George Schultz, investigative reporter

Where mainstream newspapers barely touch upon some of the largest stories of the day, reporters from Berkley's Center for Investigative Reporting (CIR) like George Schultz aren't afraid to dig into the sometimes tough forces behind them, getting their hands dirty in such things as the impotence of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and arms trafficking.

CIR is a Berkley-based non-profit that serves as a research center for journalists wishing to fine tune their expertise in various areas of their choice. The center has collaborated with many media outlets including The New York Times, The Los Angeles's Times, and the TV newsmagazine Frontline. From CIR journalists can out source their own articles to such publications and programs.

Schultz, who has been with CIR for six months, highlighted the importance of investigative journalism, saying, "if you want to work in public policy you better be ready for scrutiny."

Schultz is part of year and half program that affords him the time to research and report on DHS, their programs, and it's over all effectiveness. He has worked for several alternative weekly's and shies away from more mainstream stream media outlets, pointing out that theirs "certain amount of corniness that the daily's cant get away from," and that the alternative press was the perfect answer to that.

Part of Schultz's research is disseminating facts poised by the show "Homeland Security USA. " The program, a reality television show, follows DHS on its missions and busts. The show highlights the use of the most modern and expensive equipment of the day. This is where Schultz comes in. Schultz has a blog that follows the program. In the blog, Schultz scrutinizes the department's use of such equipment, and claims that the show portrays a certain level of fiction when displaying their use.

One example of failed DHS policy Schultz gave was of a town in Alaska, with a population of just 203. The town, Schultz claimed, received over a million dollars from DHS, the town's budget being around four million. Another staple in the fallacies of DHS that Schultz noted was that of a drone project for the Coast Guard that cost close to 111 million dollars. The drone was to fly off their boats and enable the Coast Guard to see farther around them, while at sea. The project, due to its ineffectiveness, was scrapped. It is such redundancies that Schultz chooses to hunt down, saying that the money wasted is, "your money."

Schultz, a graduate from Kansas State University, first got his inspiration from the frontline documentary "A Dangerous Business," saying that the piece was a "huge influence for me in understanding CIR." The program followed the weapons trade. It is the very same trade that Schultz hopes to start following one day. During his talk he highlighted the need to stem such affairs. This is because, as he explained, "you can't have war without weapons."

Being raised in Oklahoma, Schultz found salvation in punk rock, and dove into counter-cultural magazines, such as "Punk Planet," a former punk zine founded in Chicago. Weekly's and zines showed Schultz, "what was possible from counter-cultural magazines."

CIR's purpose is now being amplified by the crisis hitting the print based media. With lack of readership and ad revenue the industry is finding harder to invest money into investigative journalism. CIR, now more than ever, acts as a freelance client, or go between, for journalists and newspapers.

CIR is a Berkley based nonprofit, founded in 1977. It receives funding from, "rich people," as Schultz noted, including George Soros. Those interested in the center can find articles, and blogs, like those from Schultz on their website: http://www.centerforinvestigativereporting.org