In the recordings of the telephone conversations of Richard Nixon in the White House, there is a document in which the President of the United States says: “He will be a son of a bitch and everything you want, but he is never wrong!”. It refers to Seymour Hersh, one of the key figures of American investigative journalism in the second half of the 20th century and with a projection that is still notable today. Hersh has stood out for his ability to control power, denouncing state crimes, institutional lies and systematic violence. He exposed the US military’s chemical weapons testing. He won the Pulitzer Prize for demonstrating the My Lai massacre – which the military tried to silence – in which American soldiers murdered hundreds of Vietnamese civilians. In the seventies he contributed decisively in the details of the Watergate case from the New York Times and documented the active role of the United States in the Pinochet coup in Chile. He exposed the manipulation of information about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and exposed the torture at Abu Ghraib in 2004, which he showed were government-sanctioned practices.
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Netflix just released Cover-upa documentary where Hersh himself reviews his career and explains the circumstances surrounding his most famous reports. Co-director Laura Poitras proposed this project to Hersh in 2005, but it has taken Hersh twenty years to accept it. It is not a chronological account of the character nor does it fall into the clichés of a hagiography. It is a deepening of his journalistic work, even including the most conflicting aspects of his personality and the most recent and controversial professional stage on Syria. Hersh, who is now eighty-eight years old, is angry during the recording that the directors of the documentary have been able to access some proper names from his personal notes, even though he himself had authorized them to consult his archive. We also see him working in a more precarious and solitary way with information about the war in Gaza. He is a more isolated Seymour Hersh, with less support from the big traditional media, but who has not lost either the energy or the restlessness to denounce war crimes.
Cover-up is an excellent documentary for viewers interested in the dynamics of journalism and the critical eye. It serves as an x-ray of Hersh’s reporting and inevitably invites reflection on journalism. It contrasts the profession that requires time, commitment and personal and work tolls with the political, social and economic dynamics that grip the current media. The documentary emphasizes the moral perspective that guides the protagonist. When Hersh denounces the enormously violent culture that characterizes the United States, the director of the documentary asks him: “Why do you keep working?”. And the journalist replies: “Because you can’t have a country that does all this”.
Aiko Tanaka
Aiko Tanaka is a combat sports journalist and general sports reporter at Archysport. A former competitive judoka who represented Japan at the Asian Games, Aiko brings firsthand athletic experience to her coverage of judo, martial arts, and Olympic sports. Beyond combat sports, Aiko covers breaking sports news, major international events, and the stories that cut across disciplines — from doping scandals to governance issues to the business side of global sport. She is passionate about elevating the profile of underrepresented sports and athletes.
