Editing Center for Public Integrity (section)

===1989–2004===
CPI was founded on March 30, 1989, by [[Charles Lewis (journalist)|Charles Lewis]], a former producer for [[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]] and [[CBS News]] ''[[60 Minutes]]''.<ref name="CPI_Lewis_20140420" /><ref>{{Cite web | title = Faculty Profile: Charles Lewis | url = http://www.american.edu/soc/faculty/charlesl.cfm | work = [[American University]] | access-date = June 9, 2012}}</ref><ref name="annual reports">{{cite news|url=http://www.iwatchnews.org/about/our-organization/annual-reports|title=Annual Reports|publisher=The Center for Public Integrity|access-date=June 10, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120415104602/http://www.iwatchnews.org/about/our-organization/annual-reports|archive-date=April 15, 2012|url-status=dead|df=mdy-all}}</ref> By the late 1980s Lewis observed that fewer resources—time, money and space—were being invested in investigative reporting in the United States by established news outlets and major publications.<ref name="hopkins_2000"/>
In his book entitled ''935 Lies: The Future of Truth and the Decline of America's Moral Integrity'' Lewis recounted how he recruited two trusted journalists, Alejandro Benes and [[Charles Piller]]—whom he had met through his television work— to serve on the board of directors of the nascent CPI. All three had grown dissatisfied with what was being done in the name of investigative journalism by established news organizations.<ref name="hopkins_2000" /> They chose the name public integrity as a way of underlying the "ultimate purpose of investigative journalism" which is "to hold those in power accountable and to inform the public about significant distortions of the truth."<ref name="CPI_Lewis_20140420">{{cite web | url=https://www.publicintegrity.org/2014/06/20/14948/25-years-countless-investigations-and-935-lies | title=25 years, countless investigations and 935 lies | publisher=CPI | date=June 20, 2014 | access-date=April 7, 2016 | author=Lewis, Charles}}</ref><ref name="935_lies_2014">{{cite book |title=935 Lies: The Future of Truth and the Decline of America's Moral Integrity |first=Charles |last=Lewis |date=2014 |isbn=9781610391177 |publisher=[[PublicAffairs]] |url=http://www.publicaffairsbooks.com/book/hardcover/935-lies/9781610391177 |access-date=April 7, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160406104448/http://www.publicaffairsbooks.com/book/hardcover/935-lies/9781610391177 |archive-date=April 6, 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref> In their tenth anniversary Annual Report Piller described their first meetings in their "Boardroom—the cheap seats at the Baltimore Orioles game.

In May 1990, Lewis used the money he had raised and his house as collateral to open an {{convert|1800|sqft|m2|-1|adj=on}} office in [[Washington, District of Columbia|Washington, D.C.]]<ref name="annual reports"/> In its first year, the CPI's budget was $200,000.<ref name="growing importance"/> In 1996, CPI launched its first website, although CPI did not begin to publish reports online until 1999.<ref name="growing importance"/>

In August 2000 the CPI published a story entitled "Cheney Led Halliburton to Feast at Federal Trough: State Department Questioned Deal With Firm Linked to Russian Mob", in which the authors argued that while [[Dick Cheney]] was CEO of [[Halliburton Company|Halliburton]]—from 1995 to 2000—the company received "$3.8 billion in federal contracts and taxpayer-insured loans".<ref name="hopkins_2000">{{cite web | url=http://pages.jh.edu/jhumag/1100web/lewis.html | title=An "i" Toward Tough Journalism | work=Johns Hopkins Magazine | date=November 2000 | access-date=April 7, 2016 | author=Keiger, Dale}}</ref><ref name="CPI_2000_aug">{{cite web | title=Cheney Led Halliburton to Feast at Federal Trough: State Department Questioned Deal With Firm Linked to Russian Mob | publisher=CPI | date=August 2000 |first1=Knut |last1=Royce |first2= Nathaniel |last2=Heller|url=https://publicintegrity.org/federal-politics/cheney-led-halliburton-to-feast-at-federal-trough/}}</ref>

In 2001, [[Global Integrity]], an international project, was launched to systematically track and report on openness, accountability and the rule of law in various countries. It has since been incorporated independently.<ref name=global>
{{cite web | title = Our Story | url = http://www.globalintegrity.org/about/story | publisher = [[Global Integrity]] | access-date = June 9, 2012 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120617181047/http://www.globalintegrity.org/about/story | archive-date = June 17, 2012 }}</ref>

In 2004, CPI's ''The Buying of the President'' book was on [[The New York Times Best Seller list]] for three months.<ref name="growing importance">{{cite news | last = Lewis | first = Charles| url = http://shorensteincenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/2007_03_lewis.pdf | title = The Growing Importance of Non-Profit Journalism | publisher = [[Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy|The Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy]] | date = April 1, 2007 | access-date = April 6, 2016}}</ref>