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Fixer (person)

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A fixer is someone who is assigned or contracted to solve problems for others. The term has different meanings in different contexts. In British usage, the term is neutral, referring to a person, such as a SPAD (political advisor), "who...gets things done".[1] Use in American English implies that the methods used are of questionable morality and legality.[2]

In organized crime, cleaners remove incriminating physical evidence, including the disposal of bodies or witnesses. In sports, the term describes someone who makes arrangements to manipulate or pre-arrange the outcome of a sporting contest. In journalism, a fixer is a local person who expedites the work of a foreign correspondent.

Facilitator

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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 commercial consultant for business improvement, whereas in an American context a fixer is often an associate of a powerful person who carries out difficult, undercover, or stealth actions, or extricates a client out of personal or legal trouble.[1][6] A fixer may freelance, like Judy Smith, a well-known American public relations "crisis consultant" whose career provided inspiration for the popular 2012 television series Scandal.[7] More commonly a fixer works for a single employer, under a title such as "attorney" or "bodyguard", which does not typically describe the kinds of services that they provide.

Sports match fixer

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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

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In journalism, a fixer is someone, often a local journalist, hired by a correspondent or a media company to help arrange a story. Fixers will often act as translators and guides, and help to arrange local interviews that the correspondent would not otherwise have access to. They help 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]

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]

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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 Wise Guys features Captain Lou Albano as 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 bro-Western thriller 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]

