I've been reading Seymour “Sy” Hersh's investigative journalism for a little over 30 years. His reporting on the My Lai massacre was assigned to me when I was 17, studying history in high school. Every time I spiraled down a rabbit hole of conspiracy theories, there seemed to be a Sy Hersh book confirming my worst suspicions about the inherent violence of the world's superpower, the constant disregard for the Constitution by those in power, and a pattern of cover-ups.
I followed Hersh's reporting in The New Yorker and the London Review of Books (he had already left the New York Times by the time I reached adulthood as a reader). And I've been following him on Substack ever since. This is the man who exposed the massacre of children by the U.S. military in Vietnam, who helped bring the Watergate scandal and the Pentagon Papers to public attention, who exposed the abuses at Abu Ghraib, and who continues to report on war crimes in Gaza. He continues to fight for liberal democracy, accountability, and the U.S. Constitution. His method and his message have never been more urgent.
Directors: Mark Obenhaus, Laura Poitras
Stars: Seymour Hersh
This new documentary by Laura Poitras (ALL THE BEAUTY AND THE BLOODSHED) and Mark Oberhausen (producer of the investigative program Frontline) took many years to make because Hersh was reluctant. He's a prickly, irascible man with a biting sense of humor, who resisted the process even after agreeing to participate. He is scrupulous about not revealing his sources, something he described in a Q&A session as an essential requirement for a good journalist. But he even resists explaining why people trust him.
Obviously, after the My Lai reporting, he became a famous name, and perhaps not only a trusted name, but also an attractive name for those who wanted to confess their secrets to him. But his main qualities seem to be a talent for writing, and, more importantly, unwavering tenacity, curiosity, and a complete disregard for what people think or say about him. One could also add, as he does in this documentary, his talent for choosing the right partner, a wife who allowed him to mature and supported him through the emotionally difficult times his journalistic work brought him.
The documentary does a phenomenal job of reviewing Hersh's monumental career and offering a fair assessment of his importance and his flaws. The first 45 minutes of the two-hour documentary recount step-by-step how he crafted the My Lai report. Here, one sees the skill and character required to create such groundbreaking journalism. Then, a 15-minute biographical essay shows Hersh's childhood in a working-class Black neighborhood, where his father, a Latvian Jewish immigrant, withheld any information about the fate of his family during the Holocaust.
Thanks to luck and his own talent, Hersh was plucked from a mediocre community college, and a professor who recognized his potential gave him the opportunity to study at the University of Chicago. He was prepared for that moment because as a child he devoured books. Of his childhood, he says, "I lived through books—they taught me how to think." Blessed are those diligent and wonderful teachers everywhere who spot talent and give it a chance. In a film where Hersh alternates between irritation and anger for much of the running time, he only becomes sentimental when talking about two things: his wife and that professor.
The third act takes us to the 1980s and 90s. Hersh finally quits the New York Times when they begin blocking his reporting on corporate malfeasance at Gulf + Western. It strikes me as astonishing that you can take on the CIA, the President of the United States, or the military, but a corporation can prevent you from investigating another corporation.
It's also interesting to consider how today's readers believe the New York Times has lost its courage and caved to Trump, but even in the 1970s, the newspaper didn't want to be the first to publish anything controversial. This section also addresses Hersh's mistakes, and they are truly serious. First, a lapse in judgment that almost cost him his career, related to fraudulent letters between JFK and Marilyn Monroe. Second, giving the benefit of the doubt to a terribly cruel Syrian dictator.
The final act brings us back to his more recent investigative triumphs: the exposure of the abuses at Abu Ghraib and his most recent work on Gaza. And then we return to how those responsible for the My Lai massacre went unpunished. The message is very clear. There is a pattern of extrajudicial violence, cover-ups, and impunity at the heart of the American Republic. This may be depressing, but it's no excuse to stop fighting for the truth.
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