The work of investigative reporters, as we all know, involves uncovering secrets. Throughout our careers, we develop techniques for digging up facts that certain other people would prefer to keep hidden.
The Watergate scandal is a well-known example. Woodward and Bernstein worked long and hard to lift the veil of secrecy surrounding Nixon and his team’s actions in an investigation that ultimately resulted in the only presidential resignation in history.
In the process of uncovering other people’s secrets, reporters have to become skilled at keeping our own — such as the identities of confidential sources, or how we obtained classified documents, to cite two examples.
But this cloak-and-dagger stuff can come at a price. A few friends with whom I’ve long collaborated on investigative projects have recently mentioned the toll all this secrecy takes on us over time.
It’s corrosive. There are, for example, the little secrets in our personal lives that we keep even from ourselves, which often are the type that promote self-awareness and self-knowledge.
While rarely earth-shattering in nature, these secrets can be aspects of ourselves that are the sort one typically deals with in therapy or counseling. Issues that we should try to address in an effort to become better people who can live more fulfilling lives.
I’m not sure if this makes sense to anyone else, but I’ve developed the philosophy that closely-held personal secrets can develop into a pathology unless one feels safe enough to disclose them to a trusted friend — who, in turn, can hold them close for us in return.
Every secret-keeper, in other words, needs a confidant.
This seems to me necessary for our sanity. And if this is true for journalists, I can only imagine it is even more so for those holding onto the bigger, more consequential secrets, such as the national security variety.
HEADLINES:
The true face of immigration (CNN)
U.S. Census revamped to better count Middle Eastern and Latino groups (Axios)
Explaining the Francis Scott Key Bridge’s Shocking Collapse (WSJ)
Richard Grenell acts as Trump’s ‘envoy,’ backing far right forces around the globe (WP)
Judge hears Trump’s First Amendment challenge to Georgia charges (The Hill)
The Christian reaction to Trump’s Bible endorsement goes deeper than you think (CNN)
RFK Jr.'s vice presidential pick calls IVF ‘one of the biggest lies being told about women’s health’ (Politico)
Robert F Kennedy Jr speaks to a sick America (Telegraph)
Ex-Giuliani Associate Shares Video “Republicans Don’t Want You to See” (TNR)
Putin says NATO won’t be attacked but F-16s will (CNBC)
U.S. Support for Israel’s War Has Become Indefensible (Atlantic)
Netanyahu doesn’t deserve to address Congress again (The Hill)
Israel Deploys Expansive Facial Recognition Program in Gaza (NYT)
Ireland said it would intervene in South Africa's genocide case against Israel, in the strongest signal to date of Dublin's concern about Israeli operations in Gazasince Oct. 7. (Reuters)
‘Everybody has a breaking point’: how the climate crisis affects our brains (Guardian)
The city of Sacramento passed a resolution that would protect the trans community's rights, safeguarding them from anti-trans legislation such as the growing push around the country to ban gender-affirming care. It follows Gov. Gavin Newsom’s (D-Calif.) signing of a law in 2022 that established California as a sanctuary state for trans youth. [HuffPost]
George Washington family secrets revealed by DNA from unmarked 19th century graves (CNN)
Why are women being sidelined in the AI race? (Fast Company)
AI boom broadens out across Wall Street (Financial Times)
Robotic face makes eye contact, uses AI to anticipate and replicate a person's smile before it occurs (TechXplore)
Teaching Machines To Be Human, And Humans To Live With Machines (Forbes)
Women’s faces were stolen for AI ads pushing Putin and erectile dysfunction pills (WP)
Beware AI euphoria (Financial Times)
TurboTax Threatens To Tell IRS Customer Cheated On Taxes Unless They Upgrade To Deluxe Version (The Onion)
No comments:
Post a Comment