David Burnham

January 24, 1933 - October 1, 2024

David Burnham was a distinguished American investigative journalist. His groundbreaking work for the New York Times on police corruption in the early 1970s became the foundation for the bestselling book and film Serpico; a later series on nuclear power safety violations became the basis for the film Silkwood.

Burnham's reporting on the Serpico case began in April, 1970, with a lengthy article in the Times detailing allegations made by veteran detective Frank Serpico about widespread graft and intimidation tactics within the New York City police department. The exposé triggered an investigation by the Knapp Commission, whose public hearings on the matter found widespread corruption across the force. Several high-ranking officials were implicated in the probe.

When Burnham began investigating nuclear power plant safety issues, whistle-blowers began contacting him. Karen Silkwood, who worked at a Kerr-McGee facility in Oklahoma, claimed to have evidence of falsified records. Burnham agreed to meet with her. On her way to their meeting her car left the road and she was killed. Burnham wrote the first article on her death. Screenwriter Nora Ephron asked Burnham to allow his name to be used in their film Silkwood, but he refused, uncomfortable that his role in a historical event would be used by Hollywood for entertainment.

Recently he co-founded and was co-director of the nonprofit, nonpartisan Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), an organization dedicated to data gathering, research, and information dissemination regarding federal investigative and regulatory agencies.

He wrote several books, including Above the Law: Secret Deals, Political Fixes and other Misadventures of the U.S. Department of Justice (1996); A Law Unto Itself: Power, Politics, and the IRS (1990); and The Rise of the Computer State (1984).

Awards David Burnham received for his work include the George Polk Award for Community Service (1968), the Investigative Reporters and Editors Best Investigative Book Award (1990), and the Rockefeller Foundation Fellowship (Bellagio, Italy, 1992). He was inducted into the National Freedom of Information Act Hall of Fame in 2006.

David Burnham is survived by his wife Joanne Omang, as well as two daughters from a previous marriage, Sarah Burnham and Molly Burnham; and four grandchildren.