Russell John Carollo (March 16, 1955 – December 19, 2018) was an American Pulitzer prize-winning journalist, who worked as an investigative reporter for numerous publications, including the Dayton Daily News, the Los Angeles Times, and The Sacramento Bee.
[1] He shared the 1998 Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting, with Jeff Nesmith, at the Dayton Daily News for uncovering mismanagement in military healthcare.
[2] Carollo was a three-time finalist for the Pulitzer prize, in 1992, with Mike Casey, for his work on, "Lives on the Line," in 1996, with Carol Hernandez, Jeff Nesmith and Cheryl Reed, for his contributions on two articles, "Military Secrets" and "Prisoners on the Payroll," and in 2002 for "The Foreign Game.
His specialties included computer-assisted reporting, state public records, the military, and long-term investigative projects, and use of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), which he used to make between 75 and 150 requests and appeals each year.
[15] Carollo worked as a special projects reporter for the Sacramento Bee, the Los Angeles Times, and beginning in 1990, the Dayton Daily News.
In a 2006 question and answer session, before the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, he stated that he spent at least half of his day filing, taking phone calls, and appealing FOIA requests, and examining the information he received.
[18] Carollo was a finalist for the Pulitzer prize, in 1992, with Mike Casey, for his work on, "Lives on the Line," in 1996, with Carol Hernandez, Jeff Nesmith and Cheryl Reed, for his contributions on two articles, "Military Secrets" and "Prisoners on the Payroll," and in 2002 for "The Foreign Game.
"The Feres doctrine, adopted during World War II, was still being used during peacetime, to protect the military's hospitals, clinics and the people who work there.
[11] The Associated Press, reported on April 14, 1998, that "after the series was published, the military promised Congress it would make more than a dozen changes to its medical system, and the Pentagon announced the creation of a civilian board to review malpractice cases.
Carollo and Hopgood, reviewed thousands of records, including information from the Deaths in Service Database, of Peace Corps volunteers.
"[17] Two days before the DDN published the investigative series, Mei-Ling Hopgood reported that Peace Corps Director, Gaddi Vasquez, was resigning his position, effective, November 14.