Mark Worth

Mark Worth speaks at an anti-corruption conference in Brussels in 2015

Mark Worth is an American investigative journalist, whistleblower advocate, public interest activist, publisher and author.

Worth frequently appears as a speaker and expert on whistleblower protection at international and regional forums, including the UN, European Parliament, Council of Europe,^[1] OECD^[2]^[3] and the International Anti-Corruption Conference.^[4] Worth is a member of the UNODC Expert Group on whistleblowing and the founding coordinator of the international whistleblower program at Transparency International (TI). Currently he is the manager of the International Whistleblower Project for Blueprint for Free Speech.^[5]

Worth has worked for many international and national advocacy organizations including Public Citizen, Transparency International, and Food & Water Europe, and many media companies including the New York Times and McClatchy. He is the co-founder of two independent newsmagazines, and has been an editor, staff writer and columnist at many publications.

He is the co-recipient of the 1994 Investigative Reporters and Editors award for magazine writing for an investigation of chemically injured workers at Boeing factories published in the Washington Free Press, which he co-founded.^[6]

Worth is the author of Zapped: Irradiation and the Death of Food, the first general-interest book on the controversial technology of food irradiation. While at Public Citizen in the early 2000s, Worth co-founded a successful campaign to block the approval of irradiated foods by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The campaign also led to the pulling of irradiated foods from stores throughout the U.S.^[7] and the bankruptcy of the leading irradiation company, SureBeam.^[8]

He initiated the international campaign to pressure the Karl May Museum in Radebeul, Germany, to repatriate Native American scalps to the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians and other Tribes. The controversy has been reported in many international and German media outlets.

Washington Free Press

Worth's 1994 investigation of Boeing, co-authored by Eric Nelson with additional research by Andrea Helm, was published in the Washington Free Press.^[9] (Worth co-founded the Free Press in Seattle in 1992 with Alex Mayer and Amy Tullis.) The package of articles, entitled "It's All In Your Head," describes how "Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of Boeing workers say they've been sickened by the chemicals used at Boeing plants throughout Puget Sound. But instead of giving these workers the medical and financial help they need, Boeing -- with the help of its connections within state government and the medical establishment -- is saying many workers just have psychological problems."^[10] Worth and Nelson received the 1994 Investigative Reporters and Editors award for magazine writing.^[11]

The Free Press found that Boeing told workers—mostly women—to use chemicals and materials that that company knew was toxic and caused health problems, did not provide workers adequate safety equipment, denied workers' compensation benefits, and hired doctors who contended that the workers' health problems were actually psychologically based. The investigation also found evidence of collusion between Boeing and the Washington state government agency that oversees the workers' compensation program.

One sickened Boeing worker, Claudia "Dea" Sartain, committed suicide after her worker's compensation benefits were terminated by the state of Washington upon Boeing's urging. In her suicide note, obtained by the Free Press, Sartain described the working conditions at Boeing's parts fabrication plant in Auburn, Washington: working while hanging upside-down ("We would stay in these positions sometimes for days ..."), working with carcinogenic adhesives ("Women were having miscarriages all the time ..."), and arguing with her boss about handling toxic chemicals ("All you're worried about is this material. How much is my life worth?"). Shortly after New Year's Day of 1990, Sartain stole her brother's gun, drove to a friend's house, and shot herself in the front yard. Sartain was 32.^[12]

Public Citizen

As a research director at Public Citizen, Worth was involved with a campaign in the early 2000s to expose the risks of food irradiation and to prevent US and international agencies from approving and promoting the technology. The campaign blocked the approval of irradiated foods by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, led to irradiated foods being pulled from stores and restaurants throughout the U.S.,^[13] helped push the leading irradiation company, SureBeam, into bankruptcy,^[14] and prevented irradiated foods from being misleadingly labeled "pasteurized."^[15]

Worth authored several reports that documented failures by the US Food and Drug Administration and the World Health Organization to adequately screen the safety of irradiated foods before approving or recommending them for public consumption. These reports include:

A Broken Record: How the FDA Legalized – and Continues to Legalize – Food Irradiation Without Testing It for Safety (co-authored by Samuel Epstein's Cancer Prevention Coalition)
Bad Taste: The Disturbing Truth of the World Health Organization's Endorsement of Food Irradiation, and
Hidden Harm: How the FDA is Ignoring the Potential Dangers of Unique Chemicals in Irradiated Food (co-authored by Peter Jenkins of the Center for Food Safety).

Worth also co-authored the first book about food irradiation written for the general public, Zapped: Irradiation and the Death of Food (with Wenonah Hauter of Food & Water Watch).

While at Public Citizen, Worth arranged for the first English translation of a German study revealing that a chemical formed in irradiated food can cause genetic mutations. The chemical, known as 2-DCB, was found to cause "significant DNA damage" in the colons of rats that ate the substance. The chemical has never been found naturally in any food on Earth.^[16]

Transparency International

Worth was the Whistleblower Programme Coordinator for Transparency International from 2012-13. In 2013 he wrote a report on whistleblower protection laws and practices in the European Union, "Whistleblowing in Europe", wrote "International Principles for Whistleblower Legislation", and organised and spoke at the international conference "Whistleblowing for Change".

Worth's Voices for Change video features prominent whistleblowers Wendy Addison (South Africa), Thomas Drake (US), James Shelton (Australia) and Guido Strack (Germany).

Among other venues, he has spoken at the Heinrich Boll Foundation,^[17] the European University Institute and the University of Amsterdam.^[18]

"Who Really Runs Seattle"

In 1998 Worth wrote "Who Really Runs Seattle": A Who's Who of the City's Backroom Wheeler-Dealers -- "an extensive review of people affiliated with Seattle's biggest corporations, most influential lobbying groups, largest nonprofits, highest-stakes political campaigns, and most visible government agencies [that] reveals the existence of ... a well-connected network of people in the city whose names keep coming up again and again." The exposé was published in the Seattle Weekly, which no longer makes available the entire package of articles on its website.

Investigative journalism

Worth's articles, written for various publications, have exposed:

a network of powerful political and business interests in Seattle,^[19]
environmental harm caused by Boeing,^[20]
the funneling of low-income housing funds to an upscale shopping mall in Seattle,^[21]
political meddling by a water conglomerate in California,^[22] and
misconduct by a small-town mayor in Florida.^[23]

Repatriation of Native American remains

In 2011 Worth began an international campaign to pressure the Karl May Museum in Radebeul, Germany, to repatriate Native American scalps to the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians and other Tribes. "It is fitting that the Karl May Museum - whose limited knowledge and false impressions of Native Americans have their foundation in fictional characters invented by someone who had spent limited time with Native Americans - is now claiming to know the best resting place for remains of Native Americans," he said.^[24] The controversy has been reported in many media outlets, including The New York Times,^[25] The Guardian,^[26] Der Spiegel,^[27] The Independent,^[28] and Deutsche Welle.^[29]

Worth spoke at a public event about the controversy at the annual Karl May Festival in Radebeul on May 31, 2014. Worth joined Cecil Pavlat of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, Ray Halbritter of the Oneida Indian Nation, Radebeul Mayor Bert Wendsche, and Karl May Museum director Claudia Kaulfuss (see 1:46 of video).^[30]