NIEMAN REPORTS THE NIEMAN FOUNDATION FOR AT HARVARD UNIVERSITY

VOL.57 NO.1 SPRING 2003 Five Dollars

Reporting on Health

Investigating Scandal in the Catholic Church Testifying at War Crimes Tribunals “… to promote and elevate the standards of journalism”

—Agnes Wahl Nieman, the benefactor of the Nieman Foundation.

Vol. 57 No. 1 NIEMAN REPORTS Spring 2003 THE NIEMAN FOUNDATION FOR JOURNALISM AT HARVARD UNIVERSITY

Publisher Bob Giles Editor Melissa Ludtke Assistant Editor Lois Fiore Editorial Assistant Elizabeth Son Design Editor Deborah Smiley

Nieman Reports (USPS #430-650) is published Please address all subscription correspondence to in March, June, September and December One Francis Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138-2098 by the Nieman Foundation at Harvard University, and change of address information to One Francis Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138-2098. P.O. Box 4951, Manchester, NH 03108. ISSN Number 0028-9817 Telephone: (617) 496-2968 Second-class postage paid E-Mail Address (Business): at Boston, Massachusetts, [email protected] and additional entries.

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Copyright 2003 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College. Subcription $20 a year, $35 for two years; add $10 per year for foreign airmail. Single copies $5. Back copies are available from the Nieman office. Vol. 57 No. 1 NIEMAN REPORTS Spring 2003 THE NIEMAN FOUNDATION FOR JOURNALISM AT HARVARD UNIVERSITY

5 Reporting on Health

7 Frustrations on the Frontlines of the Health Beat BY ANDREW HOLTZ

10 The Public Health Beat: What Is It? Why Is It Important? BY M.A.J. MCKENNA

11 The Anthrax Attacks BY PATRICIA THOMAS

14 Useful Lessons From Reporting the Anthrax Story BY SANJAY BHATT

16 Public Health Reporting: After September 11th, It’s More Difficult BY MADELINE DREXLER

18 Reporting on America’s Widening Racial Health Gap BY DAVE DAVIS

WATCHDOG 20 Lead Poisoning: A Failed Response and Sick Children BY JUDY PEET

24 Reporting on the Business of Health Care BY MADGE KAPLAN

26 The Uninsured Story Is Seldom Fully Told BY SUSAN DENTZER

28 Alcoholism: Its Origins, Consequences and Costs BY ERIC NEWHOUSE

WATCHDOG 30 Is the U.S. Government Making Children Fat? BY BARRY YEOMAN

32 Explaining Why 24,000 People Died Yesterday BY JAMES F. SMITH

35 AIDS in Africa: A Story That Must Be Told BY HUNTLY COLLINS

37 Journalism Is Failing in Its Coverage of Global AIDS BY SABIN RUSSELL

39 Documenting the Plague of AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa BY JAMES NACHTWEY

44 Reporting on HIV/AIDS in Kenya BY JOSEPH NGOME

46 Why Reporters and Editors Get Health Coverage Wrong BY MELINDA VOSS

48 An Education in How to Cover the Issues BY LARRY TYE

50 Examining the Content of Health Care Reporting BY FELICIA MEBANE

Journalist’s Trade

WATCHDOG 52 Investigating Scandal in the Catholic Church

53 Reporting Stories With Children as Victims of Priests BY ELIZABETH MEHREN

55 Shining the Globe’s Spotlight on the Catholic Church BY WALTER V. ROBINSON

59 Secrecy Remained in Place With the Church’s Finances BY STEPHEN KURKJIAN

Cover photo: A man with AIDS in the tuberculosis ward of Beatrice Road Infectious Diseases Hospital in Harare, Zimbabwe. Ninety percent of the TB patients in the ward have AIDS. Photo by © James Nachtwey, October 2000. 61 The Neglected Vatican Beat BY JOHN L. ALLEN, JR.

64 Reporting the Catholic Church’s Scandal in Ireland BY EMILY O’REILLY

66 In the 1980’s, a Investigated Cardinal Cody BY ROY LARSON

Words & Reflections 69 Journalists Testifying at War Crimes Tribunals

70 Testing Different Expectations of Journalism BY NINA BERNSTEIN

WATCHDOG 74 Consequences Occur When Reporters Testify BY

78 Deciding to Testify About BY LINDSEY HILSUM

79 Objectivity Without Neutrality BY KEMAL KURSPAHIC

81 The Roles Journalists Played During the Balkan War BY SENAD PECANIN

83 A Reporter Decides to Testify, Then Decides Against It BY BILL BERKELEY

84 Balancing Journalism and Justice BY RUSSELL MILLS

86 Coverage of War

86 The Unseen BY PETER TURNLEY

91 War Reporting: How Should Civilian Casualties Be Reported? BY BOB ZELNICK

94 International Journalism

95 The Korean Election Shows a Shift in Media Power BY IN-YONG RHEE

97 Reflecting the Life of in the Mirror of His Life BY YVONNE VAN DER HEIJDEN

99 Creating a Different Approach to Telling the BY NICHOLAS DANILOFF

101 Journalists Built a Bridge of Understanding Between East and West BY WATSON SIMS

3 Curator’s Corner: Media Ownership and the Quality of News BY BOB GILES

104 Nieman Notes COMPILED BY LOIS FIORE

104 Courageous Zimbabwean Editor Becomes a Nieman Fellow BY SHYAKA KANUMA 105 Class Notes

110 End Note: ‘News to Images’ BY LOIS FIORE

2 Nieman Reports / Spring 2003 Curator’s Corner Media Ownership and the Quality of News As the Federal Communications Commission considers changing rules, journalists need to pay better attention. By Bob Giles

he American press has a tendency to underreport its publisher of The Seattle Times, is building a grassroots own story. Right now this means that as the Federal organization called “Voices of Concern” in an effort to TCommunications Commission (FCC) proposes to preserve “diverse control and independence of the nation’s change the rules governing ownership of local television press and of the nation’s channels of information distribu- stations, the public is being left largely in the dark. Normally, tion.” His is among a growing number of voices critical of the press would love to report this story about powerful America’s for failing to tell this story. “The conglomerates and a concentration of markets and ques- silence is deafening,” he says. tions about how well the public will be served. But many of The FCC’s contention that technology and the growth of the players in this story are big media companies, whose broadcast outlets has increased the diversity of choice in newspapers and broadcast outlets seem to be shying away local markets is challenged by those who define diversity not from their obligation to help readers and viewers anticipate just by measuring such numbers. Critics contend that com- what the changes might mean for them. munities of color are still being marginalized in coverage, A decision by the FCC is expected this year. If the pro- and people of color are underrepresented on news staffs posed changes are approved, a single corporation could and in the ownership of broadcast properties. In its brief, the own newspapers, radio and TV stations in one community. National Association of Hispanic Journalists argues that the It is possible, too, that a single company could control access “FCC has not spent enough time examining the role and to more than 35 percent of all TV households in the nation. function of news in our society or how rewriting the broad- The current rules were established in an era when local cast ownership regulations will affect the quality of news citizens had fewer choices: typically, three TV stations and a being produced.” The value of this brief is the questions it couple of newspapers. There were many independent own- asks the FCC to address about how the rule changes would ers and few giant media corporations. The FCC argues that affect ethnic and racial communities. Organizations repre- it wants to modernize its rules to accommodate new tech- senting African-American, Asian-American and Native-Ameri- nologies such as the Internet and satellite transmission of can journalists are joining forces to bring their concerns to sound and video images. this debate. Those who support the rule changes argue that worries To some extent, the FCC and organizations asking for a about monopoly control are unfounded. In its filing to the broad dialogue about relaxing media ownership rules, might FCC, Gannett documents the experience of KNPX-TV and be talking past one another. The FCC narrowly defines its The Republic in Phoenix in which resources are responsibility as writing rules to accommodate a broadcast shared on major breaking stories, though the news staffs marketplace driven by new technologies. The FCC does not usually operate competitively. Gannett argues that the com- think it needs to consider the meaning of failed media munity is better served on big stories by this collaboration. mergers or anticipate how the market might react to less Critics fear the changes are being pushed along too fast, restrictive rules. Nor is it likely to consider whether local without sufficient input from the public and without in- broadcast news organizations might have higher news val- depth reporting in the press. They fear there will be less ues under newspaper ownership than as part of a company diversity of programming in local markets, based on the without deep roots in journalism. experience of radio after the FCC liberalized group owner- The grassroots groups want to bring to hearings and ship rules in 1996. Before then, independent ownership was public forums an urgent plea for the FCC to embrace as part the standard. The largest group controlled fewer than 65 of its decision the need for diverse, independent and serious radio stations: Now Clear Channel Communications domi- . They hope, too, the nation’s press will nates radio station ownership with 1,225 stations. More- finally pay attention. The absence of a national debate and over, the number of station owners has dropped by one- the disinterest of the press suggest that, in a few years, as new third. And, when a huge corporation takes over a local concentrations of media power emerge, journalists might station, there tends to be less interest in local news coverage. look back at this time and ask themselves, “Why weren’t we Such sweeping changes in how the public’s airwaves are better watchdogs for the public when these changes were used require a national debate. Newspaper editorials and proposed?” ■ broadcast commentators should urge FCC Chairman Michael Powell to schedule a series of discussions. Frank A. Blethen, [email protected]

Nieman Reports / Spring 2003 3 Curator’s Corner

Web Site Sources for Examining FCC Media Ownership Proposal

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has been considering changes in rules that govern ownership of the American . Under the FCC proposal, media companies would no longer be prohibited from buying a newspaper and television station in the same city or from owning more than one TV station in the same market. What follows is a list of Web sites journalists can use to examine arguments put forth by supporters and opponents of this proposal. Many journalists fear that if these proposals are approved, a diminishing independent press will be even more threatened.

• FCC Web Site on Media Ownership Policy Reexami- • MediaChannel (www.mediachannel.org): Dedicated nation (www.fcc.gov/ownership): The Federal Communi- to global media issues, MediaChannel.org is a nonprofit, cations Commission (FCC), an independent government public interest Web site that offers news, reports, action agency, was established by the Communications Act of 1934 toolkits, forums for discussion, an indexed directory of and is responsible for “regulating interstate and interna- hundreds of affiliated groups, and a search engine. “Media tional communications by radio, television, wire, satellite and Communication Policy Center” provides news about and cable.” The FCC site provides background information, the FCC’s proposed changes, U.S. media ownership rules, public notices, and press releases about the reexamination copyright laws and digital media, as well as a guide to media of media ownership policy. concentration issues throughout the world.

• Journalism.org: Research, Resources and Ideas to • I Want Media (www.iwantmedia.com/consolidation): Improve Journalism (www.journalism.org): Journalism.org Created by freelance and corporate writer Patrick presents issues related to the work of the Project for Excel- Phillips, I Want Media focuses on diversified media news lence in Journalism and the Committee of Concerned Jour- and resources. This Web site provides up-to-date articles, a nalists. Both organizations examine journalism’s essential list of organizations, position statements, and resources role and work to clarify its standards and principles. This about media consolidation. Web site provides links to background and official com- ments about the FCC proposal, published commentaries • Media Tank (www.mediatank.org/ownership): Media and news stories, responses to FCC research, deregulation Tank is an “innovative nonprofit organization working to developments, the FCC view, as well as other valuable bring together media arts, education and activism to build informational links. broader awareness and support for media as a vital civic, cultural and communications resource.” This Web site • Media Access Project (www.mediaaccess.org): Media provides a list of FCC media ownership rules under review, Access Project is a nonprofit public interest telecommunica- public hearings and forum notices, and related resources. tions law firm that represents listeners’ and speakers’ inter- ests in electronic media and telecommunications issues in • Media Alliance (www.media-alliance.org): Media Alli- the courts and before policymaking bodies such as the FCC. ance is a 25-year-old nonprofit training and resource center “Media Consolidation/Encouraging Diversity of the Elec- for media workers, community organizations, and political tronic Media” provides information on media ownership activists whose mission is “excellence, ethics, diversity and limits that are facing repeal at the FCC and are under attack accountability in all aspects of the media in the interests of in court, civil rights and media ownership, and other re- peace, justice and social responsibility.” This Web site sources about media consolidation. provides access to MediaFile, the Bay Area’s media review published by Media Alliance, and action alerts. •Center for Digital Democracy (www.democraticmedia.org): The Center for Digital Democracy is committed to “preserv- • Reclaim the Media (www.reclaimthemedia.org): Re- ing the openness and diversity of the Internet in the broad- claim the Media was formed by a coalition of independent band era …” and working on development of noncommer- journalists, media activists, and community organizers in cial, public interest programming. “Media Ownership” the Pacific Northwest, “promoting press freedom and com- provides information about this policy’s effects on the online munity media access as prerequisites for a functioning media, links to groups supporting ownership diversity, and democracy.” This Web site provides updates, upcoming media concentration resources. events, articles and links related to media ownership. ■

4 Nieman Reports / Spring 2003 Reporting on Health

Few topics receive more media attention today than the topic of health. Yet, in the view of some journalists, many of the stories being told about health are not ones journalists want to tell or that members of the public need to hear. As Andrew Holtz, a freelance health reporter and president of the Association for Health Care Journalists, observes, “… stories I think need to be told, are often not the ones that easily sell. My personal frustration is not the issue, but we should be concerned when journalists are inhibited from the work of sustaining an informed and involved citizenry.” M.A.J. McKenna, a staff writer for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, explains what the public health beat is and why such coverage, which “investigates the threat, occurrence and prevention of health problems—infections, chronic diseases, injuries and exposure to toxins—not in individual patients, but in groups that can be as small as an elementary school classroom or as large as the global population,” is so important. In excerpts from a report she wrote for The Century Foundation, journalist and author Patricia Thomas examines how and why journalists encountered difficulties in trying to report essential public health information during the 2001 anthrax crisis. Sanjay Bhatt, medical reporter for The Palm Beach Post, then describes what worked and didn’t work when he set out to cover news of the nation’s first anthrax case that occurred in Palm Beach County. Author and journalist Madeline Drexler uses her experiences in reporting on public health to demonstrate how much more difficult it is to report such stories after September 11th. With many sources, particularly those connected to the government, she writes, “… there’s an unmistakable chill in the air.” Using computer-assisted reporting, Dave Davis, an investigative reporter at The Plain Dealer in Cleveland, Ohio, identified fault lines in this nation’s widening racial health gap. His five-part series then drew attention to communities where black Americans are hardest hit by disease and violence by telling stories that brought the statistics to life. In Newark, New Jersey, The Star-Ledger dispatched a team of reporters and a photographer in a months-long investigation of lead poisoning in children. News feature writer Judy Peet explains how what seemed like an oft-told urban story took on new dimensions as the reporting team “learned about the politics, followed the money, studied the research, and tracked the lawsuits,” and then found families whose children had been failed by the system set up to protect them. Photographer Mia Song’s pictures portray the lives of those affected by lead poisoning. As Boston bureau chief for “Marketplace,” a nightly public radio business news program, Madge Kaplan was involved in the production of more than 1,500 stories examining health care trends since 1995. Now, as senior health desk editor at Boston’s WGBH Radio, she is concerned that “with so many stakeholders and powerful forces intersecting throughout the system, it becomes harder and harder for patients to be portrayed in our stories as anything more than victims or people being acted upon.” Susan Dentzer, who is health correspon- dent with “The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer,” examines why journalists have such a difficult time fully reporting the story of the millions of Americans who do not have health insurance.

