Suppressed: Confessions of a Former New York Times Washington Correspondent
Suppressed is the book the media would prefer you not read. The book may change the way you read a newspaper, listen to the radio, watch TV, or consume digital media.

Please look at the Follow the Author Page for videos by Robert M. Smith.

Incisive behind-the-scenes details about the Times and other media outlets. Publishers Weekly

A forthright indictment of the media’s shortcomings. — Kirkus Reviews

Only 29% of Americans trust the media, and many Americans believe the media are to blame for the country’s division. The U.S. ranks dead last of all countries in media trust. But no one in the media is talking about this.

This well-reviewed book tells you why and shows you the inside of the media machine. It includes a look behind the scenes at some of the biggest stories in the history of journalism. The author a former New York Times White House and investigative correspondentwas there and is ruthlessly honest about what he saw.

In fact, the author unearthed Watergate before Woodward and Bernstein, but saw the story ignored by the New York Times Washington Bureau when he gave it to them.

Margaret Sullivan, media critic for the Washington Post, called the book a “very engaging read.”

Smith is an attorney and barrister who has written a law book for lawyers. This is a different kind of book, but it is written with the same careful attention to the evidence.

Coming to the present, Suppressed shows how some media, including the New York Times, stepped into the ring and began slugging it out with President Trump, instead of staying outside the ring and neutrally reporting what it saw. The book argues that the media would have been more effective if it had remained neutral and credible.

On the other hand, Times stock dropped 17 percent in the first two quarters of 2021, after President Trump left. During the same time the S&P 500 index rose 18 percent.

The book offers entertaining tidbits some hard to believe but also shows you how to be a knowledgeable consumer of something that you spend time on every day and depend on.

Written with candor and humor, Suppressed traces a young investigative reporter’s arc from naïveté to cynicism, from covering the White House to leaving journalism for Yale Law School and ultimately becoming a barrister in London and teaching at Oxford.
1138401098
Suppressed: Confessions of a Former New York Times Washington Correspondent
Suppressed is the book the media would prefer you not read. The book may change the way you read a newspaper, listen to the radio, watch TV, or consume digital media.

Please look at the Follow the Author Page for videos by Robert M. Smith.

Incisive behind-the-scenes details about the Times and other media outlets. Publishers Weekly

A forthright indictment of the media’s shortcomings. — Kirkus Reviews

Only 29% of Americans trust the media, and many Americans believe the media are to blame for the country’s division. The U.S. ranks dead last of all countries in media trust. But no one in the media is talking about this.

This well-reviewed book tells you why and shows you the inside of the media machine. It includes a look behind the scenes at some of the biggest stories in the history of journalism. The author a former New York Times White House and investigative correspondentwas there and is ruthlessly honest about what he saw.

In fact, the author unearthed Watergate before Woodward and Bernstein, but saw the story ignored by the New York Times Washington Bureau when he gave it to them.

Margaret Sullivan, media critic for the Washington Post, called the book a “very engaging read.”

Smith is an attorney and barrister who has written a law book for lawyers. This is a different kind of book, but it is written with the same careful attention to the evidence.

Coming to the present, Suppressed shows how some media, including the New York Times, stepped into the ring and began slugging it out with President Trump, instead of staying outside the ring and neutrally reporting what it saw. The book argues that the media would have been more effective if it had remained neutral and credible.

On the other hand, Times stock dropped 17 percent in the first two quarters of 2021, after President Trump left. During the same time the S&P 500 index rose 18 percent.

The book offers entertaining tidbits some hard to believe but also shows you how to be a knowledgeable consumer of something that you spend time on every day and depend on.

