The chapter delves into the speaker's experience covering a story about the opioid epidemic, focusing on executives of an opioid manufacturer facing criminal charges in a landmark trial, revealing important details about the pharmaceutical industry. It discusses the challenges of reporting on such trials, the process of securing interviews with key figures, and balancing storytelling depth with addressing broader issues of accountability in the epidemic.
Evan Hughes is a journalist whose work has appeared in The New York Times Magazine, GQ, The Atlantic, The Atavist and many others. His book, just out in paperback, is Pain Hustlers: Crime and Punishment at an Opioid Startup.
“It should be called slow-form journalism…. It is heavily edited. It’s heavily fact checked. And chances are, you’re not going to be the first. Maybe you’re going to be first to reveal some piece of it. I have made peace with like, I’m not the scoop guy. I’m the person who comes in and I’m good at telling the story in a thorough and deep way.”
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