Nieman Reports / Spring 2003 5 “… we have not yet managed to fully penetrate the health system and serve as direct eyewitnesses to the precise ways in which the uninsured get short shrift,” she writes. In a yearlong series about alcoholism that won a Pulitzer Prize, Great Falls (Mont.) Tribune projects editor Eric Newhouse debunked myths and unearthed facts about this disease. He also learned lessons about reporting on people who are made vulnerable by illness, and he shares those with us. By exploring the connections between farm policy and what children eat for lunch in public schools, freelance writer Barry Yeoman, reporting in Mother Jones magazine, defied conventional wisdom and discovered some unexpected causes of childhood obesity. Yeoman notes that “until other journalists start thinking critically about school nutrition—and asking different questions—the national debate over childhood obesity is not likely to shift ….” sent reporters and photographers to four developing countries to see, in the words of foreign editor James F. Smith, “how lives were being lost due to the lack of basic health services.” Pictures taken in Cambodia by Globe photographer Michele McDonald convey the impact that poor or nonexistent health care has on a nation’s inhabitants. No disease sickens or kills as many people worldwide as does AIDS, and in developing nations its murderous toll is rapidly increasing. Journalists, particularly those who work in the hardest hit nations of Africa, confront challenges in reporting this story. Huntly Collins, who covered AIDS at The Philadelphia Inquirer, writes about going to as a Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation Teaching Fellow to offer guidance to African reporters in ways to improve their reporting on a disease that each day kills 6,000 people in sub-Saharan Africa. Sabin Russell, medical reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle, also spent time reporting on AIDS in Africa and writes that “most reporters and news organizations are ill-equipped to write about this disease and its health issues on a global scale.” In 2000, Time sent photographer James Nachtwey and a senior writer to Africa to document in a 20-page cover story the ravages of this disease on its victims, their families, and caregivers. In words and images, Nachtwey describes why he must tell this story. Joseph Ngome, a reporter for BBC Kisumu radio in Kenya, explains how cultural beliefs, government interference, and lack of training in science writing become barriers to good coverage. Melinda Voss, executive director of the Association of Health Care Journalists, contends that health journalists need and want special training in how to improve their coverage. “However, almost no program offers training in such journalism fundamentals as how to interview health and medical researchers or how to report medical research,” she writes. Larry Tye, a former Boston Globe reporter who directs the Health Coverage Fellowship in Massachusetts, shows the value of an intensive eight-day fellowship in which medical and health reporters are equipped with tools and information they need. Felicia Mebane shares information about the content of health care reporting and finds that “issues involving health care and health care policy do not get the attention they deserve.” Coverage reflects neither the importance of these issues in our lives nor “does reporting on them even receive its fair share of attention when the overall subject is health.” ■

6 Nieman Reports / Spring 2003 Reporting on Health Frustrations on the Frontlines of the Health Beat News organizations need to find spaces ‘to be homes for stories that are now often orphaned.’

By Andrew Holtz

ealth news gushes from me- of the nation, while the last two can the media equivalent of a 99-cent drive- dia outlets. Federal spending have profound effects on the health of thru menu: quick, cheap, but ultimately H at the National Institutes of a community. No, I didn’t make a mis- unnourishing. Health has ballooned. The bucking take in that last line. Heart failure treat- What stood out on the tape was that bronco of health care business has ments might be vitally important to the best health report was not a health thrown off its managed care rider, and individuals who are already sick, but report. It was a story of a university premium hikes are arcing upward. The they have nothing to do with keeping professor who writes a sex advice col- unprecedented supply of stories and people healthy in the first place. Pre- umn for the school’s student newspa- the rapacious appetite of broadcast, scription drug coverage (as critical as it per. The profile touched on the inad- print and Internet companies should might be to our personal budgets) just equacy of sex education, how a mean we are in the glory days for an shuffles medical spending from one complaint from a parent once independent journalist with experience balance sheet to another, from a per- prompted administrators to suspend on the health beat; yet, in important sonal expense to a component of taxes the column, and how a newspaper can ways, we are not. or to business expenses that are fac- satisfy the needs of its readers. The Don’t get me wrong, it’s a lovely tored into product prices. By contrast, long report (almost three minutes) beat. There are important stories to home and neighborhood design are dealt with cultural attitudes toward tell, often chock full of truly new infor- closely linked to physical activity, and sex, conflict over the roles of parents mation, which are easily connected to community involvement and grocery and educational institutions, freedom human elements. Yet as I’ve racked up store placement determines what sort of the press, and the turmoil of young more years on the beat and taken ad- of access people have to healthy foods. adults. It bore no resemblance to the vantage of more training and educa- The problem facing health journal- typical “latest pill” or “promising dis- tion, I’m increasingly nagged by a prob- ism is that the first two stories are easy covery” stories, and yet by telling a tale lem I did not expect. The stories I want sells; the last two tend to get blank of how we equip (or more often fail to to tell now, stories I think need to be looks from editors. equip) them to navigate sexual told, are often not the ones that easily minefields, it had more connection to sell. My personal frustration is not the The Wasteland of health than any number of medical issue, but we should be concerned Health News research bulletins or diet tips. when journalists are inhibited from The story was not labeled as a the work of sustaining an informed Recently I spoke to a group of high “health” story, and it did not come and involved citizenry. school students about health news. To from the station’s health reporter. Take this little quiz. Rate the selling prepare for the presentation, I taped These features are key to understand- strength of these health stories: local TV newscasts for several days. I ing some of the failings of the health got the expected medical news round- news marketplace. Most media outlets 1. A pill for heart failure, ups; that is, jumbles of 30- to 40-sec- have a lazy definition of a health story: 2. A plan to expand coverage of pre- ond voice-over stories serenely devoid It has to involve patients or lab rats, scription drugs, of context, caveats or qualifications. doctors or researchers, a pill or proce- 3. A proposal to regulate placement One spectacularly empty report her- dure, or food and exercise in the of garages and front windows in alded an immunology “breakthrough” “lifestyle” reports. As medical news new homes, without mentioning anything more obsesses over treatments and lab ex- 4. A discussion of grocery store loca- about the research than that it would periments, it is generally blind to tions. help the immune system prepare for broader concepts of health that ex- an infection before disease struck. (As plore connections to families, neigh- Wait, you say, two of those examples one student remarked, “I thought that’s borhoods, social activities, law and aren’t even health stories. You’re right. what vaccines do.”) It was no surprise politics. The first two involve topics that make to document that much local TV health The failure to see that wider view of relatively little difference to the health and medical news coverage looks like health is not unique to news editors;

Nieman Reports / Spring 2003 7 Reporting on Health

it’s the same tunnel vision that leads official policy intended to protect edi- nival freak shows and produce “gawker the to burn through more torial decision-making from advertiser block” at car crash scenes, fuel a steady than a trillion dollars a year on medical pressure, there were still disincentives stream of so-called health reports on treatments, while skimping on preven- to pursuing stories that challenged the poor little sick kids, researchers work- tion efforts. (Need heart bypass sur- paradigm that the key to better health ing on ugly, but rare, diseases, and gery? No problem. Want the lights to is more medicine. families pursuing malpractice claims. stay on at the park so you can toss a ball These sponsored medical spots have These stories are “entertaining” and around after work? Forget it.) Ameri- mandated airtimes; that is, show pro- popular, but they have little to do with cans are less healthy and die younger ducers run the stories on a fixed sched- health. than residents of dozens of nations ule, along with the accompanying ad. If that spend only a fraction as much per the content of a story might clash with The Limitations of Training capita, yet most of the health care de- the ad, the ad is moved away from the bate here revolves around how to pay story. However, in those cases the air- Most discussions about the shortcom- for doing more of the same. The dearth time mandate is also dropped. In 1991, ings of health reporting include calls of public discussion of the determi- for example, when we reported on for more training opportunities. In- nants of health is linked with the rigid emerging research linking acetami- deed, training of journalists is gener- parameters of most health news re- nophen (Tylenol and other brands) to ally neglected. It must be expanded porting. liver damage, the ads were moved, but and enhanced, especially for beat re- instead of the normal three airings, the porters faced with technically complex The Marketplace for story appeared just once, and only af- subjects such as health and health care. Health Stories ter a day of pleading with producers. Yet as important as training initiatives CNN is not unique; many news outlets are, they have limitations. That obser- The of my frustration with the in all media have special segments and vation is not a knock on the efforts health news marketplace is themselves; let me explain. that I’m interested in writ- Consider the “luxury edi- ing, for example, about how Most media outlets have a lazy tion” of the type of program tax policy and anti-smug- definition of a health story: It has aimed at individual report- gling measures relate to to- ers: the fellowship. Programs bacco consumption. But it’s to involve patients or lab rats, offered by major founda- easier to sell a story about doctors or researchers, a pill or tions with an interest in the how tweaking chemo- procedure, or food and exercise in health beat (Knight, Kaiser therapy might improve av- Family, of which I am an erage lung cancer survival the ‘lifestyle’ reports. alumus, Commonwealth, by just a month. I like writ- etc.) offer several months to ing about how reducing the a year of study, research, con- fear of crime in public parks by using sections that attract health industry templation and exploration. To any- police patrols, grounds keeping, and advertising. While the good organiza- one living the daily grind, these fellow- lighting boosts physical activity of neigh- tions try to protect their reporters, ships look like utopia. Anyone fortunate borhood children (thus fighting obe- managers also know that too many enough to have experienced one of sity). But the easier story to sell is how stories questioning the value of medi- them knows how precious an experi- to use new techie gadgets as stand-ins cine could lead advertisers to drift away, ence it is. One objective of such pro- for a personal trainer. thus draining funds that support a grams is to produce better-informed Of course, in order to sell some- health beat staff. and more thoughtful journalists, and thing, you have to have a buyer. Who I am not dumping all the blame on they do. [See articles by Melinda Voss “buys” health stories? Readers and au- medical advertisers. It’s only human to and Larry Tye on pages 46 and 48.] diences create demand by telling mar- wish for a “magic bullet” pill, rather But talk with former fellows, and ket survey consultants that they like than to be reminded that staying healthy some will reveal, while trying hard not health stories. Advertisers who have a involves effort, discipline and regula- to sound whiney or ungrateful, that in natural interest in associating their tion. Also, it’s easier for reporters to reality the experience is, in important products with stories touting benefits write a “gee whiz” story on lab research ways, imperfect. At the extreme, fel- of medical care include drug compa- than it is to captivate readers or viewers lows returning to “real life” sometimes nies, device makers, health care pro- with tales of how urban planning that find they no longer have a job to come viders, and insurers. The example I’m encourages walking or bicycling to back to, or at least not the same job most familiar with is the long-standing school and work can boost levels of they left. More often, returning fellows sponsorship of medical news at CNN. physical activity and reduce air pollu- discover that while they studied and (I was a medical correspondent at CNN tion. In addition, the same voyeuristic learned and grew, their workplace is from 1987 to 1997.) While CNN has an impulses that drew crowds to old car- the same as they left it: The boss’s

8 Nieman Reports / Spring 2003 Reporting on Health priorities and perspectives are the same, We need more of an “environmental While the findings seem to contra- the deadlines are the same, and the awareness” of the constraints and con- dict gut news instincts about what sto- pressure for efficiency might well be fines, the incentives and deterrents, ries draw an audience, they actually more intense than ever. Sometimes, which are part of the professional, cor- make sense. As the Kaiser Family and in some ways, depending on the porate and economic circumstances of Foundation’s Mollyann Brodie ex- individual and the organization, a re- health journalism. plained, public health and policy is- turning fellow might be able to apply The situation is not entirely gloomy. sues often affect most or all of us, while some of what he or she gained in order According to a content analysis by the news about a specific disease or medi- to affect some improvements in the Kaiser Family Foundation and cal advance is likely to catch the inter- workplace. In other cases, however, Princeton Survey Research Associates est of only that segment of the audi- the homecoming journalist encoun- that appeared as a supplement to the ence that feels a personal connection ters friction and resistance to change. Columbia Journalism Review last year, to the condition or risk. For example, coverage of health policy stories by the Health News Index last spring found The Environment of major newspapers and broadcast net- that 35 percent of respondents said Health Reporting works increased by more than a third they were closely following news about from 1997 to 2000. The stories tended prescription drug discount cards, while So, what to do? Parallels with the prac- to follow presidential and congres- 19 percent were closely following dis- tice of public health can be instructive. sional politics or the economic effects cussions over FDA approval of the new While the influence of lifestyle and of health care costs, but at least health colon cancer drug Erbitux. Maybe sto- personal behavior on health is enor- policy was a growing part of the media ries about the bigger health picture are mous, there is a growing body of evi- diet. What’s more, it appears readers also the ones that will help boost circu- dence supporting calls to look beyond and audiences are paying attention. lation and ratings after all. the individual in order to see the effect There is evidence that, contrary to My point is not that good stories on of the environment. By “envi- broad health issues never sell, ronment” I do not mean just of course they do; but that toxic pollutants, deforesta- There is evidence that, contrary fact doesn’t mean the solu- tion or declining biodiversity, tion is just harder work by but rather a broad view of the to the instincts of many news individual reporters. Think circumstances and conditions managers, people are actually about the “against all odds” within which we live, which more interested in health policy story of a poor child of jailed encompasses the physical en- and/or addicted parents who, vironment as well as the so- stories than in ‘disease of the despite attending a high cial and economic environ- week’ blurbs. school with low test scores ments. and high violence rates, wins What, then, are environ- a scholarship to Stanford. Is mental strategies that could the moral of that story that be applied to the health beat? That’s a the instincts of many news managers, kids in dysfunctional families and bad big question, for which I can’t provide people are actually more interested in schools can succeed, if they just study a simple or conclusive answer. But I health policy stories than in “disease of harder? No, what they really need is would argue we need to focus more the week” blurbs. Every two months systemic reform to improve the odds, effort on constructing new media since 1996, the Kaiser Family Founda- so that academic success is common- “spaces” designed to be homes for sto- tion and the Harvard School of Public place, not a rarity worthy of network ries that are now often orphaned. Again, Health have conducted a poll, the coverage. In a similar fashion, we need a health analogy: If a community is Health News Index, to find out what to encourage structural change in the suffering, one of the first initiatives that national breaking health news stories health news marketplace, so that there comes to mind is to build a clinic. people are following (which means it are more welcoming homes for stories Obviously, health care providers work does not include local, human inter- that need to be told. ■ best when they have adequate facilities est, or feature stories.) A preliminary at hand. The same is true for journal- look at an analysis of responses from Andrew Holtz is a freelance health ists. In terms of their organizational all those polls indicates that more reporter who is president of the structure (not the actual rooms and people closely follow stories about Association of Health Care Journal- equipment), most media spaces today public health and health policy than ists (www.ahcj.umn.edu). For 10 are constructed to deliver the common closely follow stories about specific years, he worked as a medical corre- sorts of quick bulletins and light lifestyle diseases or medical advances. (A full spondent at CNN. His work can be features. We need more programs and report on the analysis is pending re- found at www.holtzreport.com. sections that welcome and nurture new view by the Journal of Health Politics, and different types of health coverage. Policy and Law.) [email protected]

Nieman Reports / Spring 2003 9 Reporting on Health The Public Health Beat: What Is It? Why Is It Important? ‘To follow a public health story is to feel the classic pull of a mystery….’

