Catch and Kill

Let me get this out of the way right now: I'm in AWE of Ronan Farrow and his reporting. The lengths he went to, the risks he took, the sources he developed and the courage to battle a network... Truly inspiring, especially as a journalist.

I love his podcast, too, of the same name. Great interviews, really interesting insight.

That said, I didn't love this book.

I loved the idea of it and the intrigue, but at times, it just felt tedious.

Let me explain.

Farrow's reporting, if you didn't know, helped expose the Harvey Weinstein case. It brought into the light a Hollywood secret that had been buried for years. Women were terrified to speak out against one of the most powerful men in Hollywood. And when you hear their stories - because Farrow helped bring them to light - it's even more scary, the power and control he had over not only these women, but the message as well. This man went to incredible lengths to protect his image, even hiring spies and making threats to the heads of networks.

Almost as disturbing was what happened to that reporting when Farrow brought it to his bosses at NBC. Despite carefully vetted sourcing and documentation AND women willing to go on the record, NBC tried to kill the story. Farrow simply didn't give up, eventually walking the story over to the New Yorker, which fact-checked and published.

The book is incredibly thorough, like Farrow's reporting. At times, I thought it was too thorough and even had trouble tracking who had done what to whom. I was about to give up and Farrow turned to reporting on Matt Lauer. That, again, was a fascinating look at the culture created in so many large corporations and how so many secrets are left untold because it's too inconvenient. Maybe #MeToo has changed that somewhat, but not nearly enough.

If you're interested in Farrow's reporting on this, I suggest you try the podcast. It can stand alone and it's FASCINATING to hear from the players. As for the book - I'm glad I read it, but it wasn't my favorite.