Islam

Context and Complexity

Salam was the right person to explain Middle East, Washington soon began A decade and more later, of course,
the contrarian point of view to our looking desperately for an appropriate at the height of the Vietnam War, Kel-
American visitor. “exit strategy” by which to extricate our ly’s swamp critter, the much-beloved
troops and the residue of our national character Pogo, paraphrased Admiral
I took Kelly to meet Salam, and we honor from what was rapidly becoming Oliver Hazard Perry’s famous naval
were treated to a remarkably sensible, a quagmire. (Sounds more and more battle report to Washington in 1812,
balanced and constructive explanation familiar, doesn’t it?) and in the process invented what was
of why it was neither in Lebanon’s inter- to become the mantra of the Vietnam
est nor in the interests of the United The only acceptable option finally era: “We have met the enemy and he
States that Lebanon be pushed off the available to the U.S. government was is us.”
fence and forced to become, for all to acquiesce in the appointment of a
practical purposes, a belligerent in compromise government whose make- This is advice that should never
both the cold war and the potentially up satisfied both the opposition parties have been ignored half a century ago;
explosive ideological conflicts looming and the rest of the concerned citizens and it is wisdom that should not be
within and among the Arab states. Kelly of Lebanon. At this point, they were forgotten today. n
was deeply impressed, as was I. Un- grateful just to see foreign military
fortunately, the crisis only worsened, forces leave them alone to settle their Ray Close is a member of the fourth
leading to the landing of U.S. military country’s problems by themselves. No generation of his family to live and
forces on the beaches near Beirut in surprise to anyone: The prime minister work in the Arab world. For 26 years
July 1958. who emerged to lead the new govern- he worked in the Middle East for the
ment was America’s erstwhile demon, Central Intelligence Agency’s Clan-
Following this precedent-setting Saeb Salam. destine Service.
American military intervention in the

History, Memory and Context

‘… when a major story erupts in Lebanon, Westerners don’t already have the dots by
which they can make connections.’

By Iman Azzi events doesn’t come close to explain- their lands. After the fall of Jerusalem
ing the situation. Understanding to General Allenby in 1917, many in
In the absence of the war in the resides in the details and interwoven Great Britain saw the capture of the
summer of 2006, Lebanon is no threads of these developing stories, city as a fulfillment of the Crusades. A
longer front-page news in the even though news of Hariri’s assas- cartoon in Punch showed Richard the
Western press—politically motivated sination was reported internationally, Lion-Hearted saying, “at last my dream
assassinations, car bombs, and deadly for most Westerners the story ended comes true.” People here don’t forget
street clashes exempted. Yet in a na- there. Yet nothing in the Middle East such words.
tion with a history that dates back is isolated; it’s all context and history.
7,000 years, fierce political battles When an event happens, the instinct How much context is needed to un-
with regional, and potentially global, is to ask where coverage of it should derstand an issue in the Middle East? It
consequences are being waged. Six begin—with the 2006 Summer War, the is impractical to demand full coverage
pro-opposition ministers resigned in Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982, of a nation smaller than Connecticut,
November, followed by the assassina- the creation of Israel in 1948, indepen- but it should not be unreasonable to
tion of Minister Pierre Gemayel, and dence from Mandate rule, the collapse expect contextualized and accurate
the opposition movement has engaged of the Ottoman Empire, the Crusades, coverage of events whose significance
in an open-ended sit-in outside govern- or perhaps with the rise of Islam? The ought to be more widely understood.
ment buildings. The two sides have memory of these events is in the blood Yet, too often when coverage occurs,
stalemated over the formation of a and genes, stones and pathways, monu- the words Western reporters use—re-
court to try the murderers of former ments and fields of these people and sistance fighter or terrorist, political
Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. party or militia, settlement or neighbor-

Briefly describing these recent

Nieman Reports / Summer 2007 49

Islam

hood—can rankle Arabs whose history Eastern women. sometimes outside the region—often
and perspective tell them otherwise. Because the West misses these with unanticipated results. The as-
Frustration rises, too, when people sassination of Hariri, not far from the
here see which stories Western re- day-to-day developments—like the doors of Beirut’s Hotel St. George’s,
porters decide to cover, such as when rise of AK-47 sales, the formation of led to the removal of Syrian troops
numerous articles stress the detention Sunni neighborhood watch groups (an from Lebanon, isolated the regime in
of two Israeli soldiers by Hizbullah, but emerging and worrying phenomenon) Damascus, strengthened its support of
the same news organizations overlook or the detention of Lebanese shepherds Hizbullah, and reinforced an alliance
the hundreds of Palestinians, Lebanese, by the Israeli Army—when a major story between Syria and Iran.
Syrian and Jordanian prisoners held erupts in Lebanon, Westerners don’t
in Israel indefinitely, most without already have the dots by which they The first time I came to Beirut I was
charges. can make connections. Nor are these 13. My father, who hadn’t visited since
dots often provided in the coverage of the Civil War ended in 1991, took me
News that matters in Lebanon rarely breaking news they do receive. to the fabled Hotel St. George’s, at its
makes it to America. When the former heyday a luxury hotel that served as
commander of the UN Interim Force in Compared to the rest of the Middle home base for journalists, writers and
Lebanon (UNIFIL) said in February that East, Lebanon allows a high level of spies. John le Carre, Kim Philby, Peter
Israel was violating Lebanese airspace press freedom, but the press here has Jennings, and others frequented its
on a daily basis, it was front-page news slowly been transformed into tools of famous bar, and Jonathan Randal of
in Beirut, but in the United States the political mobilization. The same rally The Washington Post was the hotel’s
story didn’t even appear in online edi- could be depicted by different news last paying guest before it closed, under
tions. When an international group of organizations as being a crowd of tens siege, in 1975. When I got there in the
nearly 250 women, including Iranians, of thousands on Page One or several mid-1990’s, it was a beach resort and
Syrians, Palestinians, Europeans and hundred on page two. Often with hu- restaurant, but the hotel itself bore a
Americans, recently embarked on a mor, the Lebanese understand the ways thousand scars of bullets and shells
bike tour of Middle Eastern countries, in which this kind of bias sways cover- from the Civil War.
their ride barely received coverage age; for Americans, deciphering such
outside the region, in spite of the fact discrepancies can be more difficult. After a lunch of grilled chicken and
that such political acts of emancipation garlic sandwiches washed down with
counter Western perceptions of Middle Nothing happens in a vacuum in lemonade flavored with rose water, I
the Levant; crisis in Lebanon or Iraq happily dove into the lavish, sparkling
has repercussions in the region—and
pool, expecting a cool,
somewhat chlorinated,
but refreshing swim. I
surfaced with salt water
from the nearby Mediter-
ranean stinging my eyes.
I was young then, when,
temporarily blinded by
the salt, I learned that
not everything about the
Middle East is as it ap-
pears to be. That lesson
now serves me well as a
journalist in Beirut. n

Iman Azzi began a
summer internship at
The Daily Star, Leba-
non’s English-language
newspaper, in June
2006 and is now work-
ing as a reporter at
that newspaper.

Two men smoke narghileh under faded posters depicting assassinated former Lebanese Premier Rafik
Hariri and his son Saad in the port city of Tyre a few days after the end of the 2006 Summer War.
Photo by Iason Athanasiadis.

50 Nieman Reports / Summer 2007

Context and Complexity

An Essay in Words and Photographs

Women and Islam:
Bearing Witness to Their Daily Lives

By Alexandra Boulat

The lives of women At the beginning of the
in Muslim coun- 20th century, many Middle
tries are buffeted by Eastern women enjoyed a

cultural trends, religious status that Western women

systems, political move- would have envied. Yet in

ments, and varying degrees recent decades, with the

of oppression and emanci- spread of Islamic radical-

pation. Much of my photo- ism, a stricter Muslim prac-

graphic work illuminates tice has been emerging. In

these women’s daily lives Syria, Jordan, Egypt, Leba-

and the choices they make non and Turkey, nominally

as part of a political and secular, large factions of

economic struggle woven the populations—men and

with the obligations of their women—have been turn-

religious observance. ing back to traditions of

I bring the sensibility of Armaghan, 24, rehearses with her pop-music band, Orkideh, in Islam. And when religious

a painter to my work, since Tehran. The band’s 10 women are allowed to play only for female fundamentalism assumes

that is how I began my vi- audiences and cannot sing individually. October 2004. societal power, women’s

sual career. Each woman rights are among the first

who accepts my camera with grace or if you think we’re more hidden, you things to be sacrificed.

naivety, or often with the approval of don’t know Iranian women,” one Many in the West believe Islam and

a man, has her story to tell, and my woman told me, referring to the veil women’s rights must be mutually ex-

role is to convey her story in expres- many Arab women wear today. In the clusive. Yet the choices women make

sive language of how it can be shown. Middle East, emancipation of women each day to sustain themselves and

From refugee to pilgrim, from suicide does not necessarily mean acceptance their families and contribute to their

bomber to teenager, visual images of Western values, nor should it. Most societies attest to their determination

speak to these women’s beliefs, rituals women in Islamic countries learn and faith. To bear witness, and then

and habits, and to the anger and joy about Western “modern life” on tele- to convey through my photographs

they experience. vision, Al Jazeera, and other satellite these women’s acts of courage, is my

In many places women are expected networks, and many do not like what privilege, and I do so with the hope

to follow a strict code of modesty. But they see. While Islam is, in a sense, the that someday their lives will be emanci-

changes are taking place: In some armature around which tradition and pated, not as a reflection of our Western

large cities, headscarves are lighter culture grow, it is societies, probably sense of what this means, but within

and loosely draped, makeup is heavier, more than the religion, which make their own cultural experience. n

and designer labels are occasionally on women second-class citizens. Domestic

display. In 1994, Iranian women were violence, for example, is a tragic but all Alexandra Boulat, a photojournal-

given the right to wear sunglasses and, too common occurrence in this region, ist, cofounded VII photo agency in

more recently, to straddle a motorcycle, stemming not from religious dogma so 2001. She has received many awards,

and today the majority of women un- much as from an entrenched patriarchy including a 2006 Best Woman Pho-

der the age of 40, especially in urban that has been allowed to develop over tographer award from Italy and a

areas like Tehran, claim a more liberal a period of generations. 2003 Overseas Press Club citation for

lifestyle at home. Muslim women enjoyed rights of her work in Afghanistan. Her photos

“If you think we’re different from marriage, divorce and property for follow.

you because of this piece of clothing, centuries before Western women did.

Nieman Reports / Summer 2007 51

Islam

Women in a
Tehran shop-
ping mall.
October 2004.

Students at a university in
Amman, Jordan.

Myriam Yelda, left, a Chris-
tian, and her friend Lilian
Far, a Muslim refugee from
Iraq, both 7 years old, in
a cosmetic shop at Mecca
Mall in Amman, Jordan.

Photos and words by Alexandra Boulat.
52 Nieman Reports / Summer 2007

Context and Complexity
Jamila Shanti, (front,
kneeling) meets with her
pupils at her home in
Jabaliya, Gaza. Shanti led
a women’s march to Beit
Hanoun in an attempt to
stop the Israeli military
operation that left 65
dead during a weeklong
siege. As the women
entered Beit Hanoun,
the Israeli Army shot and
killed two of the women.

Huda Ghalia watches as
workers build her family
graves in Beit Lahiya, Gaza.
Huda, 12, became a media
icon when seven members of
her family, including her step-
mother, father and three of
her brothers, died after being
hit by an Israeli missile on a
beach in Gaza in June 2006.

Photos and words by Alexandra Boulat.
Nieman Reports / Summer 2007 53

Islam

Fatma Omar an-Najar, a 68-
year-old grandmother, became
the oldest Palestinian suicide
bomber when she blew herself
up in Gaza on November 23,
2006, wounding two Israeli
soldiers.

Women walk outside of the
training building for shooting
at the Women’s Police Academy
of Tehran. November 2004.

Photos and words by Alexandra Boulat.
54 Nieman Reports / Summer 2007

Context and Complexity

Muslims in America: Creating a New Beat

A New York Times reporter—a non-Muslim—looked for pathways into the Muslim
experience and, once found, she immersed herself to tell the story.

By Andrea Elliott found myself in unfamiliar territory. with time, I began wondering what it
Few news organizations had reported would be like for non-Muslim women
On a sticky summer night, Sheik deeply on the “Muslim community,” to always be described by, say, their hair.
Reda Shata walked into a a phrase I learned to avoid. It was, in So I tried to unearth more revealing
crowded ballroom in Staten fact, a constellation of communities, observations.
Island. Bare-shouldered Palestinian complicated, diverse and exceedingly
girls shook their hips and clapped to difficult for non-Muslims to penetrate. As my stories appeared in the pa-
the beat of Arab pop music, as boys in [See accompanying box on page 56.] per, doors began to open. But I came
coats and ties orbited around them. to realize that unless I focused on a
Older women in sequined headscarves The terrorist attacks of 9/11 changed single Muslim enclave—one mosque,
stood watchfully to the side as video life dramatically for Muslims in the city block, or family’s home—I would
cameras beamed images of the wedding United States. Their businesses, homes never capture a fuller story. I wanted
onto giant flat-screen monitors. and mosques came under surveillance a subject whose own story revealed
by the authorities, and their status in the challenges of Islam in America,
Sheik Reda, an Egyptian imam who American society became uncertain. but who could also transport me to
had arrived in America three years ear- Researchers at Columbia University the hidden corners of Muslim life. The
lier, took his seat and closed his eyes. who studied the impact of 9/11 on idea of writing about an imam seemed
His lips moved in silent prayer. Every American Muslims found two striking promising.
so often he glanced up at the screens, patterns: Many Muslims took refuge
as if seeking a filter between himself in their faith, growing more devout. In Muslim countries, imams lead
and the guests. Dueling expressions of Others distanced themselves from Is- the five daily prayers and deliver the
amazement and consternation crossed lam, avoiding their mosques and even Friday sermon. When they are recruited
his face. changing their names. Men named to American mosques—for their Is-
Mohammed became “Moe;” Osama lamic expertise—they end up filling
“Every centimeter of a woman’s became “Sam.” Some women stopped many unfamiliar roles. They become
dress is part of her faith,” he said, veiling, while others began covering marriage counselors, Islamic judges,
frowning. As for the dancing, he added, themselves for the first time. matchmakers and Qur’an school prin-
Muslim women should only do this cipals. They broker business disputes,
alone or with their husbands. Gaining Access grant divorces, and often deal with the
FBI. For none of this are they prepared.
At that moment, the emcee an- As I began my reporting, I found that And as they take on these new roles,
nounced, “We’re going to have open many Muslims had retreated into their they often find themselves rethinking
dancing all night long!” But first, he private lives. In the New York area, I Islamic law in the context of American
said, “a blessing from Sheik Reda could find few who would talk with needs.
Shata.” me. Again and again I heard the same
complaints: that Muslims had suf- I interviewed about a dozen imams
I sat with the imam that evening in fered needlessly in America, and the before I found Sheik Reda, who was
August 2005, two months after I began press was to blame; that reporters had then the leader of the Islamic Society
reporting on him for a series of New distorted Islam by exploring it only of Bay Ridge, a thriving mosque in
York Times articles. To watch Sheik through the prism of terrorism. Brooklyn. But he and the directors of
Reda interact with Muslims in the Unit- the mosque’s board were extremely
ed States was, at times, like watching As a non-Muslim American who did reluctant to be written about. They felt
a man size up his teenaged grandson. not speak Arabic, I came to this story they had nothing to gain; that my re-
He was both put off and thrilled by with few natural advantages. I learned porting would simply repeat the nega-
what he saw, curious about yet scared by trial and error. Early on, for example, tive, one-dimensional image of Islam
of what he might learn. He wanted to I noticed my temptation to describe they’d seen in newspapers before. I
understand this new world but also to Muslim women by their headscarves, tried to persuade them that our readers’
rein it in. He had come here to teach as Western reporters so often do. But understanding of Muslims would never
American Muslims, yet he wondered deepen unless reporters were allowed
what they might teach him.

When I set out to write about Mus-
lims in America earlier that year, I, too,

Nieman Reports / Summer 2007 55

Islam

American Muslims origin, but also from a spectrum of can Muslims together is their relative
religious expression—secular and prosperity. Muslims began arriving
By some estimates, as many as six devout, Sunni and Shi’ite, flexibly in large numbers in the 1960’s,
million Muslims live in the United modern and rigidly literal. Only 10 after immigration reforms granted
States. They have roots around percent of American Muslims regu- entry to thousands of skilled work-
the globe, from Albania to Sen- larly attend the nation’s estimated ers from the Middle East and South
egal, Guyana to Pakistan. Some 34 1,200 mosques, which range from Asia. A larger percentage of immi-
percent of American Muslims are crumbling, inner city storefronts grants from Muslim countries have
of South Asian descent, another to palatial Islamic centers in the graduate degrees than other U.S.
26 percent are of Arab extraction, suburbs. Many Muslims worship residents, and their average salary is
and roughly a quarter of them are at home; others don’t observe the about 20 percent higher, according
African-American, according to the daily prayers, identifying themselves to census data. —A.E.
pollster John Zogby. as “cultural Muslims.”

The rich texture of American One thing binding many Ameri-
Islam draws not only from that
mix of race, ethnicity and national

greater access to their community. I law-enforcement authorities to investi- experiences, which I have continued
promised to be fair in my reporting. gate Muslims. He opened up about his to report on. But his life will never be
After some weeks of deliberation, they personal transformation in America; the same. Despite the criticism he has
agreed to let me try. about how he’d become “flexible,” now endured, Sheik Reda said he does not
believing that Muslim women could regret his decision to let us tell his
For six months, Times photographer remove their headscarves if they felt story. In a recent interview with the
James Estrin and I immersed ourselves threatened in public and that Muslim American Society of Newspaper Edi-
in Sheik Reda’s life. We watched him waiters could serve alcohol if they could tors, he explained it this way: “When
chaperon dates with single Muslims find no other job. the astronaut Neil Armstrong landed on
and steer quarreling couples away from the moon he said, ‘That’s one small step
divorce. We saw him lecture Brooklyn Coverage Sparks Debate for man, one giant leap for mankind.’
police officers in Islamic mores and These were the words that moved me
explain American traditions to newly The reaction to this series, which in the beginning to get involved with
landed immigrants. We followed him in was published in March 2006, over- this story. I knew that I was somehow
the morning as he walked his children whelmed Sheik Reda. His phone rang like Armstrong, making a small step on
to the bus and stood near him as he continuously. Hundreds of letters a personal level, yet a giant leap that
put them to bed at night. and e-mails arrived—from rabbis and would benefit the Muslim community
priests interested in interfaith projects, and, in turn, humanity. It was a step
I spent hours in his cramped office at from prison inmates seeking his guid- that I believe was bigger than our dif-
the mosque, where interviews felt more ance, from Muslim professionals who ferences.” n
like conversations. We were strangers wanted help in finding a spouse. The
in each other’s worlds. The questions articles also sparked considerable de- Andrea Elliott covers Islam in Amer-
moved both ways. When I asked him bate, around the United States and in ica, a beat she created in 2005 for
about memorizing the Qur’an as a the Middle East. Some deemed Sheik The New York Times. Her three-part
child, he asked me about my Catholic Reda an extremist; others saw him as series, “An Imam in America,” won
upbringing. “Why do American women a liberal sellout. Flyers appeared on the 2007 Pulitzer for Feature Writing.
wait so long to get married?” he wanted the streets of Bay Ridge declaring him She is learning Arabic.
to know when he found out I was “a devil.”
engaged at 33.
Sheik Reda finally decided he had no
I think it was only because we spent choice but to leave Brooklyn. His new
so much time together that Sheik Reda job at a mosque in the New Jersey sub-
was finally willing to share his views urbs has brought him a world of new
on such controversial topics as suicide
bombings and the tactics used by U.S.

