Rudely making powerful people look bad is the ultimate sin for a Washington insider, and Ken Silverstein broke the rules:
In my case, I was able to gain an inside glimpse into a secretive culture of professional spinners only by lying myself. I disclosed my deceptions clearly in the piece I wrote (whereas the lobbyists I met boasted of how they were able to fly under the radar screen in seeking to shape U.S. foreign policy). If readers feel uncomfortable with my methods, they’re free to dismiss my findings.
Yes, undercover reporting should be used sparingly, and there are legitimate arguments to be had about when it is fair or appropriate. But I’m confident my use of it in this case was legitimate. There was a significant public interest involved, particularly given Congress’ as-yet-unfulfilled promise to crack down on lobbyists in the aftermath of the Jack Abramoff scandal.
Could I have extracted the same information and insight with more conventional journalistic methods? Impossible.
Based on the number of interview requests I’ve had, and the steady stream of positive e-mails I’ve received, I’d wager that the general public is decidedly more supportive of undercover reporting than the Washington media establishment. One person who heard me talking about the story in a TV interview wrote to urge that I never apologize for “misrepresenting yourself to a pack of thugs … especially when misrepresentation is their own stock in trade!”
I’m willing to debate the merits of my piece, but the carping from the Washington press corps is hard to stomach. This is the group that attended the White House correspondents dinner and clapped for a rapping Karl Rove. As a class, they honor politeness over honesty and believe that being “balanced” means giving the same weight to a lie as you give to the truth.
And the cherry on the whipped cream? The tut-tut piece Howie Kurtz wrote in response.
That’s our MSM for you. Can you count how many times the Inquirer prints OPED’s by folks from the Heritage Foundation, Pew Foundation, Sierra, etc.
Jeez Chris Scatullo practically worships the Brookings Institute.
[...] to get this far, here’s your bonus for sticking with it. Big tip o’ the zonehat to Susie for getting me hooked on this article… Richard Blair | Sunday, July 1st, 2007 | [...]
He should have hired Borat who represents Kazakhstan to make glorious benefit for his country.
It’s niiiiiice.
Civil Disobedience, thousands of people claim to represent interests of lobbies and force these lackeys to present their lobby portfolios one after another…
When I was a reporter, I did everything I could to get the story, including lie. Mostly, I just acted like a cop and got whatever I wanted from people without actually saying I was a cop.
The best trick, call a number at or near a crime scene and ask in a gruff voice, “Let me speak to one of the officers.” No officer. “OK, what’s going on there?” Usually they’d cough up. If not, then tell ‘em you’re a cop.
Just this week, my neighbor was mugged and I was interviewed by a TV reporter. She was as driven as I ever was, but her technique for getting stories was to be jaw-droppingly beautiful. Mine, back in the day, was to start with intimidation and go from there.
I was the main contributor to this Wikipedia article about my old paper: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago%27s_American
[...] Suburban Guerrilla writes about the DC establishment media trying to punish an enterprising young investigative reporter for, well, investigating too hard. [...]