What do you think?
Rate this book
Reporter: A Memoir
Seymour Hersh's fearless reporting has earned him fame, front-page bylines in virtually every major newspaper in the free world, honors galore, and no small amount of controversy. Now in this memoir he describes what drove him and how he worked as an independent outsider, even at the nation's most prestigious publications. He tells the stories behind the stories--riveting in their own right--as he chases leads, cultivates sources, and grapples with the weight of what he uncovers, daring to challenge official narratives handed down from the powers that be. In telling these stories, Hersh divulges previously unreported information about some of his biggest scoops, including the My Lai massacre and the horrors at Abu Ghraib. There are also illuminating recollections of some of the giants of American politics and journalism: Ben Bradlee, A. M. Rosenthal, David Remnick, and Henry Kissinger among them. This is essential reading on the power of the printed word at a time when good journalism is under fire as never before.
368 pages, Hardcover
First published June 5, 2018
373 people are currently reading
3,496 people want to read
About the author
Seymour M. Hersh
32books399followersSeymour (Sy) Myron Hersh is an American Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist and author based in Washington, D.C. He is a regular contributor to The New Yorker magazine on military and security matters. He has also won two National Magazine Awards and is a "five-time Polk winner and recipient of the 2004 George Orwell Award."
He first gained worldwide recognition in 1969 for exposing the My Lai Massacre and its cover-up during the Vietnam War, for which he received the 1970 Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting. His 2004 reports on the US military's mistreatment of detainees at Abu Ghraib prison gained much attention.
He first gained worldwide recognition in 1969 for exposing the My Lai Massacre and its cover-up during the Vietnam War, for which he received the 1970 Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting. His 2004 reports on the US military's mistreatment of detainees at Abu Ghraib prison gained much attention.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 268 reviews
December 22, 2018
This is an incredible memoir about journalism and American politics. Seymour Hersh, perhaps most famous for his reporting on the My Lai massacre during the Vietnam war, tells the story of how he got his start in news and shares fascinating stories about the events he's covered in the last five decades.
My favorite sections were Hersh's reporting in Vietnam � especially the story of how he tracked down the various people involved in My Lai � Hersh's experiences covering politics in Washington, and his perspective on our national security agencies. It was especially illuminating to read about the corruption of the Richard Nixon administration in the Age of Trump. (Speaking of Nixon, is there a more loathed figure in this book than Henry Kissinger? Not even Hersh's harsh words for Donald Rumsfeld come close to how he felt about Kissinger.)
Sure, one could read this book and despair about the current state of the news media. Or you could read this book and pay attention to all of the times Hersh himself was fighting to get his stories published � even the good old days of journalism still had their problems. I'm grateful Hersh wrote this memoir, and I hope it helps to inspire the next generation of reporters. Highly recommended.
Opening Passage
My favorite sections were Hersh's reporting in Vietnam � especially the story of how he tracked down the various people involved in My Lai � Hersh's experiences covering politics in Washington, and his perspective on our national security agencies. It was especially illuminating to read about the corruption of the Richard Nixon administration in the Age of Trump. (Speaking of Nixon, is there a more loathed figure in this book than Henry Kissinger? Not even Hersh's harsh words for Donald Rumsfeld come close to how he felt about Kissinger.)
Sure, one could read this book and despair about the current state of the news media. Or you could read this book and pay attention to all of the times Hersh himself was fighting to get his stories published � even the good old days of journalism still had their problems. I'm grateful Hersh wrote this memoir, and I hope it helps to inspire the next generation of reporters. Highly recommended.
Opening Passage
I am a survivor from the golden age of journalism, when reporters for daily newspapers did not have to compete with the twenty-four-hour cable news cycle, when newspapers were flush with cash from display advertisements and want ads, and when I was free to travel anywhere, anytime, for any reason, with company credit cards. There was sufficient time for reporting on a breaking news story without having to constantly relay what was being learned on the newspaper's web page.
There were no televised panels of "experts" and journalists on cable TV who began every answer to every question with the two deadliest words in the media world � "I think." We are sodden with fake news, hyped-up and incomplete information, and false assertions delivered nonstop by our daily newspapers, our televisions, our online news agencies, our social media, and our President.
Yes, it's a mess. And there is no magic bullet, no savior in sight for the serious media. The mainstream newspapers, magazines and television networks will continue to lay off reporters, reduce staff, and squeeze the funds available for good reporting, and especially for investigative reporting, with its high cost, unpredictable results, and its capacity for angering readers and attracting expensive lawsuits. The newspapers of today far too often rush into print with stories that are essentially little more than tips, or hints of something toxic or criminal. For lack of time, money or skilled staff, we are besieged with "he said, she said" stories in which the reporter is little more than a parrot. I always thought it was a newspaper's mission to search out the truth and not merely to report on the dispute.
June 24, 2018
I love what Hersh has done for America and for journalism. He is one of the great investigative journalists of our time. I sort of wish I hadn't read this memoir because he comes off as kind of a self-important asshole. I suppose you would have to be to break so many stories, but he seems to distrust everybody and do a lot of fighting.
August 7, 2018
Someone reviewed this book saying they thought he came of as a self important asshole and that’s exactly what I thought he was not. We need smart and persistent investigative reporters, and those likely to be good at it will be loners, with confidence in their abilities and methods, and hopefully, like Hersh, rigorous and honest. I found him charming in his way. He worked well with editors and reporters he trusted but moved at his own pace and following his instincts. He would not be particularly easy to work with and he was certainly persistent. I was amazed at his persistence in finding and talking to Calley about My Lai. I’m sure I would having given up. So would most others. I also appreciated his efforts to protect informants, selfishly in part, but out of concern to protect his sources. I can’t wait to read his book on Cheney! But tonight I just ordered the Kissinger book.
June 29, 2018
Seymour Hersh has done an excellent job of reporting for decades and this memoir explains what steps and approaches he has used to break into and expose events and people that were intensely contrary to public norms and assumptions, including the first, the My Lai Massacre. His "secret"? He is persistent; he is impatiently patient; he researches the hell out of events and people; he tells the truth, including to people he is exposing; he keeps his word when he promises secrecy and cover to sources too centrally involved to be exposed without catastrophic consequences (to the point of deciding not to write about something); he uses everything and everybody he knows to get at the details of a story; he relies on documentable facts, keeping his opinions and judgments to himself;* he trusts his intuition and lets it inform him (when someone is dissembling or when the picture is unfinished).
As a result of his aim at telling the factual truth about what has happened and because of his commitment of anonymity to sources, he has gathered inside sources that have provided invaluable information. One feature he notes is that at least some inside sources are motivated because they, too, want the truth to be known and are disturbed by official "truths" sufficiently to either seek Hersh out or to talk and share documents when he contacts them. This college of contacts enables him to go into a story fully armed, so to say, against critics who reflexively accuse him of lying (the "fake news" label that is currently being used). This does not guarantee he is always accurate, as he explains. But it does up the odds that when he brings a story, it will be deftly on target.
Because every scandal he has covered has threatened certain principals at the heart of the scandal, he has been fought hard by major players, including presidential level staff and politicians, by big guns in the military, by other journalists (including sometimes his own editors), and (according to him), the worst, major international corporations. This last note is highly relevant to many of the struggles that are being played out today.
To me, trained and experienced in psychotherapy, his stories reveal the power that shame and the fear of shame have over our lives. Shame is one of nine innate emotions, present from birth, and in its raw form, it is unbearable. The reasons for its unbearability have to do with our evolved nature as a highly social creature; being excluded from ones group can feel like a form of dying.
My Lai, Watergate, the Vietnam War, and so on, are messy events full of the potential to shame; and the revelations Hersh brought to light were indeed quite shaming. Another facet of Hersh's account is the reinforcement of the understanding that no group that has power over others can function without accountability to the wider public. My Lai, for example, was but one piece of a widespread and brutal slide by soldiers into barbaric behavior where there was no accountability from the ground up and the top down. (I believe the likelihood of this deterioration is most likely universal, regardless of nationality, ethnicity, political beliefs, and so on.)
When the truth is hidden, then all parts of our souls are also hidden for our soul is woven out of the truth. So, the truth does set all of us free even as getting to it can feel like rolling in flames.
So, I say, thank you, Brother Hersh, you have made a real difference for the better of humanity in our society and at this time. I hope that others will join me in this appreciation and, more important, pass these "secrets" on!
*I would argue, and I'm sure I'm not alone, that even the decision to write about something reflects an opinion and a judgement. In the case of Hersh, when he chooses to pursue a story, it is because he feels it is something that needs to be told to a wider audience and most typically, these are events where there has been an abuse of power by some individual or group that has done serious damage to others and that has been hidden from view either totally or by an account that is not true. If you are part of the group that Hersh is pursuing, likely the values that inform your decisions are self-protection from being shamed and from being destroyed (that is, taken apart, de-structured). The support of the Common Good requires the former values, employed in as respectful a manner as possible.
As a result of his aim at telling the factual truth about what has happened and because of his commitment of anonymity to sources, he has gathered inside sources that have provided invaluable information. One feature he notes is that at least some inside sources are motivated because they, too, want the truth to be known and are disturbed by official "truths" sufficiently to either seek Hersh out or to talk and share documents when he contacts them. This college of contacts enables him to go into a story fully armed, so to say, against critics who reflexively accuse him of lying (the "fake news" label that is currently being used). This does not guarantee he is always accurate, as he explains. But it does up the odds that when he brings a story, it will be deftly on target.
