George William Bliss

George Bliss (July 21, 1918 – September 11, 1978) was an American journalist. He won a 1962 Pulitzer Prize for investigative journalism for the Chicago Tribune and was associated with two others: 1962: corruption at the Metropolitan Sanitary District of Greater Chicago. 1973: For uncovering flagrant violations of voting procedures in the primary election of March 21, 1972 1976: waste and fraud at mortgage firms related to Federal Housing Administration mortgage insurance

Early life Bliss was born on July 21, 1918, in Denver, Colorado, to William Bliss and Marie Bresnanhis.

Career During his tenure at the Tribune, Bliss concentrated his efforts on unearthing corruption and government waste. In 1950, he broke the story of rampant sexual and physical abuse at the Cook County juvenile home. His 1961 series on massive corruption at the Metropolitan Sanitary District of Greater Chicago won him the 1962 Pulitzer Prize for Local Reporting. Bliss had discovered that the department had been paying salaries to people not even employed.

In 1968, the Tribune refused to let Bliss publish a story on Illinois Secretary of State Paul Powell taking bribes. Bliss left the newspaper and went to work for a local non-profit, the Better Government Association. In 1971, he uncovered corruption in the city's ambulance companies which helped reporter William Jones win a 1971 Pulitzer Prize. After the shootings of Fred Hampton and Mark Clark in 1969, the Tribune developed a reputation for being a pro-establishment newspaper. They rehired Bliss in October 1971 to counter this image.