Written with candor and humor, Suppressed traces a young investigative reporter’s arc from naïveté to cynicism, from covering the White House to leaving journalism for Yale Law School and ultimately becoming a barrister in London and teaching at Oxford.
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Suppressed: Confessions of a Former New York Times Washington Correspondent

Suppressed: Confessions of a Former New York Times Washington Correspondent

by Robert M. Smith
Suppressed: Confessions of a Former New York Times Washington Correspondent

Suppressed: Confessions of a Former New York Times Washington Correspondent

by Robert M. Smith

Hardcover

$27.95 
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Overview

Suppressed is the book the media would prefer you not read. The book may change the way you read a newspaper, listen to the radio, watch TV, or consume digital media.

Please look at the Follow the Author Page for videos by Robert M. Smith.

Incisive behind-the-scenes details about the Times and other media outlets. Publishers Weekly

A forthright indictment of the media’s shortcomings. — Kirkus Reviews

Only 29% of Americans trust the media, and many Americans believe the media are to blame for the country’s division. The U.S. ranks dead last of all countries in media trust. But no one in the media is talking about this.

This well-reviewed book tells you why and shows you the inside of the media machine. It includes a look behind the scenes at some of the biggest stories in the history of journalism. The author a former New York Times White House and investigative correspondentwas there and is ruthlessly honest about what he saw.

In fact, the author unearthed Watergate before Woodward and Bernstein, but saw the story ignored by the New York Times Washington Bureau when he gave it to them.

Margaret Sullivan, media critic for the Washington Post, called the book a “very engaging read.”

Smith is an attorney and barrister who has written a law book for lawyers. This is a different kind of book, but it is written with the same careful attention to the evidence.

Coming to the present, Suppressed shows how some media, including the New York Times, stepped into the ring and began slugging it out with President Trump, instead of staying outside the ring and neutrally reporting what it saw. The book argues that the media would have been more effective if it had remained neutral and credible.

On the other hand, Times stock dropped 17 percent in the first two quarters of 2021, after President Trump left. During the same time the S&P 500 index rose 18 percent.

The book offers entertaining tidbits some hard to believe but also shows you how to be a knowledgeable consumer of something that you spend time on every day and depend on.

Written with candor and humor, Suppressed traces a young investigative reporter’s arc from naïveté to cynicism, from covering the White House to leaving journalism for Yale Law School and ultimately becoming a barrister in London and teaching at Oxford.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781493057719
Publisher: Globe Pequot Publishing
Publication date: 05/14/2021
Pages: 368
Product dimensions: 6.30(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.40(d)

About the Author

Robert M. Smith is a former New York Times White House and investigative correspondent who was witness to some of the most important stories in modern history, including Watergate, the Pentagon Papers, and the My Lai Massacre. He lives in San Francisco, CA.

Table of Contents

Introduction xi

Prologue The Leak xv

Chapter 1 Pain: The Penalty for Poverty 1

Chapter 2 Kids' Stuff 2

Chapter 3 "You're Already a Communist": Harvard and Power 8

Chapter 4 Shotgun and Cookies; One-Arm Drivers 13

Chapter 5 Does the Trenchcoat Fit? 17

Chapter 6 Investigative Reporting at the Automat. Excuse Me, They Do Explode 19

Chapter 7 Candide Arrives at Rockefeller Plaza, But Only the Seven Sisters See It 24

Chapter 8 Adam Clayton Powell, Miss Ohio, and the Bali Hai Effect 28

Chapter 9 A Woman Deposits Herself in a Bank; Depression Is Its Own Reward 32

Chapter 10 A Shoebox Leads to Sweaty Palms; Harrison Frowns 40

Chapter 11 The Pied Piper of Queens, and the Man Who Dug President Kennedy's Grave 43

Chapter 12 Italian Racing Jackets 47

Chapter 13 Paper Missiles, and Quitting Every Night 50

Chapter 14 Not Always New York's Finest: Reporters Who Carried Guns 56

Chapter 15 Harlem's History Escapes the Marshal 58

Chapter 16 John Harvard Frowns 66

Chapter 17 Veritas Takes a Direct Hit; Ties to the Powerful 72

Chapter 18 More Ties to the Powerful 76

Chapter 19 A Massacre as a Commodity 79

Chapter 20 Almost Fired 90

Chapter 21 What Do You Mean, "Do You Have a Lawyer?" Not Jailed … and Not Fired: Justice Delayed Is Just Fine 92