Because every scandal he has covered has threatened certain principals at the heart of the scandal, he has been fought hard by major players, including presidential level staff and politicians, by big guns in the military, by other journalists (including sometimes his own editors), and (according to him), the worst, major international corporations. This last note is highly relevant to many of the struggles that are being played out today.
To me, trained and experienced in psychotherapy, his stories reveal the power that shame and the fear of shame have over our lives. Shame is one of nine innate emotions, present from birth, and in its raw form, it is unbearable. The reasons for its unbearability have to do with our evolved nature as a highly social creature; being excluded from ones group can feel like a form of dying.
My Lai, Watergate, the Vietnam War, and so on, are messy events full of the potential to shame; and the revelations Hersh brought to light were indeed quite shaming. Another facet of Hersh's account is the reinforcement of the understanding that no group that has power over others can function without accountability to the wider public. My Lai, for example, was but one piece of a widespread and brutal slide by soldiers into barbaric behavior where there was no accountability from the ground up and the top down. (I believe the likelihood of this deterioration is most likely universal, regardless of nationality, ethnicity, political beliefs, and so on.)
When the truth is hidden, then all parts of our souls are also hidden for our soul is woven out of the truth. So, the truth does set all of us free even as getting to it can feel like rolling in flames.
So, I say, thank you, Brother Hersh, you have made a real difference for the better of humanity in our society and at this time. I hope that others will join me in this appreciation and, more important, pass these "secrets" on!
*I would argue, and I'm sure I'm not alone, that even the decision to write about something reflects an opinion and a judgement. In the case of Hersh, when he chooses to pursue a story, it is because he feels it is something that needs to be told to a wider audience and most typically, these are events where there has been an abuse of power by some individual or group that has done serious damage to others and that has been hidden from view either totally or by an account that is not true. If you are part of the group that Hersh is pursuing, likely the values that inform your decisions are self-protection from being shamed and from being destroyed (that is, taken apart, de-structured). The support of the Common Good requires the former values, employed in as respectful a manner as possible.
June 19, 2018
This is an incredible book by an indefatigable researcher/interviewer/writer. I had previously read Hersh's Dark Side of Camelot, which was depressing but demythologized Jack and Bobby Kennedy, when by far the most books about them had been hagiographies.
This book is a play-by-play story of Hersh's career, with some revelations about presidential misuse of power going all the way back to Eisenhower. Hersh has been so successful as a writer, first for the NY Times and later for The New Yorker. One of his secrets is that he has never betrayed a source, which makes more sources likely to trust him. There are things mentioned in this book that he cannot reveal the sources for, which I find admirable. The threats he has suffered also give a sense of the man's courage.
The thing that most stayed with me about this book is the pettiness and willingness to grovel to the government line that major newspapers have exhibited. Hersh details stories that appeared in the Times that were nearly direct quotes from Henry Kissinger, who had obviously seen them before they were published the next day. That put a cynical look at freedom of the press. Hersh also characterizes editors of major newspapers who were self-censoring because of their fears of government disapproval.
But the thing that shocked me most was the degree to which certain CIA actions, for instance, were actually ordered by the president and then lied about. This happened with a number of presidents, not just Richard Nixon. I was amazed at the detail Hersh uncovered about major lies that were being perpetrated on the public, but terribly disappointed that there has been so much secrecy and denial from the executive branch. It's a sad state of affairs when you can't trust your own government to tell you the truth, and Hersh shows that happening over and over, with many different administrations.
This is a brilliant book and a real eye-opener.
This book is a play-by-play story of Hersh's career, with some revelations about presidential misuse of power going all the way back to Eisenhower. Hersh has been so successful as a writer, first for the NY Times and later for The New Yorker. One of his secrets is that he has never betrayed a source, which makes more sources likely to trust him. There are things mentioned in this book that he cannot reveal the sources for, which I find admirable. The threats he has suffered also give a sense of the man's courage.
The thing that most stayed with me about this book is the pettiness and willingness to grovel to the government line that major newspapers have exhibited. Hersh details stories that appeared in the Times that were nearly direct quotes from Henry Kissinger, who had obviously seen them before they were published the next day. That put a cynical look at freedom of the press. Hersh also characterizes editors of major newspapers who were self-censoring because of their fears of government disapproval.
But the thing that shocked me most was the degree to which certain CIA actions, for instance, were actually ordered by the president and then lied about. This happened with a number of presidents, not just Richard Nixon. I was amazed at the detail Hersh uncovered about major lies that were being perpetrated on the public, but terribly disappointed that there has been so much secrecy and denial from the executive branch. It's a sad state of affairs when you can't trust your own government to tell you the truth, and Hersh shows that happening over and over, with many different administrations.
This is a brilliant book and a real eye-opener.
July 7, 2024
للقارئ العربي، يتلخص هذا الكتاب في الموقف الذي حكاه الكاتب عن تلقي أحد القراء لكتابه عن كيسنجر "ثمن السلطة"، حين كان يقضي أحد الأجازات مع عائلته في حمام السباحة وبينما هو يتمشى وجد أحد السيدات وهي ممتدة على مقعدها نائمة وتغطي عينيّها بكتابه الذي ربما نامت وهي تقرأه. نعم، هكذا يمكن أن يكون حال القارئ العربي مع الكتاب باستثناء آخر فصل والذي يخص السياسة في الوطن العربي، فما دون ذلك، فالكتاب لن يكون ممتعًا لمن لا يثيرهم الفضول فيما يخص يوميات السياسة الأمريكية ومجريّاتها، ولا تشغلهم حرب فيتنام وكواليسها كثيرًا، وكيسنجر ليس لا يرونه أكثر من مفاوضًا بين السادات وبيجين، إذا لم تكن تحب أفلام كين بيرنس وآدم كورتيس واستقصائها السياسي التاريخي الممزوج بحس ساخر فبالطبع لن تجد ذاك الكتاب ممتعًا، أما أنا، ولكل تلك الأسباب الماضية، ولترجمة دكتور الأرزقي "العراقية" الماتعة أحببت الكتاب كثيرًا، والتهتمته كمسلسل تليفزيوني تدور أحداثه في أروقة السياسية الأمريكية، ولنقل مسلسل "البروج المشيّدة" مثلًا. يغطي الكتاب تلك القضايا، فيتنام وأحداثها التي لا تنتهي، ووترجيت، الحضور الأمريكي في الشرق الأوسط منذ 2001، وأجواء الإنتخابات الرئاسية الأمريكية في أعقاب اغتيال كينيدي وبعضًا مما يخص كينيدي وحقبته، ومن ناحية التأصيل للشخصيات الرئيسية، يمكن اعتبار الكتاب عن كيسينجر ودك تشيني ونيكسون إلى جوار سيمور هارش وحياته طبعًا، تجربة ممتعة، وقراءتها مثيرة للاكتئاب لمن يمتهني الصحافة في الزريبة العربية مثل حالاتي، الذي حينما ينتهي من الكتاب لا يبقى على لسانه سوى سؤال واحد
"كل دي حرية يا ولاد المتنا**؟"
"كل دي حرية يا ولاد المتنا**؟"
June 29, 2018
Interesting read and walk down memory lane. Considering the current political climate, there were times the book lessened my pessimism by reminding me of some of the horrors which our nation somehow managed to survive�-
And yet also at times deepened my pessimism as I was reminded that we American citizens seem to simply move on without seriously taking stock of our country’s most shameful episodes.
Will we ever “move on� from—much less take stock of —these trump years. Or will we in future look back and think that these trump years weren’t so bad, as we try to survive worse things to come?
Will we ever recover from the Bush/Cheney years? Was anything lasting learned from the Church committee or from My Lai? From Abu Ghraib?
I look forward to future investigative reporting by Mr Hersh, and to the promised Cheney book. Does the truth matter? Wonderful book, highly recommended.
And yet also at times deepened my pessimism as I was reminded that we American citizens seem to simply move on without seriously taking stock of our country’s most shameful episodes.
Will we ever “move on� from—much less take stock of —these trump years. Or will we in future look back and think that these trump years weren’t so bad, as we try to survive worse things to come?
Will we ever recover from the Bush/Cheney years? Was anything lasting learned from the Church committee or from My Lai? From Abu Ghraib?
I look forward to future investigative reporting by Mr Hersh, and to the promised Cheney book. Does the truth matter? Wonderful book, highly recommended.
November 3, 2019
This guy is an American hero. He really tells it like it is. Reporters like this make the world a better place.
June 24, 2018
Crusading journalist consistently proven right
Hersh’s book is an inspiring account of defying conventional wisdom and political pressure to uncover truth no matter how hidden it is.
Hersh’s book is an inspiring account of defying conventional wisdom and political pressure to uncover truth no matter how hidden it is.
November 19, 2018
Seymour Hersh's reporting on foreign policy, national security and intelligence affairs has been required reading for decades. A described lone wolf, Hersh has had numerous relationships with major news organizations, notably the New York Times and the New Yorker, but his real strength has been the tenacious and patient network of sources he's developed and kept active long after one major story has passed...helping lead him to the next one.
