Pub Date : 2021-09-15DOI: 10.7591/cornell/9781501759093.003.0001
Dusko Doder, Louise Branson
This prologue details how the author, a journalist, received a phone call from Bob Kaiser, the new managing editor of the Washington Post. Kaiser announced that Time magazine was preparing a story for the 1992 Christmas issue suggesting the author had become a Soviet agent while serving as the Post's bureau chief in Moscow. The author was on vacation in London after two years of reporting and writing about the violent disintegration of Yugoslavia. He then received another phone call, this time from former Post editor Ben Bradlee, who offered encouragement and his hunch that the CIA was behind the story. The author's theory is that it might be retribution for the scoop that had embarrassed the top CIA brass, the story the author had filed from Moscow on February 10, 1984, indicating that Soviet leader Yuri Andropov might have died.
{"title":"Prologue","authors":"Dusko Doder, Louise Branson","doi":"10.7591/cornell/9781501759093.003.0001","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7591/cornell/9781501759093.003.0001","url":null,"abstract":"This prologue details how the author, a journalist, received a phone call from Bob Kaiser, the new managing editor of the Washington Post. Kaiser announced that Time magazine was preparing a story for the 1992 Christmas issue suggesting the author had become a Soviet agent while serving as the Post's bureau chief in Moscow. The author was on vacation in London after two years of reporting and writing about the violent disintegration of Yugoslavia. He then received another phone call, this time from former Post editor Ben Bradlee, who offered encouragement and his hunch that the CIA was behind the story. The author's theory is that it might be retribution for the scoop that had embarrassed the top CIA brass, the story the author had filed from Moscow on February 10, 1984, indicating that Soviet leader Yuri Andropov might have died.","PeriodicalId":287243,"journal":{"name":"The Inconvenient Journalist","volume":"3 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-09-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"115650640","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-09-15DOI: 10.1515/9781501759109-004
{"title":"3. Evading the KGB to Make Contacts","authors":"","doi":"10.1515/9781501759109-004","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/9781501759109-004","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":287243,"journal":{"name":"The Inconvenient Journalist","volume":"211 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-09-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"124749860","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-09-15DOI: 10.7591/cornell/9781501759093.003.0010
D. Doder, Louise Branson
This chapter examines the author's experience covering Yuri Andropov's successor, Konstantin Chernenko. Chernenko had won out because the armed forces had backed him, a signal that the old guard was not yet ready to hand power to a new generation or continue Andropov's assault on their privileged way of life. The country was now on autopilot as Chernenko and his men did all they could to return Soviet society to the Brezhnev era. The chapter then looks at the author's interview with Chernenko. Chernenko told the author that he wanted to resume arms talks with the United States but that Ronald Reagan only talked about it without doing anything meaningful, and that although the Reagan administration said it was focused on defensive weapons, the US budget showed a massive buildup of offensive nuclear systems, and he cited several new US strategic weapons systems. He said he wondered why two great countries were not able to do something to secure peace, that it was what kept him up at night. During this time, the author's marriage had collapsed.
{"title":"The Price for Breaking a Rule of Journalism","authors":"D. Doder, Louise Branson","doi":"10.7591/cornell/9781501759093.003.0010","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7591/cornell/9781501759093.003.0010","url":null,"abstract":"This chapter examines the author's experience covering Yuri Andropov's successor, Konstantin Chernenko. Chernenko had won out because the armed forces had backed him, a signal that the old guard was not yet ready to hand power to a new generation or continue Andropov's assault on their privileged way of life. The country was now on autopilot as Chernenko and his men did all they could to return Soviet society to the Brezhnev era. The chapter then looks at the author's interview with Chernenko. Chernenko told the author that he wanted to resume arms talks with the United States but that Ronald Reagan only talked about it without doing anything meaningful, and that although the Reagan administration said it was focused on defensive weapons, the US budget showed a massive buildup of offensive nuclear systems, and he cited several new US strategic weapons systems. He said he wondered why two great countries were not able to do something to secure peace, that it was what kept him up at night. During this time, the author's marriage had collapsed.","PeriodicalId":287243,"journal":{"name":"The Inconvenient Journalist","volume":"19 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-09-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"123287681","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-09-15DOI: 10.7591/cornell/9781501759093.003.0004
D. Doder, Louise Branson
This chapter evaluates the challenge and danger of making contact with foreign correspondents. One day, Henry Kamm of the New York Times and the author met with the former World War II troop commander Piotr Grigorenko. Despite the pressure and the certainty of surveillance, Grigorenko wanted to talk. Dissent for him, as for others, was directly linked to the suppression of the liberal Czech regime. The Soviet intervention had been followed by massive repression within the Soviet Union. As the two journalists left Grigorenko's apartment, several plainclothes KGB men pushed them roughly aside. Within minutes, they were manhandling Grigorenko past the two, his head pushed down so that he could make no contact. The episode underscored an uncomfortable truth: every time dissidents reached out to foreign journalists, they risked everything, and foreign journalists, by contrast, risked almost nothing. Soviet authorities knew that if they revoked an American journalist's visa, the US would almost certainly retaliate with the expulsion of a Soviet journalist. Besides dissidents, another group that provided unauthorized access into the Soviet was Soviet Jews.
