WSJ investigative journalist, John Wilke…

The Washington Post yesterday eulogised Wall Street Journal investigative reporter John Wilke.

I pursued an anti-fraud case from 2001-2006 that involved the FCC’s radio spectrum auctions.  The case was complex, maybe even a bit boring from an outside perspective.  But it showcased a lax regulatory approach to compliance that was costing US taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars.

The case bounced along under the radar for four years until John Wilke profiled it on the front page of the Wall Street Journal.  It was a colourful story that precisely distilled much of the evidence that was buried in piles of legal papers.  The net effect was that the WSJ article put searing pressure on public officials to react to my claims.  All of a sudden things changed:  Embarrassed by its inaction, the FCC became more cooperative with my legal team and started to actually review the evidence of misconduct we had unearthed.  (I think previously the FCC just hoped the case would quietly disappear.)  The Department of Justice announced it was going to intervene and attempt to bring the case to a conclusion.  The case was finally settled with the defendants and the federal government was repaid millions.  More importantly, I’m guessing the FCC is much more careful about how it auctions radio spectrum now.

So there is a huge public value to quality investigative journalism.

UPDATE:

Here is the stunning first paragraph of Wilke’s WSJ story on my case:

When the government auctioned off slices of radio spectrum for cellphone service, one big winner was Victoria Kane, an aerobics instructor who had no experience in the industry. Her start-up firm, Aer Force Communications, paid $18.9 million for five licenses that were later sold in a deal valued at $144 million.