Notable fixers

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Business

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Entertainment

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Journalism

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Organized crime

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Politics

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Public relations

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Religion

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b "Definition of 'fixer'". Collins Dictionary. Retrieved December 14, 2018.
  2. ^ "Definition of fixer in English". Oxford Dictionaries. Archived from the original on October 3, 2018. Retrieved December 14, 2018.
  3. ^ Garment, Suzanne (April 13, 2018). "Cohen Makes Nixon's Fixers Look Like Amateurs". Real Clear Politics. Retrieved December 14, 2018.
  4. ^ Demery, Rod (May 28, 2020). "Homicide Detective Fact Checks Crime Scenes from Breaking Bad to CSI". True Crime (Interview). Vol. 1, no. 5. Vanity Fair. Retrieved February 12, 2023.
  5. ^ Battles, Brett (2007). The Cleaner. Random House. ISBN 978-0-440-24370-0.
  6. ^ "fixer, noun". Merriam-Webster Dictionary. Retrieved December 14, 2018.
  7. ^ McDowell, Jeanne Dorin (April 24, 2012). "Real 'fixer' behind 'Scandal' steps into spotlight". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved January 25, 2019.
  8. ^ Linder, Douglas (2010). "The Black Sox Trial: An Account". University of Missouri, Kansas City. Retrieved December 22, 2018.
  9. ^ a b Swenson, John (December 25, 2013). "The Sport of Kings Is Full of Scum". Vice. Retrieved December 22, 2018.
  10. ^ "The Greatest Race-Fixer Of Them All" Archived August 23, 2021, at the Wayback Machine, by Stuart Marques, The New York Sun, January 17, 2005. Retrieved January 27, 2019.
  11. ^ Arjomand, Noah Amir (2022). Fixing Stories: Local Newsmaking and International Media in Turkey and Syria. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9781316518007.
  12. ^ Clore, Kathlyn (February 4, 2009). "10 things journalists should know about fixers: Covering minorities". European Journalism Centre. Archived from the original on April 10, 2018. Retrieved March 3, 2012.
  13. ^ "In Journalism, what is a fixer?". WiseGeek. Retrieved August 20, 2014.
  14. ^ a b Klein, Peter W.; Plaut, Shayna (November 16, 2017). "Fixing the Journalist-Fixer Relationship". Global Investigative Journalism Network. Retrieved April 23, 2019.
  15. ^ "Fixing the Journalist-Fixer Relationship". Global Reporting Centre. November 10, 2017. Retrieved April 23, 2019.
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  17. ^ Szlasa, Justin (March 21, 2012). "Being Winston Wolfe: 9 Reasons Why 'Pulp Fiction' is the Management Guide Every Indie Filmmaker Needs". IndieWire.
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  21. ^ White, Jeanette (May 27, 2021). "Stephen King's Sons of Anarchy Cameo Has a Surprising Link to His Novels". CBR.com.
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  25. ^ Childs, Ben (June 10, 2014). "Josh Brolin joins George Clooney for Coen brothers' Hail Caesar". theguardian.com. Retrieved February 8, 2015.
  26. ^ Blake, Emily (October 29, 2014). "George Clooney's Coen brothers comedy 'Hail, Caesar!' gets February 2016 release". ew.com. Retrieved February 8, 2015.
  27. ^ Bahr, Lindsey (June 9, 2014). "Josh Brolin to star with George Clooney in Coen brothers' 'Hail, Caesar!'". ew.com. Retrieved February 8, 2015.
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  30. ^ "Hotel Inspector Alex Polizzi poached by BBC for new show". The Daily Telegraph. London. July 1, 2011. Retrieved October 23, 2011.
  31. ^ Newland, Christina (March 15, 2016). "The Truth About the Tyrannical Hollywood Fixer Who Inspired 'Hail, Caesar!'". Vice.com. Retrieved June 23, 2020.
  32. ^ Wood, Gaby (April 7, 2014). "Mickey Rooney's amazing sex life". The Telegraph. Retrieved February 1, 2015.
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  34. ^ Avenue, Committee to Protect Journalists 330 7th; York, 11th Floor New; Ny 10001. "The Fixers". cpj.org. Retrieved April 23, 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  35. ^ a b c d Lees, Caroline (September 1, 2016). "Under the wires: Local "fixers", who help foreign correspondents on the ground, can face death threats and accusations of being spies after working for international media". Index on Censorship. 45 (3): 8–11. doi:10.1177/0306422016670328a. ISSN 0306-4220.
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  37. ^ "Colombia Captures Cocaine Fixer 'La Faraona'". InSight Crime. July 6, 2015. Retrieved May 27, 2023.
  38. ^ "Former Teacher Accused of Being Cartel Fixer". The Growling Wolverine. November 28, 2022. Retrieved May 27, 2023.
  39. ^ "Arrecadador de dinheiro do PCC é preso no interior". Folha de S.Paulo (in Brazilian Portuguese). October 25, 2003. Retrieved July 15, 2023.
  40. ^ "ACUSADO DE ARRECADAR PARA QUADRILHA É PRESO EM SP". G1 (in Brazilian Portuguese). December 13, 2006. Retrieved July 15, 2023.
  41. ^ "Facção PCC banca 5 times de futebol amador de São Paulo". Gazeta Digital (in Brazilian Portuguese). December 15, 2006. Retrieved July 15, 2023.
  42. ^ "Sidney Korshak, 88, Dies; Fabled Fixer for the Chicago Mob", The New York Times, January 22, 1996
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  44. ^ Weiner, Tim (October 9, 1994). "C.I.A. Spent Millions to Support Japanese Right in 50's and 60's". The New York Times.
  45. ^ Romero, Frances (January 20, 2011). "Top 10 Real-Life Mob Bosses". Time.
  46. ^ Gerard Couzens (September 15, 2022). "Kinahan cartel dealt devastating blow as 'key' man Johnny Morrissey arrested in Costa del Sol". Sunday World. Retrieved September 15, 2022.
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  48. ^ "Mexico captures leader of brutal Zetas drug cartel". Reuters. July 15, 2013. Retrieved July 15, 2023.
  49. ^ Everitt, Anthony (2007). Augustus The Life of Rome's First Emperor. Random House. p. 59. ISBN 9780812970586. Retrieved July 29, 2021.
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  54. ^ Roston, Aram (May 8, 2019). "Exclusive: Trump fixer Cohen says he helped Falwell handle racy photos". Reuters. Archived from the original on May 8, 2019. Retrieved July 9, 2021.
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  59. ^ "The Atlantic: Why Does the Catholic Church Keep Failing on Sexual Abuse?". The Atlantic. January 28, 2023.
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