Hersh's memoir, Reporter, opens with his very basic Chicago beginnings. His father ran a dry-cleaning store and for a time it looked as though Hersh would be saddled running it indefinitely after his father's death. But that was impossible. He was too smart not to be noticed by mentors who helped enroll him in the University of Chicago and then move through the news networks in the Midwest to Washington and ultimately to the world.
In wonderfully vivid, clear, fast-paced prose, Hersh takes us through his major breakthrough--reporting on the My Lai massacre in Vietnam--to Watergate stories, CIA exposés, the Abu Ghraib atrocities in Iraq, etc. He's often more kind to editors he worked for than they were to him. I can only deduce that Abe Rosenthal of the New York Times was jealous of him, for example. But even though investigative journalism, of which he is the great master, is a rough business, he has reached his eighth decade still marveling at his partners and rivals in reporting, giving credit where credit is due to journalists like Bob Woodward.
One of the mysteries of investigative journalism is why it's necessary. It's hard to believe that JFK or LBJ or Nixon or Henry Kissinger or a handful of CIA directors so often decided that lying and deceit were the best way to deal with their misjudgments and mistakes. (Today Donald Trump takes this practice to an extreme, a fool like no fool in the history of the Republic.) But the truth about Vietnam or overthrowing Allende in Chile or letting prison guards turn into torturers in Iraq (while CIA officers became torturers at black sites around the world) always has been too much for our leaders to frankly admit. Enter reporters like Hersh, looking for leads, documents, quotes, and concrete evidence that are absolutely essential for a democracy to confront.
Reporter tells the tale of telling the tale. It's fascinating. Did Syria under Assad have to become what it has become? Hersh makes us wonder about that. Has there ever been a worse ally than Pakistan (or now, Saudi Arabia)? Hersh squares up on that question, too. He's not preachy, he's not pompous, he's a reporter, and a great one.
Hersh's memoir, Reporter, opens with his very basic Chicago beginnings. His father ran a dry-cleaning store and for a time it looked as though Hersh would be saddled running it indefinitely after his father's death. But that was impossible. He was too smart not to be noticed by mentors who helped enroll him in the University of Chicago and then move through the news networks in the Midwest to Washington and ultimately to the world.
In wonderfully vivid, clear, fast-paced prose, Hersh takes us through his major breakthrough--reporting on the My Lai massacre in Vietnam--to Watergate stories, CIA exposés, the Abu Ghraib atrocities in Iraq, etc. He's often more kind to editors he worked for than they were to him. I can only deduce that Abe Rosenthal of the New York Times was jealous of him, for example. But even though investigative journalism, of which he is the great master, is a rough business, he has reached his eighth decade still marveling at his partners and rivals in reporting, giving credit where credit is due to journalists like Bob Woodward.
One of the mysteries of investigative journalism is why it's necessary. It's hard to believe that JFK or LBJ or Nixon or Henry Kissinger or a handful of CIA directors so often decided that lying and deceit were the best way to deal with their misjudgments and mistakes. (Today Donald Trump takes this practice to an extreme, a fool like no fool in the history of the Republic.) But the truth about Vietnam or overthrowing Allende in Chile or letting prison guards turn into torturers in Iraq (while CIA officers became torturers at black sites around the world) always has been too much for our leaders to frankly admit. Enter reporters like Hersh, looking for leads, documents, quotes, and concrete evidence that are absolutely essential for a democracy to confront.
Reporter tells the tale of telling the tale. It's fascinating. Did Syria under Assad have to become what it has become? Hersh makes us wonder about that. Has there ever been a worse ally than Pakistan (or now, Saudi Arabia)? Hersh squares up on that question, too. He's not preachy, he's not pompous, he's a reporter, and a great one.
February 3, 2022
"Daca maica-ta zice ca te iubeste , dute si verifica !" , aceasta este deviza unui adevarat jurnalist.
Cartea aceasta iti cam arata diferenta dintre articolele mizerabile scrise in ziua de azi bazate pe supozitii, interpretari ca sa nu mai vorbim de minciuni deliberate si cele scrise in era de aur a ziarelor intre anii 60-80'.
Omul asta a acoperit Razboiul din Vietnam (masacrele My Lai) , Afacerea Watergate , Submarinul Rusesc scufundat in Pacific si cautat de americani , Razboiul din Golf , Razboiul Impotriva Terorii, Crima Organizata din Chicago , a scris un urias volum despre matrapazlacurile lui Kissinger , l-a dat in Vileag pe Dick Cheney, a cautat sa inteleaga Orientul Mijlociu intervievand pe presedintele sirian , Assad (cu ocazia asta am aflat ca nu a dat cu gaz sarin cum se zicea) , pe conducatorul Hezbollah , Hassan Nasrallah , torturile din Iraq etc.
Este un jurnalist de talie mondiala pentru ca curajul, etica ,perseverenta, dedicarea si calitatea muncii sale sunt incontestabile.
A scuturat de-a lungul timpului Casa Alba , armata, Pentagonul , Congresul American . Oamenii intotdeauna i-au oferit ponturi si informatii pentru ca stiau ca etica lui este exemplara. Si-a protejat sursele cat de bine a putut in ciuda presiunilor imense a tertelor parti implicate , a informat persoanele despre care scria articolele negative apriori , a cautat adevarul oricat de murdar si neplacut a fost , fapt ce i-a adus renume mondial precum si admiratia tuturor adversarilor sai .
Un moment ce m-a impresionat : cautarea soldatului ce a autorizat masacrarea a 100 de civili in Vietnam. Jurnalistul nostru l-a cautat prin toata America , a mers pe toate pistele de pe o coasta pe alta. Pana la urma printr-un lant de surse indirecte, mergand din aproape in aproape, i-a dat de urma intr-o baza americana.
Nu s-a lasat pana nu a reusit sa se infiltreze in baza , l-a gasit pe un prieten al soldatului , l-a luat cu masina , iar acesta seara i-a facut legatura cu soldatul.A durat luni de zile cautarea , dar articolul ce a iesit a influentat politica americana din Vietnam , si probabil ca a inclinat balanta in favoarea retragerii. Ulterior visul sau s-a implinit si i-a fost oferita o slujba permanenta la ziarul sau de suflet The New York Times.
Daca a reusit ceva aceasta carte , este faptul ca mi-a intarit convingerea ca fac bine ca nu citesc ziare sau urmaresc stiri din surse traditionale, preferand site-uri controversate , precum 4chan, Liveleak , unde e la latitudinea cititorului sa filtreze tot ce citeste dar totodata este si locul unde apar informatiile nefiltrate de multe ori chiar de la sursa.
Cartea aceasta iti cam arata diferenta dintre articolele mizerabile scrise in ziua de azi bazate pe supozitii, interpretari ca sa nu mai vorbim de minciuni deliberate si cele scrise in era de aur a ziarelor intre anii 60-80'.
Omul asta a acoperit Razboiul din Vietnam (masacrele My Lai) , Afacerea Watergate , Submarinul Rusesc scufundat in Pacific si cautat de americani , Razboiul din Golf , Razboiul Impotriva Terorii, Crima Organizata din Chicago , a scris un urias volum despre matrapazlacurile lui Kissinger , l-a dat in Vileag pe Dick Cheney, a cautat sa inteleaga Orientul Mijlociu intervievand pe presedintele sirian , Assad (cu ocazia asta am aflat ca nu a dat cu gaz sarin cum se zicea) , pe conducatorul Hezbollah , Hassan Nasrallah , torturile din Iraq etc.
Este un jurnalist de talie mondiala pentru ca curajul, etica ,perseverenta, dedicarea si calitatea muncii sale sunt incontestabile.
A scuturat de-a lungul timpului Casa Alba , armata, Pentagonul , Congresul American . Oamenii intotdeauna i-au oferit ponturi si informatii pentru ca stiau ca etica lui este exemplara. Si-a protejat sursele cat de bine a putut in ciuda presiunilor imense a tertelor parti implicate , a informat persoanele despre care scria articolele negative apriori , a cautat adevarul oricat de murdar si neplacut a fost , fapt ce i-a adus renume mondial precum si admiratia tuturor adversarilor sai .
Un moment ce m-a impresionat : cautarea soldatului ce a autorizat masacrarea a 100 de civili in Vietnam. Jurnalistul nostru l-a cautat prin toata America , a mers pe toate pistele de pe o coasta pe alta. Pana la urma printr-un lant de surse indirecte, mergand din aproape in aproape, i-a dat de urma intr-o baza americana.
Nu s-a lasat pana nu a reusit sa se infiltreze in baza , l-a gasit pe un prieten al soldatului , l-a luat cu masina , iar acesta seara i-a facut legatura cu soldatul.A durat luni de zile cautarea , dar articolul ce a iesit a influentat politica americana din Vietnam , si probabil ca a inclinat balanta in favoarea retragerii. Ulterior visul sau s-a implinit si i-a fost oferita o slujba permanenta la ziarul sau de suflet The New York Times.
Daca a reusit ceva aceasta carte , este faptul ca mi-a intarit convingerea ca fac bine ca nu citesc ziare sau urmaresc stiri din surse traditionale, preferand site-uri controversate , precum 4chan, Liveleak , unde e la latitudinea cititorului sa filtreze tot ce citeste dar totodata este si locul unde apar informatiile nefiltrate de multe ori chiar de la sursa.
