Fixer (person)
A fixer is someone who carries out assignments for or is skillful at solving problems for others. The term has different meanings in different contexts. In British usage the term is neutral, meaning "the sort of person who solves problems and gets things done".[1] In journalism, a fixer is a local person who expedites the work of a correspondent working in a foreign country. Use in American English implies that methods used to conceal their clients' identities or potential scandals are almost certainly of questionable morality, if not legality.[2] A fixer who disposes of bodies or "cleans up" physical evidence of crime is often more specifically called a cleaner. In sports, the term describes someone who makes (usually illegal) arrangements to manipulate or pre-arrange the outcome of a sporting contest.
Facilitator
Fixers may primarily use legal means, such as lawsuits and payoffs, to accomplish their ends, or they may carry out unlawful activities. The White House Plumbers have been described as fixers for Richard Nixon; their methods included break-ins and burglary.[3] Fixers who specialize in disposing of evidence or bodies are called "cleaners",[4] like the character of Victor "The Cleaner" in the film La Femme Nikita, or the fictional Jonathan Quinn, subject of the Brett Battles novel The Cleaner.[5]
In Britain, a fixer is a
Sports match fixer
In sport, when a match fixer arranges a preordained outcome of a sporting or athletic contest, the motivation is often gambling, and the fixer is often employed by organized crime. In the Black Sox Scandal, for instance, Major League Baseball players became involved with a gambling syndicate and agreed to lose the 1919 World Series in exchange for payoffs.[8] In another example, in 1975, Boston mobster Anthony "Fat Tony" Ciulla of the Winter Hill Gang was identified as the fixer who routinely bribed jockeys to throw horse races.[9][10] Other insiders may also be fixers, as in the case of veterinarian Mark Gerard, who, in September 1978, was convicted of fraud for "masterminding a horse-racing scandal that involved switching two thoroughbreds" so that he could cash in on a long-shot bet.[9]
Journalism aide
In journalism, a fixer is someone, often a local journalist, hired by a foreign correspondent or a media company to help arrange a story. Fixers will most often act as translators and guides, and will help to arrange local interviews that the correspondent would not otherwise have access to. They help to collect information for the story and sometimes play a crucial role in the outcome.[11] Fixers are rarely credited, and often put themselves in danger, especially in regimes where they might face consequences from an oppressive government for exposing iniquities the state may want to censor.[12][13]
In modern journalism, these aides are often the prime risk mitigators within a journalist's team, making crucial decisions for the reporter. According to journalist Laurie Few, "You don't have time not to listen (to the fixer)", and anybody who disregards a fixer's advice "is going to step on a landmine, figurative or actual".[14] Throughout the last 20 years,[timeframe?] fixers have ranged from civilians to local journalists within the regions of conflict. They are rarely credited and paid menially, which has begun a conversation for the compensation rights of these individuals. According to statistics gathered from the Global Investigative Journalism Network, the base pay for a fixer's time ranged from US$50–400 per day.[14]
A map based on publicly accessible research data shows a visual representation of data collected from various studies conducted on both fixers and their journalist counterparts from over 70 countries. Gathered from the Global Reporting Centre, the survey demographic map had 132 respondents from North America, 101 from Europe, 23 from South America, Africa and Eurasia, 63 from Asia and 9 from Australia.[15]
In popular culture
Numerous films and several songs have been named The Fixer. As a genre, they illustrate the different meanings of the term. Most commonly, they refer to the kind of person who carries out illicit activities on behalf of someone else. For example, the 2008 British television series The Fixer is about "a renegade group acting outside the law to bring order to the spiraling criminal activity in the country".[16]
- The 1986 film Captain Lou Albanoas Frankie "The Fixer" Acavano, an overweight, violent yet gluttonous psychopath who is tasked with tracking and killing the protagonists after ripping off their boss, Lou Castello, of a quarter of a million dollars in a fixed horse race.
- The 1993 film Point of No Return features Harvey Keitel as a cleaner who is called in to kill everyone and destroy the bodies after a mission goes awry.
