Categories: OLD Media Moves

One of the best investigative reporters, but not one of the best known

Jeremy Hay of the Santa Rosa Press-Democrat in California, writes in the Saturday paper about David Dietz, the investigative reporter for Bloomberg Markets who died this past week at the age of 70.

Hay writes, “In 2006, he co-wrote a Bloomberg report, ‘Broken Promises’ about $7 billion in tax-exempt public bond deals that Wall Street firms created and then harvested for millions in fees and investment gains.

“Dietz and his colleagues showed that only rarely did the intended housing and school projects get money from the bond measures.

“The Columbia Journalism Review called the secret practice a ‘scandal of staggering proportions’ and said, ‘If only more business journalists could be similarly angry.’

“His peers recalled Dietz as a dedicated journalist of rare patience and skills.

“‘David Dietz was one of the best, though not best known, investigative reporters in America,’ said David Cay Johnston, a former New York Times reporter who won a 2001 Pulitzer Prize for his reporting on tax code issues.

“‘He undertook the very difficult task of combing through incredibly arcane documents that few people know even exist and translating into plain English how taxpayers are getting routinely ripped off,’ Johnston said.”

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Herb Greenberg says:
June 4, 2011 at 9:38 pm
Stunned and saddened to read about David's death. We got to know each other very well when we worked together at the San Francisco Chronicle -- and we proudly co-wrote a series of pieces on Montgomery Securities. He was one truly of of the greats.
Duane Pohlman says:
June 5, 2011 at 11:20 am
I served briefly with David as a board member for Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE). While I was well aware of his skills as an investigative journalist, I was more impressed with him on a personal level. David was full of energy and compassion, traits that no doubt fueled his journalistic drive. He always had time to listen to me and guide me. I am absolutely saddened by his loss. Rest in peace, Mr. Dietz!