Drew Griffin, CNN’s award-winning Senior Investigative Correspondent, died on Saturday after a long battle with cancer, his family said. Griffin was known for his ability to get even the most evasive interviewees interested in his stories. He was 60.
Griffin, a talented storyteller, gained a solid reputation for his ability to expose wrongdoing by those in positions of authority.
CNN CEO Chris Licht wrote in a note to employees, “Drew’s death is a devastating loss to CNN and our entire profession.” Drew was an award-winning investigative journalist whose reporting made a profound difference and who personified the goals of the organization.
Griffin spent nearly twenty years on CNN’s investigative team, during which time he worked on hundreds of stories and a number of documentaries. Awards such as the Emmy, Peabody, and Murrow were given to him for the work he had done in reporting.
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Griffin’s Reporting Made A Big Difference And Sparked Action
He oversaw a yearlong probe into VA hospitals across the country and found that care delays were a major factor in the deaths of many patients. The VA secretary resigned as a direct result of the team’s reporting, and subsequent federal legislation and a major shift in appointment procedures for veterans were implemented as a direct result of that legislation.
Since he began investigating the shockingly high number of allegations of sexual assault made against Uber drivers, the company has implemented new safety features and tightened up its background checks. The CNN investigation led to Uber announcing that it would end a policy that required victims of sexual assault to submit to arbitration and sign non-disclosure agreements.
The Executive Producer of CNN’s Investigative Unit, Patricia DiCarlo, who has worked with Griffin for nearly a decade, has said that Griffin is a fantastic writer who can turn any topic into “compelling, must-see TV stories.”
She confidently predicted that once a Drew Griffin story began, the reader would be in for a treat. I remember thinking, “He was unique because of the way he used language.”
Griffin’s determination to pursue difficult stories and his success in convincing even the most reticent public figures to share their perspectives demonstrated his commitment to fairness. Still, he never passed up a chance to ask them probing questions.
Griffin’s 2016 Emmy-winning investigation into fraud claims against Trump University shed light on the questionable, money-draining tactics of a series of real estate seminars that led to class action lawsuits filed by participants.
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Griffin asked one former Trump University professor pointed questions about his involvement in the scheme, in which he was not involved in actually teaching real estate strategies but rather in luring participants into paying for more seminars: “We were bringing in the money,” he told Griffin in an exclusive interview.
DiCarlo Said That Working With Griffin Was Like “Winning The Career Lottery”
Reflecting on the team of producers who worked closely with Griffin on his stories, DiCarlo said, “There are just so many people who worked with him and loved him – this is a devastating loss.” It’s safe to say that no one else in the world was quite like him. We sided with Drew.
Griffin, a native of Chicago, started his career in journalism as a reporter/cameraman for WICD-TV in Champaign. In the past, he’s done time at TV stations in Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Washington.
When he joined KIRO-TV in Seattle, he was given the opportunity to pursue investigative reporting. In January of 1994, he began working as a reporter and anchor for CBS 2 News in Los Angeles, where he would go on to establish the station’s investigative reporting team and win several regional awards for his work.
Family members said he enjoyed taking trips with his wife Margot, playing the trumpet, and golfing with pals when he wasn’t working on his next big scoop. He also adored his two grandchildren and daughter, Ele Gast, both of whose names were derived from jazz greats.
Final Words
Family members confirmed on Saturday that Drew Griffin, CNN’s award-winning Senior Investigative Correspondent known for his ability to get even the most evasive interview subjects interested in his stories, passed away after a long battle with cancer. He was 60.
