Susan Goldsmith

From WikiAlpha
Jump to: navigation, search

Susan Goldsmith is an American investigative reporter, writer, and producer.[1][2][3][4] She previously reported for the New Times Los Angeles, East Bay Express, and The Oregonian. Her reporting is the basis of The Syndrome documentary.

Her reporting on two different child abuse cases resulted in the state legislature passing two laws to better protect children in foster care and the Oregon governor issuing a moratorium on sending children in the state's foster care abroad.[5]

Early life and education

Goldsmith graduated with honors from the University of Michigan in 1983.[3]

Career

Goldsmith’s reporting career started in the mid-1980s, and she began concentrating on investigative reporting in 1996.[6]

New Times Los Angeles

Goldsmith remained a Staff Writer at New Times Los Angeles from 1996 until it closed in late 2002. At New Times Los Angeles,[7] she broke the story that one of LA's most prestigious law firms was using private in-house investigators to illegally spy on litigation opponents by obtaining their confidential health, tax, and financial records.

Goldsmith's 1998 New Times feature story about John Walsh's work rooting out corruption in the Los Angeles subway project, The Freak Who Stopped The Subway,[8][9] won first place for Feature Story from the Association of Alternative Weeklies in 1999.

In 2000, her story Rampart Rampage exposed Rampart's misconduct involving wanton beatings and efforts to cover up the crimes by manufacturing criminal charges against the victims. Her story described the humiliating and brutal actions against members of the 18th Street Gang and later efforts to prevent disclosure by arranging for the deportation of some witnesses and prosecution of others.[10] The case ended with a $3.9 million settlement for the man at the center of her story. Goldsmith's Rampart Rampage story illustrates the problematic role internal affairs play in perpetuating LAPD's continued failure to stop abuses and how every officer involved in the beating, stripping, witness intimidation, and frame-ups has been promoted.

In Blacks Only, she reported on overt racism practiced against nonblack doctors at King-Drew Medical Center.[7]

Goldsmith's The Color of Love, about practices by L.A. County workers to prevent interracial adoptions, won her a Casey Medal for Meritorious Journalism.

The Oregonian

In 2005, Goldsmith joined The Oregonian as an investigative reporter.[11] There, Goldsmith's reporting on a child abuse case (Adrianna Romero Cram) resulted in the state legislature passing two laws to better protect children in foster care and the Oregon governor issuing a moratorium on sending children in the state's foster care abroad.

Goldsmith exposed the case of two 12-year-old boys in Oregon who were charged with five felony sex abuse counts each for swatting the butts of girls in their middle school hallway.[12] The two middle-school students in Oregon faced possible time in a juvenile jail and would have had to register as sex offenders. The district attorney's office eventually dropped all the charges.[5][13] Their families received offers of financial assistance and set up a fund to cover legal expenses.[14] As of August 10th, 2007, donations had reached $38,000.[13]

She did page-one reporting about convicted felon Brad Holbrook's experience in the state's justice system in The Oregonian. Her story won the best criminal justice story in the Northwest from the Society of Professional Journalists. Her reporting led to an appellate law firm taking up Holbrook's appeal pro bono.[15] In 2017, 15 years after he was prosecuted, he was granted post-conviction relief by the Oregon Court of Appeals.[3]

The Syndrome

Having investigated the issue since 2008,[16] Susan and Meryl Goldsmith wrote and co-produced a documentary film, The Syndrome. Released in early 2016, it uncovers the origins of what it says is the myth of Shaken Baby Syndrome.[4][6][17][18][19]

