Catch and Kill

“Access Hollywood was an NBCUniversal property.”

One of the first difficulties in reporting any kind of sexual harassment claims in the media is the interwoven nature of the properties. NBC has missed out on one of the biggest stories of 2016 due to the fact that the story might embarrass them in a slight way. The issue foreshadows the far more cynical policy of catch and kill. The Access Hollywood tape is ignored by NBC rather than killed, but the acknowledgement of its damaging contents is similar to the later attempts portrayed in the book to kill any threatening stories. 

“And then we need to get a shredder down here.” 

The third chapter of the book opens with a dramatic scene. The contents of a safe are emptied, and Dylan Howard demands a shredder. The details of this event are scarce and difficult to pin down, but the sense of devious criminality is conveyed through the unease in the atmosphere. The documents are mysterious and valuable. They cannot be released to the public or they will do an extraordinary amount of damage to very important people. The shredder implies that the stories are gone forever and the search for truth is actively being curtailed by the people who have done so much to hide it from the public.