Seymour Hersh Documentary Hits Netflix
Legendary investigative journalist Seymour Hersh is the subject of Netflix's new documentary *Cover-Up*, which recounts his pivotal 1969 reporting that exposed the U.S. Army's concealment of the My Lai massacre war crimes in Vietnam. The film explores how Hersh's investigation helped reshape public understanding of the war and the personal cost of speaking truth to power.
- The massacre on March 16, 1968, was perpetrated by members of Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment. Estimates of the death toll of the unarmed civilians range from 347 to 504. - An initial report from the U.S. Army in April 1968 falsely claimed that only about 20 civilians had been inadvertently killed during the military operation. The truth was not widely known for over a year until a letter from Vietnam veteran Ronald Ridenhour prompted a new investigation. - For his reporting that exposed the massacre, Hersh received the 1970 Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting. His stories were initially published by the small Dispatch News Service after larger outlets were hesitant to run them. - Despite 26 soldiers being charged, only one, Platoon Leader Lt. William Calley Jr., was convicted of the murder of 22 villagers. Though sentenced to life in prison, he ultimately served three and a half years under house arrest after President Richard Nixon commuted his sentence. - After his My Lai investigation, Hersh went on to report on the Watergate scandal and secret U.S. bombing of Cambodia for *The New York Times*. He also exposed illegal domestic spying by the CIA on anti-war groups. - In 2004, while writing for *The New Yorker*, Hersh broke the story of the U.S. military's torture and abuse of prisoners at Abu Ghraib in Iraq, winning a fifth George Polk Award for his work. - Throughout his career, Hersh's reliance on anonymous sources has drawn both praise and criticism. His more recent, controversial reporting includes alternative accounts of the killing of Osama bin Laden and the sabotage of the Nord Stream pipelines.
