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| Stephen D. Isaacs (PHOTO: Alissa Swango) |
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The Isaacs File Information we couldn't find on the Internet. DOB: 12/08/37 Nickname: Stebs
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Our journey in the world of online snooping
By Julia Drapkin and Kylene Kiang
Monday, March 20, 2006 5:30 p.m. ET
In the beginning
I get the OK from Prof. Isaacs to go ahead with our project. He says Julia and I can come by his apartment for an interview once we’re done cyberstalking. “Whatever you find won’t bother me because it’s already out there in the first place,” he says adding that students 15 years ago got hold of his FBI file and still found nothing.
I wish I could find out how much Tab that man puts away per day.
Monday, March 20, 2006, 11:40 p.m. ET
The search continues
Went back home to Washington Heights, where I started my search at Google (http://www.google.com), typing “Stephen Isaacs.” Rar. I guess Stephen Isaacs is a common name. So you don’t get much from Google until the ninth entry or so when Columbia pages start popping up.
Google wasn’t a total waste of time. I did learn that some other Stephen Isaacs was a co-founder and CEO of Cerus Corp. in Concord, Calif. And that one-time MTV VJ Steve Isaacs is a singer/guitarist with the L.A. band The Panic Channel, which features guitarist Dave Navarro of Red Hot Chili Peppers fame.
Anyway…so in the last two minutes, I’ve found the easy stuff using “Stephen D. Isaacs”:
E-mail:sdi1@columbia.edu
Family: Norman E. Isaacs, father (d.1998); Dorothy Ritz, mother (d.1977); Roberta Matthews of Washington, D.C.; Mildred Isaacs of Santa Barbara, stepmother of Santa Barbara. Between Isaacs and his sister, they have five children and three grandsons.
Education: Harvard
Past and present employers: Columbia University, CBS News, ABC News, PBS, Louisville ( Ky.) Times, The Guardian,The Economist, The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times/Washington Post News Service and The Minneapolis Star.
Writings:Jews and American Politics
I also found that you can buy his CJR articles (all about technology and journalism) for $5.95 a pop on Amazon.
According to Isaacs’ bio, he wrote Paper Dynasties: The Rise and Fall of America’s Great Newspaper Families. I couldn’t find record of this anywhere. Not even on Alibris.
But I did find that it was written by Christopher Shaw. A penname, perhaps? From Kinokuniya BookWeb:
Paper Dynasties : The Rise and Fall of America's Great Newspaper Families-US- |
From Amazon:
Amazon.com Sales Rank: #4,286,228 in Books (See Top Sellers in Books) Yesterday: #4,283,749 in Books |
Interesting.
Then, in the spirit of Internet stalking, I spent an hour on the Facebook and found skanked out pictures of my friends from high school.
Tuesday, March 21, 2006, 12:44 p.m.
Round two
I need something better than Google. Hopped onto ZabaSearch and found some old addresses and phone numbers:
STEPHEN D ISAACS
11 LAKE ST Recorded: 09/01/2005
WHITE PLAINS, NY 10603 (914) 428-3380
STEPHEN D ISAACS
11 LAKE ST Recorded: 08/14/2002
WHITE PLAINS, NY 10603 (914) 422-3485
STEPHEN D ISAACS
1907 2ND ST NW
WASHINGTON, DC 20001 (202) 462-5605
Tuesday, March 21, 2006, 12:44 p.m.
I heart Pretrieve
On to Pretrieve (http://www.pretrieve.com). This site aggregates a whole bunch of public document search sites to give information on the basics: date of birth, property holdings, death records and criminal records.
I found a new address and phone number in addition to the White Plains and Washington, D.C. Stephen Isaacs.
Stephen Isaacs
578 Madison St
Brooklyn, NY 11221-1606
(718) 602-7748
I hunch that this isn’t where our Isaacs lives…but with the address, we can find all sorts of information about his neighborhood. And away we go!
Zillow.com didn’t have any records for 578 Madison St. (rats) But ideally, you can use this to view estimated value, sales history, tax data and more for an address and its surrounding properties.
Por ejemplo, when I type in a random place, let’s say, 2373 Broadway, New York, NY 10024, we learn that whoever lives in Apt. 6 has four bedrooms, three baths in a 2,368 square foot single unit, estimated at $572,148.
And how do I know if these stats are up to date? Check out the Automated City Register Information System. ACRIS also provides city block and lot numbers, if you want to get technical.
Now that I know what the neighborhood looks like (Thanks, Google maps.) I want to know who lives there, anyway? Look up demographic data from the 2000 U.S. census here.
Want to know if the neighborhood is conservative or liberal? Look up 2004 campaign contributions by name or address and introduce yourself to the neighbors.
Wednesday, March 22, 2006, 9:12 a.m.
Trying to decide what background check service to use. U.S. Search’s report includes a nationwide record of bankruptcies, tax liens, small claims civil judgments and state criminal charges – all e-mailed within 24 hours for $39.95. I think we can do better.
Today I decided to search for Issacs’ e-mail on Google. With “sdi1 + newspaper,” we were able to find a personal site that made us want to cry. Basically, everything we had compiled in the last two days was there in front of us on his homepage.
And a search for “sdi1” on Columbia.edu gave us his middle name – David – his office number, work and fax number and an old cell phone number.
Thursday, March 22, 2006 1:04 p.m.
Yesterday, we were flipping out over how horrible the $49.95 Intelius background check was. After going over the report with Isaacs at his apartment at 2025 Broadway (an address NOT listed by Intelius), we found far too many inaccuracies.
Then Julia made a call to Intelius customer service to complain. She ended up getting a complimentary, yet totally worthless “Employment Nationwide Check” which included his birth date (12/08/37) and a New York State and nationwide criminal background check.
The report showed no criminal history. When we brought this up with Isaacs, he looked disappointed. Then he told us he was “charged with seven misdemeanors and some felonies” after he unknowingly cut down parkland trees while he was the editor of the Star Tribune in Minneapolis. “I can’t believe you didn’t find that,” he said. “I was found guilty of a misdemeanor and they expunged it from my record after I had complied (with the judge’s orders).”
The juicy stuff will almost always be in the newspapers, he told us. “Reporters are generally lazy bums…Investigative reporting takes time. But if you go through the process – it’s hard work, it’s grueling work – you can get any piece of information anywhere if it’s on the public record.”
Lesson learned.