TABLOID TALES
In pursuit for sensation
INTERVIEW
Jeffrey Scott Shapiro is one of the top American investigative journalists, who writes legal analysis for The Washington Times. He is known for his interest in mysterious cases such as 9/11 attacks, the poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko, death of Michael Jackson or murder of JonBenet Ramsey. Shapiro began his journalistic career as a tabloid reporter for The Globe and later on reported his editors to FBI for criminal practices. Michal Lachowicz talks with him about investigative passion, but also asks why at some point Jeffrey started campaigning against tabloid journalism, defending people who were affected by its unethical behaviour.
Jeffrey Scott Shapiro
Life of investigative journalist
ML: Jeffrey, you are an investigative journalist of The Washington Times with impressive bunch of stories that you covered, including 9/11 attacks, murder of JonBenet Ramsey, the poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko, Amanda Knox trial or death of Michael Jackson. What attracts you so much in these mysterious cases and which one of them had the greatest significance in your career?
JSS: During the 1980’s there was a television commercial in the United States for a tabloid magazine called The National Enquirer. The commercial always promoted the tabloid’s latest stories and finished by adding, “enquiring minds want to know!” You could say that describes my overall personality. I’m curious, like a cat and always want to understand how and why something happened. There is almost nothing more intriguing than an unsolved high profile murder case, so you can imagine the kind of intrigue it creates for any investigative journalist. Not only does it prompt a journalist to find the facts, it raises questions about the motive. It is one of the most fascinating jigsaw puzzles one can piece together.
ML: How do you search for your stories? Could you tell me bit more about this independent, investigative process? How do you choose the area that you’re going to cover next? What kind of sources do you rely on?
JSS: Instinct. I’ve never used a rulebook, but I do have one basic guiding principle. Be relentless. I never saw investigative reporting as a job, but more as an adventure and I was genuinely driven by my own sense of curiosity and fascination to solve cases and work on the stories I did. I usually try to track down people that know someone personally, people other reporters will not track down and that usually means getting the names of other potential sources from the more obvious sources, whose names are already out there. When I started my investigation into John Ramsey (falsely accused of his daughter's murder) for The Globe, I flew from Boulder, Colorado to Lansing, Michigan and spent a month in his hometown. I acquired a copy of his high school yearbook and tracked down 25 of his high school friends including three former girlfriends and two former teachers. Those are the kinds of people who can tell you something about a person.
ML: You mentioned about your work for The Globe, which is one of the leading US tabloids. How did you find yourself in this specific area of journalism? Did you experience any pressures? I know that at some point you observed many unethical practices which, caused that you began campaigning against tabloids and even defending people whose privacy and dignity were affected by press. Could you tell me a bit more about this turning- point?
JSS: There was tremendous pressure working for the tabloids. They usually recruit, young, bright eyed ambitious reporters, throw them a lot of money, fly them to wherever they need to go and scare them into pushing boundaries to get whatever story they want, whether it’s true or not. I went on high speed chases at over 100 miles per hour. I chased celebrities on mountains in the snow, tracked down criminal suspects in the dead of night and even worked secretly as a confidential informant for the Boulder Police Department during the JonBenet Ramsey murder investigation.
ML: That sounds fascinating. Could you tell me as well about stories when you had to defend someone, because tabloid publication crossed ethical boundaries?
JSS: My first real fight for someone who was under attack by the tabloids was John Ramsey when he was falsely accused of killing his 6-year old daughter, JonBenet Ramsey. Although, I felt strongly that another close family member was involved in the murder, I did not feel it was fair to falsely accuse John under some kind of collective punishment or guilt by association doctrine.
Many of the reporters who falsely accused John, also incorrectly operated under the theory that the murder was motivated by a cover up, and that the John’s six-year old daughter was killed to silence her because she had been sexually molested. Therefore, the story was hotter with John having allegedly killed his daughter, because it added a lewd, sexual tone to it. But it turned out John was not the killer, and I knew that early on from my investigation into his background. He never fit the profile of a pedophile or violent person.
JSS: I think the hacking scandal raised some attention for a brief time, but I would like to see those kinds of major scandals have more of a permanent impact on the tabloid industry.
The State of California passed anti-paparazzi legislation finding financial ways to penalize paparazzi if they create a potential danger when taking photographs, but the law is difficult to enforce. The hacking scandal led to the British public inquiry, an Australian formal review and an expanded U.S. Department of Justice criminal investigation. There were charges and convictions in the United Kingdom, but I’m not convinced the tabloid industry has changed as a result. However, the industry has changed, because the mainstream media itself has become more tabloid in nature thus creating more competition for tabloid journalism and less demand for it. The Internet has also hurt tabloid journalism since rumors can travel fast and daily and weekly tabloid publications have difficulty keeping up with it.
ML: What kind of advice could you give for young journalists who plan to enter tabloid industry?
JSS: One of the things I did at The Washington Times was look for an area of interest that no other reporter was focusing on. My father worked on the launch pad for the Saturn V rocket during the Apollo missions at NASA and so I’ve always had a fascination with the space program. I wrote one major story about how the US Air Force was relying on Russian rocket engines to launch American spy satellites and it had a major impact, prompting Congress to pass the ban on Russian rocket engines as part of the National Defense Authorization Act. Shortly thereafter, I began writing about the space program and covering rocket launches at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. No one else wanted to take the time to learn about the rocket science or aerospace engineering, but I did. So it gave me an edge in the newsroom no other reporter had for an area that was popular to our readers.
ML: Now you work for The Washington Times-American daily broadsheet newspaper. How would you compare its working environment with the one you experienced in The Globe or other tabloids that you were a part of?
JSS: Working for the The Washington Times and any tabloid is completely different, because The Times, follows standard practices of Journalism. We look for leads that produce stories, which then end with creating an appropriate and accurate headline. The tabloids often invent a headline first and then pressure their reporters to find sources who will validate their preconceived headlines with specific, limited investigative instructions that are designed to create a particular outcome.
ML: What are you working on at the moment? Is there a story or area that you’d like to investigate the most?
JSS: I am currently considering returning to London to continue working on the impact of the Russian Federation’s involvement in the assassination of Alexander Litvinenko and the mysterious death of Russian oligarch Boris Berezovsky. I hope I get the opportunity to do so, since apart from my home country of America, England is my favorite country and London is most definitely one of my favorite cities!
ML: Thank you for interview.
Jeffrey on the Supreme Court stairs in Washington.
© Photo courtesy of T. Michael Andrews
''There was tremendous pressure working for the tabloids. They usually recruit, young, bright eyed ambitious reporters, throw them a lot of money, fly them to wherever they need to go and scare them into pushing boundaries to get whatever story they want, whether it's true or not.''
ML: Does covering all these mysterious and complex cases, make you work dangerous sometimes? Have you experienced any unpleasant situations during your career? How do you deal with them?
JSS: There is no question that investigative journalism can be dangerous. On Sept. 11, 2001 the day that al-Qaeda attacked New York City, I used my NYPD breaking news credentials to get past the police lines to get to the ‘frozen point’ where the World Trade Center had collapsed. I was standing right in front of Building 7, a 47 story high-rise when it collapsed in the afternoon. Those of us who remained downtown during that initial 24 hours did not know if the attacks were over. We feared that bombs were planted in buildings downtown and on bridges connecting Manhattan Island to the rest of New York. I also placed myself into potential danger just covering crime in the streets of New York and when I was assigned to cover Sing-Sing, one of the toughest prisons in the United States.
ML: What do you think about the state of tabloid journalism now? How things have changed since you’ve started? Do you think that events such as hacking scandal in the UK had any impact on titles in US and other countries as well?