- The 1994 film Pulp Fiction features Harvey Keitel as Winston Wolfe, a notorious fixer and cleaner, who helps the protagonists dispose of a corpse.[17]
- The main antagonist of the 2000 novel Void Moon is a near-psychotic fixer who cleans and investigates a murder in his employer's casino.
- A BBC Two documentary Alex Polizzi: The Fixer features a fixer in the benign British sense – a consultant who helps to turn around failing businesses.[18]
- The 2000 crime picture The Way of the Gun has James Caan as a fixer known as Joe Sarno, a "Bagman".
- The 2007 film Michael Clayton stars George Clooney as a fixer who works for a prestigious law firm and uses his connections and knowledge of legal loopholes to help his clients.[19]
- The 2007 gangster film Eastern Promises has Viggo Mortensen playing Nikolai Luzhin, a Russian mafia fixer, bodyguard and driver. [20]
- In Canadian writer sexual abuse scandal in Antigonish diocese.
- In the ABC drama cleaned up crimes. Kerry Washington's character, Olivia Pope, is partially based on former George H. W. Bush administration press aide Judy Smith, who serves as a co-executive producer.[21]
- In the FX series Sons of Anarchy, author Stephen King portrays a cleaner by the name of "Bachman", a nod to King's pen name Richard Bachman, who is hired by Gemma Teller Morrow to dispose of her father's caretaker's body after her accidental death.[22]
- The Netflix series House of Cards featured Michael Kelly as Doug Stamper, a fixer for politician Frank Underwood.[23]
- In the Gustavo Fring's operations, later reprising the role in the series' prequel spinoff, Better Call Saul.[24]
- The TV series Liev Schrieber, a Los Angeles-based fixer for celebrity clients. The character was inspired by a variety of Hollywood fixers such as Eddie Mannix and Fred Otash.[25]
- The 2016 Roman Catholic family man with two children and a doting homemaker wife named Connie Mannix (Alison Pill).
- The 2016 Romanian drama The Fixer and the 2009 documentary Fixer: The Taking of Ajmal Naqshbandi are each about journalistic fixers.[29]
- In the 2020 television show Devs, security chief Kenton (Zach Grenier) serves as a fixer for the heads of the Amaya corporation.
- In the Ubisoft videogame Watch Dogs, enemy players are known as fixers, and players can get contracts to eliminate other players, or carry out illegal jobs in game.
- In several cyberpunk-themed tabletop role-playing games such as Shadowrun and Mike Pondsmith's Cyberpunk, fixers are intermediaries between clients and mercenaries, "well-connected fencers, smugglers, and information brokers who apply their trade on the black market,"[30] connecting mercenaries to jobs they prefer to take and other mercenaries in the network they can work with.[31]
Notable fixers
Business
Entertainment
Journalism
- Acquitté Kisembe – Agence France-Presse in the Democratic Republic of Congo (missing since 2003)[37]
- Yemen (killed in action, 2016)[38]
- Bakhtiyar Haddad - Iraqi fixer for French reporter Stephan Villeneuve (Both killed in action in Mosul, 2014)[39]
- Zabihullah Tamanna – Translator for Afghanistan (killed in action, 2016)[38]
- Ajmal Naqshbandi - Journalist/Fixer in Afghanistan. Killed by Taliban. (Killed in action, 2011)[38]
- Sayed Agha - Driver/fixer in Afghanistan. Killed by Taliban. (Killed in action, 2011)[38]
Organized crime
- Magaly Chaves "La Faraona" Ante[40] (Sinaloa Cartel)
- Gabriel Zendejas Chavez[41] (Mexican Mafia)
- Manoel Alves "Sasquati" da Silva[42] (Primeiro Comando da Capital)
- Sidney Rogério "Lacraia" de Moraes[43][44] (Primeiro Comando da Capital)
- Sidney Korshak[45] (Chicago Outfit)
- Arnold Rothstein[46] (Jewish Mafia)
- Yoshio Kodama[47] (Yakuza)
- Hisayuki Machii[48] (Yakuza - Tosei-kai)
- Željko Raznatović Arkan (Serbian mafia)
- Zemun clan)
- John Francis "Johnny Cash" MorrisseyIrish Mafia - Kinahan crime family)
- Dámaso López "El Licenciado" Núñez[50] (Sinaloa Cartel)
- Los Zetas Cartel)
Politics
- Lucius Cornelius Balbus[52]
- Roy Cohn[53]
- David Hart[54][55]
- Konstantin Kilimnik[56]
- Michael Pocalyko[57]
- Keith Schiller[58]
Public relations
- Mike Sitrick[59]
- Judy Smith[60]
Religion
- Archbishop of Boston[61] (Catholic Church)
- Scientology Church)[62]
See also
References
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- Oxford Dictionaries. Archived from the originalon October 3, 2018. Retrieved December 14, 2018.
