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May 2008
Pulitzer Prize Winners Seymour Hersh, Dana Priest Reveal Secrets of Investigative Journalism on Kalb Report
By Julia Parmley The challenges of uncovering scandal and corruption and the pressures of knowing secrets of national importance were among the topics Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists Seymour Hersh and Dana Priest discussed with GW Presidential Fellow Marvin Kalb in front of a capacity crowd of students and reporters at the National Press Club Ballroom. The April 14 Kalb Report was the last of four forums in the 2007-08 series on democracy and the press. A contributor to The New Yorker since 1971, Hersh exposed the Abu Ghraib prison scandal in a series of pieces in the magazine in 2004. He has won numerous awards for his investigative journalism, including a 1970 Pulitzer Prize for exposing the My Lai massacre and cover-up during the Vietnam War. Priest has worked for The Washington Post for 22 years. In 2007, she and colleague Anne Hull broke the Walter Reed Army Medical Center scandal, earning them the 2008 Pulitzer Prize in Public Service. Priest also won a Pulitzer Prize in 2006 for her reporting on CIA secret prisons and counterterrorism operations overseas. Hersh described his work on the My Lai massacre and his decision to urge CBS News to break the story on the Abu Ghraib prison scandal on 60 Minutes. He acknowledged it can be challenging to have information he can’t publish or use for reasons of national security or to protect a source. “I understand the imperfection of what I write. It’s very hard,” said Hersh. “It’s not that things are left in the cutting room floor, there’s just so much that goes on that we don’t know.” Priest revealed how she handled reporting on national security information during her CIA investigation and how she had to fight back tears during some of her interviews with veterans and their families about their treatment at Walter Reed. She said her work requires patience, listening skills, and research, and urged aspiring journalists to try the field. “Go for investigative journalism reporting,” said Priest. “If you’re going to differentiate yourself and your newspaper or whatever outlet you’re with, it is going to be in the realm of investigations. It’s an independent, individualistic-driven type of enterprise.” The Kalb Report is produced by GW, in partnership with Harvard University’s Shorenstein Center, and The National Press Club and is underwritten by a grant from the Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation.
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