Columnist : Leaks, Lies, and Libel in Drew Pearson's Washington / Donald A. Ritchie.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Ritchie, Donald A., author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Journalists--United States--Biography.

Journalists.

United States--Politics and government--20th century.

United States.

Pearson, Drew, 1897-1969.

Pearson, Drew.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (384 pages)

Other Title:

Columnist

Place of Publication:

New York : Oxford University Press, 2021.

Summary:

"In the Washington Merry-Go-Round, a nationally syndicated newspaper column that appeared in hundreds of papers from 1932 to 1969, as well as on weekly radio and television programs, the investigative journalist Drew Pearson revealed news that public officials tried to suppress. He disclosed policy disputes and political spats, exposed corruption, attacked bigotry, and promoted social justice. He pumped up some political careers and destroyed others. Presidents, prime ministers, and members of Congress repeatedly called him a liar, and he was sued for libel more often than any other journalist, but he won most of his cases by proving the accuracy of his charges. Pearson dismissed most official news as propaganda and devoted his column to reporting what officials were doing behind closed doors. He broke secrets-even in wartime-and revealed classified information. Fellow journalists credited him with knowing more dirt about more people in Washington than even the FBI and compared his efforts to Daniel Ellsberg with the Pentagon Papers or Edward Snowden with WikiLeaks, except that he did it daily. The Columnist examines how Pearson managed to uncover secrets so successfully and why government efforts to find his sources proved so unsuccessful. Drawing on a half century of archival evidence it assesses his contributions as a muckraker by verifying or refuting both his accusations and his accusers"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Introduction: the man who broke secrets

Launching the column

Nothing to fear

Breaking secrets in wartime

Drew Pearson's leg men

Just mild about Harry

The case against Congress

Battling McCarthyism

Disliking Ike

Between Kennedy and Khrushchev

Lyndon's lackey?

Prisoner of the "merry-go-round"

Epilogue: a muckraker's legacy.

Notes:

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (Oxford University Press, viewed May 30, 2023).

ISBN:

0-19-006761-6