56 Nieman Reports / Summer 2007

Context and Complexity

Newspapers Portray Women in Pakistan as the
‘Good’ Muslims

An analysis of news reporting and commentary in the wake of 9/11 reveals a pattern
in which women’s circumstances and lives served as a vehicle for a desired narrative.

By Susan Moeller

R emember in the aftermath of are able to report. They don’t cover of Bengal. They cover global trends and
the attacks on the World Trade all news; in fact, they can’t cover all issues—terrorism, nuclear weapons,
Center and the Pentagon when the news. So they triage, reporting cataclysmic disasters—especially those
it seemed like every talking head and news they think is important to their that have received attention by the
every media outlet was asking plain- audience. In the case of U.S. reporting White House or Congress or by some
tively “Why do they hate us?”—where on global events that typically means other significant political player.
the “they” meant Muslims? news with a strong, direct link to
American interests, usually security or Knowing that, this study analyzed
The question prompted a media economic, but at times humanitarian. how major American newspapers
search for allies in an Islamic world They cover stories they can physically covered and characterized (through
that seemed universally hostile. But their selection of op-eds to publish)
who were these sympathetic faces? A Gender identification plate. Iran. Photo by Pakistan, an essential staging ground in
study that came out in April, entitled Katharina Eglau. the U.S. war in Afghanistan, a staunch
“The ‘Good’ Muslims: U.S. Newspaper Muslim ally (the government, if not the
Coverage of Pakistan,” discovered that get to—where visas are available, plane people), a frontline in the “war on ter-
newspapers identified women as the flights possible, and costs in time and ror,” a critical player in nuclear politics,
West’s best allies; it was through their money not exorbitant—and still or a key conduit in the narcotics trade,
intercession that the West—and espe- video images can be taken. They cover and a major recipient of American aid.
cially the United States—would find the major international breaking news but Of course, the study also noted what
solution to terrorism at the family, the usually only in those places of long- potential aspects of this story remained
tribal or ethnic, and the national level. term or specific interest to Americans: uncovered, as well.
In commentary and reporting, women a hostage-taking in Iran and the Brit-
were portrayed as the “good” Muslims ish response, nuclear disarmament This examination of newspaper
who wanted peace and freedom. talks in North Korea, massive protests coverage and commentary revealed
against the United States in Iraq, stark that during the time period just after
The study1—released by the Interna- evidence of global warming in the Bay 9/11, the role of women in Pakistan
tional Center for Media and the Public was regarded as essential. Although
Agenda (ICMPA) at the University of there was the occasional story from
Maryland, College Park—analyzed Pakistan that involved a woman or
news coverage and commentary pub- women, what strikingly emerged in the
lished on op-ed pages about Pakistan post-9/11 coverage was the insertion of
and Afghanistan by 13 major U.S. women into stories that did not affect
newspapers.2 Two time periods were women specifically or predominately.
examined: September 11, 2001 to De- Of course, it is common in mainstream
cember 31, 2002 and January 1, 2006 news coverage of international affairs
to January 15, 2007. for entire countries (and even regions)
to be tarred with a wide brush; often,
Like all studies of coverage of inter- for example, few distinctions are made
national affairs, the ICMPA study noted among even very active political op-
the limitations on what journalists

1 www.icmpa.umd.edu/pages/studies/pakistan_study_susan.html
2 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Boston Globe, the Chicago Tribune, The

Christian Science Monitor, The Dallas Morning News, the Los Angeles Times, The
Miami Herald, The New York Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Seattle Times, USA
Today, The Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post.

Nieman Reports / Summer 2007 57

Islam

position groups within a country. Far page story in the Los Angeles Times, male Muslim institutions. The Seattle
too often, for example, much of the for instance, traced the extraordinary Times, for example, took note of the
reporting and commentary about the impact of just one school: treatment of women in local politics:
Palestinians and the Iranians suffers “Pakistan’s leading human-rights group
from this problem. “When the Jalal family went door to said yesterday it was shocked at the
door 20 years ago urging parents to public humiliation of an elected female
In other situations, especially when let their daughters attend a new girls official beaten and paraded naked
reporters are stationed on the ground school, people in this desert outpost through a village on the orders of a
and there is ongoing interest in a re- branded them heretics …. But a few powerful landlord …. Kamila Hyat,
gion, nuances do emerge in coverage; dozen brave parents, particularly those director of the Human Rights Commis-
politics and people are not represented working as servants, enrolled their girls sion of Pakistan, said the incident was
so monolithically. In such reporting anyway. And that has made all the dif- not the first of its kind. ‘At least four
(and commentary)—coverage of the ference in their lives. similar cases have been reported this
Balkans is a case in point—one distinct year,’ she said, adding the incident was
group is identified as holding the moral “A decade after the first class gradu- indicative of the low status of women in
high ground. Sometimes that group is ated, this isolated desert region near Muslim, male-dominated Pakistan.”
represented as the victims of another the Iranian border has been affected in
group. Sometimes that group is identi- ways both simple and profound. While each article or commentary
fied as potential “saviors”—indicating touched on incidents and circumstanc-
that if only that group held the reins “The school, which now hums es involving women’s lives, patterns
of power the situation would be ame- with the voices of nearly 1,000 girls, revealed in our look at all of this cover-
liorated, at the very least. has brought jobs here. It has tilted age indicated that women’s lives—and
the economic balance in favor of the what was happening to them—were
Women: Portrayed as graduates, who have emerged as their often being used as a synecdoche for
‘Saviors’ families’ breadwinners and hold the what was happening to the country
best-paying jobs in town. as a whole. An op-ed in The New York
“The ‘Good’ Muslims” report docu- Times, written a month after 9/11,
mented how in the year following 9/11, “The school also has brought color- included the following words: “When
in many articles and in commentary ful clothing, confidence and even con- radical Muslim movements are on the
published in newspapers women were doms here. Girls as young as 10 have rise, women are the canaries in the
characterized as the “group” favoring learned to just say ‘no’ if they don’t like mines. The very visible repression of
peace and freedom. Women were the men their parents have picked out forced veiling and loss of hard-won
bluntly seen as “saviors.” It was through for them to marry. Several have gone freedoms coexists naturally with a
their intercession, courage and energy on to college, living in hostels a three- general disrespect for human rights.
that religious extremism—equated hour drive from home—independence This repression of women is not about
with terrorism—could be moderated. inconceivable just a few years ago.” religion; it is a political tool for achiev-
In an interview published in The Bos- ing and consolidating power.”
ton Globe magazine the following Reporters and commentators also
words conveyed this point: “Terrorist wrote about women’s victimization Coverage and commentary about
ideology and women’s leadership are at the hands of Muslim men through men in Pakistan contrasted greatly
not compatible, so one way to attack either extra-legal means or the Hudood with that of women. Men, and even
terrorism is to advance the role of Ordinance and the Qisas and Diyat boys, were characterized as people to
women.” A columnist at The Atlanta Ordinances. Women’s “victim” status at be feared. Boys, even very young boys,
Journal-Constitution described the the hands of men validated the binary were part of the terrorist matrix, iden-
potential power of political groups idea that Muslim women are “good” tified as “Islamic religious schools,”
headed by women: “… there is a and Muslim men are “cruel,” perhaps known as madrassas. In a February
little-known but vigorous grass-roots even “terrorists.” Women’s clothing 2002 op-ed in The Boston Globe, a
movement within Pakistan of non- also drew great scrutiny, and once commentator observed:
governmental organizations—mostly again the act of “taking off the veil” was
headed by women—that is attracting treated as a metaphorical statement; “History and current demographic
moderate, educated people to push women’s freedom was measured by trends give us a new warning: Beware
for government reform.” how “uncovered” they were and how the wrath of boys.
close their clothing matched Western
Journalists wrote about Pakistani notions of female attire. “Journalists who covered the fleeing
and Afghan women struggling to gain Taliban in Afghanistan commented on
an education or about their efforts to fa- In such presentations of informa- how young they were. ‘They all look
cilitate the education; the key message tion, there often appeared to be a moral about 12 years old,’ one reporter said.
of these stories was the transformative beyond the obvious one of confirming But boys can be deadlier than men,
power of women’s education. A front- the second-class status of women; in with no life experience to temper their
this case, it was confirming the evil impulses, especially if those impulses
of what were considered aggressively

58 Nieman Reports / Summer 2007

Context and Complexity

are manipulated by older people with distanced from the softening “influ- players.
a violent agenda .… ence” of women, as in this story in The Five years later, this was clearly not
New York Times: “Boys, raised without
“Chaos and instability in society and fathers, were sent to religious schools, the case. By 2006, it was no longer
young men who lack access to good or madrassas, taken away from daily considered news that the difficult situ-
jobs make an incendiary mixture—es- village life and away from the influ- ations of most women’s lives had not
pecially when you throw in messianic ence of women.” And these words changed—and that women did not
ideology or fundamentalist religion. come from an op-ed in the Los Angeles have the power to reverse decades of
And this may be the forecast for much Times: “Hence, perhaps, the all-male war, corruption and discrimination.
of the world: boys who inculcate rage madrassas in Pakistan, where boys as An unchanging circumstance is never
against the West, against their own young as six are trained for jihad, far considered worth reporting. And as a
societies, and against women at a very from the potentially softening influ- result, in 2006 reporters wrote far fewer
early age. ence of mothers and sisters.” stories on women in Pakistan—and far
fewer stories on Pakistan in general.
“For example, the religious schools Those were some of the findings The compelling narrative now became
that are springing up all over Pakistan from the ICMPA study’s examination of whether (and even how) America
create societies in which young boys news coverage in 2001 and 2002. In the had become the “bad guys;” not only
are indoctrinated in a fundamentalist period following 9/11, there was an ea- was the enemy acting reprehensibly,
brand of Islam that teaches hatred ger—if naive—hope that the fall of the but it was the Bush administration’s
of the West and of Jews. The schools Taliban would bring new opportunities prosecution of the “war on terror” that
are all-male societies in which the for women and, through them, for the was now characterized as the “moral
boys have no contact with girls or entire region. The Muslim women of burden.” n
women—except maybe a mother or Pakistan and Afghanistan were not just
an aunt. They develop few social skills victims whose stories would gain read- Susan Moeller is director of the
and come to regard the opposite sex ers’ sympathy; they were saviors who International Center for Media and
as alien, the source of sin, uncleanness would change their communities and the Public Agenda at the University
and a temptation to male virtue.” their countries. Women’s lives were of Maryland in College Park and
not just the human-interest anecdotes author of numerous major media
In the months following 9/11, shared as part of stories about larger studies, including “The ‘Good’ Mus-
numerous articles explained the edu- concerns; women, in this period of lims: U.S. Newspaper Coverage of
cation system, emphasizing that the time, were portrayed as being pivotal Pakistan.”
boys who went to such schools were

The Consequences of Uninformed Reporting

‘Most Americans think that since Muslims believe that the Qur’an is the literal word
of God, they must read the Qur’an literally ….’

By Jamie L. Hamilton

“Have you read any books about liberty and justice.” “It wants to obliter- be as bad as it is portrayed, and yet the
Islam?” ate free speech and freethinking.” “The message that it is a “bad religion” is
prophet they worship is a pedophile.” so clearly consistent they don’t know
“No.” “Islam wants to take over the world.” what to think.
“Do you have any Muslim
friends?” “If you have never taken a course I can turn to many examples to sup-
“No.” on Islam, or know any Muslims or port the students’ views, like the U.S.
“Have you taken any other course read any books on Islam, how have News and World Report special issue
on Islam?” you learned all of this? on the “Secrets of Islam,” an in-depth
“No.” look at the “mysteries” of Islam, and at
“Tell me what you think you know “From the media,” many of my stu- too many articles written by journalists
about Islam.” dents reply. who present Islam as simplistic, mono-
The responses are immediate: “Is- lithic and foreign and who assume that
lam is a violent religion that oppresses I teach about Islam to high school “moderate” Muslims have escaped
women.” “It conquers by the sword.” sophomores. On our first day together, the inherent perversity of Islam. The
“It opposes the pursuit of happiness, I ask the students why they enrolled reporting of world events through the
in the course. They tell me they are
ignorant about Islam. Islam couldn’t

Nieman Reports / Summer 2007 59

Islam

lens of this ignorance is dan- that one knows with cer-
gerous, as I see just some of tainty how every word is
the consequences in the mi- to be interpreted would
crocosm of my classroom. be blasphemous.

Religious illiteracy of this For Muslims, the
sort is harming us. Let me ad- Qur’an is the gift of
dress just three words related revelation to the world,
to this coverage that have as Jesus Christ is the rev-
become a part of our national elation to the world for
dialogue about Muslims and Christians. The Qur’an
Islam—violence, Qur’an and is treated with the same
women. awe and respect as Chris-
tians treat Jesus Christ.
Violence No Christian would say
they know with 100 per-
The term Islam derives from cent certainty that they
know who Jesus Christ
the three-letter Arabic root, Sweets. Algeria. Photo by Katharina Eglau. was and is. The experi-
ence of knowing Jesus—through faith,
s-l-m, which generates words prayer, the Bible and tradition—in-
forms them of how Jesus Christ blesses
with connected meanings, including How to overcome misconceptions? their lives. For Muslims, the experience
of the Qur’an—through faith, prayer,
surrender, submission, commitment, With my students, I refer to American recitation and tradition—informs them
of how the Qur’an blesses their lives.
peace, wholeness and security. Muslims history. How many, I ask them, would For Christians, Christ is the sacred
presence. For Muslims, the Prophet
believe that by practicing their faith, assert that the KKK is a form of Chris- Muhammad delivered the sacred pres-
ence. Neither Christians nor Muslims
through submission to God alone, they tianity? Members of the Klan set forth embrace monolithic definitions of
their faith.
can achieve peace and security in their the look and feel of a Christian witness To overcome students’ misconcep-
tions, I use the Qur’an. Throughout
lives and for the sake of humanity. with crosses, prayer meetings, biblical the Qur’an, allegory and symbolism
describe the majesty of God’s grace and
Muslims who are violent are not mandates, and committed fellowship. the privilege and the choice humanity
has to embrace God’s gift of life. Such
representing Islam. Rather, they are Yet we don’t think of the Klan as some grace extends to all Ahl al Kitab, People
of the Book, which includes Jews and
criminals, even if they proclaim their “violent” form of Christianity; in fact, Christians.
Journalists can help Americans
actions to be taken in the name of Is- since we know the basic precepts of understand how Muslims live within
Islam. Such reporting can illustrate
lam. Holy war does not exist in Islam, Christianity, the Klan is not conflated how those who commit criminal acts
in the name of Islam are outside of
nor will Islam allow its followers to with Christianity at all. Still, Klan mem- the religion. Report, of course, about
Muslims who commit heinous acts,
be involved in a holy war. Jihad is not bers used Christian rhetoric to advance but also tell of Muslim individuals and
institutions that work against percep-
another word for holy war; it is an Ara- their political agenda. Terrorists do the tion, such as al Fatih Academy in Vir-
ginia, started by Afeefa Syeed to “raise
bic word, the root of which is jahada, same with Islam. children who can balance their Islamic
values with their American identity.” At
which means to strive for a better way this academy, children learn Muslim
of life, to endeavor, to strain, to exert, Qur’an traditions and read the Qur’an along
with their study of American traditions
to put forth effort, to be diligent, alert and values.

and open to possibilities. The effort put Most Americans think that because

forth with jihad assists Muslims to move Muslims believe the Qur’an is the literal

out of a life mired in meeting others’ word of God, they must read the Qur’an

obligations to a life filled with desire, literally, just as Christian literalists do.

integrity, curiosity and commitment. Since there are Christians who think

Jihad also means to be willing to fight the world was created in seven days

to defend the dignity of life, which al- because the Bible describes creation as

lows one to choose faith and freedom. happening in that way, then Muslims

When can one fight? When is it just to must read the Qur’an with the same

take up arms? Islam has defined what certainty. They don’t.

a just war is and, under its parameters, The Qur’an warns its readers that

America’s participation in World War II there is danger in taking the words

constituted a just war, not a holy war. literally: “This divine writ contains mes-

When one fights to protect one’s na- sages that are clear in and by themselves

tion from attack, Islam prohibits—as as well as others that are allegorical.”

