HERSH, Seymour

Seymour Hersh began his journalism career at small newspapers before joining the Associated Press in 1963. His breakthrough came in 1969 when he investigated rumors of a military cover-up involving American soldiers killing Vietnamese civilians. Working freelance, Hersh tracked down former Army Lieutenant William Calley and broke the story of the My Lai massacre, revealing that U.S. troops had killed hundreds of unarmed Vietnamese civilians in 1968.

The My Lai revelations earned Hersh the Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting and established him as one of America's most fearless investigative reporters. His meticulous sourcing and willingness to challenge official narratives became his trademark, often relying on anonymous sources within government and military circles who provided classified information about controversial operations.

In 1974, while working for The New York Times, Hersh published a series of articles exposing the CIA's "Family Jewels" program, revealing extensive domestic surveillance activities that violated the agency's charter. His reporting detailed illegal CIA operations against American citizens, including mail opening, surveillance of anti-war activists, and assassination plots against foreign leaders. These revelations directly led to the formation of the Church Committee and major intelligence reforms.

Throughout his career, Hersh has continued investigating government secrecy and military operations, publishing controversial accounts of events ranging from the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal to the killing of Osama bin Laden. While his later work has faced more skepticism from mainstream media outlets, his early investigations remain landmark examples of accountability journalism that exposed significant government misconduct.