By M.A.J. McKenna

n October 4, 2001, the first classroom or as large as the global serves more attention than many news case of inhalational anthrax in population. organizations give it. Public health sto- OFlorida was reported by the If this makes the beat sound remote, ries have urgency, drama and novelty. Centers for Disease Control and Pre- consider that prior to the space shuttle They are complex—what a public vention (CDC). This marked the dis- Columbia disaster on February 1st health scientist would call “multifacto- covery of the first fatal attack of many of the major science and medi- rial.” Frequently, they are compelling. bioterrorism on U.S. soil. Ultimately, cine stories of the past 12 months—in They arise out of the near-universal anthrax killed five Americans, sickened fact, many Page One stories—were dread of the new and frightening. Or another 17, and caused 30,000 people about public health. As we look back, they may stem from the conflict be- to be put on antibiotics. It also changed there were the reports of multiple epi- tween basic impulses and learned be- the country’s understanding of its vul- demics on cruise ships; the Listeria haviors, whether that is neglecting to nerability to biological attack. outbreak in the Northeast that trig- wear a condom during sex or forget- This October date signals another gered the largest food recall in U.S. ting to put on mosquito repellent be- development as well: the necessity of history; the explosive expansion of the fore cutting the lawn. considering public health a significant West Nile virus epidemic and discovery Reporting on public health requires beat in newsrooms and a key compo- that the pathogen could be transmit- a particular set of skills that differ from nent of helping news organizations ted by organ transplants and move into those put to use by journalists on other interpret major developments in de- the blood supply, and the post-anthrax science and medicine beats. But there fense, health policy, international rela- discovery that the country’s network of are some similarities: As with medical tions, medical advances, and commu- health departments, labs and computer reporting, covering public health de- nity needs. The anthrax crisis—which networks is woefully underfunded and mands a basic familiarity with biology, included an unfamiliar disease organ- inadequate for detecting bioterrorism. lab science, and clinical medicine. But ism, clashing government agencies, Then there is the ongoing story of because public health is a government confused messages about prevention the national smallpox vaccination cam- function, to write about it requires and treatment, and persistent difficul- paign, announced by President Bush developing the ability to decipher bud- ties in defining whether people were at December 13th and organized by the gets and politics and to place the sci- risk—was a classic public health story. CDC. As initially proposed, the cam- ence within this broader context. And paign called for vaccinating up to since reaching conclusions about pub- The Public Health Beat 500,000 health department and emer- lic health leans heavily on statistical gency room staff, followed by up to 10 analyses, it is useful for a public health As a newspaper reporter who has con- million police, fire and hospital work- reporter not to be afraid of math. centrated on public health coverage ers, who would serve as frontline de- Above all, writing about public health since 1989, I have seen the beat lumped fenders if smallpox were used in a requires a willingness to do painstak- with—and sometimes mistaken for— bioterrorist attack. It appears the first ing reporting. When a medical advance science, clinical medicine, consumer phase of this campaign might include is reported by a university or a research health, and what could most accurately no more than 250,000 workers, and consortium, a reporter often hears of be called “public medicine” or the pro- the second phase might never happen. this news with stories of patient expe- vision of health care for the poor and The campaign has foundered on fears riences included. In public health cov- underserved. of the vaccine, questions of legal liabil- erage, reporters usually begin with ei- Public health is none of those, ity, and confusion about how much ther the person or the research results, though some public health stories financial protection will be offered to but often not both. If the starting point touch on many of these areas. Put sim- victims of the vaccine’s serious side is three people on one block with simi- ply, public health and reporters who effects. lar cases of cancer, then reporting the cover it investigate the threat, occur- story will require an extensive search rence and prevention of health prob- Reporting These Stories for data to back up what can seem like lems—infections, chronic diseases, in- an apparent trend. But when the initial juries and exposure to toxins—not in This list, which is only a highlights reel information a reporter receives is about individual patients, but in groups that of last year’s major public health sto- an uptick in disease rates—statistics can be as small as an elementary school ries, should indicate why the beat de- from which personal identifiers have

10 Nieman Reports / Spring 2003 Reporting on Health usually been stripped—associating the a human murderer, but against a re- senior advisor to the Bill & Melinda numbers with actual victims can re- morseless natural force. Gates Foundation. “At its base,” Foege quire lengthy research. In pursuit of such stories, I’ve said, “the provision of public health is To balance such demands, public watched a scientist empty a refrigera- the search for social justice.” health reporting offers compensations. tor of a week’s worth of groceries to Considerations of justice and equity The fundamental question asked by search for clues to a food-borne dis- are the foundation of the best work epidemiology, “Compared to what?,” ease that was causing a rash of miscar- that news organizations do. Giving a is essentially the same question asked riages while she ignored the risk to her home to the public health beat allows by serious journalists: “To prove sig- own first-trimester pregnancy. I helped us another forum to explore those is- nificance and accuracy, what questions another one wrestle with a thrashing, sues, while it gives us an additional set must we ask?” Just as every medical angry heron with a wingspan longer of complex, dramatic, human stories student is told at least once, “When you than I am tall, because a sample of its to tell. ■ hear hoofbeats, think horses, not ze- blood might provide clues to an out- bras,” every public health student learns break. I sat in a hospital room with a M.A.J. McKenna is a staff writer for that “Coincidence is not the same as vibrant 51-year-old woman who had The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, causation.” The rigor of public health suddenly become paralyzed to her col- where she has covered the Centers research, which makes an effort to look larbone, while researchers debated for Disease Control and Prevention beyond the obvious answer, lends whether she might be one of the first (CDC) since 1997. She has won toughness to public health writing. And cases of West Nile virus paralysis. In national and state awards for cover- public health stories are authentic trend , I watched a young father who age of public health, medicine and stories; they represent real associations had carried his limp, feverish son on a environmental health; stories she extracted, by exacting analysis, from 26-hour train journey, crumple when cowrote at the Boston Herald led to the surrounding data storm. he realized that none of the boy’s four the first Congressional hearings on This argument risks forcing public immunizations had adequately pro- the Gulf War Syndrome. As a Michi- health reporting into the same trap tected him against polio. gan Journalism Fellow (now the that for many years imprisoned report- The personal drama of those sto- Knight-Wallace Fellows at Michigan) ing on the environment—it was con- ries, and the research and policy issues in 1998-1999, she studied at the sidered dull but important. Public they illuminate, ought to be an argu- University of Michigan Medical health coverage is rescued from dull- ment for public health coverage in School and School of Public Health. ness by the fascinating personalities themselves. In case they are not, I offer Her book on the CDC will be pub- who practice it and the extraordinary a final consideration, based on a re- lished by The Free Press (Simon & stories it reveals. To follow a public mark I once heard in an Atlanta public Schuster) in 2004. health story is to feel the classic pull of meeting. It was made by Dr. William a mystery, but in this case it is the Foege, a revered figure in American [email protected] relentless detective pitted, not against public health who was most recently The Anthrax Attacks A journalist assesses what went wrong in coverage of this story.

Following September 11th, The Cen- By Patricia Thomas tury Foundation began its Homeland Security Project to help inform the nthrax bioterrorism was the third and Prevention (CDC) was mentioned public and policymakers about com- most closely followed news story in more than 12,000 newspaper and plex challenges related to terrorism. A of 2001, topped only by the Sep- magazine articles during the final three One facet of this project is a series of tember 11th attacks and the war in months of the year. case studies examining the public’s Afghanistan. Some 24-hour news chan- Meanwhile, a behind-the-scenes need to know. What follows are edited nels were “all anthrax, all the time” for struggle was developing between gov- excerpts from a paper in this series several weeks; Tom Brokaw uttered ernment agencies, which held a near entitled “The Anthrax Attacks,” which the memorable phrase “in Cipro we monopoly on information about the explores how and why the press en- trust” as a sign-off after the NBC news- attacks, and journalists clamoring for countered difficulties in reporting es- room was targeted, and print coverage access to what government scientists sential public health information dur- reached blizzard proportions. For ex- and investigators knew. This situation ing the anthrax crisis. ample, the Centers for Disease Control came to light in late October, about

Nieman Reports / Spring 2003 11 Reporting on Health

three weeks into the crisis, when promi- voice” policy hampered journalists’ these two weeks were resolved. Those nent journalists began venting their effort to keep the public informed about who got in touch with a press officer frustrations in print: Usually helpful breaking science. “One department, were likely to be referred elsewhere. If press officers were stonewalling, gov- one voice. But that one voice is busy they asked about field investigations ernment scientific experts were not right now, so please leave a message,” they were asked to call local officials in being made available for interviews, he said wryly…. , , New Jersey, or Wash- and public officials were generally fail- ington. (There, press officers in the ing to make accurate health informa- Calling the CDC field sometimes bounced inquiries back tion available fast enough. This mis- to the CDC in Atlanta.) Reporters who management of news harmed the Every reporter covering the anthrax asked about the search for the perpe- public good, reporters said. Some writ- story called the CDC at least once, but trators were told to contact the FBI, ers blamed Secretary of Health and not many actually managed to inter- which released prepared statements Human Services (HHS) Tommy Th- view a CDC scientist. Understaffing was about the investigation but was other- ompson, speculating that his devotion an obvious problem in the first phase wise tightlipped. If reporters called to to the Bush administration’s credo of of the crisis. From October 4th through follow up on comments made by Sec- “speaking with one voice” led him to 12th, the single media relations spe- retary Thompson or to ask about policy silence experts, damage his own cred- cialist assigned to bioterrorism docu- issues, they were usually referred to ibility, and wound the reputation of mented 137 anthrax calls received dur- the public affairs office at HHS. And, the CDC in the midst of a national ing business hours. More calls probably although they did not realize this was emergency. Other critics attributed dis- came through but were not written happening, many reporters then had ruptions in news flow to structural down. At the very least, she faced 20 to wait while their requests were vetted deficiencies and incompetence at the media requests during each working by HHS officials in Washington…. CDC itself. day, which experts say So-called anthrax experts seemed to Regardless of whom these influen- is about the maximum that one person be coming out of the woodwork, and tial reporters held responsible, all ex- can handle. Outside normal business they were getting plenty of airtime on pressed concern that an information hours, however, CDC estimates that the 24-hour television news channels. shortfall left the American people sus- this same individual received “hun- One of the most notorious was a sup- ceptible to panic, vulnerable to huck- dreds” of calls and pages from report- posed authority who repeatedly re- sters, and confused about how best to ers seeking help with information or ferred to anthrax, which is a bacterium, safeguard the health of their families. interviews. CDC press officers with as “the anthrax virus.” More than one year after the last an- other responsibilities say they pitched Two weeks after anthrax hit, HHS thrax victim died on November 21, in but acknowledge they lacked the leadership realized that the public 2001, one might expect reporters to expertise of the woman on the anthrax needed more information from cred- have lost interest in these issues and beat. ible medical experts and that many of moved on. But that has not happened. Press inquiries that reached the those people worked for the CDC. In In fact, more recent actions of the Bush CDC’s central media relations office Atlanta, 10 media relations specialists administration have made thoughtful were tracked separately, and this tally from satellite press operations else- journalists increasingly worried that indicates that the phones rang non- where on the CDC campus were tight government control of health and stop: 2,229 calls about anthrax and 287 brought to the central office to join science news might disrupt the flow of concerning bioterrorism were docu- forces with the five already taking an- timely, accurate information about sci- mented between October 4th and 18th, thrax calls. These 15 professionals, entific research and personal health to and these are thought to be underesti- along with about half a dozen support readers and viewers…. mates. This translates into nearly 230 staff, were divided into two teams and When the attacks began, “All the incoming calls on an average day. No put on shifts that kept the press office government agencies, including NIH one in the central office appears to open 10 to 12 hours daily, seven days a [National Institutes of Health] and CDC, have been officially designated to week. This schedule went into effect were told not to talk. They were trying handle these calls until 10 days had during the week of October 15th…. to develop a model where all the infor- passed: Then, on October 14, five of CDC’s revamped press operations mation came from a central source,” the office’s 10 media relations special- went into high gear on October 18th. NBC’s Robert Bazell said. He cuts the ists were assigned to anthrax and Reporters got a multipurpose press Bush administration some slack be- bioterrorism. CDC also selected sev- release confirming that a postal worker cause they were newly in power, there eral senior scientists as official spokes- in New Jersey definitely had cutaneous is always a learning curve, and no one persons and began setting them up anthrax, announcing that updates on had any practice with bioterrorism. with interviews. the crisis were being posted in Spanish Washington Post reporter Rick Weiss is There is no comprehensive record on the agency’s Web site, and promot- less forgiving about how the of how the 2,516 press inquiries that ing a video news release featuring CDC administration’s “speaking with one reached CDC media relations during director Jeffrey Koplan. Despite

