Explain Yourself ...

Looking back

     Friday's my last day as part of a wonderful news team at the Star-Telegram. I'll miss working with a great bunch of journalists.

     I have to accept that this could be the end of my newspaper career. Started around 1966 at my hometown paper, the Texarkana Gazette.

     I wish I could say that I got into this business because of lofty and noble aims. That would be a lie, but those aims eventually kept me in the business.

     Truth is, I believe, that divine intervention put me on the ink-slathered tracks that I've traveled for a long time, and it happened because I couldn't have done anythng else that would have given me the heights and depths of personal satisfaction that I've experienced as a journalist.

     In high school, I'd suffered a sports injury that wrecked every dream I had. I played baseball -- loved the game -- and was a pretty good pitcher. But one day, I threw a high, breaking curve to a tall, skinny batter who got every bit of that ball with a whip of a swing. Powdered it. Sent it like a bullet straight into my forehead before I could get out of the way.

     The blow left a scar on my brain that resulted in epilepsy. Eventually, I outgrew that cursed injury but not before it kept me out of cockpits (I wanted to fly), the U.S. Marines and law enforcement. And everything I applied for. No one wanted me except a steakhouse owner who hired me as a busboy while I was going to college.

     I was drawn to adventurous things, but the injury seemed to block every avenue. One day, my mom, who was a highly successful songwriter and promoter and who wrote a column for the Gazette, suggested that I apply to the Gazette. A cub reporter job was open, she said, and she knew the editor, the legendary J.Q. Mahaffey. I listened to her, applied and got the job. I don't know why. Didn't ask. But I suspect mom had something to do with it.

     So that's where I started and why. It's a decision I've never regretted, not even while working 20-hour days, enduring vicious pressures and sweating blood over a news decision.

     And there's been one other bonus. Thinking about those other career paths I'd planned that would've led to the sky, Viet Nam or squad cars, journalism probably kept me alive.

     -- David House

      

Obama dominates coverage

     Presidential election coverage last week was mostly about Barack Obama, according to the Project for Excellence in Journalism Campaign Coverage Index results released today.

      "Given his central involvement in both major story lines, Obama was the top newsmaker ... from April 14-20," PEJ reported.

     "He was a significant or dominant factor in 76% of the campaign stories, a large leap from the previous week when he registered at 46%. Clinton, at 59%, trailed Obama, but even that was up a bit from her 56% total a week earlier.

     "After watching his media coverage climb recently, GOP candidate John McCain fell back to 24% last week, a drop of 11 points from the week before. (All told, the Democrats generated almost six times as many stories as the Republicans last week.)

     "For McCain, that coverage was mixed. He received substantial attention for the economic plan he unveiled on April 15. But as the week went on, McCain found himself dealing not with fiscal policy, but with two lingering personal issues—his age and his temper."

     -- David House

An update, Texas connection

Barry Bearak, the New York Times reporter held in Zimbabwe, has been freed and charges have been dropped.

We noted his capture earlier, and the Texas connection: His wife, Celia, is the daughter of Ronnie Dugger, a founder of the Texas Observer.

As Times editor Bill Keller said, Bearak was arrested for just doing his job. He's headed home now.

Perhaps it's also worth noting that an AP photographer has also been freed from captivity. The case is a little different, though. He was held for two years by the United States ...

--Rex Seline

Why not FDR?

     He didn't leave his name, but he said the Star-Telegram contained a terrible oversight on Saturday, April 12: "You didn't say in that 'Notable Death' listing that on this day in 1945, President Roosevelt died. He was one of the most important men in history, and you ignored him. Those of us who remember him want to know why you ignored him."

     As designed, the item can list only one death. The editor who selects the notable decedant makes a purely subjective call, tries to select someone who'll draw the most interest here in 2008 and decided to list Sugar Ray Robinson.

     Right call? Wrong call? It would've been an excellent call, given FDR's stature among many of our senior readers. And that's why it was a terrible call as far as the reader was concerned. "I remember FDR," he said, "and the day he died. It was horrible. Hearts were broken everywhere." His was the only complaint, which indicates a good call on the editor's part.

     There were a few other famous people who died on April 12: Clara Barton, Joe Louis and Abbie Hoffman, for instance. All worthy of note along with FDR. Which would you have noted?

     -- David House

Rev. Haynes overplayed?

     The dominant package on Tuesday's Page One gave readers an informative look at the Rev. Frederick Haynes, pastor of Friendship-West Baptist Church in Dallas and a local minister who's a finalist in the NAACP's search for a leader who can help revive the troubled organization. The package also listed the other finalists: Benjamin Jealous and Alvin Brown.

