13 WTHR - Indianapolis News |Bob Segall
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Bob Segall
13 Investigates Reporter
Bob Segall is Chief Investigative Reporter at WTHR-TV. His investigations are intensely local and their impact is often felt nationwide. Bob combines dogged research, computer-assisted reporting and creative storytelling to produce memorable investigative reports that trigger change and make central Indiana a better place to live.
Bob came to Channel 13 in early 2006 and wasted no time exposing dangerous safety and security threats that prompted dramatic local and national results. In fact, Broadcasting & Cable magazine reported WTHR may have found the "best investigative reporter in America" after his first two investigative projects in Indianapolis were awarded a prestigious Peabody Award. (B&C 4/9/07)
His first investigative series showed massive problems with central Indiana's tornado siren system. Cause for Alarm documented hundreds of outdated, broken and ineffective sirens and prompted Indiana communities to invest more than $7 million in new warning equipment. It also spawned a community-wide public service campaign to provide tens of thousands of discounted weather radios to better protect Hoosier families from severe weather.
Two months later, Prescription Privacy revealed drug stores around Indiana and the nation were jeopardizing millions of patients' privacy by improperly disposing of their private healthcare records. The US Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Civil Rights used WTHR's Prescription Privacy investigation to reach a $2.25 million settlement against CVS Pharmacies, the largest settlement in US history for a company accused of failing to protect patient privacy. In response to WTHR's investigation, CVS, Walgreens and Rite Aid, the nation's three largest pharmacy chains, announced significant changes to their trash disposal policies that help ensure patient privacy for millions of customers at more than 15,000 drug stores nationwide.
Since then, Bob's reports have continued to make headlines and initiate action.
In 2007, Deadly Delay exposed what Indiana's State Fire Marshal called "the most important life safety issue the fire service will face in our lifetime." The 12-part investigation revealed hundreds of millions of smoke alarms in American homes may not activate during the most deadly type of house fire, resulting in needless deaths nationwide. With the help of university researchers and five separate fire departments, WTHR conducted a 4-month series of tests that disputed the findings of the nation's foremost fire testing agencies and prompted fire departments around Indiana and the United States to change their policies and recommendations regarding smoke alarms. Using WTHR's investigation as evidence on Capitol Hill, Rep. Baron Hill and other members of Congress passed legislation requiring the Consumer Product Safety Commission to better educate Americans about the life-threatening differences between various types of smoke alarms.
In 2008, Broken Buses showed serious and widespread safety violations involving hundreds of school buses used to transport nearly 20,000 children to Indianapolis-area schools. WTHR then expanded the investigation, revealing critical safety problems affecting thousand of buses in school districts all across Indiana. Indiana State Police responded by conducting surprise school bus inspections, ordering faulty buses off the road and issuing penalties against the state's largest independent school bus contractor. The superintendent of Indianapolis Public Schools called Broken Buses "a godsend" for exposing poor maintenance and inspection practices that put thousands of children at risk daily and for triggering immediate action that improved school bus safety throughout Indiana.
In 2009, as Indiana faced a serious budget crisis, State of Your Money exposed millions of dollars of questionable government spending including high-priced office furniture; thousands of potato chip clips, golf ball markers and rain ponchos to promote state programs; and state employees booking hotel stays at luxury resorts. The State of Your Money series followed Bob's All Night Long investigation, which showed lights burning round-the-clock inside the state's largest office buildings. The government watchdog reports triggered an investigation by the State Inspector General and a new spending review committee established by the governor's office which, so far, have saved Hoosier taxpayers millions of dollars.
Among other notable projects: Indiana added thousands of violent criminals to its statewide offender registry after Bob's Criminal Next Door series showed thousands of violent offenders being released by other state prisons into Indiana communities, where they received little supervision; his in-depth Flagging the Food and Food For Thought investigations triggered a comprehensive clean-up of mouse feces and other problems discovered at Lucas Oil Stadium and prompted the Marion County Health Department to implement an online restaurant inspection database that, for the first time, gave Hoosiers instant access to thousands of critical food safety violations found annually at restaurants in Indiana's largest county; and Tapping Your Cell Phone was one of YouTube's most watched investigative news reports of 2009, drawing 4.7 million worldwide viewers who learned how cell phones are vulnerable to undetectable spying.
Before coming to WTHR, Bob was an investigative reporter at WITI-TV in Milwaukee. He led WITI to its first Peabody Award with The Bully Project, a year-long series of investigative reports that spawned a documentary and public service campaign benefiting hundreds of thousands of Wisconsin children. His investigations significantly impacted local and state laws, earning him the title of Milwaukee's "Best TV Investigative Reporter" from Milwaukee magazine. Prior to his role as investigative reporter, Bob was a general assignment reporter at WITI. He also worked as a reporter at WJRT-TV in Flint, WZZM-TV in Grand Rapids and WGEM-TV in Quincy.
In addition to earning Peabody Awards for three separate investigations, Bob's reporting has been honored with 16 regional Emmys, two national Sigma Delta Chi Awards for Public Service in Journalism, two National Headliner Awards for investigative and environmental reporting, an IRE Award, a Scripps Howard National Journalism Award and a National Healthcare Journalism Award. His projects have also been recognized with top honors from the Indiana Associated Press and Indiana Society of Professional Journalists. Bob's most memorable award is his very first Emmy, which he won in 1997 while teaming up with his twin brother, Rick, for a feature story on the International Twins Day Festival in Twinsburg, Ohio.
Named a 2007 Ethics Fellow by the Poynter Institute, Bob is a frequent speaker at conferences, workshops and universities, discussing the craft, impact and ethics of investigative journalism. He is a 1993 graduate of Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism.
When he's not investigating, chances are you'll find Bob surrounded by kids on a local ball field or basketball court. Bob coaches soccer at Pike Soccer Club, basketball at Indy Parks Thatcher Family Center, and baseball and softball at Eagle Creek Little League. He volunteers as a member of ECLL's executive board of directors and at DaySpring Center, an emergency shelter that provides clothing and meals for homeless families with children in central Indiana.
