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A Question of Paternity

My Life as an Unaffiliated Reporter

David Tereshchuk leapt from an unpromising childhood in a small town on the English-Scottish borders to a precocious high-flying career as a TV journalist, first in London, then New York. During his working life, he has managed to extract revealing answers from tyrants and the oppressed, but never managed to coax his mother into admitting who his father was, even after her revelation to him, when he was in his 50s, that she had been raped, aged 15, by a priest.

Alongside his career, the search for his mother’s alleged abuser has haunted him, adding layers of extra stress to a life already burdened by alcoholism and insecurity. This is his astonishing story, one that narrates an insistent personal struggle against the background of tumultuous moments in 20th and 21st century history.

THE MEDIA BEAT was first commissioned in 2004 by Tribune Newspapers from journalist and media critic DAVID TERESHCHUK. It ran as a weekly feature in Tribune's New York City daily, 'AM New York' until Tereshchuk took the column online in 2006. This web version has continued ever since.

A radio version of THE MEDIA BEAT appears every week on the NPR Connecticut station WHDD—live on Friday morning and rebroadcast over the weekend. THE MEDIA BEAT PODCASTS are available at Apple Podcasts and at WHDD's 'On Demand' page.

From 2012 onward, Tereshchuk's frequent reports for television on ethical issues have been broadcast on PBS programs Religion and Ethics Newsweekly and PBS Newshour.  

Subscribe to THE MEDIA BEAT wherever you listen to podcasts and radio.

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