Compelling writer shares technique on in-depth stories

Investigative Reporters and Editors, Inc. The IRE Journal, Sep/Oct 2004 by Weinberg, Steve

Compelling, memorable writing is, or ought to be, a goal of every investigative journalist. Achieving that goal is rare, however.

So, when those rare journalists who have attained a reputation for compelling, memorable writing on in-depth topics publish collections in book form - and even share their techniques - I start reading.

Long-time readers of The IRE Journal know that, in my opinion, the very best such books are by Walt Harrington ("American Profiles" and "Intimate Journalism" especially) and Jon Franklin ("Writing for Story").

This year has yielded worthy contenders, however, with more promised from publishers. The best of the 2004 lot so far might be "The Importance of Being Famous: Behind the Scenes of the Celebrity-Industrial Complex" by Maureen Orth (Holt, 372 pages, $25). Not all 16 of the features first appearing in Vanity Fair magazine are investigative, but most of them are, and all are examples of in-depth reporting. Best of all for lifelong learners within our craft, Orth includes seven intermingled essays about how and why she reports as she reports, writes as she writes.

Orth, who previously reported for Newsweek, covered the murder of Laci Peterson in Modesto, Calif., for Vanity Fair. Her account of the case, including the inexcusable media circus, demonstrates vividly why her journalism is so memorable - her eye and ear for telling details. In a Modesto bar that has become de facto headquarters for National Enquirer reporters David Wright and Michael Hanrahan, Orth shows them paying sources for information. When confronted with a report that some of those sources are Modesto police officers, Hanrahan lets slip, "That's not the way it works. Cops all have girlfriends, sisters, uncles, mothers." First-rate journalists put stories in context; Orth does so by interviewing the sheriff, who contrasts the 24/7 coverage of the Peterson case with another local murder: "We have a guy who allegedly stabbed his wife and unborn child not that far away from Scott. He ended up on page two in the local news section."

Writing about longtime celebrities (or instant celebrities, such as the dead Laci Peterson and her accused husband Scott) needs to be done, I suppose, but there is no reason it must yield shoddy journalism. "My challenge, as a reporter in this environment, is to bring the story back alive, accurately, to find the key that unlocks the personalities...or the crime," Orth says. One technique is leaving the courthouse and private-home stakeouts to dig in "grubby places.

"My early experience as a Peace Corps volunteer in Medellin, Colombia, prepared me to fit in at any level."

She notes that documents are vital. "I have found it no easier to peel away the layers of a story like Michael Jackson's or untangle the complicated finances of Hollywood money manager Dana Giacchetto [both included in this book] than to tackle 'more serious' subjects like the connection between terrorism and drugs or the latest White House scandal, which I have also covered."

Orth's insights into the "celebrity-industrial complex" take on increasing value when somebody like Arnold Schwarzenegger is elected California governor despite lacking a platform, and politicians cannot resist Hollywood. Consider the import of the nexus detailed by Orth: "Bill Clinton's weakness for all things Hollywood has been as amply documented as his weakness for women. Fittingly, it was his decision to provide a little help to one of his entertainment-industry friends, songwriter Denise Rich, which tainted his departure from office. Rich's fundraising efforts for Clinton and her contacts with the then-president's colleagues helped her obtain a presidential pardon for her fugitive, tax-evading and extremely wealthy ex-husband, Marc Rich. When the ensuing scandal broke, Denise Rich - who freely admits she talks to angels and has long desired to be famous - took all the attention as an opportunity for self-promotion. Because she couldn't resist a Vanity Fair photo shoot, she agreed to be interviewed by me, creating an opening for a full-scale investigation of herself, her ex-husband, and the Clinton pardon."

Additional just-published books by journalists who combine memorable, compelling writing with in-depth reporting include:

* Scary Monsters and Super Freaks: Stories of Sex, Drugs, Rock 'n' Roll and Murder by Mike Sager (Thunder's Mouth Press, 457 pages, $15.95)

* Somewhere in America: Under the Radar With Chicken Warriors, Left-Wing Patriots, Angry Nudists, and Others by Mark Singer (Houghton Mifflin, 255 pages, $24)

* Things Worth Fighting For: Collected Writings by Michael Kelly (Penguin Press, 426 pages, $26.95)

* The Prophet of Love and Other Tales of Power and Deceit by Elizabeth Kolbert (Bloomsbury, 288 pages, $23.95)

Book notes

All investigative journalists understand their work might be killed - because it steps on the wrong toes, because advertisers apply pressure, because the material becomes stale, because what would be telling photographs turn out to be unavailable, because of reporter-editor disagreements about story structure or phrasing. But knowing something might happen and accepting the verdict when it does happen are not the same. Hence, a journalist like David Wallis conceives a collection like "Killed: Great Journalism Too hot to Print" (Nation Books, 430 pages, $16.95).