---
category: Private Organization
location: San Francisco, California
start: 1903
summary: The Commonwealth Club in San Francisco hosted Gary Webb for a speaking engagement
  after the Dark Alliance series was published, amid the media controversy.
tags:
- organization
- media
- contra-war
---

The Commonwealth Club in [San Francisco](/places/san-francisco/) hosted [Gary Webb](/people/gary-webb/) for a speaking engagement after the [Dark Alliance](/events/dark-alliance/) series was published, amid the media controversy. The club was one of the venues where Webb publicly defended his reporting on the [Central Intelligence Agency](/organizations/central-intelligence-agency/)-[Contra](/organizations/contras/)-[cocaine](/concepts/cocaine/) connection.[^1]

### Public Discourse

The Commonwealth Club engagement occurred during the period when the mainstream media was attacking Webb's reporting. The club provided a forum for serious discussion of the series' allegations at a time when other media outlets were dismissing the story. Webb's appearance at venues like the Commonwealth Club demonstrated the public interest in the Dark Alliance revelations despite the establishment media's efforts to discredit the reporting.[^2]

[^1]: Webb, Gary. *Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion.* Seven Stories Press, 1998. Ch. 27.
[^2]: Webb, Gary. *Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion.* Seven Stories Press, 1998. Ch. 27.