A "failed writer?"

http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na-fowler7-2008jun07,0,7613904,full.story

Mayhill Fowler is a 66-year-old, Huffington Post reporter, who refers to herself as a 'failed writer.' Be that as it may, this failed writer helped expose two of the most surprising stories of the 2008 election. That said, her writing capabilities may not be held to the same standard as The New York Times' Gail Collins, but something that she has over Collins is the risks she is willing to take to expose a story. "Of course he had no idea I was a journalist," Fowler explained when speaking of her interview with President Bill Clinton, "He just thought we were all average, ordinary Americans who had come out to see him." (The Huffington Post, James Rainey) With that in mind, there is something to be said about Fowler's willingness to suffer severe repercussions and opposition, in order to expose a story for the public. And a woman, who was 61 years of age at the time, who still goes 'undercover' to find stories is pretty impressive. What followed after her serendipitous success was Fowler being labeled as "the face of the new-media revolution that is remaking presidential campaigns." The Fowler coverage actually began when she surreptitiously attended a "closed press fundraiser," where Obama was speaking about 'bitter small-town Americans' that "cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them." The reason she should be recognized for her exposure of this story is not only because of what she went through to record that quote, but also for putting her political views aside and revealing the story not for her, but for people that could be influenced by those words. As such, Fowler deserved any recognition for the investigative journalism she conducted in 2008 and does not deserve the 'failed writer' label anymore.