12 Nieman Reports / Spring 2003 Reporting on Health

Koplan’s stiff delivery and the tape’s But what if reporters cannot reach sources. Journalists worry that when lack of pizzazz, news directors were so those experts and are offered political an end to the “War on Terror” is even- hungry for information from CDC that appointees and bogus scientific experts tually declared, access to government the video aired 923 times and reached instead? According to an October 23rd scientists and tax-supported scientific an estimated 50 million viewers…. article by New York Times reporter research will still be limited. Sheryl Gay Stolberg, muddled messages Reporting on a Health Crisis from the government confused and Moving Forward From frightened the public. She faulted the Anthrax Just as a standard news story contains Bush administration for failing to de- certain elements, there is a checklist of liver accurate information, “even if it At the CDC, phone banks for handling what people need to know about a might be scary,” and criticized Secre- inquiries from health care providers, public health threat. Basic information tary Thompson in particular for sug- journalists and worried citizens have includes signs and symptoms of ill- gesting that the first victim might have been expanded since fall 2001. A facil- ness, how exposure or transmission been infected by drinking from a ity for broadcasting televised press con- occurs, how to estimate one’s own stream. Instead of complaining about ferences, or for linking CDC officials degree of risk, what interventions can the administration’s “speaking with one with HHS leaders in Washington, also prevent or treat the problem, what voice” policy, however, Stolberg cited has been set up. These are important outcomes are likely, and when and contradictory information emanating steps in the right direction. where to seek help if needed. Because from local public health officials and Government agencies also must pre- no two people are alike or have exactly “self-proclaimed experts” as the main pare accurate information about vari- the same risks, it is seldom possible to source of confusion for reporters and ous organisms in advance: If another make a “one size fits all” recommenda- the public…. bioterrorism attack occurs, communi- tion. This is why science and medical Just as bioterrorism preparedness is cation offices should have fact sheets journalists lean heavily on physicians part of a larger public health context, and rosters of experts on hand in order or scientists who can lay out the facts what happened between government to disseminate critical knowledge im- about a specific health threat and ex- news managers and reporters during mediately. Crisis communications ex- plain the pros and cons of various the anthrax attacks is part of a bigger perts emphasize that credible doctors choices. This enables consumers to act picture, in which Bush administration and scientists should be talking to the in their own best interests, which may policies are changing the rules of en- press from the start and should be mean doing nothing at all. gagement for reporters and their available on a schedule that suits today’s 24-hour news cycle so that less reliable speakers will be shut out. Although political appointees can convey impor- Preparing for Bioterrorism Reporting tant messages to the public, the CDC director, surgeon general, and other Individual reporters and the pro- 2003, the RTNDF plans another medical authorities should handle tech- fession are adapting to a world satellite forum, workshops, presen- nical matters. where bioterrorism is no longer tations at professional conferences, Experts see the anthrax attacks as an unthinkable. Some journalism and additional publications—all atypical form of bioterrorism and pre- schools have instituted courses aimed at preparing broadcast jour- dict that if bioweapons are used again, such as “Covering International nalists to cope with biological war- the assault will probably unfold more Terrorism,” which was taught at fare. slowly, in more locations, and may Boston University for the first time The Foundation for American well involve an organism that spreads last year. Professional organizations Communications (FACS), a 25-year- easily from person to person. Commu- have created educational offerings old organization that conducts edu- nications challenges will be greater than for working journalists. cational programs and develops before, and press officers sent to site With help from the Carnegie print and online resources for jour- investigations will need clear guide- Corporation of New York, the Ra- nalists, has turned its attention to lines for coordinating messages with dio and Television News Directors bioterrorism as well. In December those emanating from Atlanta or Wash- Foundation (RTNDF) produced a 2001, FACS teamed up with the ington. two-hour bioterrorism seminar that television news directors and the Another lesson that HHS and CDC was broadcast by satellite in late National Academy of Sciences, Na- communication managers may derive 2001. The organization also dis- tional Academy of Engineering, and from the anthrax experience is that the tributed a journalist’s guide to cov- Institute of Medicine for a work- eye of the storm is not the place to ering bioterrorism to every televi- shop aimed at training reporters to suddenly decide that all reporters sion and radio newsroom. For cover terrorism. ■ —P.T. should be treated in the same way. If CDC and HHS press officers had con-

Nieman Reports / Spring 2003 13 Reporting on Health

tinued giving elite reporters the same public was mostly a matter of common Patricia Thomas writes about medi- degree of access they usually enjoyed, sense and laid out some rules about cal research and during the 1990’s at least some of the critical articles in how to do it effectively. The final item, was editor of the Harvard Health national newspapers might never have and most important in Koop’s view, Letter. Her 2001 book, “Big Shot: been written. One rationale for doing was “keep the press on your side Passion, Politics, and the Struggle this is that such reporters are more through honesty and forthrightness.”… for an AIDS Vaccine,” was published knowledgeable and experienced than Everyone, of course, hopes that by PublicAffairs. She is a visiting most of the press corps. bioweapons will never again be de- scholar at the Knight Center for A final piece of advice for news man- ployed against Americans. But if this Science and at agers was offered by former Surgeon does happen, the timely flow of infor- Boston University. The case study is General C. Everett Koop, who testified mation from experts to the public via at www.tcf.org. before a congressional subcommittee the mass media will be the nation’s in November 2001. Koop told legisla- best protection against panic and po- [email protected] tors that communicating threats to the tential disaster. ■ Useful Lessons From Reporting the Anthrax Story A journalist describes what happened and shares what he learned.

By Sanjay Bhatt

was interviewing Florida’s director completely baffling on October 4th. chilling that I led my piece with it. The of substance abuse services by Today we accept that terrorists— headline: “Florida ‘Inviting’ for Iphone when an editor stood up in whether foreign or domestic—target Bioterrorism Attack, Experts Warn.” My the middle of the newsroom and yelled suburban communities (illustrated skeptical editors ran the story inside in my direction, “Anthrax! We’ve got again by last fall’s sniper shootings), on 4A. I stuffed my notes into a jumbo anthrax!” I made sure I had heard right, but back then insisted that real envelope, tucked it away and moved then cut the phone interview short, terrorists strike power centers such as on. explaining that we had a human an- Washington or . More Two years later, a dozen other re- thrax case in Palm Beach County, and than a few reporters still tell me that porters and I, who were attending the I had to go now. It was a few minutes their suburban newsrooms aren’t pre- Association of Health Care Journalists’ before 3:30 p.m. on Thursday, October pared to cover such an attack. And National Conference, were standing 4, 2001. when the big story hits, it’s too late to outside a maximum containment labo- I rushed to the county health de- begin thinking then about which ex- ratory at the Centers for Disease Con- partment, which had scheduled a four perts to tap, how to staff round-the- trol and Prevention (CDC). Only gov- o’clock press conference, and then to clock shifts, and what risks journalists ernment labs in Atlanta and Moscow JFK Medical Center, where Dr. Larry in the field should and should not take. are known to possess old strains of the Bush was speaking to reporters shortly With the necessity of preparation in virus that causes smallpox, which the after five. Next to him was the state’s mind, journalists might find some use- World Health Organization declared top epidemiologist, Steven Wiersma, ful lessons in what my colleagues and I eradicated in 1980. Someone asked sent by pediatrician John Agwunobi, at The Palm Beach Post experienced on how the laboratory received shipments who was having an unusual first day as and after October 4th. of lethal viruses, such as Ebola, during Florida Department of Health Secre- the 2000 outbreak in Uganda. “We use tary. Though no one wanted to believe Lesson 1: Plan ahead of the event, Fed-Ex,” the tour guide said. Jaws it, Robert Stevens, a photo editor at as you would for a natural disaster. dropped. The Sun, a supermarket tabloid pub- Back in 1999, I listened to military After I returned to West Palm Beach, lished by American Media, was going to experts share doomsday scenarios with I pursued a story on how specific lethal die from a disease so rare that most of more than 200 nurses, paramedics and germs, or so-called “select agents,” like our knowledge about it was derived public health workers in a Tampa con- anthrax are transported between labo- from 1979, when dozens of Russians ference center. One of the scenarios ratories. Private couriers had never lost died after being exposed to spores involved terrorists silently dispersing a package since the program began cultivated in a Soviet biological weap- anthrax spores through the air-ventila- two decades ago, CDC officials said. ons factory. tion shafts of a shopping mall and in- The Department of Energy’s Inspector What, in retrospect, is obvious was fecting thousands of people. It was so General, however, had faulted CDC for

14 Nieman Reports / Spring 2003 Reporting on Health neglecting some of its duties in over- emergency workers on how to respond statements, I rejoiced—only to hear seeing non-CDC labs’ registration of to a future terrorist attack. It bothers them retracted as events unfolded. select agents. The report didn’t ad- me that no one, even within the news Months later, I uttered more than a dress military labs, which have their industry, seems to be giving frontline few groans as I reviewed my clips: An own layer of oversight. reporters their due. Aren’t journalists October 11th piece quoted the state It wasn’t obvious at the time I at- first responders as well? [See Melinda health secretary saying the threat of tended the terrorism seminar or the Voss’s story on page 46.] anthrax exposure didn’t extend be- CDC tour that I would ever put the We would have been faced with dif- yond the Boca Raton building; the same information to use. When the unthink- ficult choices that October if people story quoted a U.S. postal inspector able happened, I was prepared to ask were infected with a contagious germ, saying, “There is no evidence the mail tough questions, offer readers context, such as smallpox or pneumonic plague. was used. There has never been any and score a few scoops. There’s no guarantee public health chemical or biological agent ever sent Lesson 2: Do your job, but don’t workers would have isolated all ex- through the mail that harmed anyone.” be reckless. Whoever was behind the posed contacts. What if the germ had An October 24th piece reported that anthrax attacks considered the media an unexpectedly long incubation pe- tests of the first-floor air vents in the an enemy worth killing. The Palm Beach riod? What if it was genetically engi- American Media building showed no Post and other newspapers in Florida neered to behave differently than an trace of the germ—“That means it is moved mail operations off-site, made ordinary germ? What if my editor unlikely the bacterium was dispersed disposable gloves available to staff, and wanted me to go to the dead victim’s widely in the building.” Days later, I beefed-up security. We knew many of home and talk to neighbors? Where reported exactly the opposite. Perhaps the September 11th hijackers had spent would I feel comfortable going if the a large disclaimer above stories is time plotting schemes in our county. victim was a politician who had shaken needed: “Stay tuned. What seems true What we didn’t know scared us more. hands all over the county during a today might not be so tomorrow.” I was too busy and naive to worry recent campaign? How many official about being infected. The U.S. Envi- assurances would I require before I On a big story like this, the pressure ronmental Protection Agency refused could think about doing my job? My to feed readers fresh angles and in- to let me or other reporters follow news instinct would be, and is, to do sights is unrelenting. To be honest, too their team inside the American Media my job. often there was nothing new to report. Inc. headquarters. The U.S. Postal Ser- Lesson 3: Report official state- Nevertheless, I would find a story be- vice also refused when we asked to go ments. Then explain what they don’t cause I was terrified the competition inside the county’s main sorting cen- say. On day two of the anthrax investi- would, too. An October 26th piece ter—which the health department had gation, Governor Jeb Bush told the stripped across the front page told of said was decontaminated. Now, look- press, “People don’t have any reason one woman who was hospitalized after ing back, my bravado seems stupid. to be concerned. This is a cruel coinci- taking Cipro even though doctors like The terrorist outfoxed the world’s best dence. That’s all it is.” Health officials Larry Bush didn’t think the antibiotic disease detectives once, who was to say reiterated there was “no evidence of could cause such a severe reaction. I he or she couldn’t do it again? terrorism.” I knew from covering food- cowrote the story, but I don’t think it Barely a month after anthrax killed borne outbreaks that that wasn’t the deserved top billing. Drug reactions Stevens, we had reports of dozens of whole story. “The fact that Stevens never are common, and the publicity might flea-market shoppers feeling ill and regained consciousness after arriving have scared others at risk from taking hazardous materials teams scanning at the hospital Tuesday, and the lack of Cipro at all. I can imagine similar issues the area. It was a Sunday. The editor other human cases, could mean inves- will emerge when the first person is sent the reporter working that day’s tigators might never discover how he hospitalized from smallpox vaccination. shift to the scene. Fire officials were was infected,” I reported. In essence, There’s an ethics paper in all of this for telling the media that early tests sug- investigators reassured the public based a journalism student. gested VX. The editor didn’t know what on their lack of data. Is that really so While I think there’s plenty of room VX was. It’s a nerve agent that kills comforting? for ethics discussions about this cover- within minutes of exposure. Fortu- Later, it became clear that the at- age at news organizations, I believe I nately, it turned out to be Freon, not tacks challenged what the experts was on firm ground in seeking opin- VX—and the media circling the flea thought they knew about anthrax. ions from nongovernment experts dur- market didn’t become part of the story. Hundreds of spores must be inhaled ing the crisis. I had no choice. The The news industry has a dismal before achieving a lethal dose. Oops, federal government imposed a news record of investing in training, espe- not always. As a reporter trying to con- blackout for several days and gagged cially for the most inexperienced re- vey truth to my readers, I tried to cut state and local officials. Calls, faxes and porters who are likely to be sent into through the official gibberish and ran e-mails to the federal agencies went the field. The government is spending the risk of sounding too certain. When unanswered. [See Patricia Thomas’s a great deal of public money training officials gave me strong declarative story on page 11.] The urge for imme-

Nieman Reports / Spring 2003 15 Reporting on Health

diate explanations is only human and rally, when more than 1,000 people ered public health for the Post since can’t be expected to sit still until the reported getting diarrhea on cruise the spring of 1999. He was the lead next press conference. Do we honestly ships late last year, the news media reporter in the paper’s anthrax think it’s more responsible to tell the jumped on it because of the specter of coverage, for which both he and the public, “We don’t have any clue as to terrorists poisoning buffet lines. Get- Post staff received numerous honors, why this person died from a disease ting the runs on all-you-can-eat boats including first place in the Excel- that last killed dozens of Russians in certainly wasn’t new. I was covering lence in War on Terrorism Coverage the 1970’s outside a biological weap- that story when the CDC recommended given by the Florida Press Club and ons factory. Stay tuned. ‘Who Wants to something more basic than Cipro: Wash the Society of Professional Journal- Be a Millionaire?’ is next.” your hands! ■ ists’ Green Eyeshade award. It’s still a mystery why this happened in Florida. And it amazes me that the Sanjay Bhatt is medical reporter for [email protected] perpetrator(s) remains at large. Natu- The Palm Beach Post and has cov-

Public Health Reporting: After September 11th, It’s More Difficult Important stories aren’t getting told, sources are hard to reach, and what was once public is now considered secret.

By Madeline Drexler

he September 11th attacks dra- trum of neglect was glaring: obsolete Henderson, the crusty public health matically changed and con- labs, archaic data collection systems, icon who had directed the World Health Tstrained the way journalists— rigid organizational fiefdoms, and de- Organization’s smallpox eradication especially public health reporters—are moralized workers. That autumn, the campaign in the 1960’s and ’70’s; nine able to do their jobs. I submitted the startling arrival of the West Nile virus months later, he was bunkered and manuscript of my book, “Secret Agents: exposed the system’s gaps and flaws. virtually unreachable back in Washing- The Menace of Emerging Infections,” Insiders were willing to talk about ton, enlisted to help brace the nation exactly three weeks before September this deteriorating state of affairs. In an for a possible return of the scourge he 11th. Since then I’ve observed and dealt atmosphere of heightened awareness, had extinguished. In Atlanta, I spent a with disturbing new restrictions. For unfettered by any explicit emergency— week hanging out with scientists in the the two-and-a-half years I was research- and free of a White House that Centers for Disease Control and ing my book, I felt I had full access to micromanages the pronouncements of Prevention’s (CDC) foodborne infec- public health experts at all levels of government employees—I was able to tions branch, as endless reports of sal- government and academia. But the travel and conduct hundreds of inter- monella and listeria and E. coli swept gates have closed. Now a journalist views. Even at the time, I reveled in a through the warren of basement of- must negotiate an obstacle course of sense of journalistic spaciousness. fices; today, the CDC has become a silence and , bland obfuscations frontline command post for the war on and tightly controlled facts. Simply put, Access to Sources terrorism, one that strangers with steno in this new climate I could never have pads cannot breach. [See Patricia written my book. In New York City, I spent a day with a Thomas’s report on page 11.] Although I didn’t realize it at the tough-talking veterinary technician, Above all, I enjoyed long and re- time, when I began my research in driving to the secretly sited “sentinel peated interviews with federal, state early 1999, a window had briefly chickens” whose antibodies warned of and local public health officials. I could opened for medical reporters. The U.S. the West Nile virus. Such a leisurely call up a source at the CDC, or any- government had started to acknowl- lark under government auspices would where else, and ask a question—and edge the wretched condition of public surely be banned today. In Baltimore, get an answer. Public health was not a health in this country. The full spec- I strolled along the harbor with D.A. state secret: It was public.

