Invisible Power - How Powerful People Protect Themselves

In a Columbia Journalism Review article,   Lyz Lenz writes about interviewing Alan Dershowitz, the Harvard Law professor who recently resigned after details came out about his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.

In it she helps clarify how powerful people (usually men) are able to get away with things by wielding their power through fixers.

"Sitrick is a fixer who has made a name for himself cleaning up the messes of rich and powerful men (and some women, too). 

“Mike, am I the lead steer?” I’d asked Sitrick when he called. The “lead steer” is Sitrick’s idea that all it takes to change the direction of a media stampede is for one journalist to take a contrarian view of the story. It’s a theory that holds well for ranchers trying to redirect a stampede. And it’s worked for Sitrick, who has orchestrated positive press for some odious clients.

"4: The Plan
In 2011, Michael Sitrick sued Jeffrey Epstein, over an unpaid bill for PR services. In that lawsuit is a detailed outline of services rendered.
It’s a plan that shows a comprehensive outline of reporters who were contacted about stories and who reached out for interviews. The idea was this: connect with reporters, offer access, overwhelm them with data, threaten their access if things go sideways, go over their heads. That is how men like Epstein went unchallenged for years. How a journalist can know something, but never be able to say it. On August 22, NPR’s David Folkenflick detailed how Epstein allegations went unreported by Vanity Fair. The story alleges that Epstein pressured the magazine’s editor, Graydon Carter, and that Carter caved."

We already know about the insidious use of Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs) that require someone to never mention what happened to them again as a condition for a payment - generally known as hush money - like Trump's deal with Stormy Daniels and others.

 I'm putting this short paragraphs from Lenz here like  research notes.  These sorts of explanations of tactics get lost in the longer article.  I want to record this clearly and as I come across similar flickers of light shining into the dark shadows that protect the powerful, I'll add new posts.


[This was supposed to go up yesterday, but I've been so busy prepping my pecha kucha presentation that I forgot.  The presentation is tomorrow, and if I get far enough along with it today, I'll tell you more about it later today.  Don't hold your breath.]