Epilogue

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.