16 Nieman Reports / Spring 2003 Reporting on Health

No more. In order to converse with biotic-resistant bacteria, which have a moving target. With hourly news dis- anyone at the CDC, a reporter must fueled an inexorable rise in deaths and patches jerking me this way and that, now make a formal request, which can illness in both hospitals and our com- composing a “first draft of history” left take weeks to be processed through a munities. Ask these officials the same me with a distinctly sick feeling. The complex public affairs filtration system question today, off the record, and day before Christmas 2001, I gritted that reaches all the way to the Washing- they might well answer the same way. my teeth and sent off the pages to my ton, D.C. headquarters of the U.S. De- In the past year, every dreaded predic- publisher. Fortunately for the hard- partment of Health and Human Ser- cover edition of my book, but unhap- vices. If the interview actually takes pily for the rest of the country, the place—little guarantee, there—it will anthrax story hasn’t appreciably ad- be monitored by a public affairs minder vanced since then. Why not? That’s ostensibly on the call to offer relevant another unanswered question. “resources,” but in fact there to corral Public health only gets support when the discussion and closely watch the it’s politically strategic. During the past clock. Talk about the corporate model year, billions of dollars have been of government: A reporter would have poured into health departments at all more latitude grilling the CEO’s of levels of government—but it’s not nec- Merrill Lynch or ExxonMobil. essarily being spent in the most effec- Don’t get me wrong. In recent tive ways. In the name of prepared- months, I have been able to interview ness, weary officials are trying to solve the CDC director, state and local health the same problems across the country, officials, emergency room physicians, inevitably duplicating efforts. The en- public safety managers, and others, demic problems in America’s public trying to make sense of this new na- health system—short staffing, spotty tional puzzle. But there’s an unmistak- training, heavy bureaucracy—endure. able chill in the air. And that might be the biggest untold Admittedly, health workers at all lev- story in public health today: How is the els are toiling triple-overtime these vast, unsung network of people and days, girding their departments for ter- labs and communications that protects rorism and carrying out the White all of us from disease being transformed House smallpox vaccination plan, all by the recent emergency infusion of while trying to hold back the daily, cash and attention? Is it a cosmetic fix unpublicized tide of disease. They have tion about drug-resistant staph and or a long-term cure? Five years from precious little time to talk to their other organisms has come to pass, but now, will we be better defended not spouses and children, let alone to jour- these alarming developments have only against terrorist-sown diseases, nalists. But reporters—and readers— been overshadowed by more specula- but also against contaminated poultry desperately need access to the facts, tive—if more dramatic—headlines. or childhood whooping cough? Will now more than ever. What evidence is Likewise, pandemic flu remains more elderly citizens be immunized there for an imminent smallpox virus poised to leap out of Asia. Meat recalls against flu and pneumonia? Will hospi- release? How exactly did the White of record proportions are quietly an- tal infection rates have dropped? And, House settle on its controversial vacci- nounced in dry bureaucratic prose. if journalists are still struggling just to nation plan? What will happen if, in an West Nile virus has surged across the talk with authorities in the know, how emergency, public health is subsumed entire Western Hemisphere. AIDS is will the public ever find out? ■ under public safety? Will the Depart- spreading its devastation from Africa to ment of Homeland Security forever India and Asia. Now, as throughout all Madeline Drexler is a Boston-based change the face of the CDC? of history, the most talented bioterrorist journalist. The paperback edition of remains nature itself. Yet, in the fog of “Secret Agents: The Menace of Emerg- The Stories That Get Missed war preparations, we have lost sight of ing Infections,” is due to be pub- the bigger picture. lished by Penguin in March. A Perhaps most important, in this era of Three weeks after I submitted the former medical for The all-smallpox-all-the-time, is how are we manuscript of “Secret Agents,” the un- Boston Globe Magazine, she was a faring against other health threats right imaginable happened. Three weeks Knight Fellow at on our doorstep? If, on September 10, later, anthrax broke out. As galleys and the Massachusetts Institute of Tech- 2001, a public health reporter had asked page proofs and final edits piled up on nology. CDC leaders what peril most preoccu- my desk, I furiously reworked my long pied them, most would have said anti- chapter on bioterrorism, trying to chase [email protected]

Nieman Reports / Spring 2003 17 Reporting on Health Reporting on America’s Widening Racial Health Gap Using computer-assisted reporting, The Plain Dealer found the fault lines.

By Dave Davis

n Bacon County, Georgia, black million patient stays from 1996 to 1998 council chambers to protest what they families are being destroyed by an found that, compared with the treat- said was the city’s indifference to these Iepidemic of heart disease and dia- ment of white patients, doctors were killings. The mayor formed a task force betes—diseases that are usually caught slightly more likely to either just order to study the problem. and treated in white residents. In Essex tests for blacks or administer no treat- But today, three years later, the task County, New Jersey, thousands of HIV- ment at all. force has been abandoned. Nobody infected drug addicts live on the streets But the idea behind our series was even recalls when it stopped meeting. of Newark. They don’t vote, don’t have to publish a geography-based analysis David Satcher is no longer Surgeon high-powered lobbyists, and are largely of the nation’s racial health disparity, General. And the whole issue of the ignored by state lawmakers who hand the first-ever county-by-county look at racial health disparity, which just a out money for AIDS treatment and the problem. We believed that by visit- short time ago seemed on the brink of drug rehabilitation. And in Mahoning ing these places and writing about what becoming a national priority, has been County, Ohio, African-American we found, we might shed light on some all but forgotten in Washington as our women are being murdered by hus- larger truth about these hidden trag- leaders turn their attention to military bands, boyfriends and drug dealers so edies. We believed that by telling the and security matters. often that public officials appear to stories of people who were struggling All that’s left are the stories, stories have grown used to it. to survive but had never looked into worth retelling and remembering. These counties form the fault line of the eye of a reporter or public official, the nation’s great racial health divide. we might contribute new voices to the Stories The Plain Dealer Told Although others have documented the national discourse and help shape the nation’s widening racial health gap, public health system’s response to these They are the stories of people like John many of the places that have been hard- problems. Holley, a 47-year-old Lima, Ohio resi- est hit hadn’t received much attention. I don’t know that our stories had dent who suffered a near-fatal heart At The Plain Dealer, we spent a year any lasting effect. Immediately after attack just days after a doctor refused trying to find these places, then we they appeared, then-Surgeon General to see him for chest pain. His wife, wrote about them in a five-part series David Satcher praised the stories as a Mary, felt certain that the couple’s lack published in March 2000. road map for the U.S. Department of of health insurance was the reason. Health and Human Services, which had “When we got there, the doctor said, ‘I The Racial Health Gap assumed responsibility for developing don’t understand why they sent you a national approach. The Ohio Com- here. I’m not going to touch you,’” his Using the tools of computer-assisted mission on Minority Health distributed wife recalled. “I was so shocked. I just reporting and mortality data gathered 3,000 copies of our stories to its con- said, ‘Thank you.’” from the Centers for Disease Control stituents, and my colleague, Elizabeth They are the stories of people like and Prevention (CDC), we found that a Marchak, participated in a weekend Maxine and Cynthia Wright of Young- racial health gap exists in virtually ev- retreat with 80 black mothers and stown, who share a bond beyond most ery county in the nation with a sizeable daughters to explore ways to end vio- mothers and daughters: Each lost a number of minority residents. But in lence against women. child to homicide. “It is hell,” Maxine what places was the disparity the worst? Those women were from the Young- said wearily. And why? What characteristics did these stown, Ohio area, which had the And they are the stories of Harold fault-line counties have in common? nation’s highest murder rate of black Moore, who was partially paralyzed Ultimately, we concluded that pov- women. Still, Youngstown Mayor from a drug overdose and lay dying erty and a lack of health insurance had George McKelvey said our reporting from AIDS in a hospital bed at the a profound impact on the widening was simply designed to make his city Broadway House, a home for indigent disparity. But even after these factors look bad. “I had fun trashing your story AIDS patients in Newark. Drug-ad- were taken into account, we found that on the radio talk shows,” he told us the dicted, homeless, forgotten men like African Americans admitted to hospi- day after the third installment, when Moore wander the streets of Newark tals receive less medical care than whites the stories on Youngstown were pub- and the other northern New Jersey who are the same age, same gender, lished. Several days later, 70 black cities that lie in the shadow of Manhat- and about as sick. Our analysis of 44.9 Youngstown residents jammed the city tan, whose brightly lit skyscrapers seem

18 Nieman Reports / Spring 2003 Reporting on Health to taunt this boarded-up city from erful data, we started talking with health based on their income. Doctors at the across the Hudson River. officials and experts around the coun- Crossroads Health Center said they Here, women sell themselves for try. Few of them knew what we were saw more similarities than differences $15. Men run heroin. Using dirty talking about. Nobody had ever seen in the white, black and Latino patients needles, they shoot up behind aban- numbers like we had tallied. Many lo- they treated. doned buildings, in cemeteries or in cal and state public health officials sim- public bathrooms. They are spreading ply told us we were wrong, though People Respond to the HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, at a they could not offer us different num- Reporting pace that rivals some Third World na- bers. Others—when confronted with tions. They are overwhelmingly black, data showing these disparities—denied Reaction to the series was swift. The and we called them “The Lost Ones” there was any problem in their county frontline health care workers we had because, despite being desperately ill or state. And some refused to talk to us. interviewed all applauded the stories. from AIDS, they did not seek medical Even so, the problems of minority They took them as a sort of call to treatment. They have no addresses. health are not unknown to public health action, proof of what they had been They have no telephones. They have officials, especially those in federal trying so hard to communicate to oth- no hope. agencies and at universities. In our ers about the problems they were treat- In Essex County, where black resi- search for information, we’d found ing. But those above them—high-rank- dents were dying from AIDS at 10 times studies and federal grants, involving all ing hospital administrators and public the rate of whites, poverty and afflu- sorts of bureaucracies, devoted to— health officials at the state and county ence live side-by-side, creating one of but not necessarily solving—a myriad level—didn’t respond, even though we the widest racial health gaps we could of minority health problems. sent them copies of the stories and find in the nation. “When I was out on As we traveled the nation and our offered to publish their reaction. the street, I had lost all my moral value, state, one thing became increasingly We received hundreds of telephone my self-respect,” Moore said. “All that clear: People working on the ground calls, letters and e-mail from readers. flies out the window when you use (on the streets, in public clinics, and Many wanted to tell us their personal drugs.” community health centers) understood stories. Many more simply wanted to Moore’s story was sad, compelling the scope of the tragedy and were express their appreciation. I was sur- and uplifting, all at the same time. On scrambling to solve the problem on prised, time after time, to hear callers some days, when he felt okay, he went their own, often with little or no insti- tell me that they were shocked that our in his wheelchair to speak to groups tutional support. newspaper would undertake such a about “living with the virus.” While he Two nurses in Lima, a depressed project. “How did I manage to do this was sick, for the first time in his life he industrial city that sprouted up in the story?” they asked. spent time with his mother, becoming middle of central Ohio’s cornfields, I understood that many young the son he had never been as he came were working in the city’s worst neigh- people felt detached from daily news- to recognize the importance of family borhood, trying to catch untreated high papers. I knew that poor people felt and friends. Lying in his hospital bed, blood pressure and diabetes before this way. But many of the callers were through his tears, he told us something the diseases became disabling. In educated professionals. To hear them amazing, “I wouldn’t change these last Youngstown, the Ursuline Nuns talk about their distrust of news orga- seven years for nothing.” weren’t waiting for any of the city’s nizations was eye opening. boards or commissions to act on the Our stories also became a bridge to Transforming Data Into city’s homicide epidemic. For nearly a our African-American readers, people Stories decade, they had been buying up old who had buried too many in their fam- homes and filling them with single ily before their time. One elderly Our deathbed interview with Moore moms and their kids. The nuns knew, woman who met me in person was became the foundation upon which after 125 years in the city, that preserv- surprised to discover that I am white. we built the fourth day of our five-day ing families would help rebuild the She gave me a bear hug and whispered series. His words gave us the ability to community. It was their investment in in my ear, “I didn’t think white people share his story with our readers, and the next generation, they said. cared.” ■ that was the payoff we received for And in Cincinnati, a group of doc- more than 200 hours that we’d spent tors and nurses had given up the com- Dave Davis is an investigative re- querying the CDC’s online mortality fort of private-practice medicine to start porter for The Plain Dealer in Cleve- database (http:\\wonder.cdc.gov). a clinic in an abandoned elementary land, Ohio, who has specialized in As we began our reporting, we ran school in Cincinnati’s over-the-Rhine health care issues. Reprints of his death rates, by race and gender, for the district, a neighborhood split evenly series are available through Davis at nearly 1,200 counties in the United between poor Appalachian whites and his e-mail address. States. Then, we imported the results inner-city blacks and Hispanics. Patients into a database. Armed with this pow- were asked to pay what they could [email protected].

Nieman Reports / Spring 2003 19 Reporting on Health

WATCHDOG Lead Poisoning: A Failed Response and Sick Children A team of reporters and a photographer tackle a familiar story with a new approach.