all just war theories do—terrorism, (3:7) Verses continue to admonish the

kidnapping, hijacking, killing civilians, reader to take advantage of that which

and other horrendous acts. Whoever is unclear and make it clear by their ar-

commits such violations is considered bitrary nature because, “None save God

a murderer. knows its final meaning.” To assume

60 Nieman Reports / Summer 2007

Context and Complexity

Women Detail of a male wedding jacket. Tunisia. cially at a time when deadly sectarian
Photo by Katharina Eglau. violence is so frequently portrayed in
Throughout history women have been the news.
struggling to free themselves from sibly to overcome their own wrong
misogyny, abuse and mistreatment. assumptions—so consumers of news I take my students to observe Friday
Christianity and the West, until recently, will come to know it not as a foreign prayers held here on campus. One
did not provide women sanctuary from religion, but as part of a great monothe- student wrote in his final paper, “While
these prejudices, nor did pre-Islamic istic tradition. This will help Americans attending Muslim prayers, I underwent
Arabia. Women were treated as slaves. distinguish between those who abuse a great paradigmatic shift, discovering
Infanticide was practiced, and girls religion and those who strive to live something that watching CNN (where
were sold or traded. Muhammad’s up to its ideals. Thoughtful reporting, Muslims are portrayed as terrorists first,
reform brought equality to his people involving nuance, is essential, espe- humans second) for nearly my whole
through Islam. Throughout the Qur’an, life had shielded from my eyes: Islam
the verses state that men and women is not something to be scared of; its
have equal rights and obligations be- adherents will not be the end of the
cause “women are the shaqa’iq (the line for Jews in Israel, nor will they
exact equal) of men. cause worldwide catastrophe. In fact,
my sentiments towards the religion
How can journalists help readers, became completely opposite to those
viewers and listeners overcome the mis- presented by the media. I am no longer
conception that Islam abuses women? scared of their tradition ….”
Learn, and then incorporate into your
reporting, that shari’ah (Islamic) law His words offered a potent reminder
entitles women to education, work, that only through confronting our ig-
businesses, ownership and inheri- norance—and working to overcome
tance, even if political leaders in the it—will we have the ability to live in
name of Islam, such as the Taliban, a pluralistic society with respect for
smolder these rights. In an Islamic mar- each other. n
riage, too, a woman keeps her name,
retains full rights of her own, and can Jamie L. Hamilton is a teacher of
keep or dispose of her property without religion at Phillips Exeter Academy
any interference. and is an Episcopal priest with
a summer parish in Dublin, New
Journalists have the obligation to fa- Hampshire.
miliarize themselves with Islam—pos-

Glossary

Allah: Literally, “The God.” Arabic and anticolonialist. The Ba’ath party tinian Liberation Movement.” Primarily
speaking Jews, Christians and Muslims still rules Syria. secular and nationalist major Palestin-
use this term as the proper name for ian political party.
God. Muslims view Allah as the Cre- Binladen: One word, with no space
ator and Sustainer of everything in between “bin” and “laden,” is the Fatwa: A legal ruling in shari’ah (Islamic
the universe, Who is transcendent, has correct spelling of the family name. Law), made by a learned and qualified
no physical form, and has no associ- The company is the Saudi Binladen scholar, usually in response to an un-
ates Who share in His divinity. In the Group. Members of the family do not precedented situation or to address a
Qur’an, God is described as having at spell their name in two words in Eng- novel issue.
least 99 Divine Names, which describe lish, although some prefer the variant
His attributes. spelling Binladin. Spelling of Binladen Five Pillars of Islam: A term referring
in two words, bin Laden, is a Western to the five core religious practices in-
Ba’ath: Arabic for “renaissance.” A affectation. cumbent upon all Muslims. They are
secular Arab nationalist movement, as follows: Shahadah (declaration of
which had rival branches in Iraq and Fatah: Reverse acronym for Harakat faith), Salah (formal worship), Zakah
Syria. They were pan-Arabist, socialist al-Tahrir al-Falistiniya, literally, “Pales- (mandatory alms-giving tax), Sawm

Nieman Reports / Summer 2007 61

Islam

(fasting during Ramadan), and Hajj Muhammad: The prophet and righ- was granted a unique spiritual author-
(pilgrimage to Makkah [Mecca]). teous person believed by Muslims to ity, which was passed on to certain of
be the final messenger of God, whose his descendants given the title of imam
Hamas: Harakat Muqama al-Islamiyya, predecessors are believed to include (leader).
meaning the Movement of Islamic the Prophets Adam, Noah, Abraham,
Resistance, which has called for the Moses, David, Jesus and others. Born Sufism: A particular spiritual approach
creation of an Islamic state in all of in 570 C.E., Muhammad grew up to and lifestyle adopted by some Mus-
historic Palestine. Democratically become a well-respected member of lims (known as Sufis), rather than a
elected into leadership of the Palestin- Makkan society. In 610 C.E., he received distinct branch of Islam. Sufism holds
ian legislature in 2006. the first of many revelations that would that direct and intimate knowledge of
eventually form the content of the God can be achieved through spiritual
Hizbullah: “The party of God.” Shi’ite Qur’an. Soon after this initial event, discipline, exertion and austerity.
group formed in Lebanon around 1982 he was conferred prophethood and
with the original aim of ending the began calling people to righteousness Sunni: A term designating those
Israeli occupation of Lebanon. and belief in One God. Muhammad Muslims who recognize the first four
died in 632 C.E. successors of Prophet Muhammad as
Intifada: “Insurrection” or “uprising” the “Rightly-Guided” caliphs. Sunnis
in Palestine. The first Intifada broke Muslim: Literally the term means “one hold that any pious, just and qualified
out in December 1987 and ended in who submits to God.” More commonly, Muslim may be elected Caliph. Sun-
1993 with the signing of the Oslo Ac- the term describes any person who nis comprise the majority of Muslims,
cords. The Second Intifada (or al-Aqsa accepts the creed and the teachings about 90 percent of the total.
Intifada) began in September 2000 in of Islam.
response to a visit to the Temple Mount Wahhabi: Muslim Sunni reform move-
and Al-Aqsa by Ariel Sharon. The Muslim Brotherhood: Founded in ment founded mid-18th century by
Egypt by Hassan al-Banna in 1928, it is Muhammed Abdul-Wahhab and revived
Jesus: An eminent prophet in Islam. the largest and best-organized political by Abd al-Aziz ibn Saud in the early 20th
Muslims believe that Mary, the mother movement in the Middle East. They century. Wahabi is the name used for
of Jesus, was a chaste and pious woman, currently are the largest opposition them by others. Wahhabis, who believe
and that God miraculously created political bloc in the Egyptian parliament, in a narrow, literalist understanding of
Jesus in her womb. After his birth, he having won a decisive victory in the last scripture, dominate Saudi Arabia.
began his mission as a sign to human- election.
kind and a prophet of God, calling Zikr: Remembrance of Allah (God)
people to righteousness and worship Orientalism: As defined by Edward through verbal or mental repetition
of God alone. Muslims do not believe Said, it refers to Europeans and West- of His divine attributes. Zikr is a com-
Jesus was crucified but rather that God erners who portray Middle Easterners mon practice among all Muslims, but is
spared him such a fate and ascended as somehow inferior, with less intel- especially emphasized by Sufis. n
him to Heaven. ligence and culture and unable to
manage their own affairs. Islamic terms used are excerpted with
Jihad: Jihad is an Arabic word that de- permission from “Teaching About Is-
rives from the three-letter root j-h-d and Qur’an: The word Qur’an means “the lam and Muslims in the Public School
means “to exert oneself ” or “to strive.” recitation” or “the reading” and refers Classroom” (3rd edition), published
Other meanings include endeavor, to the divinely revealed scripture of by the Council on Islamic Education,
strain, effort, diligence, struggle. Usu- Islam. It consists of 114 surahs (chap- now known as the Institute on Religion
ally understood in terms of personal ters) revealed by God to Muhammad and Civic Values. The link to the full
betterment, jihad may also mean fight- over a period of 23 years. glossary can be found at www.cie.
ing to defend one’s (or another’s) life, org/glossary.htm. Additional defini-
property and faith. Shari’ah: Commonly referred to as tions provided by Robert Azzi.
Islamic law, it refers to guidance from
Makkah: This is the correct spelling of God to be used by Muslims to regulate
the city known in the West as Mecca. their societal and personal affairs.
Makkah was officially adopted by the
Government of Saudi Arabia in the Shi’ism: A branch of Islam comprising
1980’s, both to make it more phoneti- about 10 percent of the total Muslim
cally correct and to differentiate the population. In Shi’i Islam, Shi’ahs
Holy City from the more common and believe that Ali, the fourth Caliph and
generic Western usage of the word. son-in-law of the Prophet Muhammad,

62 Nieman Reports / Summer 2007

Words & Reflections

On an April morning in 2005, WJLA-TV investigative reporter Andrea McCarren set out with a
photographer to do some preliminary reporting about the activities of a Prince George’s (Md.)
County official about whom she’d received information on the misuse of public funds. By the end of
the morning she’d become the first journalist in the United States known to have been put through
a felony traffic stop while on assignment. She describes her interaction with the police officers as
“a particularly violent encounter normally reserved for fleeing murderers or suspects known to
be armed and dangerous.” McCarren writes about the story she was investigating, the injuries she
sustained because of police treatment, and her legal struggles to reach a just settlement.

Dan Sullivan, who teaches media management and economics at the University of Minnesota
School of Journalism and Mass Communication, explores several steps that newspapers should
take “to tie diversity initiatives to business results.” He looks at some research about how the
Newspapers in Education program works, and he shows how it can help newsrooms reach diversity
goals by engaging minority students in school-based efforts that are shown to increase youngsters’
interest in journalism.

Mary C. Curtis, a columnist with The Charlotte (N.C.) Observer, found in the pages of “The
Race Beat: The Press, the Civil Rights Struggle, and the Awakening of a Nation,” a valuable reminder
for journalists today: An “honest search” for “truth amid chaos” is not a simple task, but it
illuminates a story’s essence in ways that the “on the one hand, on the other hand” approach never
can. “The Race Beat,” by Gene Roberts and Hank Klibanoff, won this year’s Pulitzer Prize for History.

In “Digital Destiny: New Media and the Future of Democracy,” by Jeff Chester, Cameron
McWhirter, a reporter at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, finds a book that offers a good
dissection of the challenges posed by the “digital broadband revolution” as “print, radio and
television—ancient divisions that were guided under separate, arcane governmental rules for so
many decades—are morphing into one surging medium.”

Dan Froomkin, who writes washingtonpost.com’s White House Watch column, begins his
reflection on Myra MacPherson’s book, “All Governments Lie! The Life and Times of Rebel Journalist
I.F. Stone,” with the words “The best blogger ever died in 1989 at the age of 81.” He is referring
to I.F. Stone and his “Weekly” that was in many ways, he writes, “a blog before its time.” Froomkin
contends that newspapers today could learn a lot from Stone’s lack of timidity “as they hunt
desperately for a profitable future in the Internet age.”

Through Lynn Sherr’s memoir, “Outside the Box,” Kay Mills, the author of “A Place in the
News: From the Women’s Pages to the Front Page,” relives experiences of women journalists from
a time when they weren’t given certain assignments and their lawsuits challenged newsrooms’
discriminatory ways. “Women journalists today stand on the shoulders of those gutsy women who
challenged the status quo, and we should not forget this all-too-recent era in our history,” Mills
writes. Sherr’s book, she says, “could—and probably should—double as an instruction manual for
young journalists ….”

Freelance journalist Tom Ehrenfeld compliments Roy Peter Clark, the author of “Writing Tools:
50 Essential Strategies for Every Writer” for addressing “the craft of writing with a hands-on, nitty-
gritty approach to improvement.” In the valuable toolbox Clark offers readers, Ehrenfeld observes
that each of his “50 sharp, focused ‘tools’ … carries the weight of experience. They are sharp,
refined and build on conventional wisdom.” n

Nieman Reports / Summer 2007 63

Words & Reflections

Two Years Later, Justice Denied

In reporting a story about public officials’ misuse of government funds, police injure
an investigative journalist in a ‘particularly violent encounter.’

By Andrea McCarren outside of D.C.. I cast my net around funds to live lavishly, off the clock.
a few key players, including County My investigation wasn’t the first time
Iglanced in the driver’s side mirror Executive Jack Johnson. I wondered
and saw the barrel of a gun pointing how, in a county with a soaring crime Prince George’s County was under
at me. A young police officer held rate, a severely understaffed police close scrutiny. Its police department
the weapon with one eye shut, the other department, widespread poverty, and had such an appalling history of abus-
squinting to focus on his target. an especially troubled public school ing its residents, particularly young
system, Johnson could afford to take black men, that in 2004 the United
“They’ve got a gun on me,” I said to junkets to far-flung places, including States Department of Justice (DOJ) had
my longtime friend and photographer, at least two trips to Africa with large to take over. The police department
Pete Hakel. delegations of political friends and lost several high profile lawsuits for
colleagues. severely beating innocent suspects and
“OK, that’s fine. That’s fine,” he re- using police dogs to attack unarmed
plied, his voice quickened by fear. On April 5, 2005, I’d sent my first suspects. For decades, racial tension
FOIA request to the County Office of rippled from the department. Most
We were about to be put through a Law in which I requested two years of of the officers were white; inevitably,
felony traffic stop, a particularly violent travel records including all expenses their suspects were black.
encounter normally reserved for flee- for Johnson’s out-of-county travel. Be-
ing murderers or suspects known to tween April 8th and 10th, my station Among the many mandates under
be armed and dangerous. This was not and I logged frequent hostile phone the DOJ’s oversight was a requirement
unfolding in some remote, war-torn calls from Johnson’s top spokesman, that all police cruisers be equipped with
country, but in suburban Washington, Jim Keary. He insisted that the informa- dashboard video cameras, to record all
D.C. on a crisp spring morning. April tion I was pursuing was “not a story” felony traffic stops.
15, 2005. My life and my career would and that, if we aired it, he would never
change dramatically, as would my faith work with the station again. On April 15th, despite threatening
in the American justice system. calls from the county government,
When a public official vehemently Pete and I set out to investigate one
Pursuing a Lead argues that something is not a story, of the many leads related to Johnson.
it generally is. I just needed the docu- A source I considered extremely reli-
As the investigative reporter at WJLA-TV mentation to prove what residents had able told me that the county’s Chief
in Washington, D.C., I’d filed a series long suspected: that their government Administrative Officer, Jacqueline
of Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) leaders were regularly misusing county Brown, had a police officer acting as a
requests to follow up on numerous tips personal chauffeur, picking her up at
related to alleged misuse of funds in
Prince George’s County, Maryland, just

Four of the dozen officers who trained Both sides of the busy divided highway Dashboard camera videotapes from the
their weapons on Andrea McCarren. were quickly shut down by the officers. nine cruisers are still “missing.”

64 Nieman Reports / Summer 2007

Reflections

home each morning and driving her to erally several car lengths. We were in of traffic. Our eyes never met. But we
the office and elsewhere around town. my car with Maryland tags, since our were sure he was calling in my license
Both Brown and the officer, Corporal news vehicles are either marked with plate number. The car was registered
Danon Ashton, were considered part the station logo or are distinctive dark in my name. The game was over, or so
of Johnson’s inner circle. blue Crown Victorias. (It was not un- we thought.
usual for me to take my personal car
The source made it clear these were on investigative assignments.) The Police Descend—With
not just trips to business meetings, but Guns Drawn
to dinner parties and to run errands. I drove. Pete sat in the middle of the
Other sources claimed that Ashton, back seat so he could keep his large We had to drive in the same direction,
who earned roughly $80,000 a year, video camera on his shoulder without so again we followed Ashton and his
much of it in overtime, had been seen being blocked by the car’s headrests. passenger and observed them from a
washing Brown’s car on weekends. We followed Ashton for more than 20 distance, driving past two police substa-
Many police officers resented him for miles and watched as he drove down tions. Both appeared to be on their cell
making so much money in what they a private driveway with an ominous- phones for much of the drive. As we
considered a cushy job unlike their own looking, hand-painted sign that read passed the county police headquarters,
work on the violent streets of Prince in big letters, “No Trespassing.” We Ashton braked. Again, we thought we’d
George’s, where their lives were at weren’t about to break the law. In been discovered and that Ashton would
risk every day. fact, as we followed Ashton on many drive into the main parking lot, and
public roads, we made a special effort we’d have some explaining to do. But
This, I thought, would be an excel- to remain within the speed limit (even he drove on, and we followed, staying
lent example of two things—the coun- when he didn’t), and I was also careful several car lengths away.
ty’s abuse of power and its questionable to use turn signals every time I changed
allocation of meager resources. To lanes or turned onto another street. We About a minute later, the pulsating
produce this for television, we needed wanted the story, but we wanted to be scream of sirens and the sight of flash-
to do some preliminary reporting. Early cautious about getting it in a proper, ing blue lights surrounded us. Three
that morning, we drove to the officer’s legal way. police cruisers sped past us.
neighborhood to learn if he had a take-
home government car and whether We pulled to the side of the road “Something’s happening,” I mum-
he picked up Brown at her home. No and waited for several minutes. When bled to Pete.
comparable executive in any neighbor- he didn’t surface, we decided to move
ing jurisdiction, including Washington, on to investigate another lead, also in “Yup, breaking news,” he respond-
D.C., has a taxpayer-funded car and Prince George’s County. ed.
driver from the police force.
As we studied our map, I was startled Suddenly, the three cruisers abruptly
We anticipated it might take several to see in my rearview mirror Ashton’s stopped. Two additional cars pulled
days of surveillance just to spot his car. vehicle pull in behind us. He had a to the left side of my car, forcing me
But to our surprise, that morning we passenger in the car, one who ap- to pull over. Two more screeched to a
watched from around the corner as he peared to be Brown. I held my breath stop behind me. Two others stopped
left his house wearing a jacket and tie, and anticipated Ashton coming to my on the other side of the median on this
not a uniform, and got into the gov- window to ask who we were and what divided highway. Officers immediately
ernment-issued sports utility vehicle. we were doing. But seconds later, he shut down all traffic in both directions,
We followed him from a substantial was slowly driving around our car, and in a heavy morning rush hour.
distance so as not to be detected—gen- soon took a right and joined the flow
Sources in the police department
would later tell me that the call went
out as “an officer in trouble,” the high-
est possible distress call. They also said
that there was no description of the
suspects, which many found unusual.
Apparently, dispatch only issued a
description of my car, a black Toyota
Highlander. In fact, sources said the
first three police cruisers had screamed
past us because they had “assumed the
suspects would be young black men”
and that I “didn’t fit the profile.” Other

McCarren’s photographer rolled on the McCarren complies with police orders. Photos courtesy of WJLA-TV
incident until police seized his camera. Washington, D.C.

Nieman Reports / Summer 2007 65

Words & Reflections

officers had apparently alerted them to ping it behind my back. The pain was Pete’s hands behind his head saw that

the fact that this woman in business immediate. My right shoulder felt like there was a camera pointing at him. He

attire was indeed their “suspicious it was on fire. I don’t remember how signaled another officer to remove it.

person.” my left arm was brought down, but The officer did, tossing it into the back

At our station’s assignment desk, the I recall my wrists being in the firm seat of my car, still rolling. For the next

police scanners buzzed with activity. grasp of a man whose face I couldn’t several minutes, audio was captured of

Two assignment editors heard police see. With my wrists bound, my elbows the conversation between the officers,

chatter about pulling over “suspects nearly together in an awkward and most of whom felt confused and angry

with a video camera.” excruciating position, my arms were by their order to chase down what

My heart was pounding when I saw abruptly yanked skyward behind my turned out to be a television news-crew

the image in my side mirror. back as I was pushed over the hood pursuing a story.

