For decades I worked with my fellow reporters chasing stories. We would study the patterns in the events we were following, trying to connected dots so we could beat other reporters to the story.
In the process, there may have been times that we, you might say, cut corners.
You'd could describe this as hyper-competitive behavior. There was an unspoken rule -- 'all is fair in love, war and journalism,' a twist on the idiom coined by the poet John Lyly.
In plainer words, a justification for cheating.
During the process of landing a big investigative story, we usually had identified a bad guy or a group of bad guys who were allegedly responsible for the situation we were trying to expose.
As part of that work, we would become interested in the bad guy's psychology, and on occasion we would consult with psychologists to better understand our target.
This was particularly important when we were tracking ongoing behavior, such as a series of crimes by a perpetrator not yet apprehended by the authorities.
So in those cases we were much like cops or intelligence agents, some of whom were often tracking the same targets as we were.
This is how journalists acquire some of their most valuable sources -- fellow investigators with similar objectives, which in all cases is catching the bad guy.
A problem that develops in this work when journalists get confused about whose agenda they are pursuing. As long as there is alignment, there is nothing wrong with a reporter and, say, a D.A. working to break the same case.
But their objectives are different -- the prosecutor is seeking to build a legal case, whereas the reporter is seeking to tell an accurate story.
While its may seem that those objectives are consistent with one another, the devil is in the details. There are all sorts of practical differences between what is legally provable in a court of law and what is the publishable "truth."
While all of this is happening in real time, any reasonably self-aware investigator starts turning inward and ask a few questions: "Why am I doing this work? Who am I to judge others? Which ends justify which means?"
There are many different possible answers to these questions. All I know for sure is that to continue with this kind of work over many decades, you need to have found the ones that work for you.
Otherwise you will stop.
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THE HEADLINES:
* The Lawyer Behind the Memo on How Trump Could Stay in Office -- John Eastman was a little-known but respected conservative lawyer. Then he became influential with Donald Trump — and counseled him on how to retain power after losing the election. (NYT)
* Democrats’ Tax Plans Worry High-Income Businesses (WSJ)
* Pelosi on verge of cementing legacy — or ending career on sour note -- Whether she retires next year or not, the next few weeks and months will serve as a major inflection point for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-Calif.) legacy. (WP)
* VIDEO: Demonstrators March for Abortion Rights (AP, Storyful)
* ‘Everybody is frustrated,’ Biden says as his agenda stalls (AP)
* Military Bases Turn Into Small Cities as Afghans Wait Months for Homes in U.S. -- An estimated 53,000 evacuees from Kabul remain stranded on eight military bases across the country. Thousands more are waiting at U.S. bases abroad to come to the United States. (NYT)
* Afghanistan on verge of socio-economic collapse, EU's top diplomat says (Reuters)
*Taliban government behaviour 'not encouraging', says EU foreign policy chief (Reuters)
*. The best pandemic advice comes from the very young and the very old (WP)
* Virus surge hits New England despite high vaccination rates (AP)
* In Arizona, Drought Ignites Tensions and Threatens Traditions Among the Hopi -- The tribe has survived for more than a thousand years in the arid mesas. The megadrought gripping the Southwest is testing that resilience. (NYT)
* A major oil spill off the California coast has caused dead birds, fish and oil to wash up on Huntington Beach, officials say (CNN)
* China tightens political control of internet giants (AP)
* Robots Take Over Italy’s Vineyards as Wineries Struggle With Worker Shortages (WSJ)
* An Erotica Pioneer Goes From Hero to Villain for Dozens of Authors -- In the constantly evolving romance landscape, Blushing Books has long occupied a specific niche: spanking erotica. Now some of its most successful writers just want their books back. (NYT)
* Geologists Unearth Fully Intact Rock (The Onion)
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Every breath you takeAnd every move you make
Every bond you break
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