This demo reel includes a montage of award-winning investigative reports produced by KPIX Consumer Investigative Reporter Julie Watts. The montage is followed by a selection of stories in their entirety.
Julie’s investigative reporting has prompted FDA recalls, federal investigations and legislation intended to protect consumers and hold regulators accountable.
Her work was recently honored with several prestigious national awards including a Gracie Award for Best Investigative Feature, Society of Professional Journalists SDX Award for Public Service, The National Headliner Award for Business and Consumer Reporting and The National Press Club’s award for Consumer Journalism.
The 6-time Emmy® Award Winner has also been honored with more than a dozen regional awards including Associated Press and Edward R. Murrow Awards.
Julie’s investigative reports air locally on KPIX in San Francisco and on KCAL/KCBS in LA. They also air nationally on CBS News and on various affiliates across the country.
Additional Investigative Skills & Experience
● FOIA/PRA: Extensive experience navigating various state and federal public record laws to obtain previously undisclosed documents & records.
● Undercover Recordings: Extensive experience legally obtaining undercover audio & video recordings in accordance with state and federal law.
● Computer Assisted Reporting: Familiarity with web scraping, advanced web searches, databases, spreadsheets, Fusion Tables, PACER, LexisNexus and Autotrack.
Featured Investigative Reports
Investigating Child Credit Freezes
After years of reporting on child ID theft and credit freezes, Julie set out to freeze her toddler’s credit. What she discovered led to a year-long series of editorial blogs that ultimately prompted a new state law and this series of KPIX consumer reports. [Continue/View Demo]
Investigating Car Seats Chemicals
It began as a NewsMom.com editorial and expanded into a KPIX-CBS investigation exposing false advertising, legal loopholes and outdated federal regulations that systematically expose millions of children to concerning car seat chemicals. [Continue/View Demo]
Supermarket Shocker
What began with a single complaint about an overcharge at the grocery store expanded into a nationwide investigation.
As a result of persistent undercover and computer assisted reporting, this series holds one of the nation’s largest grocery retailers accountable for disproportionately overcharging customers and violating a court order. [Continue/View Demo]
UN-Covered California
“UN-Covered California” began with a single complaint about doctors refusing to accept insurance policies purchased on the state’s ACA health insurance exchange. It evolved into in-depth continuing coverage spanning more than 30 reports over the course of a year.
The series exposed a widespread practice of bait & switch and revealed that state regulators weren’t investigating complaints or enforcing state law. Ultimately, this reporting prompted changes by insurers and forced action by state regulators and law makers. [Continue/View Demo]
“Filled” With Fear
When Chrysler owners told ConsumerWatch they were “filled with fear” every time they filled their tank, we began investigating a known fuel tank defect that caused the cars to stall on the road.
Public records revealed that the car maker assured NHTSA it would address the issue months earlier. Chrysler also told the regulator that it would pay to fix the potentially dangerous defect in each of the affected cars. However, we discovered that the car maker had not followed though. [Continue/View Demo]
Fool’s Gold
It began with a local complaint about a fraudulent gold buyer and expanded into a five-state undercover investigation that exposed a pattern of fraud and deceit within one of the nation’s largest gold buying operations.
As a result, THR & Associates was forced to shut down, putting an end to the company’s predatory practices in as many as 160 different cities each week. The company’s CEO is now the subject of multiple state and federal investigations. [Continue/View Demo]
Public Storage
In this three-part series, we investigated questionable insurance practices and security measures at the nation’s largest storage company.
Over the course of several months, this undercover investigation revealed that unlicensed Public Storage employees were illegally selling insurance to customers. We also compiled data that demonstrated the insurance company behind those policies was regularly denying valid claims. [Continue/View Demo]