In a meeting last week, renowned Newsweek reporter Michael Isikoff (of Lewinsky scandal fame) told PR NEWS editors that he still uses the same investigative techniques coined by Bob Woodward to crack big stories. Sometimes all it takes is a wild guess to get the real skinny. Corporate spokespeople often let clues slip in the process of correcting untrue statements, he said.
Isikoff added that he usually tries to circumvent the PR machine because his impression is that the communications staff often doesn't know the whole story - and often doesn't want to know.
"Rare is the flack who will walk in [to a CEO's office] and say, I demand to know the truth," he said. "They're going to be more interested in putting out the appropriate spin for the company."