How the Free Press Killed Pol Pot Excerpts from Sympathy for the Devil: A Journalist’s Memoirs from Inside Pol Pot’s Khmer Rouge. (C) All rights reserved. No republication in whole or in part without express written permission from the author) This week is the anniversary of both the rise to power and the death […]
Excerpts from “Sympathy for the Devil: A Journalists Memoir from Inside Pol Pot’s Khmer Rouge”
A Journalists Memoir from Inside Pol Pot’s Khmer Rouge By Nate Thayer (Copyright Nate Thayer. All Rights Reserved. No publication or citation permitted without author’s express written permission.) By 1994, the Khmer Rouge leadership once again evaporated into the jungle. To my frustration, my methodically constructed stable of Khmer Rouge sources was now deep in […]
The Road to Pol Pot: Snippets from a Journalists Memories
Behind the Scenes Reporting on War and Bad Guys By Nate Thayer June 11, 2016 I had worked for the Associated Press (AP) since 1989 covering the war in Cambodia and the myriad of guerrilla armies and refugee camps, based on the Thai border. I made 41 trips into the guerrilla controlled zones between 1989 and […]
When I Vomited on Khmer Rouge Leaders: How Chinese Covert Aid Saved my Life
When I Vomited on Khmer Rouge Leader Khieu Samphan: The Story of the Chinese Nobel Prize Winner and How the Khmer Rouge Saved My Life By Nate Thayer October 6, 2015. I threw up on Khmer Rouge Prime Minister Khieu Samphan. This took place at the heavily guarded Khmer Rouge compound in Phnom Penh, Cambodia […]
I Killed Pol Pot: How The Free Press Brought Pol Pot to Justice
Why a Free Press is a vital institution to Free People By Nate Thayer April 17, 2015 Today marks a tragic day in the modern history of political mass murder by government. Forty-two years ago today six separate armies, under the titular leadership of Pol Pot’s Khmer Rouge, converged on the Cambodian capital of […]
‘We are the World! Who is that singer? Johnny Jackson?’: Excerpts from ‘Sympathy for the Devil’
‘We are the World!’ After threatening to assassinate American civilians, the Khmer Rouge leader continued: “Why don’t we join hands in national reconciliation. Join together! We are with you, the West!” he said, growing increasingly animated, half breaking into song. “‘We are the World!’ Who is that singer? Johnny Jackson? Like he says, ‘We are […]
“No More Creampuff Journalism”–Readers Object with Fervor and Wit
No More Creampuff Journalism Ouch! Below are a series of reader reactions to an interview I conducted with then Khmer Rouge President Khieu Samphan in 1993. It wasn’t pretty, but it was (mostly) quite witty. Included is the article that sparked the outrage, the response of Phnom Penh Post editor-in-chief and publisher, the inimitable and […]
In Pursuit of Mass Murderers: Sympathy for the Devil by Nate Thayer
Reporting from Inside the Final Collapse of Pol Pot’s Khmer Rouge. Excerpts from the unpublished book “Sympathy for the Devil: A Journalists Memoir from Inside Pol Pot’s Khmer Rouge” (Copyright Nate Thayer. All Rights Reserved. No publication or citation permitted without author’s express written permission.) By Nate Thayer April 18, 2014 By 1994, the Khmer Rouge leadership […]
The Free Press is Dead–Temporarily
By Nate Thayer March 19, 2014 Don’t believe anything you read in the media anymore. I don’t And spare me the “Mainstream Media” hyperbole. It doesn’t exist. The truth is that the so-called mainstream media, or the tattered shreds of its remaining vestiges, are considerably more trustworthy than the anarchy of online sleuths who never […]
A Freelance Journalist’s High Praise and Kind Words for Sympathy for the Devil
High Praise from a freelance journalist for Sympathy for the Devil: A Journalist’s Memoir from Inside Pol Pot’s Khmer Rouge: “The book also promises to be a rollicking account of a bygone era of journalism, when reporters were colorful characters who nonetheless possessed serious intent and influence. The remarkable thing is that Thayer did it as a […]
Why Journalism is Better than a Real Job: Excerpts from Sympathy for the Devil
Why Journalism is Better than a Real Job: Excerpts from Sympathy for the Devil Sympathy for the Devil: A Journalist’s Memoir From Inside Pol Pot’s Cambodia (Copyright Nate Thayer. No publication or distribution in whole or part without express prior written permission from the author) Please consider donating to support the publication of Sympathy for […]
My Sordid Love Affair with Journalism
My Sordid Love Affair with Journalism Excerpts from Sympathy for the Devil: A Foreign Correspondent Inside Pol Pot’s Cambodia Copyright Nate Thayer. No republication in whole or part without prior written permission of the author By Nate Thayer Journalism and I have a love affair that will never be extinguished. From the beginning, I was […]
