Kill the Messenger Page #8

you can't undo it.

Not ever. You become a paper that tells the

truth only when you f***ing feel like it.

Some of the heavyweights of American

journalism have examined Webb's work...

...and found it reckless, often wrong.

Just this week, Webb was

pulled off the CIA story...

...after his own executive

editor admitted the articles...

...oversimplified the origins

of the crack epidemic.

He also wrote,

I feel that we did not have proof

that top CIA officials knew.

Many Americans do seem willing

to believe that their own government...

...could have been involved

in drug smuggling.

Despite the criticism of

Mr. Webb's work...

...he is scheduled to receive the

Bay Area Journalist of the Year Award.

Some within the organization are

debating whether he is worthy of this-

Where the f***'s my bike?

Come on. Come on!

Hey, excuse me,

have you seen a bike that was here?

motorcycle?

F***! F***! F***!

God!

Come on.

What are you looking at?

- He's here!

- I see his car!

Daddy!

Dad!

Hey munchkins!

How are you?

How you doing?

Good to see you. How you doing, kiddo?

What happened to your hand?

That's just a little scratch.

It's nothing.

You ever coming home?

Working on it kiddo, we're working on it.

Mom! Dad's here!

Hi, chicken.

- Hey mom.

- Look at you.

Come on, Christine, let's go.

You look beautiful.

I look beautiful.

Come in.

What's this?

It's a long story.

It's nothing. It's boring.

Hi.

How you been?

Really good, considering.

I've decided to continue

writing on my own...

...without the paper.

You're resigning?

Yeah.

- Well that's good.

- Yeah.

I mean, you know.

Walk away. Fresh start.

Make room for something new.

Yeah.

Thanks for coming with me.

It means a lot.

Tonight's going to be a good night.

Journalist of the Year

Yeah. You ready? You look ready.

- You guys behave.

- Love you guys.

Where's Ian?

No way.

No way.

What?

What?

This is great!

Yeah.

Oh man. Look at her.

You did it! You did it! You did it!

Thank you.

I'm so proud of you.

- Thank you.

- I'm super proud of you.

All right! Yes!

I'll follow you.

Yeah, don't drive too fast.

- Well what?

- We'll see.

Unbelievable!

Unbelievable.

Congratulations.

Congratulations, Gary! Good job!

Thank you, thank you.

Good to see you, good to see you.

My first story was about a dog that

should have died, but wouldn't.

I was twenty-two.

It was a stupid little feature,

but I was proud of it.

I put it in a frame

and hung it on my wall.

And believed I joined a secret

guild of reporters that day.

If there was ever a believer,

it was me.

My last story was about a police

horse in Cupertino, California...

...who died of constipation.

Actually, it's not a joke.

But to begin with a dog

and end with a pile of horseshit...

...there's a kind of poetry in there,

somewhere.

But this, this is horseshit.

Me being up here.

Look, I know I pissed off

a lot of people over the years.

Many of whom are

in this room right now.

But I think that's what good

investigative reporting does.

It ruffles feathers.

But I was never fired.

And my editors never

threw me under the bus.

And that's because I never

wrote anything until now...

...that really mattered to a lot of people.

Mattered in a scary way.

I'm not going to take it back.

Make nice to save my job.

Because I thought my job...

Sorry.

I thought my job was

to tell the public the truth.

The facts, pretty or not.

And let the publishing of those facts...

...make a difference...

...in how people look at things.

At themselves,

at what they stand for.

That's shame on me.

This is the only thing

I ever wanted to do.

And for a while...

...a long while, it was an honor.

Before we say goodnight,

there's one more item of business.

Hey dad.

Hey bud.

You ok?

I'm not sure.

Well, I'm really proud of you.

Thanks bud.

Listen.

I've done a lot of things

that I'm not proud of.

But I've never stopped loving you.

Not once.

I know.

- I need some air.

- Yeah.

Hey dad, don't go too far.

This town hall meeting allows the

South Central community to interact...

...with the director of Central intelligence.

Please join me in welcoming CIA Director,

John Deutch.

How are we supposed to trust...

...the CIA officials to investigate themselves?

Is Gary Webb in the house

is the first thing I want to ask?

Is Gary Webb in here?

Gary Webb is the reporter

for the San Jose Mercury News

who broke the story wide open.

Allow Gary Webb to have full access to the

Investigator General's full documentation...

...and comparatively go through

it as the investigation goes on.

There's no question

in my mind there is a complicity

in the flow of drugs into this country.

Same pilots, same airstrips,

same airplanes...

...carrying guns and drugs at the same time.

And people knew it.

South Central Los Angeles and

every other city in America

...are owed an explanation.

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