Chapter 22 Almost Fired Again: Buck Rogers Badges Prove Dangerous 96

Chapter 23 Recruiting: Make 'Em Conservative 100

Chapter 24 The Spooks Aren't Talking to One Another (But Some of Them Whisper to Me): the Times Attends Germ Warfare Meetings 104

Chapter 25 Shame Comes to a Kid from Roxbury 107

Chapter 26 Why Am I Chasing Daniel Ellsberg? G-Men Are Everywhere They're Not Supposed to Be, and "Mr. Green" Offers Help 111

Chapter 27 The Mafia and Me 118

Chapter 28 Boots in the Oval 125

Chapter 29 Reject Me Once, Reject Me Twice. But a Journalism School Comes to the Rescue, and the Media Queue Up 131

Chapter 30 More Secrets: Memories of Playa Girón, Stellar Wind Blows Hard, and Reporter Risen Rebels 136

Chapter 31 Cigars Rolled, Pool Hall Closed; Time to Schuss Down the Slippery Slope; Bork and the Bum Rap 141

Chapter 32 Not-So-Learned-in-the-Law Steps into a Fairy Tale 146

Chapter 33 The Flying Ashtray; Women Reporters Aren't Getting Their Just Deserts 151

Chapter 34 I Didn't Write That-Don't You Dare Say I Did! 155

Chapter 35 Biz/Fin 159

Chapter 36 Oxy Threatens My Job; Pursuing the CEO from Hernando's Posh Hideaway 165

Chapter 37 A Cosseted Crowd; Kafka Has You in His Embrace; Leaving the Gray Lady Again 169

Chapter 38 Josie Insists: Piaget or Nothing-Brooks Brothers Gets Dressed Down; Behind the Frosted Glass 176

Chapter 39 My Learned Friend Exposes the Press; Yelling in the Courtroom 180

Chapter 40 The Archaeology of Leaks 184

Chapter 41 The Guardian Who Turned Out Not to Be; The Cabinet Sphinx 189

Chapter 42 Journalism Provides a Soundbite: A Plea in the World Courtroom 197

Chapter 43 The Unreasonable Man Swings from Tree to … Tree 205

Chapter 44 The Indecipherable East End; The Story Business; The Mystery of the Iraqi Harp 211

Chapter 45 Fontainebleau: Just Keep Those Euros Coming! 220

Chapter 46 Climbing into the Jury Box 224

Chapter 47 The Church Rejects an Offering: The Go-To-Hell Fund Is Damned 228

Chapter 48 Getting the Director's Trust 232

Chapter 49 Suppression, or the Fix Is In 241

Chapter 50 I Tell the Times Not to Hire Robert Upshur Woodward, But Don't Worry: He Gets a Job 248

Chapter 51 Who Has Thinner Skin-Trump or the Reporters? Scribes Seek Revenge; The Pinata President 252

Chapter 52 Trump-Daft or Dealing? The Ali Khamenei Gambit 263

Chapter 53 The Gray Lady Bumps into the Gold Standard 267

Chapter 54 Bring the Jury In 275

Chapter 55 Watergate in a Time of Disappearing Ink 282

Chapter 56 Modern Times: Journalism by Citizens; The Digital Dance Is a Foxtrot; Understanding Today's Media 287

Epilogue 291

Afterword The Spike-How to Read a Newspaper Like an Inside Dopester 295

Acknowledgments 303

Awards to the Author from the Times Publisher, A Farewell from the Times National Desk, and a Letter of Thanks from President Jimmy Carter about the World Court 65, 89, 117, 124, 175, 204

Notes 304

Bibliography 333

Index 341

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