July 27, 2018
One thing clear about this book is that writing a newspaper story is easy. Yes, it’s easy, but only if you have all the information you need to write it. And that’s the rub as Hersh shows in his memoir. On so many of his memorable stories such as the Mai Lai massacre in Vietnam, the Watergate scandal, and the various missteps of the CIA, the difficulty was gathering all the facts in spite of our own military and government trying to hide these stories from seeing the light of day. There’s a lot of leg work involved in gathering such facts including the knack of knowing just where to go and who to talk with. Hersh clearly mastered these techniques early in his career and put them to good purpose like the Mai Lai story which won him a Pulitzer Prize.
When all the facts are gathered and the writing commences, what’s the next step? Convincing your editor that you have the complete story and the newspaper won’t be sued for libel is a start. Many times in his career Hersh’s editor decided to kill the story or save it for another time. Perhaps it was for the best but only history can give a clear answer to that conundrum.
There were many occasions when Hersh tried to learn the facts for his story but was deceived by high-ranking military and government officials. Henry Kissinger and Dick Cheney are two examples who are exposed in this book. The cynic in me believes that this ugly habit of hiding important information from the American public is still going on today in our own Federal government. One has to wonder: Will they ever learn?
On a personal note, I learned a lot about the business of print journalism. When I was a boy my father was a reporter for the East St. Louis Journal and the St. Louis Globe Democrat. Later in his career he was the editor of Midwest Labor World, a house organ for the Teamsters Union. Thanks to Hersh’s book I have a much better understanding and appreciation of what my father did in those days.
When all the facts are gathered and the writing commences, what’s the next step? Convincing your editor that you have the complete story and the newspaper won’t be sued for libel is a start. Many times in his career Hersh’s editor decided to kill the story or save it for another time. Perhaps it was for the best but only history can give a clear answer to that conundrum.
There were many occasions when Hersh tried to learn the facts for his story but was deceived by high-ranking military and government officials. Henry Kissinger and Dick Cheney are two examples who are exposed in this book. The cynic in me believes that this ugly habit of hiding important information from the American public is still going on today in our own Federal government. One has to wonder: Will they ever learn?
On a personal note, I learned a lot about the business of print journalism. When I was a boy my father was a reporter for the East St. Louis Journal and the St. Louis Globe Democrat. Later in his career he was the editor of Midwest Labor World, a house organ for the Teamsters Union. Thanks to Hersh’s book I have a much better understanding and appreciation of what my father did in those days.
July 25, 2020
Deftly narrated by Arthur Morey, the CD audiobook edition entertained and interested me for a week of July 2020. Solid three star-I liked it. It's just long enough.
Hersh is a tough bulldog reporter. Proud and fearless, his writing is purposeful. He sharpens the arrowhead on each sentence and lets fly. He has lots of axes to grind.
Hersh, the quintessential iconoclast, pulls back the curtain on the major news events of the past 60 years. There is personal reflection as well. Some of my favorite passages are of his upbringing in Chicago's Austin neighborhood, toiling, stocking shelves in a Walgreens.
I salute his dedication to unearthing the facts.
Hersh is a tough bulldog reporter. Proud and fearless, his writing is purposeful. He sharpens the arrowhead on each sentence and lets fly. He has lots of axes to grind.
Hersh, the quintessential iconoclast, pulls back the curtain on the major news events of the past 60 years. There is personal reflection as well. Some of my favorite passages are of his upbringing in Chicago's Austin neighborhood, toiling, stocking shelves in a Walgreens.
I salute his dedication to unearthing the facts.
May 6, 2023
A memoir by one of my favorite journalists. This guy is 86 years old so he’s been around for like� a hundred years and he’s still giving us unrivalled quality journalism, recently in 2023 about a US and Norway’s secret joint operation about blowing up the Nord Stream pipelines. He’s been consistently producing top notch long-form stories for all his career, valuing truth above all else while being defiant towards the dishonest, manipulative, power-hungry side of the US and other governments and their propaganda. This man is a global treasure and I’m glad he’s been alive and active for this long.
One of the things I learned from his story is the degree to which most journalists are government mouth-pieces and sell-outs. The widespread state influence over the (mainstream) media is really quite scary so journalists like Hersh are invaluable to get the real truth and a genuine understanding of major events. This is why I largely avoid the news. Long-form stories and books go a lot further in providing a more truthful view of the world.
Hersh has his biases but his views don’t really matter since they don’t affect the quality of his stories. This is how journalism should be, not a bunch of moralizing, trendy garbage by activists posing as journalists.
One of the things I learned from his story is the degree to which most journalists are government mouth-pieces and sell-outs. The widespread state influence over the (mainstream) media is really quite scary so journalists like Hersh are invaluable to get the real truth and a genuine understanding of major events. This is why I largely avoid the news. Long-form stories and books go a lot further in providing a more truthful view of the world.
Hersh has his biases but his views don’t really matter since they don’t affect the quality of his stories. This is how journalism should be, not a bunch of moralizing, trendy garbage by activists posing as journalists.
November 14, 2018
Seymour Hersh is an honored investigative reporter that I've long admired. I enjoyed listening to his life story. Reminiscing about the past presidential administrations and the people who advised those presidents. He developed meaningful relationships and was known as a straight shooter.
One caveat, the narrator mispronounced several names.
One caveat, the narrator mispronounced several names.
May 30, 2019
Must read memoir by the legendary reporter. Worth reading in its entirety but the section on William Calley is absolutely outstanding. And don't miss his side-splitting account of the failing NY TIMES dismissing him as "loud, insistent, and charmless." I think they meant to say "pushy!"
August 12, 2019
A very good book, primarily about how Sy did his work, then about some of the specific projects, such as My Lai, Watergate, the CIA domestic spying and on to Abu Ghraib.
As part of this, Hersh reveals how he landed at the NYT, why he moved on, how he landed for his second and main stint at the New Yorker, why he left (he thought Remnick writing a bio of Obama was an ethical bright line), and bits of how he landed at the London Review of Books and then moved past it to Die Welt. With LRB, it wasn't fact-checking as the deal-breaker; he says he thought he was being asked for facts that were trivial or irrelevant to the story he had produced.
That said, he more than once appreciates the work of Remnick in particular and editors in general. He admits they've helped him, on suggesting specific additional information, getting people to go on the record rather than just background, and on tightening things up. (He indirectly indicates that his writing tends to wander at times and so he needs that type of editing help as well.) At the New Yorker and LRB, he also says he appreciates the degree of fact-checking work.
It's a shame that his Cheney bio was derailed. Hersh, presumably as a good protector of sources, doesn't shed more light on that.
But, we get this instead.
For long-time readers of him, there's not a lot of new spill the beans stuff. (I can see voting it 4 stars instead of 5 because of this, but 3? No.)
He does mention that Clean Gene McCarthy was a CIA bagman for JFK; he may have mentioned that in Dark Side of Camelot, but it's been a long time since I read that. He also mentions three documented instances of Dick Nixon hitting Pat, the first when he lost the Cal governor's race, the second in the White House and the third just after arriving in San Clemente after his resignation. Hersh says he heard about the third in real time, then, working sources, got info about the other two.
Obviously, he didn't report it. He mentioned it to the public for the first time at a 1998 Harvard event, and was rightly called out by many women in attendance as domestic violence is a crime.
One thing that is missing, other than the broadest of overviews about the Trump Administration, is Ed Butowsky's attempt to entangle Hersh in the Seth Rich conspiracy theory. Hersh didn't bite on Rich being murdered as a coverup, but he did appear to believe then that Rich stole the emails. (Confession: As I blogged at the time , so did I, but I backed away from that within six months. I don't know where Sy is, and if he's not commented further on advice of counsel given all the lawsuits involved here.)
As part of this, Hersh reveals how he landed at the NYT, why he moved on, how he landed for his second and main stint at the New Yorker, why he left (he thought Remnick writing a bio of Obama was an ethical bright line), and bits of how he landed at the London Review of Books and then moved past it to Die Welt. With LRB, it wasn't fact-checking as the deal-breaker; he says he thought he was being asked for facts that were trivial or irrelevant to the story he had produced.
That said, he more than once appreciates the work of Remnick in particular and editors in general. He admits they've helped him, on suggesting specific additional information, getting people to go on the record rather than just background, and on tightening things up. (He indirectly indicates that his writing tends to wander at times and so he needs that type of editing help as well.) At the New Yorker and LRB, he also says he appreciates the degree of fact-checking work.
It's a shame that his Cheney bio was derailed. Hersh, presumably as a good protector of sources, doesn't shed more light on that.
But, we get this instead.
For long-time readers of him, there's not a lot of new spill the beans stuff. (I can see voting it 4 stars instead of 5 because of this, but 3? No.)
He does mention that Clean Gene McCarthy was a CIA bagman for JFK; he may have mentioned that in Dark Side of Camelot, but it's been a long time since I read that. He also mentions three documented instances of Dick Nixon hitting Pat, the first when he lost the Cal governor's race, the second in the White House and the third just after arriving in San Clemente after his resignation. Hersh says he heard about the third in real time, then, working sources, got info about the other two.
Obviously, he didn't report it. He mentioned it to the public for the first time at a 1998 Harvard event, and was rightly called out by many women in attendance as domestic violence is a crime.
