Never Stay Silent

By all accounts, Seymour M. Hersh is a horn in the side of the government, and he prefers it that way.  For over half a century, this Pulitzer-Prize winning investigative journalist has been one of the most fearless voices in media: challenging official narratives, exposing military cover-ups, and holding some of the most powerful institutions in America accountable.  Bettman Archive   Seymour M. Hersh, 1970 Early Years Born in 1937 to Yiddish-speaking Jewish immigrants from Lithuania , Seymour M. Hersh grew up on the South Side of a working-class neighborhood in Chicago. His parents ran a dry-cleaning business, and like many first-generation Americans, Hersh was instilled early with a strong work ethic and deep skepticism of authority.His father passed away when he was just a kid, leaving his mother to support the household alone. His childhood was pragmatic, modest, and tough— factors later shaping his no-nonsense approach to journalism.  Hersh attended the Univer...

In a post 9/11 America, gripped by fear and patriotic fervor, few dared to question the rush to war. “ Shock and Awe ”, Rob Reiner’s 2017 political drama, tells the story of those who did.  "Shock and Awe" Official Movie Poster The film follows a few journalists at Knight Ridder— Jonathan Landay ( Woody Harrelson ), Warren Strobel ( James Marsden ), and the editor John Walcott ( Rob Reiner ) — as they challenged the official narrative that Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction (WMDs), a fact that if true would send the US to war against Iraq.  While the mainstream media amplified the Bush Administration’s case for war, these small-town reporters dug deeper, cross-checked sources, and posed unpopular truths. In doing so, Shock and Awe offers much more than a historical recap of the pre-war, post-9/11 era; it’s a powerful reflection on the perils of a profit-driven media and the moral obligation journalists have to speak truth to power.  In the early 2000s,...