Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies, and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators by Ronan Farrow
Published: October 15th, 2019 by Little, Brown and Company
Genre: Investigative Journalism, Nonfiction, Memoir
Format: Hardcover, 448 Pages, Library
Rating: 5 stars
Publisher's Summary:
In a dramatic account of violence and espionage, Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter Ronan Farrow exposes serial abusers and a cabal of powerful interests hell-bent on covering up the truth, at any cost.
In 2017, a routine network television investigation led Ronan Farrow to a story only whispered about: one of Hollywood's most powerful producers was a predator, protected by fear, wealth, and a conspiracy of silence. As Farrow drew closer to the truth, shadowy operatives, from high-priced lawyers to elite war-hardened spies, mounted a secret campaign of intimidation, threatening his career, following his every move and weaponizing an account of abuse in his own family.
All the while, Farrow and his producer faced a degree of resistance that could not be explained - until now. And a trail of clues revealed corruption and cover-ups from Hollywood to Washington, and beyond.
This is the untold story of the exotic tactics of surveillance and intimidation deployed by wealthy and connected men to threaten journalists, evade accountability and silence victims of abuse - and it's the story of the women who risked everything to expose the truth and spark a global movement.
Both a spy thriller and a meticulous work of investigative journalism, Catch and Kill breaks devastating new stories about the rampant abuse of power - and sheds far-reaching light on investigations that shook the culture.
My Thoughts:
I was riveted. Disturbed. Horrified. I cried. Just when you think the world isn't as bad as you think it is... no, it's worse. Thank the gods there are humans who are willing to risk everything to bring into light this awful darkness.
And now I know how there are still executives and people running all the companies that are still protecting predators and committing predatory acts themselves.
This is an important book. I'm thankful Ronan and his associates are putting themselves out there to get these stories into the light.
And if you're wondering about the title... catch and kill refers to what the tabloids do to stories. They are paid by people like Weinstein or Trump to get the stories from the accusors with the stories to tell. They pay them and make them sign NDA's and then they effectively kill the stories. And they can't talk about them later when they don't come to light because of the NDAs. So they catch and kill. Awful. Farrow talks about how connected people are and how they are willing to overlook and protect in order to keep going in their business or to have a future in a different industry.
It's an eye-opening look at how journalists and reporters and the news and magazines that employ them are in jeopardy. Many are being threatened and stalked. This all amounts to killing our democracy when we do not have freedom of the press. One of the spies that contributed to the story is an immigrant from Eastern Europe and knew the value of freedom of the press and was horrified when he was employed to stalk and harass journalists. He came from state-controlled press and news and knew he had to come forward to keep America's press and media as free as possible.
