In 1988 , Webb was recruited by the '' San Jose Mercury News '' , which was looking for an investigative reporter . He was assigned to its Sacramento bureau , where he was allowed to choose most of his own stories . As part of '' The Mercury News '' team that covered the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake , Webb and his colleague Pete Carey wrote a story examining the reasons for the collapse of the Cypress Street Viaduct . '' The Mercury News '' coverage of the earthquake won its staff the Pulitzer Prize for General News Reporting in 1990
1989 Loma Prieta earthquake
1989 Loma Prieta earthquake
Gary Webb