Olivia Nuzzi's Nine Lives
Deep Dives
Explore related topics with these Wikipedia articles, rewritten for enjoyable reading:
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Mark Sanford
12 min read
Central figure in the alleged second affair - his infamous 'Appalachian Trail' scandal in 2009, where he disappeared to visit his Argentine mistress while claiming to be hiking, is one of the most dramatic political sex scandals in modern American history and provides essential context for understanding this story
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Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
13 min read
The subject of Nuzzi's profile and alleged affair - understanding his background as an environmental lawyer turned vaccine skeptic and anti-establishment presidential candidate provides crucial context for the article's discussion of his potential influence on public health policy
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Journalism ethics and standards
15 min read
The article's central theme revolves around journalistic ethics violations - this topic provides educational context on the formal ethical frameworks, codes of conduct, and professional standards that govern reporting, including conflicts of interest and source relationships
Journalism is a career with very fine margins for error. It makes you paranoid. I have spent the better part of an hour on two-sentence emails in order to phrase something in such a way that it does not expose me to legal action. I am terrified every day of letting something slip by me or messing up or getting caught cutting a little corner in all of the ways that every writer cuts corners sometimes. You never know when one of those things will blow up in your face, when the wrong word or promise will sink a story or sour it after publication. I live in fear of having to issue corrections and I replay the mistakes I have made in my mind over and over again in my head, wincing as if I am in physical pain, when I am lying in bed next to my wife, dead tired but unable to sleep in the wee hours of the morning. It is a fantastic job and I never want to have any other. If I ever fucked up so bad that I lost it, I’m not sure what I would do.
Fucking up that bad feels like a very real possibility. Different publications have varying sets of hyper-specific “standards” which are often set by lawyers and comically pedantic dorks, but the basic ethics that a journalist should have are pretty simple. Do not write lies. Do not take bribes. Do not plagiarize other work and definitely do not make stuff up that didn’t happen.
The last two are really the cardinal sins of journalism. If you’re caught doing them it’s basically a guarantee that you will lose your job, and very likely that you will never work in the field again. Those sins receive death sentences for good reason — in committing them, you have indicated that you adhere to none of the very simple ethics of the profession. You have no honor or integrity, and as such should not be trusted to perform the basic function of journalism, which is telling the public true things that will help them understand the world.
One sin that I didn’t mention is a little more nebulous. You’re not supposed to have sex with your sources or subjects. You’re not supposed to date them; you’re not even supposed to be their friend. This is,
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