Harriet Rowan (’16) receives national recognition for Richmond Confidential reporting

Halfway through her first semester at the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism, national news outlets are taking note of Harriet Rowan’s political reporting for Richmond Confidential. During election week, Bill Moyers and Amy Goodman are scheduled to interview Rowan on the air about her work.

The media blitz caps an eventful month for Rowan, who covers the political beat in Richmond, Calif. for Richmond Confidential “Ò one of the J-School’s two media outlets. In a series of articles published in early October, Rowan revealed how oil giant Chevron has funneled millions of dollars into political action committees responsible for the billboards, TV ads and mailers that have blanketed the city of 107,000.

Her reporting has gained the attention of national newspapers and websites like the Los Angeles Times and Fusion, and stories citing her work have been published in the Huffington Post, Salon and TakePart.com.

“Honestly, I’m surprised I was the first one to find this information and that Richmond Confidential was the first to publicize it, but it goes to show that you don’t need a huge newsroom and a lot of resources to break big news,” Rowan said.

To uncover the story behind the billboards and mailers, Rowan followed the money. She obtained campaign finance reports showing that Chevron provided nearly $3 million to fund three separate campaign committees responsible for most of the ads seen in Richmond.

Rowan said her public records class, a required course in the first-year curriculum at the Graduate School of Journalism, informed her reporting. “I had some experience with campaign finance reporting, so I was pretty comfortable with campaign finance reports to begin with, but the public records class gave me new skills to find new and more documents.”

Commentators have been singing the praises of not only Rowan’s reporting, but of Richmond Confidential’s value to the community it serves. “Richmond Confidential may be one of the most important newsgathering enterprises in the country right now,” wrote LA Times columnist Michael Hiltzik.

Richmond Confidential was launched in 2009 as part of the J-School’s J200 curriculum to give students real-world reporting and publishing experience. Robert Rogers (’11), a founding member of Richmond Confidential, and veteran reporter David Thigpen teach the class and serve as the site’s editors. Rogers, who covers Richmond for the Contra Costa Times, recently appeared on the Rachel Maddow Show to discuss Chevron’s political spending in Richmond.

“[Rogers] is a fantastic resource, and he knows so much about the history and context of what is going on in Richmond,” Rowan said. “Hopefully with the guidance from our professor we are providing a resource to folks in Richmond that isn’t available anywhere else.”

For more updates on Rowan’s work, follow her on Twitter, and visit Richmond Confidential for ongoing coverage of Richmond.