The documentary follows the efforts of a group of doctors, scientists, and legal scholars who challenge the validity of shaken baby syndrome, a child abuse theory used in hundreds of prosecutions each year.[20] Physicians interviewed in the film discussing the likelihood that shaken baby syndrome does not exist include John Plunkett,[1][21] Patrick Barnes, and Ronald Uscinski.[22] The film examines the origins of SBS (also referred to as abusive head trauma). It traces the proponents of the syndrome back to the 1980s when many of the same proponents were responsible for popularizing satanic ritual abuse. These proponents then began popularizing the claim of shaken baby syndrome during the 1990s.[23] Meryl Goldsmith and Susan examine the debate over this theory and focus on the men and women dedicating their lives to defending unfairly prosecuted people and freeing those who have already been wrongly convicted.[20][24][25]

The film has been screened at several film festivals, including the Newport Beach Film Festival, New Hampshire Film Festival, Kansas International Film Festival,[6][26] and Arizona International Film Festival. In 2016 the distribution rights for the film were acquired by Entertainment Studios. The film became available on VOD in April 2016.

Awards

  • Society of Professional Journalists, First Place, Pacific Northwest, Crime & Justice reporting, 2008 (The Trials of Brad Holbrook)[27]
  • Society of Professional Journalists, First Place, Northern California, Feature Story, 2004 (Frank's War)[28]
  • Association of Alternative Weeklies, First Place, Feature Story, 1999 (The Freak Who Stopped the Subway)[29]
  • Casey Medal for Meritorious Journalism, 1998 (The Color of Love)[7]
  • California Newspapers Publishers Associations, First Place, Best Investigative Story (Subway Sacrifice) Source: New Times LA July 23-29, 1998
  • California Newspapers Publishers Associations, First Place, Best Feature Story (Video Vultures) Source: New Times LA July 23-29, 1998

Filmography

Year Title Roles
2014 The Syndrome Producer, Researcher, Co-editor, Investigator, and Writer[30]
1999 20/20 Original reporting and Consultant
2018 Mysteries & Scandals Self
2016 WJBK: Fox 2 Detroit News Self
2015 Fox 11 Daybreak Self
2014 Kansas City Live Self
2012 Weird or What? Investigative Journalist
2003 Matters of Race Self
1997 Life & Times Self[31]

