President's Corner Winter 08

President’s Corner

By Jodi Cleesattle, San Diego Pro Chapter

Deputy Attorney General, Dept. of Justice

It was wonderful being back in Washington, D.C. -- my “hometown” prior to San Diego -- for the 2007 SPJ National Convention. The fall weather was perfect, the trees were aflame with color, and the convention halls were filled with inspiring messages and a sense of community.

There were the rock stars of journalism, Bob Woodward, Carl Bernstein and Ben Bradlee, looking back at the Watergate story 35 years later. Everyone from college journalism students to veteran reporters elbowed for position to snap photos and get autographs from these legends of journalism.

There was NBC News political director Chuck Todd, who gave his insights on the 2008 presidential race during the SPJ president’s installation dinner, and urged SPJ members to keep asking the tough questions the candidates are trying to duck.

There was USA Today editor Ken Paulson, recalling the days when journalists were depicted as heroic figures in movies, television and comics – when reporter Clark Kent was an actual superhero, hard-boiled Humphrey Bogart was a crusading editor in “Deadline U.S.A.,” and Brenda Starr “taught little girls they could grow up to ask rude questions of strangers.”

Paulson said journalists today have lost the confidence of the American public, and he believes the media needs to reclaim journalism’s heroic status and convince the public of the importance of a free press.

“People want a red media and a blue media,” Paulson said. “I continue to believe America’s media can be a red, white and blue media. … I’m confident that with the right message, we will grow support for the First Amendment throughout the land. We need to give our readers a little Bogart, a little Clark Kent, and a lot of Thomas Jefferson.”

Just that happened back home in San Diego after the convention, as the local media’s Bogarts, Clark Kents and Brenda Starrs rallied to provide comprehensive coverage during the wildfires that raged through the county in late October. Reporters and editors worked to get the most up-to-date information about the spread of the fires, online news teams created interactive maps and coped with overwhelming Web traffic, and radio stations teamed up to maintain news coverage when the fires knocked out transmitter towers.

The heroes of the wildfires, of course, were the brave firefighters who battled the blaze, but our local media showed its heroic side, too.

We’ll look back at how we did during the wildfires in a special SPJ program set for Jan. 17, “After the Fires: Coverage and Communication.” The program, moderated by 10 News managing editor and SPJ board member J.W. August, will feature a panel of local media as well as city and county representatives who will reflect on how well the government did in communicating with the public and the media, how well the media did in providing accurate and timely news coverage, and what lessons can be learned from the 2007 wildfires.

There will no doubt be more lessons to be learned in 2008 and, hopefully, more examples of the media at its most heroic and noble.