'Being called a CIA agent doesn't deter my work'

"I have been sued a lot of time… been even called a CIA agent but that doesn't deter me form doing my job and exposing what's needs to be," said Pulitzer prize-winning American investigative journalist Seymour Hersh during the recently-concluded Arab Media Forum in Dubai.

He was one of the keynote speakers on Investigative Journalism on the last day of the forum. Hersh was sharing his experiences with Najla Faisal Al Awadhi, member of the Federal National Council and deputy CEO of Dubai Media Incorporated.

Maintaining his respectable distance from the agency and the US Government itself, Hersh said he takes pride in the fact that most of his investigative stories have been against the establishment, "irrespective of the consequences".

"I know that I have been accused of being a CIA man, but that accusation doesn't stand for itself as none of my stories could have benefitted the agency or any of the government establishments," said Hersh.

"After a long career of more that 30 years of investigative journalism, you stop looking for the recognition or countering accusations," he adds. "My editors in the past have killed or decided not to use many of my stories just because the government responded saying: 'it is not true and Hersh is lying.'"

"And three year later it would be established that the government in fact was lying. What do you do then? Do we go back and run the story vindicating our claim? Not exactly. We just accept the fact and after brief exchange of e-mails between the editor and me, we move on to the next story," told Hersh in an interview with Emirates Business.

Recalling one of the longest court case against him by an Indian lobby in the US, Hersh said he does not like to talk about the court cases, "especially the one I have won. Of course I would talk about a case that I have lost, but none so far", he added.

This was in reference to a case where he was accused of naming the then Indian Prime Minister Morarji Desai as a CIA agent. He was sued and the case went on for 14 long years.

"The irony is that I didn't even call him a CIA agent, but established the fact that he, represented by his son, received funds from CIA," he said.

"The legality of the issue was that I had to name the sources from where whom I got the information, and of course I couldn't and I didn't want to. To my relief the jury believed me and I didn't have to name any of my six sources, who had contributed to the credibility of my story," said Hersh.

In pursuit of his stories Hersh reads extensively and he emphasises that by saying, "you need to read, read and read".

"When you read, it leads to more reading and after reading on the same subject from many sources, you can get a very good story," he said. "Eventually you would have gained more information than what your source actually knew."

On being asked if he has he been just lucky, good at his work or had some very reliable sources, Hersh reacts with calm and gives an often repeated and rehearsed answer: "You talk to people, identifying who will talk and who can willingly share information. You pursue your stories with passion and follow it until the very last till you get what you are seeking.

"And if a story makes a difference it vindicates your effort, but many a time a good story is only a story and leads to nothing, but that doesn't stop you from pursuing the next one," he added.

"After all stories are like your children and you love them all," he said.

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