By Judy Peet

y first reaction was that I didn’t followed up after last reporting on this of the way. want to work on the project issue. But now that I knew what I I decided to take advantage of the M my editor at The Star-Ledger knew, the first job I had was to admit all substantial assets we, as a staff, brought was suggesting. I’d done a fairly com- of this to my editor, let him know I was to our renewed coverage of this topic. prehensive look at lead poisoning in wrong in my initial negative response We had an editor willing to give us the New Jersey a decade before. A good to his story suggestion. time we needed for the kind of report- one. The issue had been done to death. My next task was to find a fresh ing that would enable us to do the This time around it seemed just an- approach to an old reporting project. digging we needed to take a fresh look other case of an editor trying to force For at least 40 years, journalists have at this. We had a world-class photogra- new life into a tired, button-pushing tried to tell this story; there probably pher, Mia Song, with a magical eye for ghetto story about the hopelessness isn’t an environment reporter or a per- drama, and the reporter I was working that comes when poverty, ignorance son on the children’s beat who hasn’t with, Russell Ben-Ali, has enviable tal- and disease converge. done some reporting about lead poi- ents for finding and befriending people It took me about four hours to soning. In the six months before we and tracking down minute detail. change my mind. That was all the time began the project, there had been two Ben-Ali’s beat is Newark, the state’s it took to discover that most of the brilliant series about this topic, one by largest and one of its poorest cities. His remarkable innovations approved by The (Baltimore) Sun, the other by The proposal to do a more modest story legislators 10 years earlier—which Providence Journal. about life in the city’s “safe houses” was should have put New Jersey in the So I studied their work. Reporters in what actually led to the emergence of national forefront for the prevention Providence, working closely with health this larger project on lead-paint poi- of childhood lead poisoning—weren’t officials in Rhode Island, had done soning. These city-owned units were actually happening. It was as though exhaustive, computer-assisted analysis supposed to provide temporary hous- the laws they’d passed didn’t exist. of neighborhoods. Baltimore went af- ing for families who were forced to Testing hadn’t been done. Abatement ter major landlords and lobbied suc- relocate when their children were di- never happened. Prevention and edu- cessfully for legislative change. Neither agnosed with lead poisoning due to cation, the only real weapons against approach seemed like the right one for unsafe housing conditions. this silent but crippling disease, were us to take in New Jersey. In our state, New Jersey is one of the few states in woefully inadequate. And no one was laws were already in place; what was the country to offer such homes, and even sure how bad the problem was missing were the dollars and willpower the idea of having them represented a because nobody was keeping track. to implement them. Nor could we track worthy effort to help families and chil- Within three phone calls, I realized the problem house to house, because dren. But it was turning out that these two things: Not only is lead poisoning health officials refused to identify where safe houses were not a success. They still the leading childhood environmen- known hazards existed. ran hugely over budget. Once families tal disease, but it had expanded be- My editor was pushing for numbers. moved in, they never moved out, be- yond the inner city to New Jersey’s He had dreams of maps exactly pin- cause they couldn’t find decent, lead- suburbs. A recent trend of young, well- pointing problem areas and of slum- free housing. And “safe” house was a to-do families renovating glorious old lords going to jail. Early on, it became misnomer—children were still getting houses without a clue about lead paint obvious that we weren’t going to get poisoned from lead paint, even while hazards had created more brain-dam- the comprehensive statistics that had they lived in these houses. aged children. Just a few hours of ask- made the other newspaper’s project so This situation showed me my re- ing questions, and I was already angry complete. In a way, this circumstance porting pathway into this project. From that so much money had been spent helped us. Unable to focus on the num- that beginning, we started to get the for studies and so little for treating this bers, we examined how the system was numbers, examine in detail the pro- most preventable of all killers. supposed to work and where and how grams, chronicle its failures—which it had gone wrong. We discovered that turned out to be massive—and re- Taking a Fresh Look what should have been straightfor- corded its few successes. We learned ward—test the children, clean up the about the politics, followed the money, I was ashamed that I hadn’t known houses—was an incredibly complex studied the research, and tracked the about these failures because I never process with pitfalls almost every step lawsuits. Through all of this, we kept

20 Nieman Reports / Spring 2003 Reporting on Health reminding ourselves to never lose sight tics. (These complaints and requests stigmatized in school if the lead poi- of the children. They were, after all, did end up providing invaluable detail, soning was made public. These par- whom this public effort was created to but it took months of paperwork and ents did not seem to understand that protect. follow-ups.) the levels of lead were so high in their Since I had written my last lead- We also pulled city budgets, track- children—10 times what the level of poisoning project in 1993, I had be- ing lead funding. I kept after 10 state danger is—that it is likely that their come a parent. Early on, I realized that and federal agencies as we attempted children will be too brain-damaged to having children of my own skewed to follow millions of dollars that had attend mainstream school. We never whatever objectivity I thought I’d been allegedly spent on lead programs. could convince those two suburban brought to my reporting nearly a de- I was fortunate to get an extraordinary families to go public, but Martin was cade ago. So I decided to let my feel- interview with the state’s new health hugely successful in finding other fami- ings of outrage act as our guide as we commissioner, who is the father of a lies who were more cooperative, even tried to determine what it is our read- lead-poisoned child. He was surpris- if their circumstances weren’t quite as ers—as voters, as citizens, as parents— ingly candid about how these programs dramatic. would want to know. had failed the children of New Jersey. I Photographer Mia Song was with us also waded through thousands of pages every step of the way. A Korean immi- Reporting the Story of reports and used census informa- grant who was still mastering English, tion to pinpoint—to a block-to-block Song was lousy with directions and Ben-Ali hit the streets, while I immersed level—where there were neighbor- shaky on names. But the pictures— myself in the bureaucratic process and hoods filled with housing old enough from the very beginning, it was obvious talked with the experts. I also went to to be a lead paint hazard. they were special for their clarity and clinics where some doctors had been If I couldn’t portray the total pic- poignancy. She had another, unex- treating lead poisoning for 30 years. ture, I wanted our smaller stories ren- pected talent. Small, slender and qui- They remembered treating generations dered in exquisite detail. When a case etly composed, Song calmed the most of children—some from the same fami- went back 20 years, I wanted to follow nervous parents and children. Once, lies—coming out of the same lead- it back each step of the way. And every when Ben-Ali tracked down a man who tainted buildings. In one family, three time I documented yet another snafu had survived one of the worst cases of generations of children had been poi- in the system, Ben-Ali found the chil- lead poisoning in New Jersey history soned in the same building. The doc- dren. and I interviewed him, neither of us tors called these buildings “serial poi- As the months progressed, our edi- could convince the family to let us take soners.” tors got edgy about getting our report- photographs. Song went to the house Soon, I left the clinics and found ing into print. Another reporter was and was able to persuade them to let these buildings. We created databases added to our team. John Martin went her take pictures. People trusted her. to track families and landlords. Ben-Ali into the suburbs, a daunting task in a It was Song’s remarkable pictures found the families and gained their home-rule state like New Jersey where that convinced editors this project was trust. He listened and talked with the each of several hundred municipalities worth the extra time. I taped her im- landlords, too. He visited some of the is independent, with its own rules and ages to my computer while I wrote, a ugliest parts of Newark late at night, officials. We had with us lists of subur- reminder, as though I needed one by tracking down families who had once ban houses that had been treated for this time, to always remember the chil- lived in these buildings. When he found lead hazards, but addresses were often dren and their parents. And these pho- people with compelling stories, he incorrect or the owners had changed. tographs also reminded me that a good stayed with them, followed them to When we did find parents, they refused portion of this project was not only court, to welfare offices and clinics. At to cooperate with us. They were angry, about lead poisoning: It was about times, he was there when children were guilt-ridden, and protective of their inner-city families who live in condi- diagnosed with brain-damaging levels privacy. tions that are unacceptable by any stan- of lead and when they were evicted by We just kept looking. In higher-in- dard. landlords who refused to remove the come suburbs, we found doctors, law- All of this effort to tell the story the lead from their buildings. yers and teachers who had unwittingly way we believed it needed to be told My job on this reporting team was to exposed their children to dangerously took several months. But such an in- keep track of the details and find docu- high levels of lead. In fact, the two vestment of time is needed to tell this mentation. This meant that I registered worst cases of lead poisoning in recent story. Lead poisoning is still overwhelm- complaints with the state’s Administra- New Jersey history involved children ingly a disease that afflicts the poor. tor of the Courts when municipal court of educated parents in the suburbs. For many of them, lead is just another workers refused to give us public Both familes refused to go on the lousy break. Gaining their trust means records. I also filed Freedom of Infor- record. They were ashamed they hadn’t they will call you about all their prob- mation requests with city officials who known enough to protect their chil- lems. Failed by the system, many of refused to release public health statis- dren and afraid the children would be them look to reporters—who, after all,

Nieman Reports / Spring 2003 21 Reporting on Health

were some of the first who truly wanted Judy Peet is a news feature writer at ored as photojournalist of the year to listen to them—to help fix their The Star-Ledger. She and her col- by the Sidney Hillman Foundation, broken children. But the ugly fact about leagues won the Garden State Asso- and the series won the ARC of New lead poisoning is that, once it’s hap- ciation of Black Journalists Award Jersey Community Media Excellence pened, the child can’t be fixed. It also for community impact for the series Award for print and photography. means, to a certain extent, you owe on lead poisoning; Mia Song, whose these families. Some still call, looking photographs appeared with The Star- [email protected] for help. Often, I have no answer and Ledger’s story and appear below, is nothing I can do to help. ■ a staff photographer. She was hon-

Kids play around Bridget Bornes’s house, which has given her son Allen, 3, background, lead poisoning. The boy in the foreground was visiting his father, who is a tenant in the building.

After being released from Beth Israel Hospital for lead poisoning treatment, Allen lies on his mother’s bed next to unfinished repairs in their lead-filled apartment house. Allen was not sup- posed to return to the apartment due to his lead poisoning, but his mom had few options.

Photos by Mia Song/The Star-Ledger.

22 Nieman Reports / Spring 2003 Reporting on Health

Nyraziah Smith, 2, washes her hands in the bathroom of her family’s apart- ment. The faucet is missing and the water comes straight out of the wall. Lead poisoning frequently goes hand- in-hand with poor living conditions.

Nyraziah looks out of the paint chipped window of the bedroom.

Nyraziah has her regular checkup for her lead level at University Hospital in New- ark. She was hospitalized for more than two months in 1999 when her lead level soared.

Photos by Mia Song/The Star-Ledger.

Nieman Reports / Spring 2003 23 Reporting on Health Reporting on the Business of Health Care ‘… this beat is a rich, exciting and suspenseful journey.’

By Madge Kaplan

s a reporter and editor, 1995 was Covering Health Care’s also seen the introduction of incred- a watershed year. While most of Convulsions ible lifesaving products like the por- A the press were still delivering table defibrillator, which people can parting shots to President Clinton’s Our health desk team has shifted its learn to use. Business ingenuity is health reform plans, I was given the focus to reporting more on the health largely responsible for the explosion opportunity to imagine (and plan for) system’s convulsions—the clash of com- of health information via the Internet what health care reporting might sound peting interests; the rising costs and and for making health research more like for a national nightly business show marketing of pharmaceuticals; the back- widely available. These are challenging on public radio. Our bureau, based at lash against managed care; the see-saw pathways for reporters to explore. WGBH Radio in Boston, had received of solvency and insolvency of many big its first grant to develop timely stories time HMO’s and hospital chains; the Radio’s Unique Reporting on health care trends for “Marketplace,” difficult task of reducing medical er- a nightly public radio business news rors, and the country’s appetite for Other challenges seem unique to radio program. And it was an ideal time to be high-tech and expensive health care. reporting on health care. As Boston doing this. The proposed government Major policy initiatives to cope with bureau chief for “Marketplace” (a job fix to health care’s spiraling costs had health care woes—involving the con- now held by my successor, Helen been rejected, and this left the private trol of costs or caring for the unin- Palmer), the dilemma has been how to sector in charge. Given these circum- sured—remain elusive, and our report- explain complex developments in stances, it wasn’t difficult to produce a ers work hard to also explain why. short, one-minute news spots or three- bountiful stream of story ideas, a stream Sticking with such vexing issues is a to-four-minute features, while main- that continues flowing strongly today. grinding commitment. Seasoned health taining the upbeat and stylish tone of a Since 1995, our health desk has pro- reporters often wonder aloud why this half-hour evening news show or snappy duced more than 1,500 stories, report- constant state of confusion that we call morning modules. “Marketplace” ing on a plethora of health care news in a “system” never seems to improve. prides itself on being irreverent and the United States. Much of the news Can health care be profitable and serve clever. Covering health care can be involves the major financial stakehold- the needs of our entire population? As deadly serious and rarely lends itself to ers in the health care system—insur- a journalist, I don’t have to answer that that tongue-in-cheek approach. ers, hospitals, physicians, nurses, drug question, but I have the ability to point As I’ve learned more about health companies, government agencies, leg- listeners to experts who are struggling care and am able to draw on informa- islatures and consumers. In the begin- to come up with possible answers. tion I have already assimilated, it’s got- ning, I viewed our task as helping lis- Given the enormous range of people ten easier to reveal the ironies so en- teners better understand the inner working on so many health care prob- demic to our health care system. At workings of one-seventh of the U.S. lems, this beat is a rich, exciting and times it’s hard not to be glib, a pitfall economy by explaining the logic that suspenseful journey. This is true even veteran health reporters have to be underpinned the various strategies of on days when I wade through details of careful of. Listeners relate to our sto- participants. That approach worked another survey or study. Plus, report- ries in very personal and often painful well until internal contradictions in ing for a business show hones one’s ways. To create our best work, we the health care industry foiled even its skill at finding the money—whether often depend on people who volun- best-laid plans. It wasn’t long before the issue is Medicare, menopause or teer to share their own or a family managed care (or at least its mid-to- the Onco mouse (a specially designed member’s health care situation as the late 1990’s version) was criticized as an mouse to study potential cancer vac- backbone of our story. I might believe artificial, arbitrary and unpopular fix to cines and treatments). that my story exemplifies the craft of the system’s problems. These contra- The business world also has a way of great radio with its ability to distill dictions made it difficult to tell the steaming ahead with innovations and gobbledygook health care data and coherent story we had first imagined. inventions in health care despite iner- wonkish speech. But for listeners— In fact, the first rule of thumb when tia on the legislative policy front. The and readers—it’s almost always a per- covering health care is to map out why drug industry is always grist for inter- sonal connection that makes the story the system behaves so irrationally. esting stories, but the past decade has work for them.

