James Ray Polk (September 12, 1937 – July 15, 2021) was an American journalist, known for his investigative reporting and coverage of American political corruption and fraud. Over the course of his career, he covered the Raymond Donovan investigations, the

Bert Lance Thomas Bertram "Bert" Lance (June 3, 1931 – August 15, 2013) was an American businessman who served as director of the Office of Management and Budget under President Jimmy Carter in 1977. He is known mainly for resigning from the Carter admini ...

controversy, the Abscam scandal, and the financial dealings of

John Zaccaro John Anthony Zaccaro (born April 5, 1933) is an American real estate developer and owner of P. Zaccaro & Company, which was founded by his father Philip Zaccaro. The company acts as a landlord for properties in the Little Italy, Chinatown, and Ea ...

, husband of 1984 Democratic vice presidential nominee

Geraldine Ferraro Geraldine Anne Ferraro (August 26, 1935 March 26, 2011) was an American politician, diplomat, and attorney. She served in the United States House of Representatives from 1979 to 1985, and was the Democratic Party's vice presidential nominee ...

. In 1974, Polk won the

Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting This Pulitzer Prize has been awarded since 1942 for a distinguished example of reporting on national affairs in the United States. In its first six years (1942–1947), it was called the Pulitzer Prize for Telegraphic Reporting – National. Li ...

for his coverage of the

Watergate scandal The Watergate scandal was a major political scandal in the United States involving the administration of President Richard Nixon from 1972 to 1974 that led to Nixon's resignation. The scandal stemmed from the Nixon administration's continual ...

for the now-defunct Washington, DC newspaper the ''

Washington Star ''The Washington Star'', previously known as the ''Washington Star-News'' and the Washington ''Evening Star'', was a daily afternoon newspaper published in Washington, D.C., between 1852 and 1981. The Sunday edition was known as the ''Sunday Star ...

.''

Biography

Polk was born in

Oaktown, Indiana Oaktown is a town in Busseron Township, Knox County, Indiana. The population was 608 at the 2010 census. History Oaktown was laid out in 1867. The community was formally incorporated in 1909 and became a regional center of commerce and trade. ...

in 1937, and at the age of eight he wrote about sports for the local paper, the ''Oaktown Press''. After three years in the United States Navy, he attended

Indiana University Bloomington Indiana University Bloomington (IU Bloomington, Indiana University, IU, or simply Indiana) is a public university, public research university in Bloomington, Indiana. It is the flagship university, flagship campus of Indiana University and, with ...

where he was a member of

Phi Kappa Psi Phi Kappa Psi (), commonly known as Phi Psi, is an American collegiate social fraternity that was founded by William Henry Letterman and Charles Page Thomas Moore in Widow Letterman's home on the campus of Jefferson College in Canonsburg, Pen ...

and received his bachelor's degree in government in 1964. He worked as a political staff writer for the Bloomington-based ''Herald-Telephone'', and received the American Political Science Award. He moved to the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...

in 1962, and later joined the Washington Star in 1971. Polk covered the Watergate scandal extensively and received the Pulitzer Prize for his reportage in 1974. The following year, he joined

NBC News NBC News is the news division of the American broadcast television network NBC. The division operates under NBCUniversal Television and Streaming, a division of NBCUniversal, which is, in turn, a subsidiary of Comcast. The news division's var ...

and covered political corruption and crimes. His most famous stories include Abscam, the racketeering case against

Ferdinand Ferdinand is a Germanic name composed of the elements "protection", "peace" (PIE "to love, to make peace") or alternatively "journey, travel", Proto-Germanic , abstract noun from root "to fare, travel" (PIE , "to lead, pass over"), and "co ...

and

Imelda Marcos Imelda Romualdez Marcos (; born Imelda Remedios Visitacion Trinidad Romualdez; July 2, 1929) is a Filipino politician who served as the First Lady of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986, wielding significant political power during the dictator ...

, and the Iran-Contra affair. Polk left NBC in 1992 and joined

CNN CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by ...

as a senior documentary producer. He died at his home in

Marietta, Georgia Marietta is a city in and the county seat of Cobb County, Georgia, United States. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 60,972. The 2019 estimate was 60,867, making it one of Atlanta's largest suburbs. Marietta is the fourth largest ...

, on July 15, 2021, at the age of 83.

References

1937 births 2021 deaths American investigative journalists NBC News people CNN people People from Knox County, Indiana Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting winners 20th-century American journalists American male journalists {{US-journalist-1930s-stub