Two reporters, both working moms, best friends, on the staff of a tabloid perpetually threatened with extinction, walk the mean streets of Philadelphia pursuing a story about police corruption.
Lawyers threaten them, one of them gets slapped around, on-the-record sources prove elusive.
But eventually, the project comes together. Their reporting on a rogue narcotics squad preying on immigrant owners of neighborhood bodegas triggers an FBI investigation. And against all odds, they win a Pulitzer Prize.
It's not a movie — yet. It's the true story of Philadelphia Daily News reporters Barbara Laker and Wendy Ruderman. And it's about to be a book.
Rem Rieder is a media columnist for USA TODAY.(Photo: USA TODAY)
Next Tuesday is the publication date for Busted, subtitled A Tale of Corruption and Betrayal in the City of Brotherly Love, which the two journalists wrote together. It's already attracting positive buzz, with raves from authors including Pete Dexter, Mark Bowden and Edna Buchanan.
It's not exactly high art, and the straight-ahead, no-frills writing is no threat to topple Flaubert as the king of stylists. What it is, is a riveting tale of two brave reporters who love what they do and are totally committed to doing what it takes to nail down their story. You've heard of police procedurals. This is a police-reporting procedural.
Like the authors, the book is engaging, down to earth and at times, very funny.
And it's an important testament to the power of journalism. With all the concern today about new economic models, viral content and Twitter followers, Busted reminds us that journalism also serves an important social function, that there's a reason for that First Amendment prot! ection.
Regardless of platform, journalism's watchdog role remains critical.
Of course, Laker and Ruderman are fortunate. Many reporters today are tasked with feeding the beast, filing countless stories and blog posts and listicles and tweets. But while the Daily News only has about 16 reporters, the editors let the duo focus on what they do best.
They're now hard at work on a series of articles called Perfect Prey, about how people take advantage of the disabled and elderly to collect their Social Security checks.
In conversation, as in their book, it's not hard to see that Laker and Ruderman adore what they do. Laker, who got into journalism during the heady Watergate era, calls it "a privilege to go to places and meet people you otherwise never would."
She particularly enjoys "giving a voice to people who normally have no voice." And there's a special satisfaction when the reporting exposes wrongdoing and leads to positive change.
Ruderman chimes in, "It's the perfect job for a voyeur with a curious mind."
The two women spent a lot of time in very dangerous neighborhoods as they searched for police informants who could give them information about corrupt officers. But Ruderman says they "weren't scared at all, except when Barbara got beat up."
She adds that they see the streets "as an extension of the office. Yes, there are lots of guns out there, but it's not the Wild West where people are gunning down reporters."
The two love working for the scrappy Daily News, long the stepchild to the much larger Inquirer. (Both are owned by Interstate General Media. The beleaguered papers have had five owners in seven years.)
Laker, who was told the Daily News was going under any day when she joined up in 1993, affectionately calls it "a small, dysfunctional family," adding, "I like the fact that we're the underdog, not a paper that's supposed to win the Pulitzer." Ruderman, who left to join The New York Times but returned to Philadelphia for family rea! sons, lik! ens the Daily News to "a cheap, fun, witty date."
The friends wrote their book in Laker's kitchen, sitting side by side. At first, they wrote alternating chapters, but decided that wasn't working. They tried third person, but quickly rejected that approach as too "removed." Ultimately, they settled on writing in Ruderman's voice.
"We have startlingly similar writing styles," Ruderman says. "We think alike."
So with a Pulitzer and now a book, this has been quite a rush for the reporters. But they have one major disappointment. While a number of the officers they wrote about have been reassigned to desk duty, and the city has paid $2 million to settle 33 lawsuits filed by bodega owners, no one has been charged with a crime, something Ruderman finds "outrageous."
While they'd love to write another book, their plans for the future are pretty basic: Keep doing what they do.
Oh, and about that movie. Their agent is on it, though nothing has firmed up yet. But friends keep suggesting who should play the journalists.
Nominations for Laker have included Cate Blanchett and Charlize Theron. For Ruderman: Tina Fey. But Ruderman points out, "She's much too tall."
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