24 Nieman Reports / Spring 2003 Reporting on Health

It can sometimes be hard to use come my father’s pronouncement, “Did poor treatment, or one more medical effectively this sometimes wonky lan- you know my daughter is a health care bill suddenly overtakes a person’s life, guage of policy experts. When such journalist?” but the introduction often no individual reacts the same way. This experts are given a microphone, they elevates the conversation. At the same means we need to do a better job can be deadly dull. Only by working on time, having a personal encounter with illustrating our story subject’s multidi- this beat for a while does it become the health care system helps me create mensional character. And we need to clear whose ideas are best read (by the a rich bed of story ideas to be harvested find ways to integrate their opinions reporter) and who will come across in the future. Why does one nurse stop about the care they receive into our well over the air. And sometimes we to visit with a patient while another reports and not only focus attention have to keep some of the smartest does not? What is it about physical on their particular illness. I don’t have people in the field to no more than 20 therapists that make them so encour- answers about how to do all of this, but seconds. As for the health care world’s aging? How are hospital patients in- I know it is not enough to talk to more dazzling speakers, we risk over- formed when one of their suite-mates patients only when they’re caught in using them. What reporters yearn to dies? the headlights of illness. develop is a deeper pool of talent to I also step back from my own report- In the time I’ve been reporting on enliven ongoing debates and bring new ing at times to track trends in health this beat, the nation and the health ideas to the table. Finding fresh voices journalism. More time and space is care beat have come full circle. The is one aspect of our work we need to do now being devoted to covering devel- conversation is once again about a better job with. opments in medical science. It is hard double-digit health care inflation, about The sounds of health care are of to resist describing the myriad ways in the dramatic climb in Americans with- course critical to radio journalism, but which genetic discoveries revolution- out health insurance, a health care here, too, new challenges emerge. I ize health care, but unfortunately such crisis, and the pluses and minuses as- have a stack of tapes of beeping heart an intense focus on this topic tends to sociated with a single-payer system. monitors, crying newborns, ringing drown out other reporting and ignore Insurance executives are proclaiming phones, doctors being paged, and busy important issues: What is it like for American health care near collapse. corridors—vintage hospital sounds of patients and families to navigate and The private sector’s solution, managed not so long ago. Some remain relevant, negotiate the health care system with care, has been deemed a failure, so it but as health care becomes computer- so many new drugs, devices and ge- will be looking for something new. ized and moves online, hospitals are netic discoveries? Single-payer advocates and universal far quieter places than they used to be. With threats of bioterrorism more coverage proponents (some fearful of Relative quiet affords more comfort- real, our public health system is being a major tax-supported financing able environments for patients and “called up” to protect us in dramatic scheme) might find common ground. improves the staff’s working environ- new ways. For example, the $1.1 bil- And employees who are shouldering ment, but it has made the work of radio lion dollars recently allocated to the most of the increases in health insur- journalists that much more difficult. Centers for Disease Control and Pre- ance premiums might actually stop to Similarly, outpatient care and manag- vention to monitor and prepare for listen to what health care reformers ing illnesses at home has yet to emerge possible bioterrorist attacks is in stark have to say. as sound-rich material. We need to contrast to shrinking government dol- Health care reporting takes on spe- rethink and enlarge the scope of our lars elsewhere in the health care sys- cial significance during times like these. audio palette to weave more sense of tem, including public health. It’s going It’s a great responsibility and a privi- the ebb and flow and movement of to be a challenge for health reporters— lege to cover issues in which so much health care delivery into our health regardless of medium—to determine is at stake. ■ care stories. how to allocate resources to this story at the expense of covering other issues Madge Kaplan is the senior health Discovering New Reporting that might not seem as urgent. Report- desk editor at WGBH Radio in Bos- Pathways ers might not always get to make this ton, Massachusetts. call. Editors will, and they, too, will In my new role as senior health desk likely be under some pressure. [email protected] editor, I have new opportunities to My hope is that health care report- produce more in-depth feature stories ing stay closely tied to the central pur- for public radio. And as I recently dis- pose of health care—service to patients. covered, when health events strike close With so many stakeholders and power- to home—as my aging father suffered a ful forces intersecting throughout the stroke and family members assumed system, it becomes harder for patients new caregiving responsibilities—my to be portrayed in our stories as any- work is an asset in navigating the sys- thing more than victims or people be- tem. I doubt nurses and doctors wel- ing acted upon. Yet, whether disease,

Nieman Reports / Spring 2003 25 Reporting on Health The Uninsured Story Is Seldom Fully Told Reporters rely on experts instead of going out where the story is happening.

By Susan Dentzer

or those of us in television news— drugs at the pharmacy in the public the story of the uninsured. Clearly, my as I am now after 20 years as a hospital, where the drugs were given producer and I could have gone back Fprint journalist—the painful re- to them for free. Then—because no to the hospital to find some affected ality is that much of the real action one in this jerry-rigged system appar- parents and capture their tale on tape. takes place when the camera is turned ently was willing or able to do so on But we didn’t. And therein lies a prime off. This truth came home to me sev- their behalf—they had to carry the bags example of how we have failed to do eral years ago as I reported a story across the street to the private facility, our utmost to enable viewers and read- about the more than 40 million Ameri- so their children could be infused with ers to understand what it means to be cans without health insurance in a given the life-saving medication. uninsured. year. As health correspondent for “The We listened, astounded, contemplat- Whether in print or broadcast, it NewsHour with Jim Lehrer,” I had gone ing anew the unfathomable inequities takes less effort to substitute easier with my producer and camera crew to of health care in America. Like anyone types of reporting on the uninsured a public hospital serving the uninsured covering the field, I knew well that than to dig deep to show how the in the capital of a Midwestern state. we’re the only industrialized nation uninsured get second-rate, third-rate, While there, we taped some compel- that can’t see fit to insure everyone, or even zero care. Particularly for those ling footage, capturing scenes of un- even though we spend one-third more of us Washington, D.C.-based report- documented immigrants, many from per capita on health than the next ers who focus on health policy—and , working low-wage jobs in the biggest spender, Switzerland. But the we are the ones who do most of the city and fully reliant on the free health mental image of these parents having reporting on the uninsured—it’s sim- care the hospital provided. We also to ferry drugs to their own sick kids pler to sit in the nation’s capital and learned that 500 employees of this captured the wide gulf between the phone up the “experts” for quotes than hospital got all their health care pro- haves and the have-nots. it is to get out in the trenches to cap- vided there since, unbelievably enough, Admittedly, in this case the division ture actual health and economic con- they, too, lacked health insurance. was mostly symbolic, since the unin- sequences of people being uninsured. But it was only when the taping was sured kids were probably getting great It has been said that social statistics are over, and our camera crew had packed care and arguably their parents were “human beings with the tears washed up and gone, that we stumbled into an only mildly inconvenienced. But the away.” Most of us have spent too much unforgettable moment in this national story was so compelling that we imme- time repeating the statistics—nearly scandal. diately pressed our source to tell it 42 million uninsured, roughly eight We were saying our goodbyes to again, on the record and in front of the million of them children—and devoted one of the hospital’s officials and camera. She demurred, explaining that too little time telling how it is the complimenting her on the institution’s she would be fired if she spoke publicly uninsured come to cry real tears. programs, when she blurted out some about this embarrassment. And, in any This has not been for any lack of of her own anxieties and doubts. She case, our camera crew was gone. In ability to find people who are unin- pointed across the street to a private, television, where the visuals are criti- sured; with so many millions of them nonprofit children’s hospital just steps cal, the verbal exchange alone was as around, that’s easy. A segment we did away from her own public facility. She good as useless. on The NewsHour in February 2002 explained that under a deal with the We moved on to our next round of about the Venice Family Clinic, a pri- private hospital, uninsured children interviews. vate, nonprofit community health clinic with serious diseases such as cancer in county, , of- were treated there, with the public Telling What It Means to Be fers an example. hospital paying the tab. But the ar- Uninsured We told the story of Eric Moore, a rangement had some quirks. For ex- UCLA graduate and 30-year-old em- ample, parents of kids with cancer and I tell this tale now in the spirit of a ployee at a local tourism Web site who on chemotherapy first had to collect confessional, for the sins of omission lost his job when the travel business the plastic bags with the chemotherapy some of us have committed in covering plummeted after September 11th. Un-

26 Nieman Reports / Spring 2003 Reporting on Health able to afford a doctor’s visit, he de- ment the opposite. As the Institute of citizens. This is not only true for televi- ferred seeking care for leg pains until Medicine, a division of the indepen- sion news—which nearly seven out of he collapsed one day on the street. dent National Academy of Sciences, 10 American’s depend on as their pri- Taken to the Venice Family Clinic, he noted in its 2002 report, “Care Without mary source of information—but for was found to have a blood clot that had Coverage,” uninsured adults are less print journalism as well. Yet I confess I traveled from his leg to his lung and likely than those with health coverage have few practical ideas about how to lodged there as a pulmonary embo- to receive preventive and screening do this. Should I persuade The lism. He was transferred to a hospital; services, like mammograms and blood NewsHour to let us use hidden cam- his subsequent three-day stay there cholesterol checks; more likely to get eras that are associated more with tab- cost him $16,000. loid shows than with our We also told the story of typical “serious” ap- Beatriz Samayoa, a Guate- proach? In an age of strict malan immigrant living in We can’t but, somehow, we must. We new federal privacy regu- Los Angeles with legal resi- have an obligation to throw into the lations governing health dency status. She’d sharpest possible relief the story of care, should print jour- worked a succession of nalists work surrepti- jobs until gaining one how the richest nation on earth tiously to obtain patient tending the linen service systematically undermines the health records demonstrating at a fancy beachfront hotel and longevity of at least one in seven inadequate care, or en- in Santa Monica. It was the courage whistleblowers first job she’d ever had with of its citizens. to come forward to pro- health insurance—and it, vide us with other evi- too, disappeared with the dence? tourist slump after September 11th. substandard care for chronic condi- Recently I met with a group of writ- She turned to the Venice clinic for tions like diabetes; less likely to obtain ers who script many of the popular TV treatment of depression and other ail- services when they suffer trauma or dramas like “Law and Order” and “ER.” ments. Her teenage son, born in Gua- heart attacks, and more likely to be The Robert Wood Johnson Founda- temala, was unqualified for any state diagnosed with cancers when they’re tion, which has sponsored a national health coverage and was also treated more advanced and less treatable. effort to raise awareness of the unin- there. Samayoa’s two younger children, So why do I still believe that we have sured, had asked several of us familiar born in the United States, were quali- failed to fully cover the story of the with the issues to brief the writers on fied for coverage under Medi-Cal, the uninsured? how they could incorporate realistic state’s Medicaid program—illustrating First, because we have not yet man- plot lines about the uninsured into how the crazily xenophobic premise of aged to fully penetrate the health sys- their shows. I joked that, unlike them, public health insurance creates haves tem and serve as direct eyewitnesses to I’d been doing “reality TV,” covering and have-nots even within families. the precise ways in which the unin- our long-running national hit, “Who sured get short shrift. I recently spoke Wants to Get Health Insurance?” But I How to Convey the Reality of with a prominent emergency room also told them that if they incorporated the Uninsured specialist from one of the nation’s best- some of our plot lines about the unin- known public hospitals and asked sured into their shows, their dramas In addition to telling personal stories whether there were still widespread would probably do a better job of get- like this, many of us have tried to get violations of federal “anti-dumping” ting at the truth than my news seg- across key truths about the uninsured. legislation. This law in effect bars hospi- ments on people without coverage ever A 2000 survey we did in conjunction tals from transferring uninsured pa- could. with our partner in The NewsHour’s tients until they have been stabilized. After all, in their end of television, health unit, the Henry J. Kaiser Family “Of course there are lots of violations,” unlike in mine, all the important stuff Foundation, showed that six out of 10 he replied. I asked him how we could happens when the camera is turned adult Americans falsely believe that show this, short of holing up incognito on. We owe it to the uninsured to be most of the uninsured are jobless. In in a hospital for several days with a able to say the same for journalism. ■ fact, as we’ve reported, eight out of 10 hidden camera. “You can’t,” he replied. uninsured adults are in families where We can’t but, somehow, we must. Susan Dentzer, a 1987 Nieman at least one other adult is working full We have an obligation to throw into Fellow, is health correspondent with time. Many Americans also believe that the sharpest possible relief the story of “The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer” on the uninsured suffer little in the way of how the richest nation on earth sys- the Service. health consequences, but we routinely tematically undermines the health and cite a range of studies that clearly docu- longevity of at least one in seven of its [email protected]

Nieman Reports / Spring 2003 27 Reporting on Health Alcoholism: Its Origins, Consequences and Costs A reporter’s journey into this story results in lessons learned—and a Pulitzer Prize.

By Eric Newhouse

y job is to amplify the voices of those who often go unheard. M It is vital that everyone un- derstands how our laws and policies actually affect people’s lives, so a large part of my work as a journalist has been to help people voice concerns and ex- press fears about circumstances they confront. Recently my reporting took me from Skid Row to the state prison to mental health hospitals as I explored alcoholism. Along the way, I came to understand more fully how alcohol connects these three public places and institutions and how future brain re- search might lead to solutions for some of the behaviors we now label as nor- mally abnormal—unacceptable condi- tions that we have come to accept. This odyssey began four years ago Tara Fatz, manager and former owner of the Lobby Bar in downtown Great Falls, when I proposed doing a conventional, Montana, says people are lined up at the door when she opens for business at 8 a.m. weeklong series of stories on alcohol- Photo by Larry Beckner/Great Falls Tribune. ism for the Great Falls (Mont.) Tri- bune. Other editors thought my origi- nal proposal didn’t address some within our prison system. I shared with ever took. They speak of it making aspects of the situation, so Executive readers what I learned about the psy- them feel as though they fit in for the Editor Jim Strauss suggested expand- chological harm of growing up in an first time: Suddenly, they were bril- ing the series to 12 parts and publish- alcoholic household and the physical liant, exuberant, alive. Researchers now ing one part each month for the calen- damage alcohol does to human bod- believe that feeling occurs because al- dar year 1999. ies. Among the other lessons my re- cohol hijacks the dopamine system, We did just that. We called the series porting unearthed are these: which is the body’s natural reward cen- “Alcohol: Cradle to Grave,” a title as ter. Dopamine normally gives a feeling broad as Montana’s skies. It ultimately Alcoholism is a medical disease. of intense well-being to activities that blossomed into about 50,000 words of Although social stresses play an impor- are good for the body—things like eat- copy—a huge commitment for a news- tant role in a person becoming an alco- ing well or sex or exercise (a runner’s paper with just a score of reporters and holic, alcoholism tends to run in fami- high is produced by dopamine). For a circulation of about 40,000 on good lies in which a chemical imbalance in some people, getting drunk gives them days. Ultimately, the series won the the brain’s neurotransmitters is a he- this extra sense of euphoria. Pulitzer Prize for explanatory report- reditary trait. Sons of alcoholics are Alcohol is everywhere. The first ing in 2000. four times more likely to become alco- installment of the series looked at a day holics themselves, even if they are raised in the life of Great Falls. At dawn I was Unearthing the Facts About in foster homes by nonalcoholic par- in the Rescue Mission, then moved to a Alcoholism ents. Researchers have also bred lab DARE classroom by 8:30, the morning rats indifferent to alcohol, as well as “suds and soaps” hour at a bar at 9:30, Not surprisingly, I learned a lot during others that actively seek it out or are an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting at a brutal year of meeting monthly dead- repulsed by it. 10:00, a recovery center at 10:30, mu- lines. I wrote on subjects as diverse as I talked with many alcoholics who nicipal court at 11, a bartender training fetal alcohol syndrome and addiction vividly remember the first drink they class at 11:15, and so on. During that

28 Nieman Reports / Spring 2003 Reporting on Health

state’s prison population and welfare caseload. When the numbers were compiled, we concluded that the hidden costs of alcohol abuse might total at least $135 million in Montana. “I can’t quarrel with your numbers,” Lewis later told me. “It’s certainly eye-opening to see the amount of money that alcohol costs the state.” This amount is more than the state spends on its university sys- tem, about $120 million each year.

