My first ASNE convention was 37 years ago in San Francisco. Take a moment and attempt to get your mind around the changes we have seen in our industry since then.
Today the system seems as ancient as my old Royal standard and the linotypes that sit as pieces of artwork in the lobbies of some newspapers.
Yet not everything has changed. In those faraway days, we were talking about and were concerned about issues surrounding the First Amendment. After all, those were the days of Richard Nixon and his White House partner, Spiro Agnew, who was the designated slugger against the press. And much of this year’s convention dealt with those same 45 words.
Freedom of the Press was a major part of the theme selected by ASNE president David Zeeck for his year, and he spoke powerfully about it in his address. Then Ken Paulson, editor of USA Today, eloquently and elegantly, led us through a session titled “From Superman to Subpoenas.” Why Superman? Because, Ken confessed, as a child he wanted to be Clark Kent, mild-mannered reporter, and Kent’s hidden half, the hero in tights and cape. Many in Ken’s age group and those of us older shared the same fantasy. Or at least we dreamed of being Humphrey Bogart in “Deadline USA.”
Ken talked to Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams, the BALCO boys of the San Francisco Chronicle, to their lawyer Eve Burton, to Gene Policinski, president of the First Amendment Center, and to Mark Goodman of the Student Law Center.
The editors gave Fainaru-Wada and Williams a standing ovation, but it was Policinski who delivered some sobering news about the latest First Amendment Center survey. Here are just a few bites: Forty percent of those polled think the press has too much freedom; just 39 percent think we are without bias; a large percentage of respondents think we make up the news; 36 percent of high school students think we shouldn’t be allowed to publish without government control. Need you ask why we have to be more aggressive in letting readers know why and what we do and how we do it, why we need to be consistently more transparent day in and day out?
Then Ken introduced John Seigenthaler, a distinguished former editor and publisher, founder of the First Amendment Center, a fighter for civil rights, a journalist who has witnessed 10 presidencies, a former ASNE president, a friend to many of us.
In just a few moments, John, who told us he is in his 80th year and that everyone in the audience looked so young, spoke of press freedoms and of what we do as journalists, striking a chord that reminded us why we got into this business in the first place and why the fight to protect press freedoms is so vital.
John spoke about the “cloak of secrecy” that has been present for so many years, a cloak that has hindered the press from keeping the American people informed. Just a few of his examples: the McCarthy era, Vietnam, Iran-Contra.
“You would be hard-pressed,” he said, “to find a time when the cloak was more tightly wound than it is now. The challenge for us is stronger that ever before.”
Then he quoted Alexander Hamilton, who said that the security of a free press depends on public opinion and on the spirit of the people and of the government.
The challenge, as John said, and as many surveys emphasize, is that the people aren’t exactly on our side. We have a lot of work left to do.
And we need all of the John Seigenthalers we can gather to help us in this struggle.
Our friend may be a lion in winter, but his roar cuts across all generations. And he can still deliver punch lines.
“Hell, you don’t look so young,” he said as I went to offer thanks and praise.
Right again, John. And come back soon.