“M’am, turn off the ignition, roll of a police cruiser. Pete was quickly released after they’d

down your window, and with your right “Do you have a weapon?” asked a frisked him. I was still detained. An of-

hand only, drop your keys ficer took my purse from

to the ground,” shouted inside my car and dumped

a man I couldn’t see. I Please don’t shoot me. Please don’t shoot the contents on the hood.

complied. I was embarrassed but, at

“Ma’am, with your right Pete. Those words reverberated again and that moment, it felt like
hand only, open your the least of my worries.
again in my head, but as I walked backwards,
door, and keep your hands Among my possessions

where we can see them,” I anticipated the crackle of a gunshot. Would were several press passes,
said this disembodied allowing me access to the
the bullet pierce my lower back, I wondered? Or White House, the Penta-
voice.

Again, I did as I was would I simply be shot in the head? gon, and the Capitol. The
told. But as I stepped out officers sifted through the

in my business suit and stack of credentials, and

heels, instinct told me to the one holding my wrists

take a look at what I was up together released his grip.

against. Nearly as soon as I turned, the voice from behind me. I was relieved but filled with adrenaline

voice yelled, “Face the front. Put your “No,” I replied, stunned by the and extreme pain in my right shoulder,

hands up and back up to the sound of question. as I heard a new round of scanner

my voice.” Yet in those few seconds, My response didn’t matter. I was traffic come across what sounded like

I’d glimpsed a terrifying scene: what roughly frisked with the inside of the a loudspeaker.

appeared to be about a dozen officers, officer’s hand, under my blazer, in “The car is registered to an An-

all armed, most pointing their gun at between my legs. drea McCarren. Of Bethesda,” said a

me. Some crouched down behind the “I’m a reporter.” I remember being woman’s voice.

safety of their open cruiser doors. Oth- surprised at how meekly the words The officers instructed me to put

ers leaned on their vehicles to steady came out. “My press credentials are my belongings back in my purse, and

their aim. in the front of my car.” one held my arm and walked me to

There must be some mistake, I The exchange was interrupted by the side of the road. I was ordered to

thought. I shuffled backwards, my arms a new frenzy of activity. The officers “wait right there.” A different officer

toward the sky. I had no idea at the had discovered Pete in the back seat. stood shoulder-to-shoulder with me

time that Pete, a 60-year-old veteran I looked up to see armed officers hus- and shouted in my ear, “What are you

photographer, had been quietly rolling tling toward my car. doing here?”

videotape from the back seat of the car “Drop the camera!” screamed an Still nervous, I simply replied, “I’m

since the flashing lights and sirens first officer. a reporter.”

surrounded us. Pete had exited the car with his “I didn’t ask what you were,” he

Please don’t shoot me. Please don’t only weapon, a video camera, and it screamed. “I asked what you were

shoot Pete. Those words reverberated was rolling. At gunpoint, he placed it doing.”

again and again in my head, but as I on the ground in the direction of the “I’m a reporter on a story. I’m follow-

walked backwards, I anticipated the armed officers, who were about to ing up on some leads,” I stammered.

crackle of a gunshot. Would the bullet frisk him. His actions at this moment Just then, a group of officers walked

pierce my lower back, I wondered? Or struck me as one of the bravest acts up with Pete, and we numbly looked

would I simply be shot in the head? I’ve ever witnessed. He would later at each other.

While my mind briefly wandered, say he rolled the tape “to show at our They told us to leave, that they

I was startled by the grasp of a thick memorial service.” needed to get traffic moving again.

hand, cuffing my right wrist and snap- One of the officers who gently placed But before we left, we had some

66 Nieman Reports / Summer 2007

Reflections

questions to ask them. Why were we began treatment, which ultimately may is not recorded and goes directly to the

stopped? What laws had we broken? We have saved my life. communications supervisor, instead of

asked for a public information officer An orthopedic surgeon diagnosed dispatch. That might explain why there

to come to the scene, as is required at my shoulder injury as a subluxation are apparently no 911 tapes.

any incident involving a member of the or dislocation. I wore a sling for more When the FOIA requests went unful-

media. It was now about 9 a.m., but than a month, took strong painkillers, filled past the 30-day legal requirement,

we were told no one was available. We and did months of physical therapy, and after several follow-up calls, the

were never formally arrested, never with little success. station decided to go public. Our pri-

charged with a crime. I never missed a day at work, feel- mary news anchor, the well-respected

Pete instinctively started to roll his ing under pressure to continue the veteran journalist Gordon Peterson,

camera as I spoke with the lead offi- investigation. The story aired less than reported the story. It appeared the same

cer, who put his hand in front of the a month after our traffic stop. Today, day on the front page of The Washing-

camera and said, “I’m not doing an nearly two years after the incident, I ton Post’s Metro section, along with still

interview.” pictures taken from Pete’s

We left the scene. I was video of me with my hands

too rattled and in too much Although I was the first journalist in the up, surrounded by officers

pain to drive, so Pete did. pointing their guns at me.

Before we drove away, Pete United States known to be subjected to a When pressed for a public
remembers seeing Ashton explanation of their violent
felony traffic stop while on the job, some
and Brown in their car on stop of a 5’4”, 115-pound

the other side of the me- officers said I was ‘lucky it wasn’t a real one.’ mother of three, county
dian—watching and, he spokesman Keary said I
Had it been, they claimed, I would have been
believed, smiling. could have been “a terror-

The Aftermath ‘eating the pavement.’ ist,” and likened me to the
pilot who flew his Cessna

into restricted air space

The months that followed near the White House. The

were indescribably painful, county’s mantra became,

physically and emotionally. One col- am preparing for surgery to repair torn “Terrorists come in all shapes and

league phoned me the next day to say tendons in my shoulder. sizes.”

I’d “fucked up” his sources in the police The local media, especially WTOP, Prince George’s County Executive

department. Another said he wished Washington’s all-news radio station, Jack Johnson went on television and

it had happened to him, because he kept up the pressure on the county radio saying he believed his officers

thought the attention might advance government to provide answers to the “acted appropriately” and that “the

his career. Some officers called my col- media and its residents. use of force was reasonable.” Police

leagues to offer their criticism. They Nine police cruisers were on the Chief Melvin High repeatedly promised

said Pete was “stupid” to come out of scene and, despite the DOJ mandate to WTOP Radio that he would “get to the

the car with the camera and “deserved have working dashboard video cameras bottom of this,” and “if our people

to get shot.” running for felony stops, not one of didn’t do what they were supposed to

Although I was the first journalist them had recorded the stop. do … they’re held accountable.” The

in the United States known to be sub- The police department contradicted county’s Public Safety Director Vernon

jected to a felony traffic stop while on itself publicly, saying either the tapes Herron told The Washington Post that

the job, some officers said I was “lucky were “missing” or that the cameras government officials are “threatened

it wasn’t a real one.” Had it been, they weren’t rolling and that some of the and assaulted every day, some even

claimed, I would have been “eating the cruisers were not equipped. Although killed in the performance of their du-

pavement.” One police official told Pete remarkably captured much of the ties.” When the Post reporter asked

Washingtonian magazine, “McCarren incident on tape, I walked out of frame if Brown has ever been threatened,

should quit her whining. She wasn’t before I was injured. Herron said no.

shot.” The county never complied with Johnson and High both promised

In the months that followed, I suf- our repeated requests for 911 tapes a “thorough investigation.” In Prince

fered frequent nightmares and flash- and cell phone records of all the law George’s County, internal police inves-

backs. In the rare hours that I slept, enforcement personnel involved, plus tigations go before a citizen’s advisory

I’d wake up crying. My right shoulder the cell phone records from Brown, panel, which makes a recommendation

throbbed at night, wrapped in an ice Ashton, Johnson and Keary. Police to the county. Although it was small

pack. After months of tears and isola- sources told us that officers and other vindication, the panel recommended

tion, I was diagnosed as a “classic case security personnel don’t use 911 in an that two officers be disciplined for not

of post-traumatic stress disorder” and emergency, but a special number that having their cruiser cameras running.

Nieman Reports / Summer 2007 67

Words & Reflections

We were never permitted to learn the with the county attorney’s office and mid-November 2006.
nature of their punishment. convinced me this was the way to go. Today, nearly two years after the in-

After the Post article and a follow-up On October 3, 2006, county repre- cident and six months after mediation,
appeared in print, my three children sentatives and one of my lawyers and the county has not followed through
faced unnerving questions at their ele- I went into five uncomfortable hours on its legal commitment. Despite the
mentary school about why their mother of mediation. My trust was in my legal efforts of my lawyers, the county has
“was arrested.” Police cars drove slowly team and the highly respected retired passed deadline after deadline, re-
by our house and even parked in front federal judge who served as our media- neged on promise after promise. I can’t
in a not-so-veiled threat. Law enforce- tor. The proceedings were confidential, help but think that if someone like me,
ment, I have learned, has tremendous although I can’t erase the comment with a relatively high-profile job and
leeway in this post 9/11 world, to do made by one county lawyer who said the resources of a two-career family
whatever it deems necessary to a citi- before we began, “Let’s not make more cannot see justice, who can? n
zen—journalist or not—with little risk of this than it was.” Eventually, we
of repercussions. hammered out a financial agreement, Andrea McCarren, a 2007 Nieman
which left both sides feeling vaguely Fellow, is the investigative reporter
I was raised as the daughter of a satisfied. More difficult to agree on for WJLA-TV in Washington, D.C..
civil rights lawyer who did much of his was my insistence on a written public The Associated Press recognized
work pro bono. I truly believed that apology from the county to my family her stories on corruption in Prince
justice would be served. I was wrong. and me. George’s County with its top regional
In the year that followed the April award for investigative reporting. In
2005 incident, I consulted numerous I’d been publicly dragged through April 2007, McCarren filed a law-
high-profile lawyers, one of whom took the mud, my reporting methods as- suit against Prince George’s County
the case on contingency only to realize sailed, and yet I hadn’t broken a law for violating her constitutional
later that as difficult as the case was, he and hadn’t been charged with a crime. rights. A story about this incident
needed to get paid. He estimated our Somehow, the mediator delicately led can be found at www.youtubecom/
costs to be around $150,000. I found us to a joint statement with carefully watch?v=0ftjgyPPxGg. McCarren will
a second legal team that I trusted who chosen words. I left feeling some- teach two journalism classes at the
agreed to take the case on contingency. what vindicated for the first time in Harvard Summer School, including
We prepared a lawsuit and, just as we more than a year. Both sides signed the first broadcast journalism course
were about to file, the county asked us the agreement. The letter of apology in Harvard history.
to try mediation. One of the lawyers and the check to cover my medical
had a particularly good relationship expenses were to be in my hands by

Newspapers, Schools and Newsroom Diversity

Redirecting Newspapers in Education to focus on the program’s proven benefits could
result in more minority students becoming journalists.

By Dan Sullivan American Society of Newspaper Edi- diverse as the communities they served
tors (ASNE) has been especially active, was Gannett.1 Among the 1,410 news-
Newspapers are finding it in- pursuing a long-standing goal of get- papers included in their study, only 13
creasingly difficult to recruit ting newsrooms to reflect the diversity percent had newsrooms as diverse as
and retain journalists of color. of the communities they serve. In a their communities; another 21 percent
Right now, their annual turnover ex- June 2005 study funded by the Knight were at least half as diverse. Dedman
ceeds 10 percent, which is significantly Foundation, Bill Dedman and Stephen and Doig also found that newspapers
higher than for their white counter- Doig revealed that the only company are losing ground, as communities
parts. whose newsrooms were, on average, as diversify faster than newsrooms do.

The industry has tried to respond
with a number of initiatives. The

1 www.powerreporting.com/knight/
68 Nieman Reports / Summer 2007

Reflections

ASNE’s efforts reflect its leadership’s journalism and how these programs paper gives them a “voice.” In schools
belief that it is the right thing to do operate. A number of studies have in which students of color are in the
journalistically and not because it explored why individuals decide to majority this is a critical factor; having
would increase company profitability. enter and leave journalism. In them, a voice is regarded as evidence of be-
And various other statistical analyses three points emerge: ing taken seriously. Usually students in
support ASNE’s belief that the goal such schools are more likely to develop
of having the newsroom mirror the Socialization: Becoming a journalist an interest in journalism as a result of
community is a wiser strategy than is a socialization process that begins encouragement from a teacher, but such
only trying to increase the number of at home. Those who grew up with encouragement tends to be tied to a
journalists of color. Still, many editors newspapers in their home are three student’s ability to write, rather than
have resisted efforts to tie diversity times as likely to develop an interest because of a student’s passion for serv-
initiatives to business results. This in journalism as those who did not. ing the public. In addition, many pro-
could be a mistake, because there are The earlier someone reports “reading fessions requiring similar skill sets are
at least two business-related steps that or watching the news at home” is an actively seeking to diversify their staffs
newspapers could take to improve important factor in career choice. and heavily recruit students of color
minority representation: who might otherwise have retained an
Making a Difference: Young people tell interest in journalism.
1. Performance measures should us that they decide to pursue a career
more explicitly incorporate efforts in journalism for one of three reasons: Connecting With Minority
to reach the newspaper’s diversity They want to make a difference; they Youth
goals. like to write, and they want to be “where
the action is.” Only the first motivation NIE programs provide a significant
2. Newspapers should manage their has a lasting effect. Students who chose opportunity to overcome some of
Newspapers in Education (NIE) journalism as a college major because these obstacles. They can have a
programs to further their diversity they “like to write” were twice as likely strong impact both on students’ edu-
goals. to switch to another major as those who cational performance, as measured
chose it because they “want to make by standardized reading tests, and on
There are statistical ways of measur- a difference.” Journalists are almost students’ attitudes about newspapers.
ing the effect of taking such actions. twice as likely to change careers within The largest impacts are found with
For example, if utilizing more minority the first few years if they are not in the low-income students, students of color
journalists does improve a newspaper’s job “to make a difference.” Having this (including those for whom English is
ability to reach a broader audience, motivation and passion is so important, a second language), and students who
then the newspaper’s reach should be because the job of a newspaper journal- live in households with no newspaper
expanded throughout a community, ist does not particularly appeal to young present.
and its penetration should be uniform people. In high school and college
throughout the newspaper’s primary surveys, respondents view long hours For example, in middle schools
market. By tracking this distribution, and low pay as significant characteristics where the majority is students of color,
evidence can be gathered about a of a newspaper journalist’s job. Most those schools with a substantial NIE
newspaper’s commitment to investing also perceive that career advancement program had standardized test scores
in its community. A positive finding is a slow process, and indeed many that were 30 percent higher than scores
would mean that journalists are being editors believe that young journalists at similar schools with no NIE program.
used effectively and that the newspa- must “pay their dues.” Persons of color This finding was reported in a News-
per has adequate infrastructure in all who became journalists because they paper Association of America study
areas, something that is often not true. wanted “to make a difference” and then that identified characteristics of school
Moreover, if this calculation is used as left the profession usually questioned programs that contribute most to the
a performance measure for the news- the relevance of the newspaper they impact made by NIE. They include:
paper industry—one that is tracked worked for to their lives and whether
and publicly reported—it would send a the newspaper truly valued their pres- • Schools getting newspapers more
message to journalists of color, as well ence. than once a week and for more than
as to circulation managers. three-fourths of the school year.
Finding a Voice: School programs gen-
Why Youngsters Choose erally reinforce prior decisions rather • Schools having NIE programs in at
Journalism than providing the initial trigger for a least one-third of the classrooms and
different career choice. High school getting at least one paper for every
To understand how NIE programs students find in their school newspa- two students, and students being
might be used to help achieve diver- per evidence of this reinforcing factor allowed to take the newspapers
sity goals, it is important to know when they learn whether or not the home.
what motivates young people to enter
• With low-income students and stu-
dents whose native language is not

Nieman Reports / Summer 2007 69

Words & Reflections

English, the parents not only begin Internet in many classrooms, especially Recasting NIE as truly an educational
to read the newspaper, but the paper civics and social studies classes. Ac- program—with diversity issues at its
also becomes a vehicle for them to cording to a recent report by the Carn- core—could have a significant effect on
become involved in their children’s egie-Knight Initiative on the Future of how it operates and its overall impact.
education. Journalism Education, students and Donated and other subsidized copies
teachers alike prefer online to print as could be targeted to those most likely to
Educational factors such as these are a way to access news content and that benefit. Such changes could positively
not always made prominent at news- this preference is likely to grow. The affect the supply of journalists of color
papers. Even though NIE programs are study also found that they prefer a few in three ways:
defined and marketed as educational national sites to the Web sites of local
programs—and have demonstrated 1. Increase the pool of students of
these capacities—they are managed as … NIE programs could color who regard a newspaper as
newspaper circulation programs. Most do more good with the something important.
NIE directors report to the circulation print newspapers they
manager. In fact, most NIE directors distribute by concentrating 2. Make it easier for teachers to en-
are rewarded not for the students’ efforts on low-income and courage students of color—based
academic improvement but for positive minority middle schools on their passion for making a dif-
circulation performance. and by marketing them ference—rather than focusing first
as support for efforts to on their writing skills.
In recent years, school copies have improve students’ reading
accounted for about two percent of 3. Send a message to journalists of
total paid circulation at most news- performance. color that circulation within these
papers, but more than 10 percent at communities matters. Today NIE
some. Schools used to pay for most of newspapers, in part because most NIE programs send exactly the opposite
the copies students received, but today programs have done little to provide message.
more than half of them are contributed support for using their online content.
when subscribers donate their vacation Of relevance to the arguments being A new focus on minorities could
papers or through third-party funding. made here, the survey underlying this improve diversity and still advance
This gives significant discretion to NIE report also showed the following: the original goal of NIE to create new
directors. The typical pattern is to target long-term newspaper readers. n
the subsidized copies not to the schools • Computers were less available in
where research tells us they would do schools serving lower income and Dan Sullivan is professor and Cowles
the most good, but to those in areas minority students. Chair in Media Management and
that have the most value for advertis- Economics at the University of Min-
ers, which means that students there • These schools were more dependent nesota School of Journalism and
are least likely to get any significant on getting free newspapers and less Mass Communication, where he
benefit from the program. likely to get one for every student. examines how traditional media
organizations deal with change in
Teachers are also targeted by NIE • Teachers in these schools were more communities they serve and with
programs, but communication with affected by the need to prepare changes in technologies affecting
them revolves around marketing ef- students for standardized tests. their business competitiveness. His
forts, not the program’s educational current research focuses on the link
value. Teachers are viewed as the These findings actually help to between good journalism and good
customer; this means that the focus strengthen the argument made here business and on the public policy
of supporting materials is on making that NIE programs could do more implications of media ownership.
it easier for them to use newspapers good with the print newspapers they
in the classroom rather than on what distribute by concentrating efforts
will help the students. Moreover, labor- on low-income and minority middle
intensive support, such as training or schools and by marketing them as sup-
site visits, has been drastically cut or port for efforts to improve students’
eliminated in recent years. Less than reading performance.
one percent of NIE programs even
measure how the newspapers enhance
the students’ classroom experience.
What teachers are usually asked is
whether they are “satisfied” with the
program.

