a good life newspapering and other adventures

The story leads with an anecdote about Bradlee, and other Post staffer’s, reactions as political heads started rolling: “For a split second, Ben Bradlee’s mouth dropped open with an expression of sheer delight.”įour years after retiring as executive editor of The Post, Bradlee recounted a life in newspapers in his 1995 autobiography A Good Life: Newspapering and other Adventures, which was chronicled in tweets by the Post’s Carlos Lozada following the news of Bradlee’s passing.

While Watergate was still unfolding, CJR’s July/ August 1973 cover story explored how The Washington Post developed its investigations into the scandal. For our September/October 1971 issue, CJR asked Bradlee, together with editors at The Boston Globe and The New York Times about their decision to publish the documents and being enjoined by the government. The release of the Pentagon Papers and stepping toe to toe with the US government was a key moment in Bradlee’s career at the helm of The Washington Post. Noted by The Washington Post, “Nothing pleased Bradlee more than a piece that nailed the corrupt, pricked a narcissist, uncovered a creep, exposed a phony, felled a climber and really told it like it was,” Martha Sheyrill, a former Style writer, recounts. Beyond the lengthy obituaries, these must-reads from a long life in newspapers show us Bradlee busy reinvigorating an old publication, wrestling the Pentagon Papers and Watergate, and recounting his life through documents and anecdotes.īradlee reinvigorated the Post’s feature section with his own sensibilities. Stories by and about him from various decades illuminate not only what made Bradlee tick as a newsman, but also his enormous and enduring impact on journalism. Ben Bradlee had, by all accounts, an eventful life at the helm of The Washington Post, and as a result he was a frequent subject for other publications.

A good life newspapering and other adventures