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- ^ a b Klein, Peter W.; Plaut, Shayna (November 16, 2017). "Fixing the Journalist-Fixer Relationship". Global Investigative Journalism Network. Retrieved April 23, 2019.
- ^ "Fixing the Journalist-Fixer Relationship". Global Reporting Centre. November 10, 2017. Retrieved April 23, 2019.
- ^ "The Fixer (2008)". Kent Film Office. February 4, 2008. Retrieved December 14, 2018.
- ^ Szlasa, Justin (March 21, 2012). "Being Winston Wolfe: 9 Reasons Why 'Pulp Fiction' is the Management Guide Every Indie Filmmaker Needs". IndieWire.
- ^ Cumming, Ed (January 31, 2012). "Alex Polizzi: the Fixer, BBC Two, review". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved December 22, 2018.
- ^ Dargis, Manohla (October 5, 2007). "They Call Him the Fixer in a World That's a Mess". The New York Times. Retrieved July 29, 2021.
- ^ Cronenberg, David (September 21, 2007), Eastern Promises (Crime, Drama, Thriller), Kudos Film and Television, BBC Films, Serendipity Point Films, retrieved January 19, 2023
- ^ Tucker, Neely (March 30, 2012). "ABC bases 'Scandal' on D.C. insider Judy Smith". Washington Post. Archived from the original on November 25, 2012. Retrieved May 21, 2012.
- ^ White, Jeanette (May 27, 2021). "Stephen King's Sons of Anarchy Cameo Has a Surprising Link to His Novels". CBR.com.
- ^ Stern, Marlow (March 12, 2015). "'House of Cards' Secret Weapon: Doug Stamper Tells All". The Daily Beast.
- ^ Krzyzanowski, Jeanine (2010). "Q&A – Jonathan Banks (Mike "The Cleaner")". AMC Networks.
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- ^ Childs, Ben (June 10, 2014). "Josh Brolin joins George Clooney for Coen brothers' Hail Caesar". theguardian.com. Retrieved February 8, 2015.
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- ^ Catsoulis, Jeannette (March 9, 2010). "Movie Review – 'Fixer – The Taking of Ajmal Naqshbandi' – Ian Olds Documents an Interpreter's Fate in Afghanistan". The New York Times. Retrieved September 29, 2011.
- ^ "Cyberpunk Roles: Fixer". Cyberpunk Central: The Guide. Retrieved May 15, 2021.
- ^ T.J.L. "What is the difference between a fence and a fixer?". Role-playing Games Stack Exchange. Retrieved May 15, 2021.
- ^ "Alex Polizzi: The Fixer". BBC. Retrieved June 23, 2020.
- ^ "Hotel Inspector Alex Polizzi poached by BBC for new show". The Daily Telegraph. London. July 1, 2011. Retrieved October 23, 2011.
- ^ Newland, Christina (March 15, 2016). "The Truth About the Tyrannical Hollywood Fixer Who Inspired 'Hail, Caesar!'". Vice.com. Retrieved June 23, 2020.
- ^ Wood, Gaby (April 7, 2014). "Mickey Rooney's amazing sex life". The Telegraph. Retrieved February 1, 2015.
- ^ a b c "The real-life Ray Donovans: Fixers behind Tinseltown's dark secrets", by Tim Walker, Independent, July 14, 2013.
- ^ Avenue, Committee to Protect Journalists 330 7th; York, 11th Floor New; Ny 10001. "The Fixers". cpj.org. Retrieved April 23, 2019.
{{cite web}}
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