One new challenge facing NIE
programs is the increased use of the

70 Nieman Reports / Summer 2007

Books

The Civil Rights Struggle and the Press

A book revisits the time when only a few brave voices in the Southern press stood up against the many

‘that supported and often led massive resistance to change.’

The Race Beat: The Press, the Civil Rights Struggle,
and the Awakening of a Nation
Gene Roberts and Hank Klibanoff
Alfred A. Knopf. 518 Pages. $30.

By Mary C. Curtis

Of all the questions asked about the war professor at the University of Maryland, across the country. Readers were hun-
in Iraq, many were and still are directed was a reporter at various Southern gry for stories and strong editorial
at the press. Why didn’t reporters ask newspapers and national editor for voices not featured anywhere else.
more and better questions in the run- The New York Times before becoming
up to the invasion? Why are reporters executive editor of The Philadelphia The Negro press, threatened with
so quick to accept official versions of Inquirer and managing editor of the sedition charges during World War
events? Why is coverage so focused Times. Klibanoff, the managing editor II, continued to speak out about the
on the violence, ignoring the positive for news at The Atlanta Journal-Con- irony of Negro soldiers fighting for
developments on the ground? stitution, was a reporter in Mississippi freedom abroad while enduring brutal
and at The Boston Globe before 20 discrimination at home. The Arkansas
As varied as the questioners’ per- years as a reporter and editor at the State Press—run by civil rights advo-
spective might be, a truth emerges just Inquirer. cates L.C. and Daisy Bates—bravely
in their asking: In any war, public and reported the violent showdown over
political views about policy are shaped This story starts in 1944—10 years the 1957 integration of Central High
in some way by press coverage. before the Supreme Court’s Brown in Little Rock. But it could not survive
v. Board of Education decision out- the advertising boycott that followed.
There are all kinds of wars. lawed racial segregation in public Black reporter L. Alex Wilson had re-
In the exhaustively researched and schools—when Swedish academic ported from the Korean War, but it was
compellingly written “The Race Beat: Gunnar Myrdal’s landmark book, “An in Little Rock that he was badly injured,
The Press, the Civil Rights Struggle, and American Dilemma,” was published. In his refusal to show fear a provocation
the Awakening of a Nation,” journal- research and travels with his wife, Alva,
ists Gene Roberts and Hank Klibanoff Myrdal remained optimistic about the
remind readers of the bloody war our promise of American democracy even
nation fought over civil rights for black while observing the South’s inhumane
Americans in the 1950’s and 1960’s on treatment of blacks. He wrote, “There
mostly Southern battlefields. is no doubt, in the writer’s opinion,
Black Americans denied their rights that a great majority of white people
as citizens—rights as basic as the vote in America would be prepared to give
and decent schools—would not be the Negro a substantially better deal if
denied. Many whites saw the demands they knew the facts.” His conclusion,
that black men and women judged rea- also quoted in “The Race Beat”: “To
sonable as threats to their way of life—a get publicity is of the highest strategic
life built on the assumed inferiority importance to the Negro people.”
of blacks. Horrified whites would not
easily give an inch, especially with the The Negro press led the way. Before
power of their states behind them. Northern white newspapers cared
This was a war with casualties. about appealing to black readers or no-
Thanks to the press, there were also ticed their struggles and everyday lives,
witnesses. the black-owned Chicago Defender
pushed its circulation over 200,000,
Taking Sides and The Afro-American competed with
the Norfolk, Virginia-based Journal and
The guides to this history know the Guide for readers. The powerhouse
territory well. Roberts, a journalism Pittsburgh Courier reached audiences

Nieman Reports / Summer 2007 71

Words & Reflections

for angry whites. conjecture, wishful thinking and a pu- search, which these authors explore
As the civil rights story got bigger and erile jazz-worship, what has he in fact and describe well, is very different from
contributed to it? The blunt answer, the “on the one hand, on the other
bloodier, black journalists, because of may it please the court, is very damned hand” approach to reporting that today
their color, became targets of the mob little.” Carrying his headline “The Hell passes for balance but too often fails
who did not respect them as human He Is Equal,” this essay was spiked after to illuminate the essence of the story
beings or journalists. Others took the the bombing of a Birmingham, Alabama or why it matters. n
lead. The New York Times, which had church killed four little girls.
misread the importance and scope of
the Little Rock story, worked quickly While photographs in Life magazine Mary C. Curtis, a 2006 Nieman Fel-
to catch up. The paper sent Georgia- and other publications gripped the low, is a columnist at The Charlotte
born Claude Sitton, whose Southern world, it was the infant medium of Observer in North Carolina. “The
coverage would set the standard. Then television that came of age with the Race Beat” won the 2007 Pulitzer
there were the Southern editors who movement; TV proved its power as it Prize for History.
bucked local power and reader reac- conveyed graphic pictures
tion with their fair coverage of “Bull” of brutality into America’s
Connor’s dogs and hoses and James living rooms. ABC inter-
Meredith’s integration of Ole Miss: rupted the movie “Judgment
Harry Ashmore of the Charlotte News at Nuremberg” to broadcast
and the Arkansas Gazette; Ralph McGill images of troopers unleash-
at The Atlanta Constitution; Hodding ing tear gas and nightsticks
Carter II in Greenville, Mississippi; on marchers trying to cross
Buford Boone in Tuscaloosa, Alabama; the Edmund Pettus Bridge
Hazel Brannon Smith in Lexington, on the way from Selma to
Mississippi, and others. Most of them, Montgomery, Alabama in
like McGill, Jonathan Daniels of the March 1965. Viewers ob-
News & Observer of Raleigh, and Mark served the obvious parallels
Ethridge, publisher at the Courier- and were horrified.
Journal of Louisville, at first took a
moderate view for that time, favoring Eventual broadcast gi-
gradual progress and defending social ants—Howard K. Smith
separation. But their view of this issue and John Chancellor—went
evolved as they witnessed the injustice South early in their careers
of separate but equal. and filed visual reports on
the violence with which
These newspapers—led by coura- protestors were met and the
geous editors—were minority voices nonviolent responses they
in a Southern press that supported saw. The Reverend Martin
and often led massive resistance to Luther King, Jr. realized
change. At The Charleston (S.C.) News that TV and the civil rights
and Courier, the editor, Tom Waring, struggle were made for each
Jr., supported the Citizens’ Councils other, and he used coverage
organized to intimidate blacks and of racists’ rage to wake up
reaffirm segregation after the Brown the rest of America.
decision. James J. Kilpatrick, editor
of the Richmond News Leader, led Reading “The Race Beat”
resistance efforts in Virginia. Known brings alive the datelines
for his attention to the fine points of that exposed a country’s
grammar and word usage, Kilpatrick raw wounds not so long
had no trouble fitting the work “mon- ago: Selma, Birmingham,
grelization” into his writing. Little Rock. It also offers a
lesson in the history of jour-
In 1963, in an essay for The Saturday nalism. Reporters, editors
Evening Post, Kilpatrick wrote: “The and photographers worked
Negro race, as a race, is in fact an in- hard to stay outside of this
ferior race …. When the Negro today story—some might say the L. Alex Wilson, editor of the Tri-State Defender
proclaims or demands his ‘equality,’ he story of their time. Eventu- (Memphis), was assaulted during his coverage at
is talking of equality within the terms ally they realized that find- Central High in Little Rock, Arkansas. Photos by Will
of Western civilization. And what, pray, ing truth amid chaos is not Counts, courtesy of Vivian Counts and Indiana Univer-
has he contributed to it? Putting aside a simple task. Their honest sity Archives.

72 Nieman Reports / Summer 2007

Books

Predicting Digital Media Challenges Is Not Difficult

A newspaper journalist reflects on a book in which many problems are proclaimed, but hard thinking
about solutions remains elusive.

Digital Destiny: New Media and the Future of Democracy
Jeff Chester
The New Press. 282 Pages. $24.95.

By Cameron McWhirter

On January 12, 2007, Bill Moyers transformation, companies are angling of convenience. Chester uses the ex-
held up a copy of “Digital Destiny” in Washington, D.C. and elsewhere ample of TiVo, which pitches itself as
before thousands gathered at the Na- to cut advantageous deals for when a way for consumers to quickly skip
tional Conference for Media Reform in the new media landscape, whatever it advertisements. In fact, the company
Memphis, Tennessee. “Make this your will be, settles in. Right now, legions is gathering detailed information on
Bible,” this broadcast journalist and of corporate lobbyists are walking the consumer habits about which ads
former public official declared. halls of Congress trying to make sure they do not skip over and selling that
their clients get the most out of new information to advertisers. Such ef-
Jeff Chester’s polemic actually reads governmental arrangements concern- forts have been afoot for decades. I
more like the hybrid of a public interest ing advertising, privacy, media access, am old enough to remember when
position paper and a Nation editorial. and information control. cable television was supposed to be a
Chester writes in a complaintive style medium devoid of advertising. Look
that inevitably grates—even when Chester is most lucid—and fright- at what we have now.
you broadly agree with what he is say- ening—when he explores this revo-
ing. Whole sections of the book are lution. The biggest concern arising Chester, executive director of the
consumed with procedural minutiae from the technological Pandora’s box public interest lobbying group Center
within Washington, D.C.’s Beltway. of digital broadband is the ability of for Digital Democracy, spends much
At the end of these sections, Chester companies to track everything you view of his book attacking standard vil-
smugly holds up the obvious and and download to the precise second. lains of the media reform movement:
shakes it like a bloody shirt. Corporate Chester labels one of his sections “Big the Telecommunications Act of 1996,
lobbyists give money to politicians! Brother Lives on Madison Avenue.” He media consolidation, former FCC
Companies are gathering information discusses at length what he calls the
on you and selling it to advertisers! “Brandwashing” of America. Advertis-
Corporations care about profit more ers are plotting whole new ways to track
than your privacy! It’s a fiery sermon and guide buying habits. The technol-
delivered in the church of Robert W. ogy now at their disposal has as much
McChesney and Ralph Nader. in common with the TV Nielsen Ratings
as a mission to Mars has with throwing
And yet, despite problems that in- a rock. Precious little public discussion
variably will limit its audience, “Digi- has accompanied this information
tal Destiny” raises vital questions for revolution. A gaggle of technocrats,
journalists and all Americans about the appointed commissioners, lobbyists,
future of our media landscape. Ches- consultants (usually ex-technocrats
ter may not have the answers, but he hired by lobbying firms), and people
is pointing to dramatic upheaval that like Chester have been left to sort
must concern us all. Print, radio and out the political, social and economic
television—ancient divisions that were consequences of all this change. The
guided under separate, arcane govern- privacy consequences of such develop-
mental rules for so many decades—are ments are obvious and scary.
morphing into one surging medium.
The digital broadband revolution is Marketing firms are not waiting for
transforming how and when we will it all to be sorted out. They are busy
consume the Internet, video, audio at newer, more exact versions of their
and typed words like these. old game: getting people to give up
private information under the guise
Beneath the dramatic technological

Nieman Reports / Summer 2007 73

Words & Reflections

chairman Michael Powell, and politi- vision networks need to set up public to assert that the public’s right to a
cians’ habitual coziness with K Street. trusts to pay for news. Would they diverse and equitable media system is
Chester has much to chew on. A pha- have advertising on their programs? paramount to business interests.” That
lanx of lawyers, lobbyists, consultants, He argues for broadband networks sounds important, but what does he
trade associations, pseudoconsumer set up by local governments, but he actually mean? Should the government
groups, and even university journalism does not explore the free speech con- control the media? Should the media
departments are working to influence sequences. If the government controls be forced to split ownership just as
Congress and the White House about the information network, will it filter the technology is bringing the various
the future media landscape. Chester the information that passes through mediums together?
identifies key problems and leading it? Will we trade the Big Brother on
players in the game. Although his own Madison Avenue for the Big Brother in At the opening of his book, Chester
bias dominates, Chester has produced Washington, D.C.? Who will be gather- uses the obligatory quote from Howard
a book full of useful information. He ing data about citizen broadband use Beale in “Network.” He then goes on
does an admirable job presenting his and to what end? to show why he is mad as hell and he
view on how the sausage of media won’t take it anymore. Okay, now what?
rules is made.1 Chester recommends subsidizing Diatribes delivered to people who
broadband for low-income Americans. already agree with you won’t accom-
The greatest weakness of “Digital He makes the appealing public policy plish the preservation of the media’s
Destiny” is the last section, where argument that poor children need to essential role in both our democratic
Chester presents his supposed solu- have access to information to have a experiment and the spread of human
tions to problems he has railed about level playing field in the new digital knowledge. Answers to the daunting
for 191 pages of his 208-page harangue. age. Fair enough. But will the govern- questions about our media’s digital
Chester shows us what’s wrong and ment control how subsidized people destiny have to be carefully conceived,
scary in his view, but he doesn’t do use broadband? If not, would taxpay- arrived at through consensus, and
enough hard thinking about what a ers be happy if thousands of people grounded in what government can
better future can actually look like and used subsidized broadband to watch realistically control in a free and open
what it will take to get us there. YouTube, download pornography, and society. n
pirate copyrighted music?
He argues that the current system Cameron McWhirter, a 2007 Nieman
is stifling competition, but then he As his book nears its concluding fellow, is a reporter at The Atlanta
argues for more publicly funded news pages, Chester attacks media consoli- Journal-Constitution.
programming. He suggests major tele- dation and declares vaguely, “It’s time

1 For more information about the Center for Digital Democracy, go to www.
democraticmedia.org. Chester’s blog can be read at www.democraticmedia.org/jcblog/

‘A Voice, a Brain, and a Notebook’

Bloggers have taken up where I.F. Stone left off, and journalists shouldn’t be far behind.

All Governments Lie! The Life and Times of Rebel Journalist I.F. Stone
Myra MacPherson
Scribner. 592 Pages. $35.

By Dan Froomkin

The best blogger ever died in 1989 at and the organizing principle of many mind, starting I.F. Stone’s Weekly, eas-
the age of 81. of the finest political bloggers on the ily the scrappiest and most influential
Internet. four-page newsletter ever sent through
That’s the conclusion I reached the U.S. mail. When Stone shut it
reading Myra MacPherson’s wonderful Although Stone worked for decades down in 1971, the Weekly had 70,000
biography of the great rebel journalist, vigorously tweaking authority as a daily subscribers.
I.F. Stone. The title of her book, “All journalist, editorial writer and essay-
Governments Lie!,” is both a fitting ist, it was in 1953 that he created the In many ways, the Weekly was a
summary of Stone’s core philosophy perfect outlet for his extraordinary blog before its time. In format, it was

74 Nieman Reports / Summer 2007

Books

a combination of articles, essays and voice above a decorous mumble, and the press in any case.” MacPherson
annotated excerpts from original to use forty-eight-point bold.’” quotes Stone himself: “You cannot get
documents and other people’s report- intimate with officials and maintain
ing—just like a blog. In content, it was It’s all about pixels now, not point- your independence.” Whether they
a far cry from the passionless prose that size, but Stone’s counsel is more were “good guys” or “bad guys” was
afflicts so much mainstream political appropriate than ever. Why should incidental to him. “They’ll use you.”
reporting. Like so many of today’s top journalists subjugate their passions— For Stone, an interview was not an oc-
bloggers, Stone built a community of particularly for such nonpartisan and casion to get spun, but an opportunity
loyal readers around his voice—an in- appropriately journalistic values as to confront an official with facts. He
formed voice, full of outrage and born transparency, truth in government, fair deplored “baby questions.”
of an unconcealed devotion to decency play, and humane treatment? And yet
and fair play, civil liberty, free speech, this is precisely what has happened, Some of Stone’s biggest exposés
peace in the world, truth in govern- as corporate-style values seem to have came simply from reading. Legend-
ment, and a humane society. overwhelmed our newsrooms, mak- ary Washington Post reporter Walter
ing our voices too bland to excite our Pincus told MacPherson: “Izzy really
The newspapers of his era could readers. set the pattern for reading hearings. I
have learned a lot from Stone, as still do it. It’s the only way to report
MacPherson—herself an accomplished There were many ways in which around Washington. He was constantly
Washington journalist—so effectively Stone distinguished himself from his harping on that.” Pincus enumerated
chronicles. History repeatedly vindi- more conventional colleagues. He the reasons why few reporters dig into
cated his courage, while condemning wasn’t a slave to access. He adored documents: “One, they don’t want to
their timidity. Similarly, the newspapers burrowing into original documents. believe that someone would deliber-
of this era could learn a lot from Stone He didn’t hesitate to call a lie a lie. And ately mislead them. Two, it takes a lot
as they hunt desperately for a profitable he was relentless. Those characteristics of work and time. Three, they don’t
future in the Internet age. Once again, seem to be in short supply among want to be the object of opprobrium
they are being too timid. What bloggers today’s media elite—as the trial of for writing critical pieces. People as-
have so effectively shown is that the In- former vice presidential aide Scooter sume that you will be cut off. That’s
ternet values voice and passion. Where Libby (and its coverage) illustrated so wrong. As long as you write critical
newspapers can excel in this new era clearly. Instead, it’s the bloggers who pieces that are accurate, you gain re-
is in providing both—grounded in have taken up Stone’s mantle. spect. As long as they know that by not
trusted information. cooperating they’re not going to stop
On the issue of access, MacPherson you from writing anyway, many get the
An Informed Voice With quotes longtime Washington reporter idea that it’s better to cooperate. And
Many Tones Marvin Kalb on Stone: “He didn’t care by contacting them, they can’t accuse
what the ‘senior officials’ said on ‘deep you of not being fair.”
I believe that one big reason news- background,’ because I think he as-
papers are faltering online, certainly sumed they were lying or misleading Even as bloggers—and Jon Stew-
relative to the abundance of value they art—build huge audiences at least in
represent, is that so much in them is part by enthusiastically calling bullshit
written in a monotone. Even the most on government lies, aggressively
experienced beat reporters—who adversarial journalism seems to be
could write with authority and pas- frowned upon in many newsrooms.
sion based on their deep knowledge “Izzy’s point was that reporters were
and appreciation for the subject they not stenographers,” investigative re-
cover—are encouraged to write in porter and author Scott Armstrong
a way that subjugates not only their tells MacPherson. “Izzy was eternally
personality but their judgment. disappointed that so many were not
willing to find the public records and
MacPherson’s book shows us a man say, ‘These two points have been said
who, by contrast, “rejected the idea of and it’s wrong. Here’s what the record
the reporter as a robot with no political shows’ …. He looked at journalism as
passion or insight. ‘Without forgoing a political act. The reason you do it is
accuracy and documentation,’ Stone to try to keep the political dialogue
argued, reporters did not need to be honest.” Elizabeth Drew called Stone
‘neutral.’ … ‘A newspaperman ought to journalism’s great “fog cutter.” Ex-
use his power on behalf of those who plains MacPherson: “Cutting through
were getting the dirty end of the deal the fog of manipulative, distorted and
…. And when he has something to say, lying governmental prose was his true
he ought not to be afraid to raise his specialty.”

