Nice Journalist, Bad Journalist 

When police want to intimidate someone into copping to a crime – regardless of whether the suspect is guilty – they use the good cop/bad cop routine because it is very effective. When people don’t understand their rights and feel somewhat defenseless, like you might feel in an interrogation room, they will often believe in the “good cop’s” good intentions because they want to. They want to believe that someone – i.e., this “good cop,” is trustworthy.

Journalists do the same thing, but they do it without a partner. They introduce themselves to the person they’re interviewing by sounding nice and friendly and asking questions that seem totally harmless. Then, once they feel they have the interviewee’s trust, they gradually ask the gotcha questions.

I’ve been in this situation more than once. If you give in, you get double punishment. They write the negative story they had decided to write before they spoke to you – and when you see it, you feel like you’ve been intellectually and morally raped.

This is why experts, including ex-cops, tell you to give the police only the minimum information you are required to give them if you are “detained” for any reason.

With a journalist, you can refrain from taking the interview, knowing that they are going to write their story anyway. Or, if you are as smart as Konstantin Kisin, you can have some fun with them.

Click here.