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Pub Date : 2021-09-15DOI: 10.7591/cornell/9781501759093.003.0014
D. Doder, Louise Branson
This chapter details how, though the author loved the Washington Post and could not imagine quitting, his lack of enthusiasm for covering intelligence, the FBI investigation, and the Post's reaction had exhausted him and left him dispirited. Thus, he took a job offer from U.S. News & World Report, when it decided to reopen its Beijing bureau. Though the author had long disliked the group journalism of newsmagazines, this was not his first thought. He immediately saw it as a possible way to be with Louise Branson in China much sooner. The chapter then looks at how the author witnessed the start of the events leading up to the Tiananmen Square uprising and massacre. It all started on April 15, 1989, when the Chinese Politburo member Hu Yaobang died at age seventy-three. With his death, Hu became a symbol of a yearning for Gorbachev-style reforms in China.
{"title":"Seeking a New Life in China","authors":"D. Doder, Louise Branson","doi":"10.7591/cornell/9781501759093.003.0014","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7591/cornell/9781501759093.003.0014","url":null,"abstract":"This chapter details how, though the author loved the Washington Post and could not imagine quitting, his lack of enthusiasm for covering intelligence, the FBI investigation, and the Post's reaction had exhausted him and left him dispirited. Thus, he took a job offer from U.S. News & World Report, when it decided to reopen its Beijing bureau. Though the author had long disliked the group journalism of newsmagazines, this was not his first thought. He immediately saw it as a possible way to be with Louise Branson in China much sooner. The chapter then looks at how the author witnessed the start of the events leading up to the Tiananmen Square uprising and massacre. It all started on April 15, 1989, when the Chinese Politburo member Hu Yaobang died at age seventy-three. With his death, Hu became a symbol of a yearning for Gorbachev-style reforms in China.","PeriodicalId":287243,"journal":{"name":"The Inconvenient Journalist","volume":"51 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-09-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"132315666","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-09-15DOI: 10.7591/cornell/9781501759093.003.0016
D. Doder, Louise Branson
This chapter highlights the author's legal battle against Time magazine. Throughout 1993, he was frustrated by delay after delay as it became clear that Time's strategy was to defer proceedings indefinitely, to wear him down and drain not only his resources but his spirit. Another obstacle he encountered was the Washington Post itself. Bob Kaiser, the managing editor, had told the author that the Post would not help him financially if he proceeded to sue Time. When he decided to sue in London, Kaiser said the paper opposed it as a matter of principle because the paper did not agree with British libel laws. Because of this, Washington Post staff were barred from getting involved, which meant that no one could testify on the author's behalf. Nevertheless, the author began to collect witness depositions. Later, the court required discovery, an exchange of information and documents that had been subpoenaed. This revealed that the only outside witnesses to support Time were two former employees of the CIA: Robert Gates and Colin R. Thompson. Finally, Time proposed a settlement that included an apology; the author reluctantly accepted even though he wanted to expose Time's brand of journalism.