Nieman Reports / Summer 2007 75

Words & Reflections

And once Stone sunk his teeth into work of others. MacPherson writes: That bloggers have taken up so
a story, he kept at it. That happens to “His famous boxes became as well many of Stone’s tactics is a testament
also be one of the signature attributes read as the bloopers at the end of New to their genius. That all of their voices
of bloggers—in stark contrast to the Yorker items. Bordered in dark type, still don’t add up to one I.F. Stone’s
daily amnesia that the daily paper these paragraphs captured errors or Weekly is a testament to his genius.
often seems to bring with it. The contradictory positions in govern- And now the collective genius of the
Weekly became Stone’s platform for mental utterances and newspapers, Internet age may elevate Stone’s cri-
relentlessly opposing McCarthyism, topped with sardonic headlines that tique of conventional journalism to
cold war-era attacks on civil liberties, drew smiles …. The Nation publisher a financial imperative. The Internet
racial segregation, and eventually the Victor Navasky aptly called Stone an has exposed a reality harshly at odds
Vietnam War. ‘investigative reader’ …. His newsletter with the increasingly buttoned-down
at times resembled a top-notch clipping corporate newsrooms of the bottom-
Though Stone went through pe- service with additional commentary line driven media companies: Readers
riods of economic uncertainty, he and edgy headlines, which explains have an enormous appetite for voice
ultimately found that it’s good busi- why so many mainstream journalists and passion. It would be ironic if busi-
ness to have a voice and a brain and a found information in the Weekly that ness values drove corporate media to
notebook—and, just like bloggers, an they couldn’t find elsewhere …. Stone’s Stone’s way of doing journalism, but it
independent delivery mechanism. How Weekly became a conduit for protest would be a great thing for the industry
much of a proto-blogger was he? Con- as he published what other newspa- and the country. n
sider MacPherson’s description of his pers were ignoring, such as verbatim
original home office: “The Weekly office testimonies at congressional hearings. Dan Froomkin is deputy editor of
then consisted of the dining room table, The 1955 Senate testimony of NAACP NiemanWatchdog.org, a Nieman
third-floor hallway and two bedrooms, Executive Secretary Roy Wilkins was Foundation Web site that encourages
an enclosed downstairs porch where headlined ‘How Mississippi Whites reporters to ask probing questions
Esther kept the books and handled the Terrorize Negroes Who Dare Ask De- and hold entities accountable. He
main, and the basement, where Stone Segregation.’” During the Vietnam War, also writes washingtonpost.com’s
later stashed his assistants.” “Stone’s inclusion of foreign accounts White House Watch column, a pug-
that did not sanitize war coverage gave nacious daily anthology of White
Also like today’s bloggers, Stone his readers a tougher reality than other House-related items from news Web
wrote using an informal style, and he American publications.” sites, blogs and other sources.
acknowledged—sometimes with ad-
miration, sometimes with scorn—the

Revisiting the Vanguard of Women Journalists

‘… we didn’t get jobs, pay raises, or choice assignments because of our gender.’

Outside the Box: A Memoir
Lynn Sherr
Rodale. 360 Pages. $25.95.

By Kay Mills

I don’t think I’ve ever met Lynn Sherr, the frustration of writing about con- San Francisco when the party named
but our experiences in journalism—she sciousness-raising groups in the late Geraldine Ferraro as the first woman
in television for much of her career, I in 1960’s when I attempted to explain on a national ticket.
print—are so similar that as I read her their significance to male editors
book, “Outside the Box: A Memoir,” I who didn’t see what was happening Along with jaw-dropping moments
felt I could finish her sentences. around them. It was like trying to (“Did he just say what I think he
nail Jello to the wall. Politics, on the said?”), when phrases were filled with
For us, as women of a certain age, other hand, was something the guys what today is unimaginable sexism,
as the phrase used to go, vast social understood, so many of us started cov- we persevered through a lot of other
change was unfolding as we reported ering women’s political efforts. Sherr memorable, if not iconic, utterances.
on the beginnings of the contemporary remembers well the adrenaline surge
women’s movement. I feel sure that at the 1984 Democratic convention in • We heard the “but we’ve already got
Sherr would relate, for example, to a woman” line more often than we

76 Nieman Reports / Summer 2007

Books

care to recall. slide away again very easily.” and produced educational sound
• We finally, I think, erased “newshen” As Sherr has done herself in this and filmstrips. (I started with United Press
International in Chicago in 1964 and
from the vocabularies of headline other books, we need to continue to for three years wrote broadcast news.)
writers and others who inhabit write women’s history, especially the After a stint on AP’s team of young
newsrooms. history of our profession, so that young reporters covering the women’s move-
• Seated in a restaurant, bar or hotel women starting out will know about ment and youth culture, she moved to
lobby with several other women, Betsy Wade and Joan Cook and Eileen local reporting at WCBS in New York,
we’ve been asked by too many men Shanahan, plaintiffs in The New York then to stints at WNET, New York’s
to count what we are doing there Times case, and Pauline Fredericks public television station, and with Bill
“all by ourselves.” and Nancy Dickerson, pioneers in the Moyers’ PBS program “USA: People and
• We watched as men turned con- men’s world of television. Politics” in 1976. She went to ABC News
tortionists to try to figure out what in 1977, where she covered primarily
a group of women reporters was Changes in News Reporting the space program and national poli-
saying at a nearby table. Or when tics. For the past 20 years, she’s been
we closed the office door, we gave Like the newspaper world that I have a mainstay of ABC’s news magazine
men fits wondering what we could loved, TV news is suffering from con- show “20/20.”
be talking about. tractions. No longer do Americans
gather around the electronic hearth Like newspapers, television news
Those are the lighter moments. We to hear Walter or Dan or Tom or Peter still resided in “fat city” in the mid-
know all too well of times we didn’t or even Katie, Charles or Brian give us 1980’s. Reporting on the Ferraro cam-
get jobs, pay raises, or choice assign- the evening news. News is always on paign, Sherr recalls, “We traveled in
ments because of our gender. Despite and accessible online, though what our network luxury in those days of open
the fine journalism done by Dorothy neighbor might be seeing or hearing wallets and full coverage.” Later, work-
Thompson and Marguerite Higgins can be quite different than what we ing for “20/20,” she did longer stories
before and during earlier wars, only are taking in as the day’s news. Fewer and in-depth profiles and discovered
a few women were assigned to cover Americans each year still haul in the that she had “a chance to make a dif-
Vietnam. Women correspondents and morning newspaper, while newspa- ference with a devoted audience.” It
photographers rarely made it into pers’ online stories with audio, video is, she writes, “the best place to work
combat zones until the 1990 Gulf War. and interactive opportunities for feed- in all of ABC.” But as the years went
And women sportswriters experienced back are ubiquitous. by, the audience split as cable TV
inequality in assignments from their and other delivery systems—notably
news desks and unequal treatment Sherr traces the changes for televi- the Internet—came along. Budgets
when it came to interviewing athletes sion as she looks back on her own tightened. Stories shortened. Worse,
in their locker rooms. career. She started with the AP in New print and TV grew more interested in
York in 1965, and for three years wrote covering celebrities than in reporting
There came a time when women the news.
journalists refused to put up with such
treatment, and they sued The New To these deteriorating factors, Sherr
York Times, The Associated Press (AP), adds that “today facts have become
and NBC and filed equal employment fungible. People seem more interested
charges against The Washington Post. in reading or hearing or watching to
They also challenged sports organiza- reinforce their already set positions
tions such as Major League Baseball rather than to open a new world of pos-
in court and filed license challenges sibilities…. Our job is not to reinforce
against network TV affiliates to start what you already know; it’s to find out
achieving change for women. what matters and report back to you
on that. Fairly.”
Women journalists today stand on
the shoulders of those gutsy women Sherr’s book could—and probably
who challenged the status quo, and we should—double as an instruction
should not forget this all-too-recent manual for young journalists, espe-
era in our history. “Part of me,” Sherr cially now that they are being asked
writes, “thinks it’s wonderful that so to report, write, blog and produce
many young women don’t really under- stills and video, often simultaneously.
stand the struggle it took to get here. Sherr emphasizes and illustrates the
It’s good because they’re not hung value of good preparation in tackling
up on it; it’s not a problem. They just any assignment. But even that effort by
do their jobs. But part of me says they a reporter doesn’t take into account
really ought to know, because it can “how easy it is to miss the best bite

Nieman Reports / Summer 2007 77

Words & Reflections

because you haven’t heard the new chance, and I did. person I met on these pages. And I’d
thought dropped into an answer and “Surely you don’t mean Manson like her not only because our experi-
because you’ve just sprinted on to the ences are woven together in the quilt of
next question without following up.” and White were good examples of time in which we practiced our trade,
experimentation?” I asked Brand, who but because of how she approached
Reading this admonition, I recalled assured me he didn’t. But this moment the difficulties those times presented
an interview I did with Whole Earth is a good reminder that what Sherr cau- to women like her and how she is now
Catalog editor Stewart Brand for the tions reporters about does happen. sharing with the next generation what
Los Angeles Times. We were talking she learned along the way. n
about how people experiment when Her life outside of journalism offers
they come to California, when he men- insight into her personal triumphs and Kay Mills, a former Los Angeles Times
tioned Charles Manson and Dan White, challenges. Sherr married happily and editorial writer, is author of “A Place
killers both. Only when I listened to then lost her husband to cancer. She in the News: From the Women’s Pages
the tape of our conversation did I hear fought colon cancer. Her parents died. to the Front Page,” and other books.
myself asking him a totally unrelated Through it all, she seems to have main-
question after he’d said this. In this tained a healthy sense of perspective
case, I could call him to have a second on what matters—family, friends and
pride in one’s work. I think I’d like the

Demonstrating the Craft of Writing

A book ‘grounds the reader in practical improvement by presenting 50 sharp, focused “tools.”’

Writing Tools: 50 Essential Strategies for Every Writer
Roy Peter Clark
Little, Brown, and Company. 272 Pages. $19.99.

By Tom Ehrenfeld

Most writing guides suffer the same fate of grammar and syntax, each of the 50
as books about comedy: These earnest insights he shares with us carries the
primers undermine their message by weight of experience. They are sharp,
lacking the very quality they aspire to refined and build on conventional
teach. That’s why Roy Peter Clark’s wisdom.1
“Writing Tools: 50 Essential Strategies
for Every Writer” establishes itself as an Consider, for example, tool (and
essential writing resource. Exemplary therefore chapter) 4, “Be passive-ag-
might be the best word to describe this gressive.” Clark doesn’t simply repeat
terrific guide, for not only does Clark the old saw to always avoid the passive
produce a new standard of excellence, voice. “My point is that you can create
but he does so by drawing from a rich acceptable prose, from time to time,
and vivid collection of writing samples without any active verbs,” he says. He
that teach by example. cites a great passage from Steinbeck in
which the master mixes a dozen active
Clark addresses the craft of writing verbs with one well-placed passive verb
with a hands-on, nitty-gritty approach that describes the action precisely. Why
to improvement. Rather than offer does it work here? In this well-chosen
overarching theories about writing, passage, the writer has selected the
he grounds the reader in practical passive verb “to call attention to the
improvement by presenting 50 sharp, receiver of the action.” Clark then
focused “tools.” More than simple rules strengthens this insight with several

1 “Fifty Writing Tools: Quick List” can be found at www.poynter.org/column.
asp?id=78&aid=103943

78 Nieman Reports / Summer 2007

Books

other surprising yet no-less-forceful journalists and authors. He blends his “If you feel left behind, this book
passages. examples with the lessons seamlessly, invites you to imagine the act of writ-
teaching with the perfect recipe of ing less as a special talent and more as
Or savor Clark’s sage counsel to “let content and context. In fact, some of a purposeful craft. Think of writing as
punctuation control pace and space.” the examples are so apt that one can’t carpentry, and consider this book your
There’s a wealth of guides that teach help but wonder whether Clark has toolbox. You can borrow a writing tool
you how to cross your “t’s” and dif- found them to be great proof of his prin- at any time, and here’s another secret:
ferentiate between an “n” dash and an ciples—or simply reverse-engineered Unlike hammers, chisels and rakes,
“em” dash; “Writing Tools” provides the tools from his favorite passages of writing tools never have to be returned.
more nuanced wisdom on using the writing. With the “Set the pace with They can be cleaned, sharpened and
appropriate comma, colon, semicolon sentence length” chapter, for example, passed along.
or dash for dramatic effect. he illustrates with a perfectly paced
passage from Laura Hillenbrand’s “These practical tools will help to
Throughout the guide Clark sprin- “Seabiscuit” that canters when need dispel your writing inhibitions, mak-
kles simple gems of common sense: be and trots when essential. ing the craft central to the way you
“Donald Murray taught me that brevity see the world. As you add tools to
comes from selection, not compres- Clark also culls terrific examples your workbench, you’ll begin to see
sion, a lesson that requires lifting from the work of newspaper journal- the world as a storehouse of writing
blocks from the work.” Or “Remember ists who demonstrate that great writing ideas. As you gain proficiency with each
that clear prose is not just a product can be found anywhere. This expansive tool, and then fluency, the act of writ-
of sentence length and word choice. It approach to writing excellence bolsters ing will make you a better student, a
derives first from a sense of purpose—a another crucial lesson, Tool 43’s “Read better worker, a better friend, a better
determination to inform.” for both form and content.” While great citizen, a better parent, a better teacher,
teachers can help writers improve their a better person.” n
And, refreshingly, in a quiet manner skills, Clark reminds us that “smart
that is neither under- nor overstated, writers continue to learn, by reading Tom Ehrenfeld is a freelance journal-
Clark practices what he preaches. To work they admire again and again ‘to ist based in Cambridge, Massachu-
wit: Chapter 37, titled, “In short works, see how it works.’” setts. Formerly a writer and editor
don’t waste a syllable,” opens with this with Inc. Magazine and Harvard
passage: I’ll close with a big fat excerpt from Business Review, he is the author of
the introduction. Check out Clark’s “The Startup Garden: How Growing
“I’ve seen the Hope Diamond at the encouraging words, which in their a Business Grows You.” The Poynter
Smithsonian. At forty-five carats, it is big clear and powerful language present Institute (www.poynter.org) is pub-
and blue and buxom, but not beauti- the promise of this book. Writing is not lishing a new version of “Writing
ful. Smaller gems have more facets and a rarified art reserved for a privileged Tools: The Blog” to be updated every
reflect light with more brilliance. The few, Clark argues, but a craft that can Monday and Wednesday, with news-
same can be true of writing.” be learned by anyone with patience, letters sent out the following morn-
diligence and the guidance of great ing with a focus on strategies for
Clark backs up all his tools with teachers (including the lessons of “Writ- improving writing.
superb selections from David Sedaris, ing Tools”). Here he exhorts everyone
Tom Wolfe, Anna Quindlen, Nora to see themselves as writers.
Ephron, and scores of other talented

A Sampling of Clark’s 50 Writing Tools

7. Fear not the long sentence. Take 18. Set the pace with sentence length. 28. Put odd and interesting things next
the reader on a journey of language Vary sentences to influence the to each other. Help the reader learn
and meaning. reader’s speed. from contrast.

9. Let punctuation control pace and 22. Climb up and down the ladder of 39. Write toward an ending. Help read-
space. Learn the rules, but realize abstraction. Learn when to show, ers close the circle of meaning.
you have more options than you when to tell, and when to do
think. both. 41. Turn procrastination into rehears-
al. Plan and write it first in your
13. Play with words, even in serious 25. Learn the difference between head.
stories. Choose words the aver- reports and stories. Use one to
age reader avoids but the average render information, the other to 44. Save string. For big projects, save
reader understands. render experience. scraps others would toss. n

Nieman Reports / Summer 2007 79

Nieman Notes

Compiled by Lois Fiore

A Dilemma for Black Women in Broadcast
Journalism

‘They say you look militant, like Angela Davis. You’re scaring them!’