One thing that is missing, other than the broadest of overviews about the Trump Administration, is Ed Butowsky's attempt to entangle Hersh in the Seth Rich conspiracy theory. Hersh didn't bite on Rich being murdered as a coverup, but he did appear to believe then that Rich stole the emails. (Confession: As I blogged at the time , so did I, but I backed away from that within six months. I don't know where Sy is, and if he's not commented further on advice of counsel given all the lawsuits involved here.)
August 21, 2020
Seymour Hersh's "Reporter: A Memoir," is nothing less than a masterclass in journalism. In his taut-but-engaging prose, the best investigative reporter of our time details some of his biggest scoops and the government incompetence surrounding them, ranging from the My Lai massacre in Vietnam to Watergate to the torture of American-held Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib. Hersh shows the importance of hard-nosed journalism in holding officials accountable and helping our democracy function. With blogs, opinion screed and Fake News such as Bretibart and Fox News on the ascendancy, I worry about our country's future, as does Hersh.
May 1, 2021
ثمة مسافة سنوات ضوئية عديدة بين ما يمارسه سيمور هيرش من عمل وبين أي شي آخر فوق هذا الكوكب يسمى صحافة.
هذا الرجل هو النموذج الأخير الباقي لماتعنيه الصحافة بمعناها الحقيقي المجرد، السلطة الرابعة الحقيقية التي تستقصي و تمحص و تحقق وتفضح الأكاذيب، أكاذيب رجال المال و السلطة و الجيش و أي جهة ذات نفوذ تحاول أن تضلل أو تزيف وعي الناس
الكتاب مليء بالقصص الأقرب إلى الخيال و الممتدة عبر عدة عقود منذ حرب فيتنام و فضيحة مذبحة مايلاي و حتى سجن أبو غريب واغتيال بن لادن
مروراً بعشرات القصص المثيرة عن عمليات المخابرات الأمريكية القذرة و خبايا البيت الأبيض و الكونجرس و البنتاجون و العداوات الشخصية الكثيرة التي جمعها ساي بعد كل تحقيق أو مقالة يكتبها
طبعاً قائمة العداوات تبدأ بالرئيس نيكسون و وزيره الأشهر هنري كسينجر ولا تنتهي بديك شيني و رامسفيلد و عشرات غيرهم من وزراء الدفاع و الخارجية و رؤساء المخابرات وطبعاً زملاء المهنة الألداء على الدوام.
لايمكنني الحديث بموضوعية عن كتاب كهذا و لا اجد الجرأة لاقتباس أي من قصصه الكثيرة والمثيرة لسبب بسيط هو أن أي اقتباس سيشعرني بالإساءة لتلك القصة والعمل البطولي وراءها و التفاصيل المثيرة التي تخللتها و التي تجبرك على احترام المجهود الكبير و من قبله القيم العميقة التي يحملها هذا الرجل بين جنبيه. يكفي فقط أن أشير لحادثة صغيرة تدلل على ما أقول، يحكي ساي أنه كان بصدد التحقيق عن فساد شركة من الشركات العملاقة و أحد كبار مساهميها وخلال تحقيقاته اكتشف أن هذا الشخص قد أخذ قرضاً بفائدة لاتذكر من الشركة بموافقة مجلس الإدارة مما يعد شبهة فساد، ولكنه تريث قبل النشر وأخذ يبحث عن أحداث مماثلة في مؤسسات وشركات أخرى ففوجئ بأن رئيسه في جريدة التايمز قد حصل على قرض مشابه من مجلس إدارة الجريدة، فما كان منه إلا أن انفعل ودخل عليه المكتب صائحاً لقد أفسدت تقريري بسبب جشعك وبسببك لن أستطيع نشر ما توصلت أليه و ألقى أمام رئيسه الأوراق التي حصل عليها فسأله رئيسه مندهشاً وهل كنت تحقق في خلفيتي المالية، فأجابه بنعم و خرج.
المدهش أن رئيسه و رغم تبريره لموقفه بأنه قانوني تماماً إلا أنه أرسل لسيمور هيرش بعد أسابيع مظروفاً سميكاً يحتوي على وثائق تبين أنه قد تخلى عن قرض الجريدة واستبدله بقرض آخر من بنك محلي
وكأنه يقول له بدون كلمات أن لاشيء يساوي نزاهة ونصاعة سمعة الصحفي الحقيقي.
ثمة ملاحظة جديرة بالانتباه وهي أن الكتاب مليء بالتفاصيل و الأسماء والتواريخ و المؤلف لا يجد حرجاً في إغراقك في تفاصيل وأسماء كثيرة لكل قصة يرويها، مما يشعرك بالضياع في بعض الأوقات مالم تكن حاضر الذهن وأنت تقرأ القصص المثيرة
هذا الرجل هو النموذج الأخير الباقي لماتعنيه الصحافة بمعناها الحقيقي المجرد، السلطة الرابعة الحقيقية التي تستقصي و تمحص و تحقق وتفضح الأكاذيب، أكاذيب رجال المال و السلطة و الجيش و أي جهة ذات نفوذ تحاول أن تضلل أو تزيف وعي الناس
الكتاب مليء بالقصص الأقرب إلى الخيال و الممتدة عبر عدة عقود منذ حرب فيتنام و فضيحة مذبحة مايلاي و حتى سجن أبو غريب واغتيال بن لادن
مروراً بعشرات القصص المثيرة عن عمليات المخابرات الأمريكية القذرة و خبايا البيت الأبيض و الكونجرس و البنتاجون و العداوات الشخصية الكثيرة التي جمعها ساي بعد كل تحقيق أو مقالة يكتبها
طبعاً قائمة العداوات تبدأ بالرئيس نيكسون و وزيره الأشهر هنري كسينجر ولا تنتهي بديك شيني و رامسفيلد و عشرات غيرهم من وزراء الدفاع و الخارجية و رؤساء المخابرات وطبعاً زملاء المهنة الألداء على الدوام.
لايمكنني الحديث بموضوعية عن كتاب كهذا و لا اجد الجرأة لاقتباس أي من قصصه الكثيرة والمثيرة لسبب بسيط هو أن أي اقتباس سيشعرني بالإساءة لتلك القصة والعمل البطولي وراءها و التفاصيل المثيرة التي تخللتها و التي تجبرك على احترام المجهود الكبير و من قبله القيم العميقة التي يحملها هذا الرجل بين جنبيه. يكفي فقط أن أشير لحادثة صغيرة تدلل على ما أقول، يحكي ساي أنه كان بصدد التحقيق عن فساد شركة من الشركات العملاقة و أحد كبار مساهميها وخلال تحقيقاته اكتشف أن هذا الشخص قد أخذ قرضاً بفائدة لاتذكر من الشركة بموافقة مجلس الإدارة مما يعد شبهة فساد، ولكنه تريث قبل النشر وأخذ يبحث عن أحداث مماثلة في مؤسسات وشركات أخرى ففوجئ بأن رئيسه في جريدة التايمز قد حصل على قرض مشابه من مجلس إدارة الجريدة، فما كان منه إلا أن انفعل ودخل عليه المكتب صائحاً لقد أفسدت تقريري بسبب جشعك وبسببك لن أستطيع نشر ما توصلت أليه و ألقى أمام رئيسه الأوراق التي حصل عليها فسأله رئيسه مندهشاً وهل كنت تحقق في خلفيتي المالية، فأجابه بنعم و خرج.
المدهش أن رئيسه و رغم تبريره لموقفه بأنه قانوني تماماً إلا أنه أرسل لسيمور هيرش بعد أسابيع مظروفاً سميكاً يحتوي على وثائق تبين أنه قد تخلى عن قرض الجريدة واستبدله بقرض آخر من بنك محلي
وكأنه يقول له بدون كلمات أن لاشيء يساوي نزاهة ونصاعة سمعة الصحفي الحقيقي.
ثمة ملاحظة جديرة بالانتباه وهي أن الكتاب مليء بالتفاصيل و الأسماء والتواريخ و المؤلف لا يجد حرجاً في إغراقك في تفاصيل وأسماء كثيرة لكل قصة يرويها، مما يشعرك بالضياع في بعض الأوقات مالم تكن حاضر الذهن وأنت تقرأ القصص المثيرة
October 17, 2023
Great start to the book. Hersh managed to make his upbringing and early career interesting, funny and engaging. I often find this to be the necessary foundational material that I just want to get though on my way to the good stuff. (An early story about his self-censorship of a race-related police shooting while working as a new reporter for a weekly paper was potent and deflating.) But for me the early chapters were the high point, which felt like a missed opportunity.
I was far less interested in his work breaking the big stories about Vietnam, political corruption and intelligence agency abuses. As much as I admired his drive to report difficult truths I got tired of reading about the people he golfed and lunched with and his never ending battles with his editors. And when I lost interest in the stories the various names and facts became a long and distracting jumble.
If he had written this book more in the style of - mostly how the story was developed and less about interpersonal gripes and favorable reviews of his books - the end product would have been much better.
I'm interested to read one of Hersh's investigative books but I'm not in any particular rush.
I was far less interested in his work breaking the big stories about Vietnam, political corruption and intelligence agency abuses. As much as I admired his drive to report difficult truths I got tired of reading about the people he golfed and lunched with and his never ending battles with his editors. And when I lost interest in the stories the various names and facts became a long and distracting jumble.
