"Kill the Messenger" about Gary Webb

Kill the Messenger revisits "Dark Alliance," the series that drove Gary Webb from investigative journalism and perhaps life itself. It also serves as a primer for and reading of Dark Alliance, including the book version Webb later wrote.

I really like how Kill the Messenger reads -- like an investigative report. The language is concise. The narrative voice isn't long and breathless. And there are dozens of sources interviewed or referenced for different points of view.

The objective style isn't devoid of emotional effect though. It's hard to read how Webb's livelihood dwindled after he resigned from The Mercury News, or his failed attempt to advance Dark Alliance through his chosen profession.

Nick Schou -- the author and himself an investigative journalist -- advanced the work laid by Webb, his contemporary. Without apparent favor or fervor, Schou's living sources include dozens of Webb's former colleagues; high-profile detractors; and public-facing supporters. For that, I think Kill the Messenger is indeed his story to tell.​

A book review of Kill the Messenger: How the CIA's Crack-Cocaine Controversy Destroyed Journalist Gary Webb (Nick Schou)

Recommender/Reference: finalcall.com

Original "Kill the Messenger" book cover (Courtesy of Goodreads)

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Jubalyn ExWilliams lives in Pennsylvania (United States). You can find dozens of her reviews, including one on Nick Schou's Kill the Messenger, at landturn.com/reviews.

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Related: Edward Snowden's "Permanent Record" (2020) 
Related: "No Place to be Somebody" (Gordone) (2019) 
Related: The language of "fake" news ​(2019)
Related: "The Resurrectionist: The Lost Work of Dr. Spencer Black" (2020)
Related: Public Intellectuals in Politics, II (2022)
​Related: "Sour Candy" (Burke) (2023)
Related: Authors (Active)

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