
Michael Hastings, 'Rolling Stone' Contributor, Dead at 33 - mkr-hn
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/michael-hastings-rolling-stone-contributor-dead-at-33-20130618
======
danso
Hastings did an IAMA on Reddit a year ago:

[http://www.reddit.com/r/politics/comments/uaha0/iam_michael_...](http://www.reddit.com/r/politics/comments/uaha0/iam_michael_hastings_a_reporter_for_buzzfeed_and/)

Here's some tips he gave about pursuing journalism as a career:

Okay, here's my advice to you (and young journalists in general): 1.) You
basically have to be willing to devote your life to journalism if you want to
break in. Treat it like it's medical school or law school. 2.) When
interviewing for a job, tell the editor how you love to report. How your
passion is gathering information. Do not mention how you want to be a writer,
use the word "prose," or that deep down you have a sinking suspicion you are
the next Norman Mailer. 3.) Be prepared to do a lot of things for free. This
sucks, and it's unfair, and it gives rich kids an edge. But it's also the
reality. 4.) When writing for a mass audience, put a fact in every sentence.
5.)Also, keep the stories simple and to the point, at least at first. 6.) You
should have a blog and be following journalists you like on Twitter. 7.) If
there's a publication you want to work for or write for, cold call the editors
and/or email them. This can work. 8) By the second sentence of a pitch, the
entirety of the story should be explained. (In other words, if you can't come
up with a rough headline for your story idea, it's going to be a challenge to
get it published.) 9) Mainly you really have to love writing and reporting.
Like it's more important to you than anything else in your life--family,
friends, social life, whatever. 10) Learn to embrace rejection as part of the
gig. Keep writing/pitching/reading.

------
AJ007
Michael Hastings wrote notable and impactful Rolling Stone pieces such as "The
Rise of the Killer Drones."

It is with some irony that Rolling Stone publishes more serious journalism
than half of the headline grabbing mass news web publishers I see on HN daily.

Too bad.

~~~
octo_t
Rolling Stone has always been a political magazine. Often with a certain je-
ne-sais-quois (see Hunter S Thompson), but political never the less.

In the 90s they shifted to a more media-based based magazine, compared to
previously and they have endeavoured to move back to being a political
magazine.

------
coldtea
> _A contributing editor to Rolling Stone, Hastings leaves behind a remarkable
> legacy of reporting, including an exposé of America 's drone war, an
> exclusive interview with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange at his hideout in
> the English countryside, an investigation into the Army's illicit use of
> "psychological operations" to influence sitting Senators (...)_

People have been killed or "vanished" for less. Just saying.

~~~
sillysaurus
This is a little over the top. His car jackknifed into a tree. In order for
your theory to make sense, his assassins would have had to ensure his car 1)
hit a solid object, 2) caught fire.

~~~
triplesec
nonetheless, these things are not unknown to have happened nefariously

~~~
tptacek
If that's true, you should be able to provide an example.

~~~
protomyth
I don't believe this was nefarious and I do respect you tptacek, but cutting
the break line is not an unknown way to attempt to off someone. It was even in
the wheelhouse of these gomers [http://5newsonline.com/2013/03/06/moms-brake-
line-cut-over-c...](http://5newsonline.com/2013/03/06/moms-brake-line-cut-
over-custody-fight-police-say/)

~~~
tptacek
Any cases where _anyone_ murdered a reporter by sabotaging their car, or where
the _US government_ murdered a reporter by _any means at all_ would be fine.

~~~
sillysaurus
You know it's a bad week on HN when tptacek (or anyone) is downvoted for
asking for an example of a far-fetched claim.

~~~
tptacek
It was a really dumb question for me to have asked; it's like I dared them.

~~~
protomyth
An open-ended question like that about people's foolish ways to try to off
their fellows in a single profession[1] is going to generate a lot of
examples. Car bombs seem to be an easy way with some folks[2]. Heck, fark.com
has many on a weekly basis. Reading the Church Committee stuff gives a pretty
good idea of how wild west our government got (and likely still is given the
drones).

For the record, I still think this incident was a simple accident.

1) en.rsf.org keeps track of attacks on the press

2) Nasrullah Afridi died on May 10 when a bomb exploded under his car after he
entered it.

------
8ig8
I wonder if these conspiracy thoughts would be so prominent if not for the
recent NSA news? It seems once trust is lost, everything is questioned.

~~~
adventured
Exactly. It's clearly a case of: if they'll do X, will they do Y?

