WASHINGTON, D.C., June 3, 2010 – The Center for Public Integrity, now celebrating its 20th year, has hired four new investigative journalists, a deputy editor, an international database specialist, a project manager, two fundraisers, and a new director of communications to position the organization for growth and further excellence in public interest journalism.

“These hires represent an influx of great talent and experience to our shop,” said Center Executive Director Bill Buzenberg. “As traditional newsrooms wither, alternative models like our own are gaining momentum. We serve as a watchdog of powerful institutions in our society, providing much needed transparency and accountability for citizens in our democracy.”

John Solomon is the Center’s first journalist-in-residence. During his quarter-century career in print and broadcast media, Solomon has covered a variety of stories, from the convicted serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer to an in-depth look at teachers who returned to classrooms after child molestation convictions. Solomon was most recently executive editor of The Washington Times and earlier in his career did investigative reporting at The Washington Post and the Associated Press.

Peter Stone joins the organization from National Journal, where he wrote on lobbying and campaign finance. Stone is a leading authority on influence peddling in the nation’s capital and is author of Casino Jack and the United States of Money: Superlobbyist Jack Abramoff and the Buying of Washington. He will lead the Center’s money and politics team.

Julie Vorman has joined the Center as deputy editor after more than 20 years as a correspondent, bureau chief, and editor at Reuters. As the Washington news editor, she guided Reuters’ coverage of federal multi-billion-dollar bailouts to U.S. banks and automakers after the 2008 financial meltdown, the healthcare industry’s influence as Congress attempted to reform healthcare, and changes within the Securities and Exchange Commission after the Madoff investment fraud scheme. Vorman did her undergraduate work at the University of Northern Iowa and graduate work in mass communications at the University of Iowa.

Reporters Mike Hudson and Ben Hallman are joining the Center’s business and finance team. Hudson previously worked for The Wall Street Journal, The Roanoke Times, and Center for Responsible Lending. He is also author of The Monster: How a Gang of Predatory Lenders and Wall Street Bankers Fleeced America and Spawned a Global Crisis. Ben Hallman comes from American Lawyer, where he focused on white collar crime and the business of law. His cover story about the collapse of Lehman Brothers was anthologized in Best Legal Writing of 2008.

Nadi Penjarla has joined the organization as director of the Ujima Project, a computer-assisted reporting effort under the Center’s International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ). Ujima is creating web portals and data hubs for international journalists especially in Africa, Latin America, the Middle East and Eastern Europe. He was the founding editor of Global Tryst, an online magazine focusing on international issues from a grassroots perspective.

Ricardo Sandoval Palos is a new ICIJ project manager. Before joining the organization, he was assistant city editor at the The Sacramento Bee, where he supervised environment, science, and regional development coverage. He was also the paper’s weekend city editor. At the Bee his team covered stories such as the H1N1 flu outbreak in California, the causes of several incidents of food-borne illness, the daunting task of overhauling the region’s transportation infrastructure.

The Center’s new chief development officer is Armando Zumaya. He has spent much of his fundraising career as a major gift, leadership gifts, and annual fund officer on two $1 billion-plus campaigns at Cornell University and the University of California, Berkeley. Most recently, he was the vice president of development at the Children’s Defense Fund in Washington, D.C.

Robin Heller is the Center’s new director of foundations. Heller has served as a nonprofit executive and development officer for a range of academic and human service organizations, including Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, the Center for Bioethics at University of Pennsylvania, Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, and Children’s Defense Fund.

Randy Barrett is the group’s new director of communications. He arrives from National Journal, where he was a managing editor in charge of lobbying and law coverage for the political weekly. Earlier in his career, Barrett was a reporter and editor for Ziff Davis Media.

The Center focuses its reporting on money and politics, healthcare, national security, environmental, and business and finance issues. Recent laurels include the Sigma Delta Chi Award for Public Service in Online Journalism from the Society for Professional Journalists and a First Place multimedia category award from the Association of Healthcare Journalists.