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 Vallarta Living | October 2007 
Out and About... in Washington
 Twila Crawford - PVNN
Websites, TV Shows and Books to Read
I´ve returned from Washington, DC, from the best conference I have ever attended. The Society of Professional Journalists seemed to have everyone from the world of communication there.
White House correspondents, White House press secretaries, Pulitzer Prize recipients tripping over each other, journalists who have been jailed concerning confidential sources in corruption cases they would not reveal, foreign correspondents, bloggers, a Senator and a Congressman or two, association executives (lobbyists), quite a number of high profile journalists and executives of key media organizations, including major magazines and television... and of course, the venerable Helen Thomas, Hearst newspapers, who was a White House correspondent for 57 years with UPI. University professors and their students certainly had a learning experience at the conference.
You would have thought Bob Woodard, Carl Bernstein and former Washington Post editor Ben Bradlee were rock stars with hundreds of students, especially Washington-area university students, who came to hear them speak 35 years after the Watergate break-in and the downfall of President Nixon. The face of journalism was changed with their investigative reporting. The work of these journalists is taught today to high school and university students.
Daniel Shorr, senior news analyst for NPR, who reported the Watergate story for CBS, received sustained applause. Scott Armstrong, the Senate investigator who has written a number of books, and Alicia Shephard, who has out the current book, Woodward and Bernstein: Life in the Shadow of Watergate, also participated.
Woodward, who started out as a night police reporter at The Washington Post, said Bernstein and he covered Watergate basically the way a police story would be covered. As the facts developed, the "big boys" at The Washington Post wanted to take over the story, but editor Bradlee supported the young men and their work. Woodward pointed out Bradlee "was a real hardass of freedom and discipline." The late publisher Katherine Graham was key in standing up to government powers, Bradlee explained.
Many inside funny stories were told and many irreverent remarks were made about powerful persons in Washington. In other words, hearing them talk was a whale of a lot of fun as well as informative.
As if that were not enough, some of today`s stories were explored with syndicated columnist Robert Novak and the CIA`s Valerie Plame controversy. This involved confidential sources, and Time magazine spent millions of dollars to defend itself and reporter Matt Cooper, Norman Pearlstine, former Time editor, said. Columnist Novak had his own attorney as an independent contractor and was never targeted by the government the way some others were targeted. Deputy White House official Richard Armitage was open in saying publicly he probaby was Novak`s source.
Copley News Service Pulitzer Prize winning editors and reporters told about their investigation of "the greatest case yet of Congressional corruption." The Duke Cunningham (California Republican) case of use of earmarks is related in their book,The Wrong Stuff, and charged persons are being sentenced or are in court. Other Congressmen, including Jerry Lewis (California Republican), are being investigated.
Google was an effective starting point in their investigation, involving a too-expensive home for a Congressional salary, moving to other technologies for Congressional investigations, and the usual investigative leg work using documents and sources. They pointed out how some Congressmen, lobbyists and federal contractors keep people at the local level happy with earmarks for local projects. This investigation will be featured on PBS` Expose. The San Diego Union-Tribune is a good source to follow concerning this continuing story.
USA Today editor Ken Paulson introduced two reporters jailed for not revealing confidential sources concerning steroid cases. Paulson pointed out that sportswriters on their own initiatives flew in to the sentencing to show support for the affected reporters. Paulson said there is a lot of secrecy now with issuance of subpoenas, and that "the First Amendment still is important."
Executive editor Len Downie of The Wasington Post pointed out the newsroom today is a multimedia one incorporating web sites, videos, blogs, "citizen journalism" often associated with cell phones. "It is the most exciting time with reaching people," Downie said. He implored journalists, "Do journalism, don`t worry if you are popular." And he admitted as editor he did not put the leadup to the Iraq war on the front page as he now says he should have done. Downie cited the fine writing about Iraq by Rick Atkinson in a multi-part series. Go to WashingtonPost.com. Locally, banderasnews.com is an example of using multi-media.
Everone seemed to be talking about impressive 26-year-old Leila Fadel, who heads the Baghdad bureau for McClatchy newspapers (formerly Knight-Ridder). She is Lebanese and grew up in Saudi Arabia. She worked for the Fort-Worth Telegram before going on to Iraq. Fadel tries to tell human stories. She wears a headcover there and speaks Arabic with a Lebanese dialect.
"Many young journalists who are without families cover Iraq as it is so difficult and dangerous," Fadel said Journalists number 203 who have been killed in Iraq, most from that country. There are 2.4 million refugees, many internal refugees. Neighborhoods can change everyday, she said, from safe one day to unsafe the next day. "It is a large country and is difficult to cover." Fadel is critical of front-page stories from Washington by persons who are not in Iraq or have never gone there. Fadel explained that as a woman in Iraq, she is not taken seriously there "as women are ignored."
Fadel said people in Iraq are tired. They see two foreign sides fighting on their country`s soil - the U.S. and al-Queda. "Most in Iraq are scared of each other." She said that in the Middle East "there is a real fear of a Middle East sectarian war." Rumors always are rampant. Yet, within the grayness of Baghdad, Fadel said people are planting flowers and painting colorful walls for just any sign of hopefulness. For coverage, go to McClatchy.com.
Books you may want to read on some of these subjects are Woodward`s and Bernstein`s All The President`s Men, Alicia Shepard`s Woodward and Bernstein: Life in the Shadow of Watergate, Professor Martha Joynt Kumar`s book on White House communication, Robert Novak`s Prince of Darkness, and the Copley investigative reporters' The Wrong Stuff. Tom Barrett at The Book Store will be happy to help you.
 An award-winning journalist, Twila Crawford lives in Puerto Vallarta, where, in addition to contributing articles to local and international publications, she writes Out and About in Puerto Vallarta, a weekly column that offers inside information about who, what, why, where and when it's happening around Banderas Bay.
Click HERE to read more of Twila's "Out and About" articles |
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