The US Government does have a rather sordid history though, it's not like
they're saints. From the fake Iraq weapons claims, to the Gulf of Tonkin
incident being used to get us into Vietnam. If they'll go to such lengths to
get us into wars that kill massive numbers of people (our own included), I do
find it hard to believe they won't kill a single journalist (without implying
that's what happened to Hastings).

"The second Tonkin Gulf incident was originally claimed by the U.S. National
Security Agency to have occurred on August 4, 1964, as another sea battle, but
instead may have involved "Tonkin Ghosts"[6] (false radar images) and not
actual NVN torpedo boat attacks.

"The outcome of these two incidents was the passage by Congress of the Gulf of
Tonkin Resolution, which granted President Lyndon B. Johnson the authority to
assist any Southeast Asian country whose government was considered to be
jeopardized by 'communist aggression'."

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulf_of_Tonkin_incident](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulf_of_Tonkin_incident)

Or this (US military admitting to having sprayed black communities in St Louis
with radioactive chemicals in the 1950s and 1960s):

[http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/suit-
fil...](http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/suit-filed-over-
government-test-spraying-in-st-louis-
during/article_9bc1fc7d-7093-58a3-b557-0cbac5dc38ab.html)

------
rl3
_" Why don't you give answers that aren't bullshit for a change?" Hastings
replied._

This man was a badass.

~~~
B0Z
Love her or hate her, Rachael Maddow said of Hastings tonight (paraphrased
from memory) "There are a lot of journalists who hope to be or claim to be
fearless in their reporting. Michael Hastings _was_ fearless. Most people got
the impression after talking to him briefly that he wasn't like everyone else
-- you were NOT going to be able to ignore him."

He was an infrequent guest on Up with Chris Hayes. I remember fast forwarding
through most guests verbal essays to listen to his.

He'll be sorely missed... in an era when we need people like him the most.

------
swamp40
38 comments, and no one mentions his problems with addiction:
[http://trueslant.com/michaelhastings/2009/04/28/a-case-of-
th...](http://trueslant.com/michaelhastings/2009/04/28/a-case-of-the-relapse-
for-young-addictauthor/)

4:30am on a residential street - the CIA/NSA couldn't kill me that way if they
tried.

(The video is horrendous - bad way to die.)

------
nackerwillis
This is eerily spooky. I saw this accident this morning on my way to work.
They completely blocked off Melrose and Highland with about a 2 block radius.
I had no idea this accident was tied to him till I arrived home.

I was able to drive around and get a scope of the accident scene and felt
something wasn't right.

The center divider has about a 3/4 miles worth of trees. I want to know where
he 'lost' control. Street has multiple stops along the way...

------
joonix
I hate car crashes. It's such a waste of life. We have the technology to
prevent these, it's just a matter of investing in getting them into every car
on the road.

~~~
paulrademacher
I presume you're talking about self-driving tech?

------
CamperBob2
Any details on the car crash?

~~~
meric
I don't know about anyone else, but I feel something isn't quite right.
"Fearless Journalist Car Crash Into Tree And Dies In Explosion.".
[http://ktla.com/2013/06/18/driver-killed-in-fiery-car-
crash-...](http://ktla.com/2013/06/18/driver-killed-in-fiery-car-crash-in-
hollywood/#axzz2WcYdbrFl) Mythbusters have shown this doesn't usually happen.
[http://dsc.discovery.com/tv-
shows/mythbusters/videos/crash-a...](http://dsc.discovery.com/tv-
shows/mythbusters/videos/crash-and-burn.htm)

EDIT: I made up the headline.

~~~
stephengillie
The intersection where the car crashed. A median with trees and light posts
begins here heading southbound, as well as some trees on the sidewalk west of
the street. I don't know which tree was collided with.

[https://maps.google.com/?ll=34.083531,-118.338458&spn=0.0013...](https://maps.google.com/?ll=34.083531,-118.338458&spn=0.001387,0.000755&t=h&z=20)

Either the reporter was driving drunk (at 4:15am on a Tuesday morning aka
Monday night) or this is some kind of conspiracy (body burned beyond
recognition).

I'm still not sure how a car "jacknifes", unless that's referring to the
opposite ends of the car wrapping around a tree. Normally, that phrase refers
to a tractor-trailer combination turning sideways around the towing joint.

~~~
nackerwillis
I saw this on my way to work this morning. I live close, actually. I went
around to survey the accident since it's looked pretty odd. Those tree's span
for quite a while, and it took him all that time to "jacknife" into one?

To answer your question: He hit the 3 or 4 tree in.

------
mathattack
It's a shame to lose such a bold journalist when they are in short supply.
There is an irony that the Rolling Stone is the place to house free speech.

------
mtowle
"Traffic collision"