If he had written this book more in the style of - mostly how the story was developed and less about interpersonal gripes and favorable reviews of his books - the end product would have been much better.
I'm interested to read one of Hersh's investigative books but I'm not in any particular rush.
November 28, 2022
تبدو صحافة سيمور هيرش كما لو أنها عالم خيالي لا يمت الي ما ألفناه من صحافتنا العربية المجيدة بصلة! الرجل صاحب الاسم اللامع في الصحافة الاستقصائية. والذي كان بطلاً للكثير من فضائح الإدارات الأمريكية المتعاقبة بدءاً من مقالة القنبلة عن مذبحة (ماي لاي ) التي كشف ان وحدة امريكية قامت بتجميع حوالي 500 فرد من شيوخ وأطفال قرية ماي لاي ثم قتلتهم بدم بارد, وهو المقال والذي عَجًل بانتهاء الحرب وانسحاب أمريكا المخُزي, مرورًا بدوره فى فضيحة ووتر جيت التي أزاحت الرئيس نيكسون من الحكم وأيضا كتابه الشجاع (الخيار شمشون) الذي فضح البرنامج النووي الإسرائيلي والدور الأمريكي المخزي ف التغطية وتواطئ الإدارات الأمريكية المتعاقبة عن محاسبة اسرائيل فى الوقت الذي تقف بالمرصاد والعقوبات لأي دولة اخري تفكر فى بناء قنبلة نووية, كشف هيرش أيضاً عن أكاذيب القيادة الأمريكية فى مسالة غزو العراق و كيف كذب بوش وتشيني على العالم بخصوص امتلاك برنامج نووي سري وأيضاً القصة المختلقة عن قتل بناء لادن, وغيرها
انها سيرة صحافة حقيقية مفعمة بالمبدأ الأساسي للصحافة وهي البحث عن الحقيقية العارية المجردة من الحسابات السياسية والصفقات المشبوهة.
والأكثر بعثًا للحزن ان الصحفي الذي كان عدواً لكل الإدارات لم يمس أو يسجن أو يُلقي في غيابات سجن بتهم واهية أو ملفقة, لا يزال الصحفي العنيد يمارس مهنته المحبة ويستقصي عن الحقيقة فى ركام أكاذيب السياسة.
انها سيرة صحافة حقيقية مفعمة بالمبدأ الأساسي للصحافة وهي البحث عن الحقيقية العارية المجردة من الحسابات السياسية والصفقات المشبوهة.
والأكثر بعثًا للحزن ان الصحفي الذي كان عدواً لكل الإدارات لم يمس أو يسجن أو يُلقي في غيابات سجن بتهم واهية أو ملفقة, لا يزال الصحفي العنيد يمارس مهنته المحبة ويستقصي عن الحقيقة فى ركام أكاذيب السياسة.
June 21, 2018
Seymour Hersh is probably not everyone's favorite colleague, but he's a damn fine investigative journalist.
In our current era where even bloggers fancy themselves as serious journalist, it was fascinating to read about Hersh's rise in the ranks of journalism from cub reporter to breaking stories nobody wanted to publish at first---particularly his Pulitzer prize winning piece regarding the My Lai massacre which was rejected repeatedly. Anyone fascinated with mid-to late twentieth-century histor would enjoy this one and it's a must for anyone interested in investigative journalism.
In our current era where even bloggers fancy themselves as serious journalist, it was fascinating to read about Hersh's rise in the ranks of journalism from cub reporter to breaking stories nobody wanted to publish at first---particularly his Pulitzer prize winning piece regarding the My Lai massacre which was rejected repeatedly. Anyone fascinated with mid-to late twentieth-century histor would enjoy this one and it's a must for anyone interested in investigative journalism.
July 25, 2019
Somewhere between annoying and disappointing.
Maybe it's because I expected so much better from someone who, as the titular successor to the remarkable Izzy Stone, broke so many seminal stories over a truly remarkable career.
Far too much time spent on grudge-settling, blatant self-aggrandizement and lame "humor" parading as false modesty.
While this tome shouldn't detract from the incredible work Sy did over the decades, you're better off reading the actual reporting than this rambling meander.
Maybe it's because I expected so much better from someone who, as the titular successor to the remarkable Izzy Stone, broke so many seminal stories over a truly remarkable career.
Far too much time spent on grudge-settling, blatant self-aggrandizement and lame "humor" parading as false modesty.
While this tome shouldn't detract from the incredible work Sy did over the decades, you're better off reading the actual reporting than this rambling meander.
March 26, 2020
Ah to have been a reporter for the NYT. That is something. Hersh scooped My Lai, Watergate, the CIA's domestic spying programme and a host of other stories until the death of journalism in the time of Trump. This is a great read told with a certain amount of bragging and large doses of modesty. The search for the truth can be all consuming and it is a testament to Hersh's balance that he kept it all together.
Shelved as 'wish-list'
June 6, 2018The reporter who exposed the My Lai massacre and the CIA’s illegal domestic spying in the 1970s continues to be a rebel outsider
November 20, 2018
Spanning over five decades and earning numerous prestigious awards, Seymour Hersh's career in investigative journalism is an impressive achievement. Unsurprisingly, this memoir, looking back on its entirety to date, makes for a fascinating read.
August 14, 2018
It's undeniable that those who possess wealth and power will defend that wealth and power and too often at the expense of truth. It's also undeniable that there is a human tendency to think of oneself in a positive light that can have little or nothing to do with reality.
The more wealth and power one has, the probability increases that there will be little connection with those less fortunate even as one's power over them increases. Combine this with the praise and submission of these with whom one does have daily contact and it's easy to understand how a person can feel both superior to others and fully deserving of power and position over them.
This explains why it is a necessity to have regulation and restraint. In 2018, the American people are standing by as their president eases regulation and restraint on wealth/power right in front of their eyes with no apology.
Traditionally, journalism has been the investigator of wealth and power, in America providing a shining example of it during the Vietnam War. Even though major newspapers have always been owned by the wealthy, there has been a sense of obligation to the truth and the profession that has been an invaluable boon to the American people. Now, with the collapse of newspapers and the rise of cable news with its dangerous pairing of simplistic emotional presentation and brevity, we the people are poorly served.
Seymour Hersh says that he was born to be a reporter. This book is his testimony to what an insatiable curiosity and a desire to know the truth can do when supported by employers who have the courage to stand behind truth telling. From his early years working for a newspaper pool in Chicago through his time dealing with My Lai, Watergate, the CIA and the capture of bin Laden, Hersh provides an adventure we can all enjoy while at the same time learning new bits of truth along the way. You can feel his exhilaration.
As you'd expect, Hersh blows his own horn, but usually in a humorous way and with his accomplishments who can deny him the pleasure? His unwavering dedication to the confidentiality of his sources paired with his skill at making a case for publication to his superiors make him the go-to guy for whistle-blowers, particularly retirees from government service. As he says, there is no shortage of conscientious, dedicated people in the services and government that chafe under what they see being done to deceive or deny information to the public.
Hersh digs out sources, finds an address or a phone number and goes right to the person he wants to hear from, willing to risk rejection on the outside chance that he will get an interview. As time goes on and his reputation builds this process becomes easier. He holds himself to a standard, keeping his own political views separate from the story his interviewees have to tell. His pursuit of Lt. Calley of My Lai fame is epic.
Reporter moves rapidly, but I dare anyone to read it without being attracted (distracted?) by articles, let alone books Hersh has written that he mentions along the way. In particular, I recommend the piece he wrote for the London Review of Books on . See if, like me, you had been under a false impression of what happened in that event.
There is plenty of inspiration here for those who want to work in journalism. Learning about Hersh's modus operandi not the least of it. My hope is young people will read this book and get excited about what a reporter can do if motivated and fearless. We sorely need many more hard working messengers like Seymour Hersh, who, by the way, is not done yet. He's working on a book about Dick Cheney but took time out to do this book as the words of people key to the Cheney book are still in power. As Reporter will inform you, the retirement or death of witnesses can work well for a reporter who needs the testimony of people afraid for their careers should the truth be known.
The more wealth and power one has, the probability increases that there will be little connection with those less fortunate even as one's power over them increases. Combine this with the praise and submission of these with whom one does have daily contact and it's easy to understand how a person can feel both superior to others and fully deserving of power and position over them.
This explains why it is a necessity to have regulation and restraint. In 2018, the American people are standing by as their president eases regulation and restraint on wealth/power right in front of their eyes with no apology.
Traditionally, journalism has been the investigator of wealth and power, in America providing a shining example of it during the Vietnam War. Even though major newspapers have always been owned by the wealthy, there has been a sense of obligation to the truth and the profession that has been an invaluable boon to the American people. Now, with the collapse of newspapers and the rise of cable news with its dangerous pairing of simplistic emotional presentation and brevity, we the people are poorly served.
Seymour Hersh says that he was born to be a reporter. This book is his testimony to what an insatiable curiosity and a desire to know the truth can do when supported by employers who have the courage to stand behind truth telling. From his early years working for a newspaper pool in Chicago through his time dealing with My Lai, Watergate, the CIA and the capture of bin Laden, Hersh provides an adventure we can all enjoy while at the same time learning new bits of truth along the way. You can feel his exhilaration.
