By: Joe Strupp The Center for Investigative Reporting has hired Lance Williams of the San Francisco Chronicle as an investigative reporter covering money and politics for its new California Watch project.
Williams drew national acclaim in 2004 when he and former Chronicle scribe Mark Fainaru-Wada broke the story of steroid use by former San Francisco Giant Barry Bonds and other athletes. Fainaru-Wada departed in 2007 to join ESPN.
In 2006, Williams and Fainaru-Wada were held in contempt of court and threatened with 18 months in federal prison for refusing to testify about their confidential sources on the steroid story. The subpoenas were later withdrawn.
Williams has been a reporter in California for 34 years and has won the George Polk Award, the Scripps Howard First Amendment Award, and the Gerald Loeb Award.
"We are pleased to have a veteran reporter of the caliber of Lance Williams join our team," CIR Executive Director Robert J. Rosenthal, a former Chronicle managing editor, said in a statement.
California Watch is funded by The James Irvine Foundation, The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.
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