Journalista
The untold tale of the woman who broke one of the biggest scandals in U.S. history.
The true story of Courtney “Cookie” Hood, former model and ex-wife of a Colombian drug cartel kingpin, hired to manage the CBS/60 Minutes field office in Managua, Nicaragua during the civil war in the ‘80s. What starts as another big party for her, ends up being the history making adventure of a lifetime, blowing the lid off the Iran-Contra scandal and almost taking down the Reagan presidency.
Award winning filmmaker, Steven Esteb, takes us into the dangerous and improbable lives of Cookie and her team of courageous wartime journalists covering the civil wars, revolutions, and US missteps in Central America.
JOURNALISTA is dangerous, irreverent, insatiable, and hilarious. An inside look at the insane world of combat journalism. They worked hard, and they partied harder.
Stephen Kinzer (former bureau chief of the New York Times) writes: “During the 1980s and 1990s, Cookie Hood was the driving force behind the most successful television coverage of Central America that appeared anywhere in the United States.”
Cookie uses her unique mix of charm, balls, and passion for social justice, to get through checkpoints, into jungle military camps, and the highest levels of government. She's also a clear and present danger to the shadow U.S. government that is using Central America as a right-wing terror experiment in their fight against communism.
Cookie and her cohorts are brilliant trainwrecks speeding down a path to self- destruction. At the same time, they might just change the world.
Hosted and Created by Steven Esteb
Produced by Sean J. Donnelly
Executive Producers: Jason Waggenspack, Ellen K & Roy Laughlin
- Update frequency
- every 6 days
- Average duration
- 42 minutes
- Episodes
- 10
- Years Active
- 2023
The Smoking Gun
A CIA plane is shot down over Nicaragua, and the rush is on to get the biggest story of the decade.
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The Damage Done
The wild life catches up with Cookie, and she finally faces her own revolution.
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Ambush
At the peak of her powers, Cookie is taking flak from every direction, including an ambush from her biggest rival...the U.S government.
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The Comfortable Scam
Cookie saves the world from a nuclear holocaust, then saves her boys from their own personal disasters.
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Down and Dirty
Cookie leads a news team into the most remote parts of Nicaragua, in search of terror.
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Chicho and the Mermaid
Cookie’s son talks about growing up in a war zone, then his mom faces her own death.
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The Ever Elusive War
Cookie heads into the jungle looking for the war. Unfortunately…she finds it.
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Partying with Pablo
Cookie’s early life as Mrs. Scarface. She parties her way into a job with CBS News bureau in Nicaragua.
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This is a Firing Squad
We meet Cookie for the first time as she faces a firing squad. The murder of a respected journalist lights the fuse of revolution.
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Introducing: Journalista
Journalista is about the dangerous and improbable life of party girl, Cookie Hood, who is hired by CBS NEWS in Nicaragua for a weekend gig, and ends up breaking the IRAN- CONTRA scandal, and almost t…