{"title":"Assassination by Time Magazine","authors":"D. Doder, Louise Branson","doi":"10.7591/cornell/9781501759093.003.0016","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7591/cornell/9781501759093.003.0016","url":null,"abstract":"This chapter highlights the author's legal battle against Time magazine. Throughout 1993, he was frustrated by delay after delay as it became clear that Time's strategy was to defer proceedings indefinitely, to wear him down and drain not only his resources but his spirit. Another obstacle he encountered was the Washington Post itself. Bob Kaiser, the managing editor, had told the author that the Post would not help him financially if he proceeded to sue Time. When he decided to sue in London, Kaiser said the paper opposed it as a matter of principle because the paper did not agree with British libel laws. Because of this, Washington Post staff were barred from getting involved, which meant that no one could testify on the author's behalf. Nevertheless, the author began to collect witness depositions. Later, the court required discovery, an exchange of information and documents that had been subpoenaed. This revealed that the only outside witnesses to support Time were two former employees of the CIA: Robert Gates and Colin R. Thompson. Finally, Time proposed a settlement that included an apology; the author reluctantly accepted even though he wanted to expose Time's brand of journalism.","PeriodicalId":287243,"journal":{"name":"The Inconvenient Journalist","volume":"29 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-09-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"128082221","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-09-15DOI: 10.7591/cornell/9781501759093.003.0017
Dusko Doder, Louise Branson
This epilogue reflects on the author's biggest regret: that he sacrificed his first wife and his son to his ambition. He also regrets subjecting his second wife, Louise Branson, to decades of standing by him as he insisted on quitting the Washington Post, as he lost his way as a journalist, fought the Time allegations and risked their financial ruin, and descended into lengthy bouts of depression. Nevertheless, he considers himself one of the luckiest men in the world to have reported for a great newspaper with a self-confident editor who embodied everything he felt journalism meant: being bold, speaking truth to power, telling it like it is. Today, with the plethora of media outlets and with social media liberally spewing out rumors, opinions, and propaganda that are not edited or fact checked, the author is reminded of the distortions of the Soviet propaganda machine or the wild ravings in the Yugoslav media before that country's collapse. Many news outlets, including the Post and the New York Times, continue to adhere to good journalistic principles, but with so much less influence in today's fractured society.
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Pub Date : 2021-09-15DOI: 10.7591/cornell/9781501759093.003.0013
Dusko Doder, Louise Branson
This chapter describes how the author's first story on the intelligence beat not only put him in the middle of a vicious turf war between the two most powerful figures in the Reagan administration for control over US foreign policy, but it unleashed the intelligence community's retribution on him for reporting that embarrassed them. Secretary of State George Shultz, believing the United States should deal with the new Soviet leader, was pushing for a summit meeting between Reagan and Gorbachev. CIA director William Casey, who had managed Reagan's reelection campaign and who, like Reagan, was deeply anti-Communist, was doing all he could to derail any meeting. In early August of 1986, just as Shultz was about to announce that a Reagan–Gorbachev summit would be held in Reykjavik on October 11–12, a Russian diplomat was arrested in a sting operation in New York. The Russians immediately retaliated with a sting of their own and arrested the U.S. News & World Report Moscow correspondent Nick Daniloff on espionage charges.
{"title":"Casey’s Revenge","authors":"Dusko Doder, Louise Branson","doi":"10.7591/cornell/9781501759093.003.0013","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7591/cornell/9781501759093.003.0013","url":null,"abstract":"This chapter describes how the author's first story on the intelligence beat not only put him in the middle of a vicious turf war between the two most powerful figures in the Reagan administration for control over US foreign policy, but it unleashed the intelligence community's retribution on him for reporting that embarrassed them. Secretary of State George Shultz, believing the United States should deal with the new Soviet leader, was pushing for a summit meeting between Reagan and Gorbachev. CIA director William Casey, who had managed Reagan's reelection campaign and who, like Reagan, was deeply anti-Communist, was doing all he could to derail any meeting. In early August of 1986, just as Shultz was about to announce that a Reagan–Gorbachev summit would be held in Reykjavik on October 11–12, a Russian diplomat was arrested in a sting operation in New York. The Russians immediately retaliated with a sting of their own and arrested the U.S. News & World Report Moscow correspondent Nick Daniloff on espionage charges.","PeriodicalId":287243,"journal":{"name":"The Inconvenient Journalist","volume":"16 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-09-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"121470282","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-09-15DOI: 10.7591/cornell/9781501759093.003.0009
D. Doder, Louise Branson
This chapter discusses the author's experience covering Russia's new tsar after the first handover of power in the Soviet Union since 1964. As the sole correspondent for the Washington Post in Moscow, the author felt under even more pressure. Yuri Andropov admitted that the Soviet economy had failed to meet its targets for the past two years, blamed “inertia” and “adherence to old ways,” and characterized many Communist Party objectives as containing “elements of separation from reality.” Andropov also oversaw a limited debate on economic reforms and talked about greater discipline and material incentives for better performance. The author's stories detailed how Andropov set about replacing Leonid Brezhnev's bloated secretariat with aides from the KGB, moved KGB personnel into political jobs, and sent many of the old guard into retirement. The main obstacle was that although Andropov appeared to have consolidated his personal authority with the support of the military and the KGB, he had yet to gain control over the party bureaucracy and the approximately eighteen million Communist Party members accustomed to privileges that they did not want to lose.
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