As you'd expect, Hersh blows his own horn, but usually in a humorous way and with his accomplishments who can deny him the pleasure? His unwavering dedication to the confidentiality of his sources paired with his skill at making a case for publication to his superiors make him the go-to guy for whistle-blowers, particularly retirees from government service. As he says, there is no shortage of conscientious, dedicated people in the services and government that chafe under what they see being done to deceive or deny information to the public.
Hersh digs out sources, finds an address or a phone number and goes right to the person he wants to hear from, willing to risk rejection on the outside chance that he will get an interview. As time goes on and his reputation builds this process becomes easier. He holds himself to a standard, keeping his own political views separate from the story his interviewees have to tell. His pursuit of Lt. Calley of My Lai fame is epic.
Reporter moves rapidly, but I dare anyone to read it without being attracted (distracted?) by articles, let alone books Hersh has written that he mentions along the way. In particular, I recommend the piece he wrote for the London Review of Books on . See if, like me, you had been under a false impression of what happened in that event.
There is plenty of inspiration here for those who want to work in journalism. Learning about Hersh's modus operandi not the least of it. My hope is young people will read this book and get excited about what a reporter can do if motivated and fearless. We sorely need many more hard working messengers like Seymour Hersh, who, by the way, is not done yet. He's working on a book about Dick Cheney but took time out to do this book as the words of people key to the Cheney book are still in power. As Reporter will inform you, the retirement or death of witnesses can work well for a reporter who needs the testimony of people afraid for their careers should the truth be known.
August 31, 2018
It's hard not to read this book as an elegy for investigative journalism. Highly recommended, especially if you're too young to remember the days when ensuring access and sucking up to those in power were considered unprincipled. The kind of journalism that Sy Hersh practices is going to be extinct soon, if it isn't already. I wonder how many My Lai-style massacres have gone ignored because no one has the budget or the dogged bravery to keep rooting out the lies and propaganda.
By the way, if you don't thoroughly loathe the lying, murderous mercenary hack Henry Kissinger, you will by the time you have finished reading this book.
My only complaint is that Seymour Hersh didn't read the audiobook himself. The narrator did a decent job and even seems to have a similar accent and intonation, but I think I would have enjoyed it more if the book were read in Hersh's own voice. Others have noted that the memoir is oddly impersonal in many ways--we know he loves his wife and kids, but he provides only the barest details about his domestic situation, for instance--but I dgaf, as the kids type, because Hersh is always all about the story. I have known reporters like him, reporters who seem to be truly alive only when they're following a lead. I'm not one of them, but I respect the tribe. He should feel proud of all the critical news stories that he has broken, and we should all feel outraged that the kind of journalism he practices is all but dead now. So he gloats a little while quoting his admirers. He's entitled. Besides, many of us sincerely enjoy reading about how leads turn into sources and sources turn into whistleblowers.
I'm glad that Hersh has enjoyed such a long and productive career. He gets to look back now, but I hope he keeps writing. It really bums me out that The New Yorker doesn't seem to value his contributions as much as it used to, but what do I know about paying for real journalism? All I know is that the guy who covered Abu Ghraib for them deserves to have more of a presence in the magazine.
By the way, if you don't thoroughly loathe the lying, murderous mercenary hack Henry Kissinger, you will by the time you have finished reading this book.
My only complaint is that Seymour Hersh didn't read the audiobook himself. The narrator did a decent job and even seems to have a similar accent and intonation, but I think I would have enjoyed it more if the book were read in Hersh's own voice. Others have noted that the memoir is oddly impersonal in many ways--we know he loves his wife and kids, but he provides only the barest details about his domestic situation, for instance--but I dgaf, as the kids type, because Hersh is always all about the story. I have known reporters like him, reporters who seem to be truly alive only when they're following a lead. I'm not one of them, but I respect the tribe. He should feel proud of all the critical news stories that he has broken, and we should all feel outraged that the kind of journalism he practices is all but dead now. So he gloats a little while quoting his admirers. He's entitled. Besides, many of us sincerely enjoy reading about how leads turn into sources and sources turn into whistleblowers.
I'm glad that Hersh has enjoyed such a long and productive career. He gets to look back now, but I hope he keeps writing. It really bums me out that The New Yorker doesn't seem to value his contributions as much as it used to, but what do I know about paying for real journalism? All I know is that the guy who covered Abu Ghraib for them deserves to have more of a presence in the magazine.
December 22, 2019
The title of Seymour Hersh’s memoir is simply 'Reporter'. It’s what he did and what he does: dig out and report important facts that need to be seen in the daylight, no matter how much the CIA, a US vice-president or secretary of state, or a mafia boss, may want to keep them hidden. Hersh, as the editor of the New Yorker says on the book’s cover, is ‘quite simply the greatest investigative journalist of his era�.
It was Hersh who uncovered the facts of the My Lai massacre that occurred in Vietnam in 1968, and revealed not only the full horror of what took place but also that the officer named as the culprit, Lieutenant William Calley, was operating in a context where such treatment of Vietnamese civilians was tolerated and even expected. Hersh was the reporter whom The New York Times belatedly sent in to investigate Watergate after the pioneering exposures made by Woodward and Bernstein at the Washington Post. His book on Henry Kissinger told the truth about many of the latter’s outright lies and illegal activities. He exposed the fact that the CIA was � contrary to the law � conducting massive surveillance of anti-war movements in the United States.
Later, he showed the falsity of the case for the US invasion of Iraq in 2003 and went on to expose the disgraceful torture of Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib. As one official told him, ‘the rules are: ”Grab whom you must. Do what you want.� The US had resumed the assassination or attempted assassination of its enemies, despite its illegality. As Hersh had shown much earlier in his career, John Kennedy had directly authorised attempts to kill Fidel Castro; in the 1980s the US had financed death squads in El Salvador (whose victims at different times included Bishop Romero as well as US citizens), and now US agents were killing with even less discrimination in the Middle East. When, much more recently, the Obama government tracked down and killed Osama Bin Laden, Hersh was able to show that � far from being a heroic solo effort by the US forces involved � the action required close collaboration with Pakistani intelligence who effectively had the target and his family trapped in their compound before the attack took place (I was able to hear an affable Seymour Hersh give his account of this investigation in a talk at the London Review of Books).
Towards the end of his memoir, Hersh bemoans the demise of the kind of journalism that became his hallmark. As he puts it: ‘I watched over the next years as the American media, overwhelmed by twenty-four-hour news, would increasingly rely in a crisis on the immediate claims of a White House and a politically compliant intelligence community. Skepticism, the instinct that drives much investigative reporting, would diminish even more after Barack Obama, full of hope and promise, took office in early 2009.�
Nowhere has this assessment been truer than in the coverage by the media of events in Latin America. Where now are reporters of the ilk of Gary Webb, who uncovered the drug trafficking that financed the US-sponsored Contra attacks against Nicaragua’s Sandinista government in the 1980s, struggled to get into print with his revelations, and was eventually described by The New York Times as a journalist ‘betrayed� by his own calling�? Who is exposing the actions of the US government in propping up despotic governments in Honduras and Haiti (where, as one of Hersh’s government contacts put it, the US works on the side of the torturers � or ‘the nail pullers,� as the informant graphically describes them). Who is exposing the clandestine operations of the CIA and other US agencies in Cuba, Venezuela, Bolivia, Nicaragua and the other countries that are trying to follow a different path from US-imposed neoliberalism?
The answer is that it is no longer The New York Times or the Washington Post (both newspapers put the blame on Evo Morales for the coup in Bolivia, exactly as the Trump administration would have wanted). Only rarely in the UK is it The Guardian, for example some of the freelance work by Nina Lakhani. Instead, the burden of scepticism has been adopted by online media such as The Intercept, Mintpress or The Grayzone, where inevitably it is more easily disregarded. These and larger outlets such as Telesur can also be dismissed by traditional media as being partisan, rather than being straightforward seekers of truth in the Hersh mould. The reality is that deeply researched, balanced and incisive commentary is in very short supply, and too often the interested observer has to triangulate between right-wing and left-wing viewpoints in the hope of arriving at something close to the truth.
Nicaragua provides many recent examples of the demise of investigative journalism. One comes from the New Yorker, where Seymour Hersh was once its most distinguished reporter. Jon Lee Anderson, a writer on Latin America who should know better, eulogised Nicaraguan journalist and leading opponent of the Nicaraguan government, Carlos Chamorro, in a lengthy piece for the magazine. “Once again,� Chamorro told him, “journalists are on the front lines.� Written at the start of the crisis in April 2018, an investigative piece by Anderson could have encouraged more balanced reporting about the attempt to overthrow the Ortega government that was then underway. But not only does he accept what Chamorro tells him, he makes no apparent attempt to investigate who is funding him nor to check whether his interpretation is correct. His piece largely repeats what opposition sources told him. Months later, the title of another Anderson piece for the New Yorker refers sardonically to the ‘fake news� he was warned against by one government supporter, but instead of checking whether what he was told about Masaya (the city where I live) was accurate, he does indeed repeat the fake news that the protestors there were armed only with ‘homemade mortars and slingshots�. How then did they hold the police station under siege for several weeks, making nightly attacks that killed three policemen and injured many others?
Seymour Hersh often refers to the rigour with which his articles were fact-checked, especially those he wrote for the New Yorker. I don’t know how if he paid much attention to last year’s events in Nicaragua, but I suspect that if he did he would question whether any ‘investigative journalism� took place at all. As he nears retirement, he and his peers are sadly missed.
