Kurt Eichenwald 'Takes Five'

Media must seek truth, no matter how scandalous the story

Posted: March 30, 2006

Award-winning New York Times reporter Kurt Eichenwald can speak with authority on business ethics. His recent book, "The Conspiracy of Fools," is about the Enron scandal. Another book about the Archer-Daniels Midland price-fixing case is being developed into a motion picture. Eichenwald last year was compelled to create an elaborate system of ethical guidelines for his own journalism as he uncovered the child pornography case of Justin Berry, a 13-year-old who set up a Webcam to find other teenage friends but instead fell into a world of sexual predators. That story took Eichenwald beyond conventional reporting: He encouraged Berry to quit porn, get a lawyer and work as an informant in a federal investigation that led to arrests. He spoke Thursday to Journal Sentinel reporter John Schmid.

Takes Five

Kurt Eichenwald

Q. In your talk this week at Marquette University, you spoke about the journalism practices that bother you most. What were they?

A. My biggest issue with a lot of American journalism is that it starts with a point of view. I have no problem with journalism that has an evolved point of view. It's when a reporter starts with a gut, instinctive reaction to a story.

Q. You used the Marquette speech to comment on the ethical challenges of journalism. Can you elaborate?

A. One of the biggest problems that our profession faces is that we have trouble delineating between "facts" and "opinions" and "knowledge." If you allow facts to be interpreted as knowledge, you may be completely wrong. You need a grounding in numerous disciplines for your article to be the closest representation of the truth that you can get.

Q. Have these practices contributed to any distrust of mainstream news organizations?

A. Absolutely. The biggest problem in American journalism is not bias. It's not a matter of conservative or liberal. It's laziness. Some go and collect a lot of quotes and put them together and never attempt to determine whose opinion is driven by fact and knowledge.

Q. Former Enron Corp. Chief Executive Kenneth Lay currently is on trial. How does the Enron affair illustrate the shortcomings of journalism?

A. So much of what's been written about Enron has been misleading. The assumption is that Ken Lay's on trial for insider trading. But Ken Lay has not been charged with insider trading. The reality is more complex. The Enron case is about lying. They weren't being truthful about the company's performance.

Q. In speaking in the Journal Sentinel newsroom this afternoon, you mentioned that one of your first jobs was as a telemarketer. What did you learn from that job that applies to newspaper reporting?

A. That's when I was still in college. What I learned is always to tell the truth. As a telemarketer, I was selling pens. As a reporter, I'm selling myself. As a telemarketer, I tried to get their money. As a reporter, I'm trying to get their trust.

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