This article is an orphan, as few or no other articles link to it. Please introduce links to this page from other articles related to it. (February 2009)

This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Please improve this article if you can. (November 2008)

Paul D'Ambrosio is an American journalist and novelist. He is the award-winning Investigations Editor for the Asbury Park Press daily newspaper in New Jersey, and creator of DataUniverse.com, the public records site for six Gannett New Jersey newspapers.

Contents 1 Biography 2 Major Journalism Works 3 References 4 External links

[edit] Biography

He has published one novel, Cold Rolled Dead (2007, Down the Shore Publishing Inc.), and has written extensively about New Jersey's culture of political corruption, and the need for greater public access to government records.^[1]

As both editor and writer, he was won the Selden Ring Award for Investigative Reporting, the Farfel Prize for Excellence in Investigative Reporting, the National Headliner Award for Public Service, the Associated Press Managing Editors' Award for Public Service, the Clark Mollenhoff Memorial Award for Investigative Reporting, three National Press Club awards for consumer journalism, and nearly two dozen other national writing awards.

D'Ambrosio grew up in Philadelphia, Pa., and Bangkok, Thailand. He now lives in New Jersey. He graduated The George Washington University, Washington, D.C., with a B.A. in political science and history. He has been a visiting professor at Syracuse University, New York, and has lectured at other universities including Harvard and Southern California.

His debut novel, Cold Rolled Dead, was a finalist for the Eric Hoffer Award in 2007, and was a best-seller for several weeks on Amazon.com's Techno-thriller list. Critics compared his work to Tom Clancy^[2] and Mario Puzo^[3]. One critic termed the book: An "exciting first novel...(with a) narrative that makes The Godfather seem quaint and naive....^[4] The Asbury Park Press called the novel "... a page-turner with hefty detail on police procedure ... and human nature at its darkest....^[5]

D'Ambrosio is a national expert^[6] in a field of journalism called computer-assisted reporting, which uses various programs to analyze government data. He is credited^[7] with creating the first free, wide-scale public access records site on the Web called DataUniverse, which uses LAMP_(software_bundle) software to search tens of millions of records in milliseconds. An unnamed precursor to DataUniverse was launched in the Spring of 2005 by D'Ambrosio, and the full DataUniverse was launched on the Asbury Park Press's Website, www.APP.com, on December 1, 2006. The site is programmed and maintained by D'Ambrosio. DataUniverse now contains more than two dozen databases from crime records to property sale information, and garners about 1 million page views a week^[8]. The DataUniverse model has been widely duplicated throughout the Gannett newspaper chain^[9] and other news outlets^[10].

[edit] Major Journalism Works

Vital Signs (1996) (D'Ambrosio, Linsk, McEnry, Becker)

A year-long look at weaknesses in the state's hospital oversight system that showed how a number of patients died from carelessness, neglect and incompetence. Reforms included the launching of the state's Coronary Artery Bypass Report Card for consumers.

House of Cards (1997-98) (Asbury Park Press Staff)

A massive real estate scam involving subprime mortgages was uncovered during the year-long investigation. Several of the principals involved in the multi-state scam were sent to prison.

Right to Know Nothing (1999) (D'Ambrosio)

The first in a series of stories over four years about the lack of access the public has to government documents, such as budgets. The series, a follow-up survey on the lack of access in more than 200 towns and school districts, and the subsequent campaign by the Gannett New Jersey newspaper chain eventually led to the passage of New Jersey's Open Public Records Act, or OPRA. Winner of the 1998 and 2000 Brechner Freedom of Information Act Awards.

Profiting from Public Service (2003-2004) (D'Ambrosio and Gannett New Jersey staff)

This 38-page look at political and moral corruption in the New Jersey Legislature led to the downfall of the powerful state Senate President and the passage of a number of ethics reform bills.^[11]

Pay to Play and The Power Brokers (2004) (D'Ambrosio, Prado Roberts, and Gannett Staff)

A detailed expose showing how political money is washed to hide millions of dollars in questionable contributions, and profiles of the 12 power brokers who ran New Jersey's government from behind the scenes.^[12]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Official website
• Audience Building Initiatives (DataUniverse) Newspaper Association of America
• Western Knight Center for Specialized Journalism, D'Ambrosio seminar
• Interview with D'Ambrosio on the One-on-One show.
• Excerpt from Cold Rolled Dead, July 2008 podcast.
• Asbury Park Press Special Projects
• Brechner Center for Freedom of Information
• Nieman Reports - Keeping Investigative Reporting Relevant, Harvard University, 2008