It was Hersh who uncovered the facts of the My Lai massacre that occurred in Vietnam in 1968, and revealed not only the full horror of what took place but also that the officer named as the culprit, Lieutenant William Calley, was operating in a context where such treatment of Vietnamese civilians was tolerated and even expected. Hersh was the reporter whom The New York Times belatedly sent in to investigate Watergate after the pioneering exposures made by Woodward and Bernstein at the Washington Post. His book on Henry Kissinger told the truth about many of the latter’s outright lies and illegal activities. He exposed the fact that the CIA was � contrary to the law � conducting massive surveillance of anti-war movements in the United States.
Later, he showed the falsity of the case for the US invasion of Iraq in 2003 and went on to expose the disgraceful torture of Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib. As one official told him, ‘the rules are: ”Grab whom you must. Do what you want.� The US had resumed the assassination or attempted assassination of its enemies, despite its illegality. As Hersh had shown much earlier in his career, John Kennedy had directly authorised attempts to kill Fidel Castro; in the 1980s the US had financed death squads in El Salvador (whose victims at different times included Bishop Romero as well as US citizens), and now US agents were killing with even less discrimination in the Middle East. When, much more recently, the Obama government tracked down and killed Osama Bin Laden, Hersh was able to show that � far from being a heroic solo effort by the US forces involved � the action required close collaboration with Pakistani intelligence who effectively had the target and his family trapped in their compound before the attack took place (I was able to hear an affable Seymour Hersh give his account of this investigation in a talk at the London Review of Books).
Towards the end of his memoir, Hersh bemoans the demise of the kind of journalism that became his hallmark. As he puts it: ‘I watched over the next years as the American media, overwhelmed by twenty-four-hour news, would increasingly rely in a crisis on the immediate claims of a White House and a politically compliant intelligence community. Skepticism, the instinct that drives much investigative reporting, would diminish even more after Barack Obama, full of hope and promise, took office in early 2009.�
Nowhere has this assessment been truer than in the coverage by the media of events in Latin America. Where now are reporters of the ilk of Gary Webb, who uncovered the drug trafficking that financed the US-sponsored Contra attacks against Nicaragua’s Sandinista government in the 1980s, struggled to get into print with his revelations, and was eventually described by The New York Times as a journalist ‘betrayed� by his own calling�? Who is exposing the actions of the US government in propping up despotic governments in Honduras and Haiti (where, as one of Hersh’s government contacts put it, the US works on the side of the torturers � or ‘the nail pullers,� as the informant graphically describes them). Who is exposing the clandestine operations of the CIA and other US agencies in Cuba, Venezuela, Bolivia, Nicaragua and the other countries that are trying to follow a different path from US-imposed neoliberalism?
The answer is that it is no longer The New York Times or the Washington Post (both newspapers put the blame on Evo Morales for the coup in Bolivia, exactly as the Trump administration would have wanted). Only rarely in the UK is it The Guardian, for example some of the freelance work by Nina Lakhani. Instead, the burden of scepticism has been adopted by online media such as The Intercept, Mintpress or The Grayzone, where inevitably it is more easily disregarded. These and larger outlets such as Telesur can also be dismissed by traditional media as being partisan, rather than being straightforward seekers of truth in the Hersh mould. The reality is that deeply researched, balanced and incisive commentary is in very short supply, and too often the interested observer has to triangulate between right-wing and left-wing viewpoints in the hope of arriving at something close to the truth.
Nicaragua provides many recent examples of the demise of investigative journalism. One comes from the New Yorker, where Seymour Hersh was once its most distinguished reporter. Jon Lee Anderson, a writer on Latin America who should know better, eulogised Nicaraguan journalist and leading opponent of the Nicaraguan government, Carlos Chamorro, in a lengthy piece for the magazine. “Once again,� Chamorro told him, “journalists are on the front lines.� Written at the start of the crisis in April 2018, an investigative piece by Anderson could have encouraged more balanced reporting about the attempt to overthrow the Ortega government that was then underway. But not only does he accept what Chamorro tells him, he makes no apparent attempt to investigate who is funding him nor to check whether his interpretation is correct. His piece largely repeats what opposition sources told him. Months later, the title of another Anderson piece for the New Yorker refers sardonically to the ‘fake news� he was warned against by one government supporter, but instead of checking whether what he was told about Masaya (the city where I live) was accurate, he does indeed repeat the fake news that the protestors there were armed only with ‘homemade mortars and slingshots�. How then did they hold the police station under siege for several weeks, making nightly attacks that killed three policemen and injured many others?
Seymour Hersh often refers to the rigour with which his articles were fact-checked, especially those he wrote for the New Yorker. I don’t know how if he paid much attention to last year’s events in Nicaragua, but I suspect that if he did he would question whether any ‘investigative journalism� took place at all. As he nears retirement, he and his peers are sadly missed.
May 30, 2020
Seymour Hersh é sensível, ético e um grande repórter e escritor. Durante todo o livro, a impressão que fica é que estamos tomando um longo café da tarde juntos, enquanto ele conta suas histórias (impressionantes). Ferrenho defensor dos fatos e da verdade, acredita que o trabalho do repórter é passar a informação adiante e que as duas palavras mais mortais do mundo da imprensa são “eu acho�. Só posso concordar.
Hersh (sinto que já estamos íntimos depois da 358 páginas que passamos tomando café juntos) nos guia pela sua carreira jornalística, marcada por grandes eventos da história dos EUA, como a Guerra do Vietnã, o escândalo de Watergate e o onze de setembro. Ainda que o livro seja sobre suas memórias e que ele tenha uma certa tendência à arrogância (o que ele abertamente confessa), achei que ele encontrou o equilíbrio perfeito entre descrever a sua vida e nos contar o que descobriu sobre a história.
No início, temi que o livro fosse ser difícil de ler, justamente porque não conheço muito da história dos EUA, mas se provou um medo injustificado. Seymour (será que pelo primeiro nome é intimidade demais?) torna a história palpável, detalhando bem todo o contexto e background de cada uma das pessoas que aparecem no livro, mais de uma vez quando necessário. A sensação é que você poderia começar o livro de qualquer capítulo e lê-lo em qualquer ordem e, ainda assim, nenhuma informação te faltaria.
Em alguns momentos a leitura é difícil: a crueldade dos EUA e de seus governantes é exposta, em alguns momentos em detalhes. Parei para respirar e refletir inúmeras vezes, recuperando fôlego e estômago para continuar a conhecer o lado mais sombrio da história. Um ponto que também ficou na minha cabeça por muito tempo foi o perigo da divulgação de informações, a proteção das suas fontes. Ainda que entenda a necessidade, confesso que não sei se teria a força de vontade necessária para segurar fatos que deveriam ser públicos para proteção de cargos ou reputações.
Seymour Hersh me conquistou no seu bom-humor e na sua crença no bom trabalho e na verdade. Sua história de vida, passando de contínuo em Chicago a um dos maiores nomes do jornalismo investigativo, e sua participação nA História são absolutamente fascinantes e muito bem escritas, tornando fatos tristes e até assustadores fáceis de ler (mas não de digerir). Terminei nosso café sorrindo, abraçada no livro, quase arrependida de não ter seguido o jornalismo investigativo como profissão.
Hersh (sinto que já estamos íntimos depois da 358 páginas que passamos tomando café juntos) nos guia pela sua carreira jornalística, marcada por grandes eventos da história dos EUA, como a Guerra do Vietnã, o escândalo de Watergate e o onze de setembro. Ainda que o livro seja sobre suas memórias e que ele tenha uma certa tendência à arrogância (o que ele abertamente confessa), achei que ele encontrou o equilíbrio perfeito entre descrever a sua vida e nos contar o que descobriu sobre a história.
No início, temi que o livro fosse ser difícil de ler, justamente porque não conheço muito da história dos EUA, mas se provou um medo injustificado. Seymour (será que pelo primeiro nome é intimidade demais?) torna a história palpável, detalhando bem todo o contexto e background de cada uma das pessoas que aparecem no livro, mais de uma vez quando necessário. A sensação é que você poderia começar o livro de qualquer capítulo e lê-lo em qualquer ordem e, ainda assim, nenhuma informação te faltaria.
Em alguns momentos a leitura é difícil: a crueldade dos EUA e de seus governantes é exposta, em alguns momentos em detalhes. Parei para respirar e refletir inúmeras vezes, recuperando fôlego e estômago para continuar a conhecer o lado mais sombrio da história. Um ponto que também ficou na minha cabeça por muito tempo foi o perigo da divulgação de informações, a proteção das suas fontes. Ainda que entenda a necessidade, confesso que não sei se teria a força de vontade necessária para segurar fatos que deveriam ser públicos para proteção de cargos ou reputações.
Seymour Hersh me conquistou no seu bom-humor e na sua crença no bom trabalho e na verdade. Sua história de vida, passando de contínuo em Chicago a um dos maiores nomes do jornalismo investigativo, e sua participação nA História são absolutamente fascinantes e muito bem escritas, tornando fatos tristes e até assustadores fáceis de ler (mas não de digerir). Terminei nosso café sorrindo, abraçada no livro, quase arrependida de não ter seguido o jornalismo investigativo como profissão.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 268 reviews
Can't find what you're looking for?
Get help and learn more about the design.