By Renee Ferguson immeasurable. It was during one of color and hair texture.
our after-the-news critique sessions I kept the Afro for a year, wasn’t fired,
Don Imus didn’t only insult the that our unforgettable conversation
Rutgers women’s basketball occurred. and when I did straighten my hair, there
team, he insulted me. I had were people who called the TV station
spent most of my Nieman year happily “Renee, you’re going to have to get to complain about that, too.
liberated from the tyranny of straight rid of that Afro,” he said.
hair. At Harvard I felt that I was judged The Never-Ending
not by what was happening on the “What do you mean get rid of my Conversation
outside of my head but by what was ’fro?,” I shot back.
occurring inside of it. I was happily During the next three decades as my
immersed in the freedom of this idyllic “We’re getting a lot of calls from our career took me to Chicago, Atlanta and
academic setting when Imus’ scurri- viewers. They say you look militant, like New York, as I moved from local news
lous words about black women’s hair Angela Davis. You’re scaring them!” to network news and back to Chicago
dragged me back into the real world local news where I now work as an
where I make my living. I argued that they should be looking investigative reporter, the conversation
at my reports, not looking at my hair. about my hair, clothes and makeup
I’m a broadcast journalist. Employed He replied that they couldn’t see my has become more intense. Be clear,
in a visual medium, I have had more reports because my hair was a distrac- it isn’t our only conversation. Mostly
discussions about my hair with news tion. There was no documentation of the talk involves news stories, ethics,
managers over a 30-year career than I the race of the callers, but I assumed journalistic content, legal issues, and
ever wanted to think about. So when they were white newsgathering. But “neat” hair, the
the Imus imbroglio hit, I was reminded latest code for “straight hair,” always
of my first broadcasting job at Channel “You’re saying I scare white people,” lies just beneath the surface, waiting
13 in Indianapolis. I said, as our words became more to raise its nappy head, on any rainy
heated. day.
It was the 70’s. I was in my 20’s, and
the black revolution’s cultural mantra, My news director artfully stepped I have fought hard to build my
“black is beautiful,” had helped give around what was the elephant in this reputation as a solid, fair, hardwork-
me the confidence and self-esteem to room. “Black militants scare all kinds ing journalist. It hasn’t been easy, and
believe that I could take the leap from of people, black and white,” he said. I believe my journey has helped open
print journalism to broadcasting. There “We’re not in the business of chasing off doors for women who are serious
were almost no black women working viewers.” The threat was implicit—lose about reporting. Broadcast journalists
in television news at the time, virtually your Afro or lose your job. working at commercial TV stations op-
no role models for me to emulate, so I erate inside an entertainment setting.
made my own way. I had won awards Ironically, I had been thinking of Viewers tune in to see “The Wedding
for newspaper writing and submitted straightening my hair, because I had Crashers,” “Dancing With the Stars,”
my clippings and got the job. I was gotten bored with the ’fro. I wanted to and “American Idol.” Newscasts ask
told by the news director, a white man, change my hair as a matter of fashion people who are there to be entertained
that I was hired based on my skills as and was contemplating undergoing to make the mental switch from fun
a writer and reporter. He was a blunt the lye-driven, scalp-burning process and frivolity to more serious issues of
but nurturing teacher who shared his just to change my look. But after this the day. Keeping them from turning
knowledge and skill to teach me the confrontation, I knew I couldn’t. I real- away is a huge challenge that TV news
intricacies and subtleties of broadcast ized that my natural hair was making a
journalism. His role in my career is powerful statement about my identity,
about my blackness. It symbolized a
demand for acceptance of me from the
inside, beyond external issues of skin

80 Nieman Reports / Summer 2007

Nieman Notes

producers face with a level of skill messenger was decidedly different, the we were in the 70’s. It made me
and ingenuity that is not understood message was the same: “Welcome back, wonder if, as a pioneer in broadcast
or appreciated by much of the news but leave the Afro at Harvard.” journalism, I hadn’t contributed to
establishment. that lack of progress by conforming
When Don Imus spoke of “nappy- to a more widely acceptable image to
Part of what’s thought about in nego- headed hos,” he stepped onto the third promote my career. Did I give up the
tiating all of this is how reporters and rail of American social commentary. chance, through my position on TV, to
anchors look on the air. In our highly Black women spent two billion dollars normalize nappy? Has my continuing
competitive news environment, the last year on hair-care products, straight- failure to confront the issue inside my
issue becomes one of marketing and ening, weaving, braiding, all in pursuit workplace contributed to our nation’s
promotion so the journalism we work of non-nappy hair. Imus’s comments, ongoing obsession with a standard of
hard to do is seen and heard. And it with their historically explosive impli- beauty that, when it comes to hair, is
is in that context that my “corporate” cations about black women, wild hair decidedly non-black? Is my straight
hair evolved. and wild sex, were a slap, a smack-down hair to blame?
of innocents, and a form of slanderous
When my Nieman year began, my speech with no result other than to Maybe I ought to just cover it up
hair was straight; by January my Afro diminish and demean. with a white cowboy hat and get a job
was back. Returning to work, my news on the radio. n
director, an African-American woman, For African-American women, they
insisted that I return to my straight, were fighting words—they always have Renee Ferguson, a 2007 Nieman Fel-
neat, corporate (whatever you want been. For me, they were a reminder low, is an investigative reporter for
to call it) not-nappy, hair again. Thirty that when it comes to the issue of im- WMAQ TV, NBC-5 in Chicago, Illinois.
years have passed since this same is- age, beauty and acceptance, America
sue was raised with me and, while the is actually not far removed from where

—1957— ing the Public Schools: What It Will Are Changing American Education,”
Take to Leave No Child Behind,” has and “The Rights of All Our children: A
Joe Kazuo Kuroda writes that he been published by Teachers College Plea for Action.” Clinchy encourages
“has so far authored three books and Press. Through the tale of his own responses to his book and can be
the fourth is expected to be published experiences as a newspaperman and reached at eclinchy@aol.com.
soon, though all are in Japanese. The educator, Clinchy strongly attacks the
first one, ‘Are Most Japanese Free of Bush No Child Left Behind agenda as —1960—
Religious Faiths?,’ calls attention to Ip- “educationally and socially regressive
pen, a 13th century Japanese Buddhist and dangerous.” He then describes John G. (Jack) Samson died on
monk, who danced together with his what he sees as the national education March 18th at his home in Santa Fe,
followers for joy of having been saved agenda and the redesigned system New Mexico. He was 84.
by Saviour Amida. Ippen is now known of public schooling “this country, its
as the founder of a Buddhist sect ‘Jishu,’ parents, children and young people Samson began his journalism career
though he preached against establish- need and deserve.” covering the Korean War for United
ment of any religious institutions. The Press International. After spending
second and the third books, ‘Interpret- Clinchy is senior research associ- some years freelancing, he was ap-
ing the Riddle of Monotheism’ and ‘Dia- ate at the Institute for Responsive pointed managing editor of Field &
logue with Islam’ have been published Education at Cambridge College in Stream in 1970. By 1972 he was editor
by the same Catholic organization, San Cambridge, Massachusetts. He has in chief and had the opportunity to
Paulo. The fact might be received as been an educational reporter in Con- travel throughout the world. By 1985,
a bit surprising by those who are not necticut, an administrator of educa- he retired and settled in Santa Fe.
well informed of the latest changes in tional programs at a sub-foundation of
Christianity, which are sometimes re- the Ford Foundation, director of the Coincidentally, Samson sold his first
ferred to as ‘ecumenicism.’ The fourth Office of Program Development in the story to Field & Stream in 1949 for $75,
book is titled ‘Is God Really One’ and Boston Public Schools, and president as noted in his obituary in “Field Notes.”
is expected to be issued soon.” of Educational Planning Associates, In the intervening years, the reporter
an education consulting firm. He has continued, “he accomplished about
—1959— had five books published, including everything a hunter, fisherman, and
“Transforming Public Education: A outdoor writer could hope to [do].”
Evans Clinchy’s book, “Rescu- Course for America’s Future,” “Creat- In The Santa Fe New Mexican, friend
ing New Schools: How Small Schools Craig Springer said, “He was an icon.
Legend is often overused, but in this

Nieman Reports / Summer 2007 81

Nieman Notes

case it’s entirely appropriate.” are honored “for a distinguished jour- in 1982 when the paper had half a
In 1999, Samson received the nalism career in any medium, for an dozen employees and a two-man news
outstanding single accomplishment in staff, of which he was half, Zelnik wrote
University of New Mexico’s James F. journalism, for notable contributions in the Spring 2006 issue of Nieman
Zimmerman Award, which was given to journalism education, or for achieve- Reports. From “a free distribution,
in honor of his career as a journalist, ment in related fields,” as described tabloid-sized weekly newspaper” av-
author and editor. In 2001, the Outdoor in the university’s Web site. Giles was eraging 20 pages and headquartered
Writers Association of America gave him in the class of 1956. The award was in a “two-room hovel,” Zelnik led the
their Excellence in Craft award. presented at the spring meeting of the Herald to a modern office building in
alumni association in New York City. Rio Grande, New Jersey and to a page
Samson wrote 23 books, with the count up to 100 emphasizing news
final one, “Fly Fishing for Permit,” —1970— coverage of local government.
completed four years ago. Other
books include “Saltwater Fly Fishing,” Joe Zelnik has stepped down from Hall applauded Zelnik for his “pro-
“Modern Falconry,” “Jack Samson’s his position as editor of the Cape May fessionalism,” “dedication and fear-
Hunting the Southwest,” and “Man & County Herald due to health concerns, lessness,” and “willingness to follow a
Bear Adventures in the Wild.” said Art Hall, the paper’s publisher. story wherever it took him,” attributes
Under the new tile of editor emeritus, “Cape May County wasn’t accustomed
—1966— Zelnik will continue writing his column to” before Zelnik took the helm, Hall
and perform other duties in a role that added.
Bob Giles, curator of the Nieman no longer “carr[ies] the weight of run-
Foundation, was one of four journal- ning the entire news operation,” Hall Zelnik’s column can be read on the
ists to receive The Columbia University explained. Cape May County Herald’s Web site,
Graduate School of Journalism Alumni www.capemaycountyherald.com
Award for 2007. The award recognizes Zelnik became editor of the Herald
alumni of the journalism school, who —1980—

Nieman Fellows Win 2007 Pulitzer Prizes Jim Boyd has taken voluntary
buyout and will be leaving the Star
Gene Roberts (NF ’62) and Hank became editorial page editor of the for- Tribune in Minneapolis, Minnesota,
Klibanoff received the 2007 Pulitzer mer Atlanta Constitution eight years after nearly 27 years. Boyd had been
Prize in History for their book, “The later. She now holds both positions the deputy editor of the paper’s edito-
Race Beat: The Press, the Civil Rights with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. rial page for 25 years. A wide-ranging
Struggle, and the Awakening of a Na- Tucker received last year’s Journalist interview with Boyd by Paul Schmelzer
tion.” It also won the Goldsmith Award of the Year award from the National of the Minnesota Monitor can be found
for nonfiction from the Shorenstein Association of Black Journalists. at minnesotamonitor.com/showDiary.
Center at the Kennedy School of Gov- do?diaryId=1750. In that discussion,
ernment at Harvard University. (See Heidi Evans (NF ’93) was part of Boyd talks about the Star Tribune’s new
a review of “The Race Beat” on page the New York Daily News team that owners, Avista Capital Partners (Mc-
71.) Roberts is a journalism professor won the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for Edito- Clatchy was the previous owner); the
at the University of Maryland, College rial Writing. The citation praised Evans possibility of a change in the paper’s
Park. For 18 years he was executive and her colleagues “for their compas- editorial position because of the new
editor of the Philadelphia Inquirer, sionate and compelling editorials on ownership; the effect of downsiz-
during which time his staff won 17 behalf of Ground Zero workers whose ing on newspapers, and how the St.
Pulitzer Prizes. Klibanoff is the man- health problems were neglected by Petersburg Times’s nonprofit status
aging editor for news at The Atlanta the city and the nation.” Evans has might be a helpful model for other
Journal-Constitution. been a New York Daily News reporter newspapers.
for 14 years, covering mostly health
Cynthia Tucker (NF ’89), syndi- and social issues. She was a national In 2005, Boyd received the Arthur
cated columnist and editorial page urban affairs writer for The Wall Street Ross Award for Distinguished Report-
editor at The Atlanta Journal-Consti- Journal from 1993 to 1996 and spent ing and Analysis on Foreign Affairs
tution, won this year’s Pulitzer Prize a year at Newsday covering the aging given by The American Academy of
for Commentary for her “courageous, beat. She has received two George Polk Diplomacy “for critical, perceptive and
clear-headed columns that evince a awards for her work at the Daily News. nonpartisan commentary on the poli-
strong sense of morality and persua- Arthur Browne, Daily News editorial cies of governments and international
sive knowledge of the community.” page editor, and Beverly Weintraub, organizations, reflecting exhaustive
She began writing a column for the editorial board member, shared the research, a willingness to tell truth to
former Atlanta Journal in 1984 and Pulitzer with Evans. n power, and a consistent appreciation
for the importance of cooperation
among nations.”

82 Nieman Reports / Summer 2007

Nieman Notes

—1986— George Packer Gives 2007 Morris Memorial Lecture

Stan Tiner, executive editor of The George Packer, author of “The Assas- the reporting he did for a 20,000
Sun Herald in Biloxi, Mississippi, has sins’ Gate: America in Iraq” and staff word article in The New Yorker, in
been reelected to a second three-year writer for The New Yorker, presented which he revealed aspects of the
term on the board of the American the 26th annual Joe Alex Morris, Jr. lives of Iraqi citizens and American
Society of Newspaper Editors (ASNE). Memorial lecture to the 2007 class of soldiers who live and work in that
Tiner’s paper has received many awards Nieman Fellows and guests. The event country. Packer has also covered
for “its valorous and comprehensive took place on March 8th at Lippmann unrest in Sierra Leone and the Ivory
coverage of Hurricane Katrina,” includ- House, the foundation’s headquar- Coast and has written many articles
ing a National Headliner Award for ters, in Cambridge, Massachusetts. on the war in Iraq. His other books
online journalism and a 2006 Pulitzer The lecture honors Morris, a Los are “The Village of Waiting,” “Blood
Prize for Public Service. Tiner has been Angeles Times foreign correspondent of the Liberals,” and two novels, “The
a member of ASNE since 1975. who was killed in 1979 while covering Half Man” and “Central Square.” In
the Iranian revolution in Tehran. The 2003 he received two awards from
—1989— lectureship was created in 1981 by the Overseas Press Club, one for his
Morris’s family, Harvard classmates, coverage of Iraq and the other for his
Cecilia Alvear is to be inducted into and friends. Packer’s book, “The As- reporting in Sierra Leone. n
The National Association of Hispanic sassins’ Gate,” was developed from
Journalists’ Hall of Fame during the
organization’s 25th anniversary con- and guidance—was the promoter of to national news editor in 2000.
vention in California in June. Alvear my thesis entitled ‘Sovereignty and The New York Times said Brauchli
has received a number of other honors, Money within the Process of European
among them inclusion on a list of the Integration.’” has the “overwhelming backing of the
“100 Most Influential Hispanics in the newsroom,” citing one reporter’s view
United States” by Hispanic Business Tim Giago’s book on Indian mis- that it sent “a very positive signal” to
in 2000. Earlier this year, she retired sion schools, “Children Left Behind,” the staff that the paper is “interested
from NBC Network News after almost received a bronze medal in the Mul- in someone who is a dynamic thinker
25 years. ticultural Non-Fiction Adult category and from the new generation of news-
from Independent Publisher. The gatherers who can think digitally and
Bill Kovach received an honorary Independent Publisher Book Awards, probably is willing to shepherd the
Doctor of Humane Letters degree from known as the IPPY’s, “reward those paper in a creative way from print to
Boston University in May during the who exhibit the courage, innovation online.”
university’s 134th commencement and creativity to bring about change
ceremony. He also presented the main in the world of publishing.” Brauchli has been given much of the
address at the Baccalaureate service. credit for the Journal’s recent redesign,
Kovach, senior counselor at the Project Giago started the Lakota Times which made the printed newspaper
for Excellence in Journalism in Wash- (Indian Country Today) in 1981 and physically smaller, a move that has
ington, D.C. and the founding chair- was integral in establishing the Na- saved an estimated $5 million dollars
man of the Committee of Concerned tive American Journalists Association, thus far, and added a Saturday edition.
Journalists, was curator of the Nieman which began under the name Native The redesign also moved more break-
Foundation for 10 years. He has been a American Press Association. “Children ing news to a paid subscription-access
journalist and writer for 50 years. Left Behind” was published in August Web site and shifted the printed paper’s
2006 by Clear Light Book Publishing. content toward enterprise reporting,
—1991— For copies, e-mail harmon@clearlight- features and analysis.
books.com.
Maria Dunin-Wasowicz received a “These days people wake up and
PhD in liberal arts from Warsaw Univer- —1992— check their BlackBerry before they
sity in May during an award ceremony read the newspaper,” Brauchli said in
held at the Kazimierzowski Palace, an Marcus Brauchli has been named an interview. “A newspaper has to be
historic building on the university cam- managing editor of The Wall Street much more than what happened yes-
pus. She writes, “I obtained my PhD Journal. Brauchli joined Dow Jones, the terday. It’s too easy for them to skate
by the unanimous vote of the Science paper’s publisher, in 1984 and spent 15 by and not read it.”
Council of the Institute of Journalism years as a foreign correspondent before
and Political Science …. Professor joining its editing ranks in 1999, rising In a memo published on Romenes-
dr hab. Roman Kuzniar—whom I ko, Brauchli addressed the Journal
warmly thank for his excellent advice staff: “For our journalism to have
the impact it should, we must reach

