like the Center for Investigative Reporting and ProPublica. For a decade from 1999-2008 he was an investigative correspondent for the New York Times.

Since assuming the Logan Professorship, a three-quarter time position, the U.C. Berkeley Investigative Reporting Program under Mr. Bergman's leadership has established its own offices which include the west coast editorial and production facilities for the PBS programs Frontline and Frontline/World. The offices also house the Investigative Reporting Post Graduate Fellows.

This newly inaugurated year-long program is without peer at any academic institution in the nation. It is designed to nurture young journalists who want to pursue a career in in-depth public service reporting by providing them with a salary, benefits and editorial guidance.

Bergman's career spans nearly four decades from the late 1960s for a weekly newspaper in San Diego to a freelancer for Ramparts Magazine and then as an editor of Rolling Stone. In 1976, he was part of a group of reporters who investigated the assassination of Don Bolles, a reporter for The Arizona Republic, and in 1977 he was a co-founder of The Center for Investigative Reporting.

From 1978 until 1983, Bergman was a producer, reporter, and then the Director of Investigative Reporting at ABC News. He was one of the original producers of "20/20."

In 1983, Bergman joined CBS News as a producer for the weekly news magazine "60 Minutes," where over the course of 14 years he produced more than 50 stories on subjects ranging from organized crime, international arms and drug trafficking, to terrorism, and corporate crime. The story of his investigation of the tobacco industry for 60 Minutes was chronicled in the Academy Award nominated feature film "The Insider".

After leaving CBS News as its senior investigative producer in 1998, he forged an alliance between The New York Times and the PBS documentary program "Frontline". The collaboration included the participation of his graduate students working both on the films and print stories as well as extensive web sites. Stories as part of this alliance included an investigation into corruption in Mexico, the East Africa bombings, the California energy crisis and the role of Enron, a series on the roots of 9/11, as well as subsequent stories on the terrorist threat inside the United States and Europe.

Working with his students, The New York Times and Frontline, Mr. Bergman also reported award-winning investigations of the credit card business, and worker safety in the iron foundry industry.

He has received honors in both print and broadcasting, including the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service, awarded to The New York Times in 2004 for "A Dangerous Business," which detailed a record of egregious worker safety violations coupled with the systematic violation of environmental laws in the iron sewer and water pipe industry. That story, which appeared as both a print series and a documentary, is the only winner of the Pulitzer Prize to also be acknowledged with every major award in broadcasting.

The recipient of numerous Emmys, Mr. Bergman, as a reporter and producer, has been honored with five Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University silver and golden Baton awards, three Peabodys, a Polk Award, a Sidney Hillman award for labor reporting, the Bart Richards Award for Media Criticism and the James Madison Freedom of Information Award for Career Achievement from The Society of Professional Journalists. Bergman graduated with honors from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1966 and was a graduate fellow in philosophy at the University of California, San Diego until 1970.

Lowell Bergman has lived for the last 35 years in Berkeley, California. He is married to Ms. Sharon Tiller, a senior producer with Frontline. The couple has five children and four grandchildren.

Recent Stories by Lowell Bergman include the Frontline program News War, a four-part series that traces the history of American journalism from the Nixon administrations attacks on the media, to the post-Watergate popularity of the press, to the new challenges presented by the war on terror and other forces facing the free press. Another recent program, The Enemy Within, which aired on Frontline and was published in The New York Times, details the federal government's multibillion dollar domestic counterterrorism efforts and whether the country is better prepared to prevent another catastrophic attack. The film and accompanying Web site and newspaper story were prepared with the assistance of students and alumni from Bergman's investigative reporting class.

Stories by Lowell Bergman

4 Year Old NY Times Story by Bergman Enters Election Fray
Last week, John McCain's chief strategist told reporters that Democrat VP candidate Joe Biden's son Hunter had lobbied for the credit card and banking industries. A verbal sparring between Democrats and Republicans followed. Read the original 2004 story by Logan Professor Lowell Bergman and IRP Deputy Director Marlena Telvick.
Posted September 23, 2008

The Future of Investigative Journalism
Logan Professor Lowell Bergman discusses his views on the key issues facing investigative reporting, highlighting why non-profits and educational institutions will become increasingly important.
Posted September 8, 2008

Bribery Scandal Rocks Big Oil
Logan Professor Lowell Bergman and IRP Deputy Director Marlena Telvick report on breaking news from Houston as part of a joint reporting project by PBS's Frontline and ProPublica on international bribery, the subject of an upcoming documentary produced out of the Investigative Reporting Program at the school.
Posted September 8, 2008

Shining a Light
Logan Professor Lowell Bergman discusses the past, present and future of investigative reporting with hosts Brooke Gladstone and Bob Garfield of On The Media - WNYC/NPR.
Posted August 17, 2008