     At 5 columns wide and nearly 12 inches deep with a striking photo of an elegant Rev. Haynes preaching, the package was impressive, but "Barney," a reader in one of the counties adjacent to Tarrant, felt that S-T editors had blown the story out of proportion. He e-mailed:

     "I can't believe it! Right on the front page of today's S-T is the article (with picture) of a black preacher, a friend of Jeremiah Wright, who may resurrect the NAACP! And, if this isn't enough, the article continues on half of the second page. I can't believe that the editors of the S-T believes this article is of such news-worthiness that it should occupy this much printers ink or that they would think that the majority of S-T readers would consider it a top news story."

     I agreed that the package may have been overplayed, given the heartrending news out of San Angelo about FLDS mothers being forced to leave their children and Rev. Wright's Dallas ties. Still, on the face of things, I speculated that editors added up several factors that led them to play the story so powerfully:

     Relatively "local" minister + pastor of one of the biggest black churches in the U.S. + powerful enough to + make the finalist cut + as contender for one of the most powerful political positions in the nation's private sector + capable perhaps of bringing about major change in that institutional powerhouse + and bringing fresh change to the nation's political landscape in the process. Plus, the package brought diversity into the Page One mix. And the development overall reeked of power and prestige, which draws a journalist's attention like the sound of a squeaky gate draws the attention of any watchdog. I could list additional reasons, but those alone add up to plenty of reason to play the package at the size of its news value.

     Never heard back from Barney, so I don't know whether he agrees. What do you think?

     -- David House

In the spotlight

My boss, Jim Witt, often tells reporters that it would be valuable for them to be interviewed for publication. It's different when you're fielding questions, rather than asking them, and the experience provides useful perspective on the process. (As editors, we sometimes have that pleasure.)

Dennis Ryerson, the editor of the Indianapolis Star, wrote this weekend about that very topic. He had fielded complaints from sources about how some of his reporters handled interviews. His response is interesting and worth reading. It may give sources and potential sources a better perspective on the role of the reporter.

--Rex Seline

Fame, of a sort ...

The Freedom Forum is opening a new museum in Washington dedicated to journalism. The aptly named Newseum features exhibits about newsgathering from the frivolous to the poignant.

One prominent display is a news helicopter, built by Bell Helicopter in Fort Worth and painted in the colors of NBC5, the local affiliate. The Washington Post has a photo of the copter, hanging in the exhibit space. It accompanies an article about the space being used -- for a price -- for fancy DC parties.

--Rex Seline

The Absolut truth ...

     Speaking of spelling, one reader called about a story she'd read in Sunday's Star-Telegram regarding a liquor controversy.

     "Doesn't anyone there know how to spell absolute?" she asked in an apparent huff. "It's misspelled in the headline and throughout the story. That's just disgusting. Don't you have fulltime people to check spelling? I want an explanation."

     We explained the story focused on controversy surrounding an Absolut vodka ad that ran in Mexico. The ad incorporated an 1830s map that showed most of today's western U.S. as what it was back then -- Mexico. And, of course, anti-immigration forces denounced the ad as a conspiracy by Absolut to inspire a takeover of America.

     Absolut apologized profusely for what it said was an inadvertent message, but the anti-illegal immigrant camps have called for a massive boycott of Absolut.

     As for the reader who thought we don't know how to spell absolute, she was embarrassed upon learning what was going on. "Oh, my gosh," she said. "And I drink Absolut."

     -- David House

Some (linguistic) economies don't work

     With English ravaged by so many text-message shortcuts these days (there are even dictionaries for that branch of writing), perhaps it shouldn't be surprising that readers haven't complained about the hed bust in the Page 4B story about the attorney general's ruling in the pension benefit issue.

     Our headline says part of the city's plan to address its retirement fund woes is "unconstitional."

     So many t's, so many i's, so little time to write a hed on deadline ... But, hey, if we're trying to write with fewer words, why not use fewer letters if the meaning isn't lost?

     AWHFY?

     -- David House

A Texas connection ...

You may have missed it in coverage of the unfolding drama in Zimbabwe, but authorities have arrested several reporters there.

One of them, Barry Bearak of The New York Times, has a slight Texas connection. He is married to Celia Dugger, daughter of Ronnie Dugger, the founding editor of the muckraking Texas Observer.

It is worth noting that when dictators or rulers want to exercise their power, one of the first things they do is try to muzzle journalists. That's why we take the First Amendment seriously here.

Let's hope for the best for Barry.

-- Rex Seline   

A Monday Update:

Bearak has been released. But he suffered injuries from "falls" while in jail.

And more, from the Times Monday:

Bearak was bailed out and is in a clinic, awaiting a court date.