Nieman Reports / Summer 2007 83

Nieman Notes

Shuli Hu Receives 2007 Lyons Award

The 2007 Nieman Fellows chose Shuli ence with media organizations, from Hu was honored at a dinner held
Hu, editor in chief of China’s Caijing her start as an international editor May 10th at the Nieman Foundation.
magazine, as recipient of this year’s and reporter with the Workers Daily Accepting the award on her behalf
Louis Lyons Award for Conscience and to her position as head of financial was Li Xin, Washington Bureau Chief
Integrity in Journalism in recognition news at Hong Kong-based Phoenix for Caijing. Foreign Policy magazine
of her efforts over more than a decade TV in 2001. She has been recognized editor Moisés Naím gave the evening’s
to build one of the few credible news as “International Editor of the Year” remarks.
outlets in China. The fellows honored by the World Press Review, as one of
Hu for her “insistence on old-fash- BusinessWeek’s “50 Stars of Asia,” and The Lyons award honors Louis M.
ioned journalistic standards of factual- as “most powerful commentator in Lyons, curator of the Nieman Foun-
ity” despite the risk of censorship and China” by the Financial Times. She is a dation from 1939 to 1964 and a 1939
closure of her magazine. World Press Fellow (1987), a Stanford Nieman Fellow. The award honors
Knight Fellow (1995), and was listed displays of conscience and integrity
Hu, who began Caijing (Business as one of The Wall Street Journal’s by individuals, groups or institutions
and Finance Review) in April 1998, has “Ten Women to Watch in Asia.” in communications and includes a
more than 25 years of editorial experi- $1,000 honorarium. n

our audience wherever and however of two books, “The Vanishing Coast,” engaging tens of thousands of people
we can. This will entail evolution in and “A Place for Joe.” in the newsgathering process.
many practices here—except in the
central practice, how we report and Tom Regan is now a news blogger Skoler and his team developed Pub-
edit stories. The Journal is defined for NPR. Regan has held a wide variety lic Insight Journalism in the Minnesota
not by the way it is delivered—we are of jobs in his 30 years as a journalist. Public Radio (MPR) newsroom over
no long[er] merely a newspaper—but A partial list includes work as colum- four years, when Skoler was manag-
by its analytic, factual, clear approach nist, theater reviewer, science writer, ing director of news. “At the simplest
to news, whether in newsprint or on CBC-radio host and reporter, actor, level,” Skoler wrote in the Winter 2005
glossy paper, online or on a mobile filmmaker, and “terrorism and security issue of Nieman Reports, “the Public
phone, in the U.S. or abroad, in English blogger, first in Canada and then for Insight Journalism process expands a
or in other languages. There will be an the past 12 years in the United States.” journalist’s Rolodex, finding sources
accelerated melding of our print and That list comes from Regan’s NPR Web that would be hard to find. … We’ve
online news operations, along with site biography, which also describes his built software that keeps track of more
training where necessary. … This is the work in the early stages of Web design: than 12,000 public sources who share
Information Age, and it is our era.” In 1993-94, “Tom put the Halifax (Nova their expertise and experience. We’ve
Scotia) Daily News on the Web, the first hired ‘analysts’ to manage and mine
Elizabeth Leland received The newspaper in Canada available on the those relationships. We’ve held meet-
Society of Professional Journalists’ Internet, and one of the first in the ings in people’s homes and at com-
2006 Sigma Delta Chi Award in Feature world. In 1995 he served as ‘midwife’ munity centers. We’ve invited regular
Writing (circulation 100,000 or greater) to the creation of Maine Today, the folks into studios and mobile recording
for “The Old White Oak of Matthews.” online edition of the Portland (Maine) booths. And we’ve run gaming software
Leland is a reporter for The Charlotte Press-Herald. And then in 1995-1996 on our Web site. All this interaction is
(N.C.) Observer. She also is the winner he helped create the online edition of aimed at tapping the knowledge and
of the 2006 Darrell Sifford Memorial the Christian Science Monitor.” Regan’s insights of the public to make our re-
Prize in Journalism, administered by blog, “The NPR News Blog,” can be porters and editors and coverage even
the Missouri School of Journalism to found at www.npr.org/ smarter and stronger.”
honor Sifford, a columnist for The Phil-
adelphia Inquirer, who died in 1992. —1993— American Public Media founded the
The prize honors newspaper writing Center for Innovation in Journalism in
that is seen as “depicting the personal Michael Skoler, executive director July, with Skoler as its first executive
struggles and triumphs that together of the Center for Innovation in Journal- director. American Public Media is the
make up the fabric of our lives,” their ism at American Public Media, shared in second largest producer of public radio
Web site explains. Leland also won the the first Knight News Innovation EPpy programming in the United States after
Sigma Delta Chi award in 1991 and the for the center’s Public Insight Journal- NPR. It is using Public Insight Journal-
Sifford prize in 2001. She is the author ism model, an innovative system for ism for both its MPR regional network
and to inform coverage on its na-
tional shows, including “Marketplace,”

84 Nieman Reports / Summer 2007

Nieman Notes

“Weekend America,” and “Speaking “Why do it? Every day I run away often attached to the phrase ‘war cor-
of Faith.” The Public Insight Network from that question. respondent.’ What I wanted to be is a
currently has more than 29,000 citizen storyteller. I have been lucky enough to
sources nationwide. “I am not an alcoholic, a heroin ad- live in countries in Asia, Latin America,
dict, or from a broken home. I am a Africa, the Middle East and Europe at a
—1994— mother of a gorgeous curly-haired boy, time of huge upheaval when the world
wife of a loving husband, daughter of was adjusting from the cold war to a
Maria Henson, deputy editorial devoted parents, part of a close circle whole new war of terrorist attacks and
page editor at The Sacramento Bee, of friends …. I have no excuses. suicide bombs.
was chosen as a Spring 2007 Jefferson
Fellow by the University of Hawaii’s “I could tell you it’s a search for “To me the real story in war is not
East-West Center. The fellowship of- truth. A hope that by exposing the evils the bang-bang but the lives of those
fers print and broadcast journalists and injustices of the world I can help trying to survive behind the lines. This
immersion courses focused on the Asia make it a better place. … book then is not an attempt to answer
Pacific region with the goal of promot- the question why but just to present
ing better public understanding of “I could tell you that when I was what I have seen as it is. Working for
cultures and current issues through a a child I loved to read the poems of a weekly paper I have had the luxury
week of lecture and discourse followed Robert Louis Stevenson and turn the of time to be able to go where other
by extensive field study in the United sheets hanging on the washing line into reporters don’t and tell the stories of
States and Asia. doors onto faraway places. … those forgotten.

Henson writes, “Speaking about “I never set out to be brave or dar-
peaks of human experiences, yes, ing or intrepid or any of those labels
friends, I was chosen as one of the par-
ticipants of the Spring 2007 Jefferson Lancaster New Era Receives 2007 Taylor Award
Fellowship. … We will be spending a
week at the East-West Center in Hawaii, A series by the Lancaster New Era with prisoners that resulted from
then another week at Silicon Valley after about the shooting of 10 Amish broader American policies.
which we will fly to China (Shanghai girls in a one-room schoolhouse in
and Beijing) and India (Bangalore and rural Pennsylvania has won the 2007 The Plain Dealer (Cleveland,
Chennai).” Taylor Family Award for Fairness in Ohio) and reporter John Mangels for
Newspapers. “Plagued by Fear,” which portrayed
Christina Lamb won the British a highly respected researcher in the
Press Award for Foreign Correspondent The judges praised the staff of the science of plagues and the series of
of the Year. This is the second time she New Era for its sensitivity in respect- events that put him in federal prison
has received this honor, the first time ing the cultural and religious tradi- accused of endangering national
in 2002, when she also received the tions of the Amish community as it security. The judges noted the fair-
Foreign Press Association award for wove a compelling narrative about ness by which Mangels explained
her reporting on the war on terrorism. the girls’ lives, police heroism, the the unintended consequences that
Lamb has also recently been chosen by personal anguish of the killer, and resulted from government actions
the ASHA Foundation as one of their the forgiveness offered by the fami- taken in the name of homeland
inspirational women worldwide. She lies of the five girls who died. security.
has been a foreign correspondent for
almost 20 years, first for the Financial “The newspaper demonstrated an The winner and finalists were
Times and then the Sunday Times. impressive ability to gain the trust honored at a dinner and discus-
Lamb’s new book, “Tea with Pinochet,” of the people who are part of this sion held April 19th at the Nieman
a collection of her journalism, will be tragic story,” the judges said. “The Foundation.
out in August, published by Harper Col- stories shed light on worlds usually
lins. Other books include “The Africa hidden from public view.” The Taylor award, which carries
House,” “Waiting for Allah—Pakistan’s a $10,000 prize, was established
Struggle for Democracy,” and “The The judges also recognized two through gifts for an endowment by
Sewing Circles of Herat.” finalists: chairman emeritus of The Boston
Globe, William O. Taylor, along with
In the introduction to “Tea with Pino- The New York Times and re- members of his family. The purpose
chet,” Lamb writes about her work as a porter Tim Golden (NF ’96) for of the award is to encourage fairness
foreign correspondent and the danger the series “Guantanamo,” which in news coverage by America’s daily
in which she often finds herself. (See exposed U.S. government secrecy newspapers.
her article in Nieman Reports, Spring about the treatment of prisoners.
2007.) She writes: Golden’s reporting, which drew on For more on this year’s Taylor
a myriad of sources, was recognized award, see the Curator’s Corner on
for its fresh and balanced portrayal page 3. n
of the military’s tactics in dealing

Nieman Reports / Summer 2007 85

Nieman Notes

“This then is a mixture of memories, 2007 Lukas Prize Project Awards Announced
articles (where possible the original
rather than edited), and impressions Columbia University Graduate that Remade a Nation” (to be pub-
jotted in notebooks and diaries. Some- School of Journalism and the Nie- lished by Crown).
times the story behind the article is man Foundation presented the
more interesting than what appeared 2007 Lukas Prize Project Awards to The prizes honor J. Anthony
on the printed page and where that is the award recipients at a ceremony Lukas, a 1969 Nieman Fellow who
so I have tried to include that. These in New York City on May 8th. Gar- died in 1997, by “recognizing excel-
are my places of hope and despair.” rison Keillor made the presentation, lence in nonfiction writing, works
which took place at Columbia’s that exemplify the literary grace,
—2006— Graduate School of Journalism. The commitment to serious research and
J. Anthony Lukas Book Prize was social concern that characterized the
Chris Cobler is now editor of the given to Lawrence Wright for “The distinguished work of the awards’
Victoria (Tex.) Advocate, the second Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Pulitzer Prize-winning namesake J.
largest family-owned newspaper in Road to 9/11” (Alfred A. Knopf); Anthony Lukas….” The Mark Lynton
Texas. The paper, established in 1846, The Mark Lynton History Prize was History Prize is named in honor
has adapted its circulation strategy given to James T. Campbell for of the late Mark Lynton, author of
many times since the delivery of its “Middle Passages: African American “Accidental Journey: A Cambridge
inaugural edition by horseback and Journeys to Africa, 1787-2005” (The Internee’s Memoir of World War
now faces the challenge of meeting Penguin Press), and the J. Anthony II.” The prizes were established in
today’s demands for both print and Lukas Work-in-Progress Award was 1998 and are coadministered by the
Web products. After a national search, given to Robert Whitaker for “Twelve Nieman Foundation and Graduate
the Advocate selected Cobler as the Condemned to Die: Scipio Africanus School of Journalism. The Lynton
replacement for previous editor Scot Jones and the Struggle for Justice Family has been the sponsor of the
Walker, in part due to Cobler’s exper- project since its creation. n
tise in the field of digital media.
man classmate, Jon Palfreman, the Harper’s, the New Republic, The New
“We want to become more than just a school’s KEZI Distinguished Professor York Times Magazine, and the Atlantic
print newspaper,” said Barry Peckham, of Broadcast Journalism. Monthly, among others. She is a fellow
president and general manager of the at the New America Foundation.
Advocate. “We have a tremendous focus —2007—
on the digital side of our operation —2008—
now. Chris has a lot of experience there Eliza Griswold’s book, “Wideawake
and a lot of great ideas about where Field,” was published by Farrar Straus Dean Miller, executive editor of The
the digital side of the news business is Giroux in May. The book of poetry, Post Register in Idaho Falls, Idaho, was
going. There was just simply a connec- Griswold’s first, is influenced by her among 23 finalists in the first annual
tion when he came down here.” reporting in South Asia and Africa. She Mirror Awards. The honor, given by
is working on a nonfiction book, “The Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse
Cobler said he is eager to make Tenth Parallel,” also to be published School of Public Communications,
changes to the newsroom, but plans by Farrar Straus Giroux. Griswold recognizes excellence in media indus-
to “honor the work that’s gone on and received the first Robert I. Friedman try reporting. Miller was nominated
everything that’s been done here and Prize in Investigative Journalism in in the “Best Coverage of Breaking
seek first to understand before trying 2004. The award is designed to pro- Industry News” category for an article
to be understood.” vide prepublication financial help to he wrote for the Summer 2006 issue
reporters developing investigative of Nieman Reports, “Journalists: On
Cobler last served as interactive divi- pieces outside of the United States the Subject of Courage.” The article,
sion publisher at the Greeley (Colo.) and without the support of a major “A Local Newspaper Endures a Stormy
Tribune and Swift Communications. news organization. Griswold’s article, Backlash,” described the challenges the
His wife, Paula, daughter, Nicole, and “In the Hiding Zone,” was published newspaper confronted in investigating
son, Paul, will leave Colorado in June in The New Yorker in July 2004. Her pedophiles who were involved in the
to join him in Texas. poems have been published in The Boy Scouts and who were allowed by
New Yorker, Poetry, The Paris Review, scout officials to continue working
Brent Walth, a senior investigative and elsewhere. Her nonfiction has with children. n
reporter at The Oregonian, has been and will appear in The New Yorker,
named adjunct professor of journalism
at the University of Oregon School of
Journalism and Communication. He
says one of the best parts of his new
teaching job is that his office is just
two doors down from that of his Nie-

86 Nieman Reports / Summer 2007

End Note

David Halberstam, who died in a car crash in California on April 23rd, was a long-
time friend of the Nieman Foundation. In seminar calendars long-shelved in a closet
at Lippmann House, Halberstam’s name first appears in a listing for Friday, November
10, 1978—“6:30 p.m., supper.” This was during Jim Thomson’s tenure as curator and,
through the years and with the succession of curators, Halberstam was a frequent
guest, generous with his time and knowledge.

The following article, by Dexter Filkins of The New York Times and a 2007 Nieman
Fellow, appeared in that paper on April 25th. We are grateful to be able to present it
here in honor of our good friend.

A Skeptical Vietnam Voice Still Echoes
in the Fog of Iraq

By Dexter Filkins

The news reports streaming out of the American people and their elected said in 2004.
Vietnam in the fall of 1963 were servants in Washington, was never Mr. Halberstam and his colleagues
unsettling to President Kennedy, the same again. Mr. Halberstam, who
and in a White House meeting the talk died Monday in a car accident, set in Vietnam, like Neil Sheehan of United
turned to a particularly irritating young a standard for skepticism of official Press International and Malcolm W.
reporter named David Halberstam. wartime pronouncements that carries Browne of The Associated Press, both
on to this day. later of the Times, had it a lot tougher
“How old is Halberstam?” one of than reporters in Iraq do today, if
the participants asked, according to During four years of war in Iraq, only because they were the first. Few
a recording unearthed by the Miller American reporters on the ground in journalists with major American news-
Center of Public Affairs at the University Baghdad have often found themselves papers or television networks had
of Virginia. coming under criticism remarkably dared to publicly question the veracity
similar to that which Mr. Halberstam of America’s military leaders—or an
“About 25,” said William Bundy, a endured: those journalists in Bagh- American President—in wartime, least
presidential adviser. In fact, he was dad, so said the Bush administration of all a 29-year-old reporter not that
29. and its supporters, only reported the long out of college.
bad news. They were dupes of the
“He was a reporter when he was in insurgents. They were cowardly and By his own account, Mr. Halberstam
college,” said McGeorge Bundy, the unpatriotic. Indeed, reporters who had gone to Vietnam a believer in the
national security adviser and a profes- filed dispatches pointing out the pit- American project, but found himself
sor at Harvard when Mr. Halberstam falls experienced by American troops increasingly disillusioned by events he
was a student there. “So I know exactly sometimes found it difficult to secure was witnessing up close. The public
what you’ve been up against.” an embed with an American military representations made by American
unit. Other reporters—including this leaders—of numbers of Vietcong
He laughed. one—were sometimes excluded from killed, of South Vietnamese soldiers
Mr. Halberstam, then working official briefings inside the Green trained—seemed so at odds with what
for The New York Times, went on Zone. Mr. Halberstam and the other reporters
to demonstrate through a series of were seeing that they came to regard
forceful dispatches that the chaotic “Frankly, part of our problem is a the official briefings as little more than
reality unfolding on the ground in lot of the press are afraid to travel very acts of comedy.
Vietnam bore little resemblance to the much, so they sit in Baghdad and they
upbeat accounts offered by American publish rumors,” Paul D. Wolfowitz, That skepticism, in the American
presidents and generals who were then the deputy secretary of defense, press, was new. “The press at the time,
prosecuting the war. Journalism and, and by that I mean the editors, were
more broadly, the relationship between

Nieman Reports / Summer 2007 87

End Note

living in the shadow of World War II,” decided to run two articles on its front “They never did intersect.”

Mr. Sheehan said in an interview. “The page—one from Washington, based on In speeches and television appear-

senior military and the senior diplo- the State Department’s version, and ances, Mr. Halberstam did not hesitate

mats had enormous credibility with the other from Mr. Halberstam. “Three to compare America’s predicament in

the news media. If General Patton gave days later,” Mr. Sheehan wrote, “other Iraq to its defeat in Vietnam. And he

you a briefing on what he was going events forced the State Department was not afraid to admit that his views

to do to the Germans—and he always to admit that the official version had on Iraq had been influenced by his

brought the press with him, because been wrong.” experience in the earlier war.

he thought it was important—you Similar clashes between the Bush “I just never thought it was going

could expect a pretty straightforward administration and the press have to work at all,” Mr. Halberstam said of

account.” Iraq during a pub-

Mr. Halber- lic appearance in

stam, an intense, Mr. Halberstam, then working for The New York Times, went New York in Janu-
sometimes intimi- on to demonstrate through a series of forceful dispatches ary. “I thought that
dating man, came in both Vietnam

into direct conflict that the chaotic reality unfolding on the ground in Vietnam and Iraq, we were
with President bore little resemblance to the upbeat accounts offered by going against his-
Kennedy—who tory. My view—

pressed to have American presidents and generals who were prosecuting and I think it was
him pulled from the war. Journalism and, more broadly, the relationship because of Viet-
Saigon—and with nam—was that

his own editors at between the American people and their elected servants in the forces against
the Times, who Washington, was never the same again. us were going to
sometimes ques- be hostile, that

tioned the diver- we would not be

gence between viewed as libera-

his and the official tors. We were go-

accounts. unfolded during the war in Iraq, par- ing to punch our fist into the largest

In one incident, recounted in Mr. ticularly in its early phases. In late 2003 hornets’ nest in the world.”

Sheehan’s book, “A Bright Shining and early 2004, as security around Iraq The war in Iraq, of course, churns

Lie,” Mr. Halberstam exploded at his was deteriorating, reporters in Iraq on, and its outcome is not yet deter-

editors in New York, who had asked were sometimes mystified by the rosy mined. But four years after the invasion,

him about an article filed by a com- briefings they were given inside the most of the rosy talk from the White

petitor that more closely tracked the Green Zone. In the streets where they House has faded away. In its place is

official version. “If you mention that lived and worked, they witnessed car language far more somber—and more

woman’s name to me one more time I bombings and assassinations, while the realistic—than what came before. If the

will resign repeat resign and I mean it spokesmen for the Bush administration American people now have a clearer

repeat mean it,” Mr. Halberstam wrote talked mostly about smiling Iraqis and picture of the war their soldiers are

in a cable. freshly painted schools. fighting in Iraq, it is largely thanks to the

In another incident in 1963, Mr. “There were two realities—one example set by Mr. Halberstam. n

Halberstam filed an article about a inside the Green Zone, and the real-

series of arrests staged by the Saigon ity every day, talking to people in the Copyright © 2007 by The New York

government that was flatly contradicted street,” said Anthony Shadid, a Wash- Times Co. Reprinted with permission.

by the State Department in Washington. ington Post correspondent whose Iraq

After much debate, editors at The Times dispatches won a Pulitzer Prize in 2004.

88 Nieman Reports / Summer 2007