Monday, November 28, 2005

Woodward According to Nora Ephron

Nora Ephron, Hollywood director, writer, and ex-wife of Carl Bernstein writes of her observations of Bob Woodward.

Nora Ephron, Bernstein's Ex, "Explains" Woodward

...four "truths" about Woodward.

Truth #1: He is not a liar.

But truth #2: "Bob has always had trouble seeing the forest for the trees. That's why people love to talk to him; he almost never puts the pieces together in a way that hurts his sources."

Truth #3: Bob is not like other reporters, and it's not surprising he did not tell his editor Leonard Downie about his Plame role: "Woodward spends most of his life reporting. He knows everything. What's more, he has no idea what it adds up to. How could he possibly keep anyone, much less his editor, in the loop? It would take hours and hours of debriefing every week, hours that would undoubtedly be better spent reporting on the after-the-fact thoughts of people in power who are trying to justify the mistakes they've made."

Truth #4: "If you don't talk to Woodward, you'll be sorry. I mention this not because it's precisely true (look at me), but because it's an operating truth in official Washington. What's more, it's the only explanation I can come up with for why Woodward was foolish enough to trash Fitzgerald's investigation; I suspect that Fitzgerald is the only powerful figure in Washington who does not pour his heart out to Woodward on a weekly basis, and Woodward was telling him that he’d better get on the train."


A different perspective on Bob Woodward and worth reading.

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