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Chuck Philips, Pulitzer-Winning L.A. Times Journalist Renowned for Investigative Reporting on Music Industry, Dies at 71


Chuck Philips, who won a Pulitzer and was familiar to hip-hop fans as the L.A. Times reporter investigating Tupac's and Biggie's murders, died at 71.

As one of the Los Angeles Times ‘ most prominent entertainment journalists in the 1990s and 2000s, Philips shared a Pulitzer in 1999 with Michael A. Hiltzik for a series of stories on corruption in the music industry. The Pulitzer board cited in particular their stories on ”a charity sham sponsored by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, illegal detoxification programs for wealthy celebrities and a resurgence of radio payola.” Finally, in 1995, the business section hired him full-time under the newly formed Company Town aegis, which was the Times’ stab at becoming known for a much harder-hitting take on the entertainment biz in L.A. His byline became known as something topping stories that almost uniformly meant to shake things up.

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