‘Catalyst Sessions’ recap: Mike Deeson

Former investigate newsman Mike Deeson, who spent 35 award-wining years at WTSP-TV and earned a reputation as the watchdog journalist that “bad guys” did not want to see coming, discussed his career and his new memoir on Friday’s edition of The Catalyst Sessions.

The book, Bad News For You is Good News For Me, was published by St. Petersburg Press.

On the program, Deeson talked about his “Eureka!” moment. “I’m going to shock you … politicians lie,” he said. “I realized there was nothing more exciting than to have a piece of paper proving the politician was lying, and letting him or her go on and on on-camera, and I would say ‘Well, what about this bill that you just wrote …’”

By practicing due diligence, Deeson always had strong research-proven facts to back up each confrontation.

The interview spotlit several of the chapters in Bad News For You is Good News For Me, including Deeson’s time with embedded troops in Iraq, and his interaction with General Norman Shwarzkoft, a fascinating exchange with ex-president Bill Clinton, the tragic Terry Schiavo case and others.

He also talked about his latest project, a documentary called Broken, focusing on the mistreatment of elephants by America’s small traveling circuses.

All Catalyst Sessions episodes are archived on our Facebook page.