A Tale of Persistence

In 1969, a 32-year old American reporter came across what seemed like a cover-up. He called and wrote to editors to ask if they’d be interested in funding his investigation, which would require travel to a foreign country. No one was interested.

The reporter eventually managed to get funding of $250 from a journalism organization. Based on his initial investigation, they gave him another $2,000. He flew abroad, finished his reporting, and returned to America with a huge story on his hands. He offered it up to everyone, including editors who had previously turned him down. They all rejected it again.

Eventually, the reporter got the piece published by a small newspaper syndicate that was run by his friend.

The reporter was Seymour Hersh. The country was Vietnam. The story was the My Lai massacre.

36 newspapers– national and international– bought the rights to the story after it was published.

It won the Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting in 1970.