I feared that being near all of this would mean the end of my career

April 5, 2024 2:05 AM

“This was a catch-and-kill,” I told Alpert. “What’s a catch-and-kill?” he asked. I went on to explain the tabloid practice of buying stories to bury them. Alpert already had the outline of the story, I learned, and I filled him in on more: how Howard had flown out to Los Angeles that summer to buy McDougal’s story for $150,000, with the direction from Pecker to kill it to protect Trump. I stressed to him the importance of the term “catch and kill” and told him that if The Journal included it, it would give me some breathing room. I went back to my office and closed the door. My heart was racing, and I was sweating. from What I Saw Working at The National Enquirer During Donald Trump’s Rise by Lachlan Cartwright [NY Times; ungated] [CW: Trumpland]
posted by chavenet (14 comments total)

At this point, all I can do is sigh. Heavily.
posted by yes I said yes I will Yes at 3:53 AM on April 5 [2 favorites]

I was going weekly to Winco to buy distilled water last decade and am convinced the continuous parade of hit pieces on the covers of NE at the prime real estate of checkouts was sufficient for Trump to pull off his breaking of the Blue Wall in 2016.

https://qz.com/1369399/david-peckers-national-enquirer-ami-trashed-hillary-clinton-to-help-trump
posted by torokunai at 5:01 AM on April 5 [3 favorites]

"Supporters of Donald Trump roamed a pen that was set up to house them."

I think that is both a fair and humane outcome.
posted by mittens at 5:20 AM on April 5 [12 favorites]

An awful lot of people suddenly feel bad about things they did 8 years ago. He could have blown the whistle in 2015/2016. He did all this for his work visa. He let Trump rise to power so he could avoid having to go back to Australia, not a war zone or a famine.
posted by hydropsyche at 6:23 AM on April 5 [31 favorites]

Didn't the Enquirer always have it out for the Clintons? They were publishing stuff about Bill the rapist and Hillary eating pussy and doing witchcraft since before the Soviet Union fell, they weren't going to stop a good thing whether it was Trump or some other person. I am surprised that Trump was so prim about his affairs, though, as by that point hadn't he also been accused of rape multiple times?
posted by kingdead at 6:34 AM on April 5 [7 favorites]

The NYT publishing an exposé on some other media outlet unduly influencing the 2016 election.

The irony. The fucking nerve. The unmitigated gall.
posted by hangashore at 7:20 AM on April 5 [36 favorites]

An awful lot of people suddenly feel bad about things they did 8 years ago. He could have blown the whistle in 2015/2016. He did all this for his work visa. He let Trump rise to power so he could avoid having to go back to Australia, not a war zone or a famine.

I dunno, I remember reading about catch-and-kill back then and that break seems to have originated from him. He comes across as a more-or-less normal person in a not-so-normal world of kompormat and intimidation where he knew only pieces of what was happening. I empathize. He didn't create that environment but he did move the needle where he could. I'm glad he's not silent now.
posted by mazola at 7:32 AM on April 5 [6 favorites]

I was coming to terms with the other side of the magazine

What in the actual fuck. He really thought the NE was legit? Sure, they might have broken, what, 3 stories of import in their history, but what? This guy.
posted by Snowishberlin at 8:10 AM on April 5 [5 favorites]

We don't have to forgive or rehabilitate Cartwright. I think there's value in illustrating the way corruption and systemic dishonesty is taken for granted, considered necessary -- by Trumpworld itself -- for Trumpworld to function at all, and the way corruption works by continually oozing its way into compromising new participants, willing or not.

There's another angle to consider: Cartwright was the sort of person willing to take on a horrible job at this infamously shit tabloid, drowning his misgivings in alcohol, yet even he eventually found the practices there unbearable.
posted by Western Infidels at 8:44 AM on April 5 [10 favorites]

Now I wanna read about the stories that the NYT or the WSJ or CNN catch-and-kill.
posted by Artful Codger at 8:50 AM on April 5 [6 favorites]

Didn't Ronan Farrow cover all this in his book already?
posted by The Ardship of Cambry at 9:30 AM on April 5 [4 favorites]

Yeah, so he's sorry now? pfffft. him and what every GOP politician said after they decided to retire.
posted by bluesky43 at 10:01 AM on April 5 [10 favorites]

Yeah, so he's sorry now? pfffft. him and what every GOP politician said after they decided to retire.

I think we can be thankful for whistleblowers while also never forgetting all the bad things they did before they blew the whistle. Guys like Michael Cohen, Rex Tillerson and Bill Barr did some truly evil stuff when they were working for Trump... but now they're out there spilling his secrets and calling him a shitbird at every opportunity, and that is a very good thing. I may think they're lousy human beings, but the enemy of my enemy, etc.
posted by Ursula Hitler at 3:10 PM on April 5 [4 favorites]

Interestingly enough David Pecker is the first witness for the trial today (April 22nd).
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 9:19 AM on April 22