A Dangerous Business Revisited: Tuesday, February 5th
Five years ago, FRONTLINE and The New York Times joined forces to investigate death and dismemberment in one of America's most dangerous industries -- the iron pipe foundry business. One company stood out, the McWane Corporation. It had more health and safety violations than all of its competitors combined, and there were a number of environmental violations as well. In the five years since our original broadcast, federal prosecutors obtained indictments against and juries convicted the company in five cases in four states. Today McWane says it has made a dramatic turnaround and that worker safety and environmental protection are now high priorities. For PBS FRONTLINE revisits its original broadcast with correspondent Lowell Bergman who then reports on what has changed at McWane and whether the company has become a less dangerous business. Bergman received the 2004 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service for The New York Times' series accompanying the original broadcast.
Posted February 4, 2008

Professor Lowell Bergman Nominated for Three WGA Awards
Logan professor Lowell Bergman has been nominated for three Writer's Guild of America Awards for "The Enemy Within" which assessed domestic anti-terror efforts 5 years after 9/11, and parts one and three of "News War" a four-part Frontline documentary series co-produced by the Graduate School of Journalism examining the political, cultural, legal, and economic forces challenging the news media today. He shares the nomination for hour three with Steve Talbot, a lecturer in the Documentary Program. Ten current and former UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism students worked on "The Enemy Within." Fifteen current and former students contributed to “News War”, a landmark examination of the state of American news media. The WGA Awards are scheduled for Feb. 9th, 2008.
Posted December 13, 2007

BP Settlements Seen on Safety And Price Cases
For The New York Times, Logan Professor Lowell Bergman reveals that British energy company BP, tarnished by a string of costly legal problems, is preparing to settle accusations that it was criminally indifferent to worker safety in a 2005 accident that killed 15 workers and injured 180 others. It was the nation's deadliest industrial accident since 1990, and one of the worst in modern times. (October 24, 2007)
Posted November 27, 2007

Payload: Taking Aim at Corporate Bribery
For the The New York Times, Logan Professor Lowell Bergman examines billions of dollars in clandestine and questionable payments to Saudi royals over the last 20 years as part of an $80 billion contract to supply the kingdom with advanced fighter jets and other military hardware. Additional reporting by IRP Deputy Director Marlena Telvick.
Posted November 27, 2007

FRONTLINE Examines Journalism Under Siege
FRONTLINE will air "News War" on February 13, 20 and 27. Reported by Professor Lowell Bergman, the series traces the history of American journalism since the Nixon administration. An episode of FRONTLINE/World will air March 27 that examines international forces that influence U.S. journalism. The series was co-produced with the Graduate School of Journalism.
Posted February 4, 2007

Bergman and Talbot to Appear at Commonwealth Club
Professor Lowell Bergman and Lecturer Steve Talbot will speak to the Commonwealth Club on January 11, 2007 about a PBS Frontline that will examine the forces challenging the news media today and the press reaction. Bergman and Talbot trace the recent history of American journalism, from the Nixon administration's attacks on the media to the post-Watergate popularity of the press to the new challenges presented by the war on terror and other forces facing the free press.
Posted December 14, 2006

Bergman and Ashcroft On The Air
Professor Lowell Bergman and former Attorney General John Ashcroft talk about the government's investigation of terrorism and national security since 9/11 on The Charlie Brennan Show on KMOX on Tuesday, October 10.
Posted October 12, 2006

The Enemy Within
"The Enemy Within," reported by Professor Lowell Bergman, which aired on Frontline and was published in The New York Times, details the federal government's multibillion dollar domestic counterterrorism efforts and whether the country is better prepared to prevent another catastrophic attack. The film and accompanying Web site and newspaper story were prepared with the assistance of students and alumni from Bergman's investigative reporting class.
Posted October 12, 2006

Bergman Frontline Stories Win duPont Awards
Winners of the 2006 Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Awards for broadcast journalism included "Al Qaeda's New Front" produced by Frontline and "The Secret History of the Credit Card," produced by Frontline and The New York Times. Adjunct Professor Lowell Bergman was correspondent for both films.
Posted December 16, 2005

Peru: The Curse of Inca Gold
Lowell Bergman reports for a New York Times & FRONTLINE/World co-production, on the cost of mining for gold in Peru. He invesitgates the Yanacocha gold mine, the U.S. mining company that profits from it, and the former executive who talks openly for the first time about the mine's environmental and political problems.
Posted October 25, 2005

Examining the Credit Card Industry
Adjunct Professor Lowell Bergman helped write and produce a joint project between The New York Times and Frontline that examines the industry that provides credit cards to 144 million Americans. Much of the reporting and research for the site was done as a project of the Investigative Journalism for Print and Television Seminar. Reporting and research by Lowell Bergman, Nelli Kheyfets, Robin Stein, Marlena Telvick, Michael Schreiber, Andrew Becker, Snigdha Sen, Gosia Wozniacka, Mark Chediak, Nathanael Johnson, Niall McKay and Shadi Rahimi. Additional reporting by Joe Mullin, Scott Den Herder and Jun Wang with the assistance of Sarah Weiner-Boone (credits).
Posted November 23, 2004

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