Personal life

Goldsmith resides in Portland, Oregon.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Tribune, Trevor Squire Star. "John Plunkett, pathologist who battled shaken baby syndrome, dies at 70". https://www.startribune.com/john-plunkett-pathologist-who-battled-shaken-baby-syndrome-dies-at-70/480301593/. 
  2. ↑ Letters (2016-03-22). "Why the shaken baby syndrome tribunal led to Dr Waney Squier being struck off" (in en-GB). The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. https://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/mar/22/why-the-shaken-baby-syndrome-tribunal-led-to-dr-waney-squier-being-struck-off. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 "The truth should set you free" (in en-US). 2021-10-15. https://michigantoday.umich.edu/2021/10/15/the-truth-should-set-you-free/. 
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Documentary showing this weekend looks into 'shaken baby syndrome'" (in en). 2015-04-17. https://www.kold.com/story/28832133/new-documentary-looks-into-shaken-baby-syndrome-showing-this-weekend. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 "About" (in en-US). https://www.resetfilms.com/about. 
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 "Jewish filmmakers challenge shaken baby syndrome in documentary - Kansas City Jewish Chronicle". https://www.kcjc.com/index.php/current-news/latest-news/2781-jewish-filmmakers-challe%20nge-shaken-baby-syndrome-in-documentary. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Stewart, Jill (2002-10-20). "A Media Mouse That Roared" (in en-US). https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-oct-20-op-stewart20-story.html. 
  8. ↑ New Times (1998). John Walsh - "The Freak Who Stopped The Subway" 1998 New Times Feature By Susan Goldsmith. http://archive.org/details/JohnWalshTheFreakWhoStoppedTheSubway1998NewTimesFeatureBySusanGoldsmith. 
  9. ↑ Cooper, Kim (2019-04-05). "In memory of John Walsh, who fought for the soul of Hollywood" (in en-US). https://esotouric.com/2019/04/05/johnwalsh/. 
  10. ↑ "Different Worlds, Different Realities". https://digitalcommons.lmu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=&httpsredir=1&article=2273&context=llr. 
  11. ↑ "THE IRE JOURNAL VOLUME 28  NUMBER 1". https://www.ire.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/2005-1.pdf. 
  12. ↑ "Unruly schoolboys or sex offenders?" (in en). 2007-07-22. https://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/2007/07/unruly_schoolboys_or_sex_offen.html. 
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 Detzel, Tom (2007-08-11). "Sex charges dropped in spanking case" (in en). https://www.oregonlive.com/breakingnews/2007/08/prosecutors_drop_sex_charges_i.html. 
  14. ↑ "DA, spanking case stir outrage". https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1870788/posts. 
  15. ↑ "Justice delayed, and betrayed: Steve Duin column" (in en). 2021-06-26. https://www.oregonlive.com/opinion/2021/06/justice-delayed-and-betrayed-steve-duin-column.html. 
  16. ↑ Scheck, Frank (2016-04-15). "‘The Syndrome’: Film Review" (in en-US). https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/syndrome-film-review-884377/. 
  17. ↑ N'Duka, Amanda (2016-02-16). "Byron Allen’s Freestyle Acquires ‘The Syndrome’ Docu On Shaken Baby Syndrome" (in en-US). https://deadline.com/2016/02/the-syndrome-shaken-baby-movie-1201703357/. 
  18. ↑ "The Syndrome Film" (in en-US). https://www.thesyndromefilm.com/. 
  19. ↑ "Battlelines being drawn over shaken baby syndrome – The Justice Gap" (in en-US). https://www.thejusticegap.com/battle-lines-drawn-shaken-baby-syndrome/. 
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 "The Syndrome". https://www.cato.org/events/syndrome. 
  21. ↑ "John Plunkett, pathologist who battled shaken baby syndrome, dies at 70" (in en). 2018-04-19. https://apnews.com/article/--9a5d0651269e42cc83dd6278af9b40c6. 
  22. ↑ "'The Syndrome' takes on shaken baby syndrome". https://centerforhealthjournalism.org/2016/05/09/syndrome-makes-splash. 
  23. ↑ Howland, Daphne (2016-04-05). "The Syndrome Exposes the “Shaken Baby Syndrome” Myth - LA Weekly" (in en-US). https://www.laweekly.com/the-syndrome-exposes-the-shaken-baby-syndrome-myth/. 
  24. ↑ "The Syndrome Review". https://culturefly.co.uk/the-syndrome-review/. 
  25. ↑ Kirchner, Lauren (2017-06-14). "A New Film Challenges Shaken Baby Syndrome, and Courts Controversy" (in en). https://psmag.com/social-justice/a-new-film-challenges-shaken-baby-syndrome-and-courts-controversy. 
  26. ↑ "Susan Goldsmith" (in en). https://onsbs.com/tag/susan-goldsmith/. 
  27. ↑ "2009 Society of Professional Journalists of the Pacific Northwest - Northwest Excellence in Journalism Awards". https://www.spjwash.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/spj09_awards1.pdf. 
  28. ↑ "Letters for the issue of September 29-October 5, 2004" (in en-US). 2004-09-29. https://eastbayexpress.com/letters-for-the-issue-of-september-29-october-5-2004-1/. 
  29. ↑ Staff, A. A. N. (1999-06-03). "Village Voice, Nashville Scene Lead Pack in Edit Contest • Association of Alternative Newsmedia" (in en-US). https://aan.org/aan/village-voice-nashville-scene-lead-pack-in-edit-contest/. 
  30. ↑ "The Syndrome" (in en-US). https://www.freestyledigitalmedia.tv/film/the-syndrome/. 
  31. ↑ "Susan Goldsmith" (in en-US). https://www.imdb.com/name/nm5943897/. 
Retrieved from "http://en.wikialpha.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=Susan_Goldsmith&oldid=371201"