Reporter

I’ve read a lot of journalism memoirs, but I love this one because it is unapologetically a book for journalism junkies. Hersh—arguably the greatest investigative reporter of the past century—is matter-of-fact and unsentimental as he looks back on his impressive career.

It’s all about the work: the incredible lengths to which you need to go to expose the damaging secrets that powerful people want to keep hidden. Reading his account of how he got the story of the My Lai Massacre, my jaw was open the entire time in near-disbelief. 

One of the major missions assigned our governments, national and local, is to keep us in line, on the straight and narrow; but who keeps tabs on the governments? The courts, of course, and the press – especially the investigative reporters. They hold the feet of mayors and presidents to the fire. For many years, Seymour Hersh has been the most celebrated and contentious of foot holders. 

In his book, Reporting, Hersh tells the delicious back stories of some of his many scoops, including: The government was developing chemical and biological weapons while denying it. U.S. troops murdered 109… show more.

Seymour Hersh is one of the journalistic giants of the last century. His reporting has exposed wrongs all over the globe—from Viet Nam to the Middle East to Washington, D.C. The book contains previously unreported details on an array of stories, including the My Lai massacre and the torture at Abu Ghraib. Must reading for journalists and anyone interested in history.

Sy Hersh is far and away the best investigative reporter of the last 50 years. This book tells how he got the stories that became some of the biggest national security scandals of our time – from My Lai to Watergate to CIA domestic spying to Abu Ghraib. This is essential reading for anyone interested in either or both journalism or national security.