I mentioned this book a few weeks ago amid my reviews of documentaries about Enron, the electric car, and another topic.
Leopold, while working for the Dow Jones Newswire, wrote stories about Enron Corporation’s infamous fake trading floor and how it helped cause the energy crisis in California. As an aggressive reporter regularly making questionable ethics decisions — as we discuss at length in both parts of this interview — Leopold was also hiding his own past from almost everyone around him. While exposing the truth about Enron he — and, by extension, the readers of this book — had his own secrets that could be exposed, and it is those secrets of his past that really made this book, for me at least, gripping reading.
Before becoming well known as a journalist, Leopold not only experimented with drugs but got himself pretty messed up with cocaine. It is this drug past — and the similarity of the feeling of one who is high with the adrenaline rush that comes from a good news scoop — that sparked the book title.
It is also the reason why I’ll probably avoid calling myself a “news junkie” in the near future because, well, let’s just say that as much as I like and respect Leopold, I don’t share his history of use of cocaine. (Mom, if you are reading this, you can start breathing again.)
When I hear the term “news junkie” now I think of Leopold and this book. My life is complicated enough right now without anyone thinking I’m referring to drugs, or a shady past involving drugs. But enough about me. Let’s talk with Leopold, who was kind enough to agree to an interview via email.
Leopold is a former bureau chief of Dow Jones Newswires. His articles have appeared in the Nation, The Los Angeles Times, The Wall Street Journal, Huffington Post and the Financial Times. He writes for TruthOut, Z magazine, Alternet, and Counterpunch.
Scott Butki: What was your intent with this book? Was it just a matter of wanting to tell your story or was it also a matter of trying to exorcise some demons? Do you feel you accomplished your goal?
Jason: My intent with the book was two-fold. I wanted to provide readers with a behind the-scenes look at the cut-throat world of investigative journalism and shed light on what goes on behind the scenes when it comes to covering a story. At the same time, I wanted readers to get an idea of the person beyond the byline and let them know that person is human and makes mistakes and is flawed and complex just like everyone else.
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