Lessons a Journalist Learned

As I reported this story, there were also valuable lessons I learned as a journal- ist. Believability comes through per- sonal connection. To make these sto- Paula Firemoon keeps these crosses on Highway 2 in Poplar, Montana decorated in ries believable to our readers, I knew memory of her two daughters, Lorriane and Jessica Brien, who died in a car accident we had to use names and photos of the when they were hit by a drunken driver in 1992. Photo by Larry Beckner/Great Falls people I interviewed. That proved ex- Tribune. traordinarily difficult. Imagine being asked to reveal your darkest secrets, evening, I rode with a police officer I visited the Montana State Prison at then having them—along with your who handled eight calls: All but one Deer Lodge, where I found 85 percent name and your picture—printed on involved alcohol. I came to see alcohol of the inmates are locked up for crimes the front page of your local newspaper. as an invisible river that runs through fueled by alcohol or drugs. In 1998, the But because in the second part of our our lives uprooting people and flood- state spent $46.8 million locking away series we so prominently and force- ing out families, much like the Mis- its adult criminals and another $1.5 fully labeled alcoholism as a disease, souri River that runs past our newspa- million on pre-release centers and pa- the stigma was reduced. In addition, per offices. Occasional floodwaters are role officers. Those figures don’t in- most recovering alcoholics are com- seen as an act of nature just as exces- clude expenses for county or city jails. pelled to take responsibility for their sive drinking is seen as human nature. “I know a few people in here who say lives and to help others, both of which Their ravages come as no surprise. they don’t have a drug or alcohol prob- could be achieved by going public with Alcoholism is a costly disease. lem,” said inmate Marty Quick, “but I their stories. One Great Falls family and marriage don’t believe I know any that I actually Sources should be treated with counselor, Wava Goetz, reviewed the believe.” As Joseph A. Califano, Jr., chair- consideration for their circum- 700 cases she had handled over the man of The National Center on Addic- stances. I felt that people whose ca- past five years and came to a stunning tion and Substance Abuse at Columbia reers and personal lives could be jeop- discovery. She found that alcohol was University put it, “Contrary to conven- ardized by what I wrote should have a factor in two-thirds of them. “Without tional wisdom and popular myth, alco- the opportunity to read their stories alcohol, I’d probably be out of busi- hol is more tightly linked with violent before publication. We used this pro- ness,” she told me. “And that would be crime than crack, cocaine, heroin or cedure sparingly, but found it was an a happy day.” State welfare workers in any illegal drug.” excellent quality-control mechanism. Great Falls estimate that half their cli- In examining the costs of alcohol- A 22-year-old victim of fetal alcohol ents’ lives were so impaired by alcohol ism, I realized that like the river of syndrome, Lissy Clark, whose brain that they couldn’t work. The U.S. De- alcoholism running through our lives, was damaged before she was born by partment of Labor estimates that alco- some of this disease’s costs are known her mother’s drinking, was the first holism costs American businesses more while others remain invisible. With the person to whom I offered this oppor- than $100 billion a year. “Thirty to 50 help of the governor’s budget director, tunity. Lissy had told me a story of how percent of all hospital admissions na- Dave Lewis, I asked state agencies to she answered the front door at home tionally are related to alcohol,” said Dr. tell me how much of their spending one day and found a young man who Dan Nauts, medical director of the could be directly attributed to alcohol. invited himself in, walked to her bed- Benefis Healthcare Addiction Treat- I also asked them to estimate the hid- room, removed their clothes and had ment Center. den costs, including such things as the sex with her. She didn’t understand

Nieman Reports / Spring 2003 29 Reporting on Health

that such behavior was wrong. I didn’t a meeting of Al-Anon, a group similar members of a different family. Mary want to victimize her again (and we to Alcoholics Anonymous that helps Keeler asked me how I’d handled the have a policy about not naming rape the families of alcoholics. Although I situation at Al-Anon, and I told her victims), but her story was also a com- had introduced myself as a reporter about the second interviews. “I know,” pelling illustration of the problems she and openly taken notes during the she grinned. “That’s the only reason faced. I used the rape as the lead of my meeting, a delegation of women met we’re here tonight. If you had tried to story, then took the story to her and me at the door and requested that I screw those people over, no one in asked her to share it with her stepmom, leave my notebook behind. They ex- town would have talked to you again.” her counselor, her priest, or whom- plained their tradition that what was ■ ever she chose. Three days later, I re- said in the room remained in the room. turned (with my heart in my mouth) to Journalistically, I had no reason to com- Eric Newhouse is projects editor of find that Lissy and her stepmom agreed ply since they knew who I was and the Great Falls Tribune in Great that this experience so perfectly illus- spoke anyway. Again, however, I didn’t Falls, Montana. His yearlong series trated the problem that it had to be want to revictimize them. Ultimately, of stories on alcoholism won the printed. They did, however, have a few these women agreed to sit with me in Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Re- other minor corrections that only im- a local park and tell some of the same porting in 2000. It has been rewrit- proved the story. stories in ways that didn’t hurt family ten as a book, “Alcohol: Cradle to The rights of people should be members who read my article. Under- Grave,” which was published in protected. Our stories had to demon- standing their rationale, I agreed. September 2001 by Hazelden Infor- strate our respect for the rights of other I didn’t understand the full conse- mation Education. people, particularly those who have quence of that decision until about a been victims. I had been invited to visit month later when I was interviewing [email protected]

WATCHDOG Is the U.S. Government Making Children Fat? By asking different questions, a journalist connects farm policies to childhood obesity.

By Barry Yeoman

hen I agreed to write about brand-name burgers, pizzas and dough- groups, nutritionists and academics school lunches for the maga- nuts, I was led to conclude, and weight- who had examined the relationship Wzine Mother Jones, conven- related diseases will promptly start to between school lunches and children’s tional wisdom tying junk food to child- disappear. health. One of my first finds was hood obesity was so rampant that I Defying this conventional wisdom Suzanne Havala Hobbs, a health policy could have produced a serviceable story was not easy. After all, it came from expert at the University of North Caro- with very little research. Reading news- people whose opinions we tend to lina, who had researched the politics of papers and talking with food profes- trust, like school dietitians—profes- school lunch for her doctoral disserta- sionals and government officials, I re- sionals whose primary interest is (or tion. She made one referral that led to peatedly heard that the nation’s biggest should be) children’s health. But as I others, until I had assembled an im- nutrition problem was the unhealthy tracked down other insiders, I started pressive collection of sources who had food that tempts children every day: to follow a different reporting trail than participated firsthand in some of the chips and sodas from hallway vending that of most of my colleagues. And by most contentious political activity in- machines, along with Krispy Kreme following this trail, my story “Unhappy volving children’s nutritional issues. doughnuts and Domino’s Pizza slices Meals” reached very different conclu- They included (among many others) that schools now sell à la carte. sions about what is happening with Ellen Haas, a former assistant secretary These foods, I was told, distract kids children’s nutritional health. in the U.S. Department of Agriculture from the nutritious offerings cooked (USDA) under President Clinton; up daily in their lunchrooms. With the A Different Reporting Path Graydon Forrer, USDA’s former con- National School Lunch Program up for sumer affairs director, and Marshall renewal this year, we’d created an ob- Having little experience covering Matz, a lobbyist whose law firm repre- vious panacea for childhood obesity: children’s nutrition, I initially cast my sents both school nutritionists and the Eliminate vending-machine snacks and source net wide, talking with advocacy food industry.

30 Nieman Reports / Spring 2003 Reporting on Health

The picture these sources painted students’ meals. Throughout the mid- the essentialness of that truth. was considerably more complex than 1990’s, the organization resisted at- I also needed to keep some distance what I had read in the newspapers. The tempts by USDA reformers to mandate from my own fascination with political underlying problem, as I came to un- a new menu-planning system (champi- personalities. While reporting, I heard derstand it, is that the 57-year-old Na- oned by Haas) that would have re- lots of inside stories. Haas, I learned, tional School Lunch Program has a duced the amount of unhealthy food in had lost valuable allies by cultivating dual mission. It’s supposed to provide school meals. The association argued the friendship of gourmet chefs while healthy meals to schoolchildren, in that implementing the new system dismissing the concerns of school food- many cases for free or at a reduced would require expensive computer service workers. Marshall Matz, the lob- price. But it’s also an agricultural sub- technology, which cash-strapped dis- byist, supposedly used his credentials sidy program that props up farmers’ tricts could hardly afford. To press their as an anti-hunger activist to greenwash income by buying up surplus food. case, they hired the well-connected his current industry connections. Much And much of that food is the very stuff Matz, who convinced Congress to over- of this information made it into the that clogs children’s arteries and makes turn the Clinton Administration’s re- first draft—but my editors at Mother them fat. Using USDA’s figures, I learned form efforts. Until my article ran, Matz’ Jones reminded me that my political that in 2001 the department spent a efforts had received no media cover- junkie’s interest was a distraction from total of $350 million on surplus beef age, according to an extensive Lexis- the essence of the story. and cheese for schools, compared with Nexis search. Finally, bringing critical thinking to $161 million it spent on fruits and bear on this reporting also meant an vegetables. Deciding How to Tell the ability to do simple arithmetic. When I Because USDA is a farm agency— Story interviewed current USDA officials, they not a nutrition agency—its main con- maintained that school lunches were stituency is agribusiness. In interview- Telling this story properly meant main- healthy, despite the department’s find- ing former department officials, I taining a level of critical thinking that is ing that 85 percent of American schools learned that the commodities program often hard to sustain when interview- fail USDA’s own standard for saturated was considered sacrosanct, even ing people who accept the basic as- fat, a leading contributor to coronary though it was known to funnel un- sumptions of the current system. In disease. “There have been tremendous healthy food to children. “This was this case, the primary assumption was moves to reduce the fat content in never talked about publicly,” Forrer that the government had a role in prop- school meals,” department spokes- told me. “It was talked about after ping up agricultural prices when farm- woman Jean Daniel told me. work, over beer: If you were designing ers were suffering. The commodities It required only a pocket calculator a system for health and nutrition, you system was so deeply entrenched at to uncover the in Daniel’s rheto- wouldn’t cordon off part of it and say, USDA that even my most informed ric. From the USDA’s Web site, I down- ‘This will serve the commodities com- sources didn’t identify it as a problem. loaded the nutritional statistics of the munity.’” But, he added, “You’ve got to Ellen Haas, for example, never chal- commodities served American school- dance very lightly around the com- lenged the commodities program dur- children. I checked the fat content of modities people, because if you don’t, ing her aggressive reform effort as as- whole milk, which many schools are they’re going to get to the agriculture sistant agriculture secretary. required to serve under federal law. committee, and they’re going to get to But I consider myself a “radical” Then I educated myself about how to the [agriculture] secretary, who’s al- journalist, in the purest sense of that calculate the maximum acceptable fat ways from a rural state. It’s understood word. To me, this means that through levels for teenagers. When I plugged in that commodity programs exist, that my reporting, I try to look for the root all these numbers, I discovered this: commodity programs will continue to causes of problems. The basic hypoth- Based on USDA’s own recommenda- exist, and they’ve got the power.” esis I developed—that the National tions, an adolescent girl should receive For a liberal magazine like Mother School Lunch Program served as a no more than 24 grams of fat, includ- Jones, it would have been easy to blame dumping ground for fatty surplus ing no more than 8 grams of saturated the quality of school lunches solely on foods—was such a fundamental fact fat, at lunch time. Yet one portion of the meat and dairy industries and to that many of my sources could no USDA surplus chuck roast, plus a glass show collusion between agribusiness longer see the plain truth of it. Addi- of the required whole milk, delivers 31 and the government. But that would tionally, school nutrition directors grams of fat and 14 grams of saturated have told only half the story. Interviews whom I interviewed were so desperate fat. with former government officials and for resources that they could only see These calculations made me realize others were revealing another, more the commodities as a blessing. Some- that while the USDA was insisting that surprising important player—the times, after a day of interviews, I would schools reduce the fat in their lunches, 55,000-member American School Food find myself adopting my sources’ giv- it is impossible to do so with the Service Association, which represents ens. It took the cool distance of my department’s own surplus commodi- the employees who plan and prepare editor, Eric Bates, to bring me back to ties. Schools were forced to accept

Nieman Reports / Spring 2003 31 Reporting on Health

these commodities to qualify for fed- blame for childhood obesity on indi- hood obesity is not likely to shift, and eral subsidies, and few school nutri- vidual actions—children eating too kids will keep getting fatter and sicker tion programs could survive without many French fries and watching too as a result. ■ these subsidies. much TV instead of exercising. After This Mother Jones story broke just having spent several weeks thinking Barry Yeoman is a North Carolina- as the nation’s attention was starting to about this problem and reporting on based freelance writer whose clients focus on childhood obesity. A similar some of its root causes, this interview include Mother Jones, Discover, story ran in about seemed preposterous. Are children AARP: The Magazine, and Glamour. two weeks later. Whether these articles supposed to make correct individual He has received the National Maga- will help shift the political debate re- nutritional decisions when the federal zine Award for Public Interest and mains to be seen. After all, conven- government is plying them with beef the Batten Medal. His articles can be tional wisdom dies hard. and whole milk rather than fresh fruits read at www.geocities.com/ In late January, I watched an inter- and vegetables? Until other journalists byeoman. view between CNN’s Paula Zahn and start thinking critically about school U.S. Health and Human Services Secre- nutrition—and asking different ques- [email protected] tary Tommy Thompson, which put the tions—the national debate over child- Explaining Why 24,000 People Died Yesterday The Boston Globe looks worldwide at the result of scant health care.

By James F. Smith

n mid-2002, development econo- tographer Dominic Chavez planned to peared January 26th, was mirrored by mist Jeffrey Sachs, then at Harvard travel first to Malawi in southern Africa, a sophisticated Web version on IUniversity, presented a challenge a country ravaged by AIDS and other Boston.com. to The Boston Globe’s foreign affairs diseases. The idea was to produce a The strength of the “Lives Lost” correspondent, John Donnelly. Sachs major article on all the needless deaths project is that it avoids the pitfall of had just led a World Health Organiza- that occurred on a given day. The predictability. The people’s stories are tion (WHO) study that concluded that Globe’s editor, Martin Baron, and ex- as distinct as the countries they come 8.8 million deaths could be prevented ecutive editor Helen Donovan won- from: 37-year-old Nikolai Bogdanov each year with basic health care. “Why dered aloud at a meeting in Septem- failing to take his tuberculosis medica- weren’t the media reporting such a ber: “Why just Africa? Why not tion in ; one-year-old Franklin disaster?” Sachs asked. worldwide?” Veliz dying of pneumonia in Guate- Donnelly, who has reported for years The undertaking grew quickly: In mala for lack of a simple vaccine; a 27- on world health issues, recalls that at late October, the Globe dispatched four year-old mother, Sath Yan, dying in first he shrugged off the notion as na- teams of reporters and photographers childbirth in a Cambodian jungle vil- ive: These deaths weren’t news, they to distant corners of the world to see lage because her family couldn’t find were simply part of the grinding daily how lives were being lost due to the $15 to get her to a hospital, and a dying misery in poor countries around the lack of basic health services. The goal 16-year-old Malawian boy, Nenani world. After all, no newspaper would was to learn who these dying people Lungu, who whispers: “I see angels publish a headline saying thousands of were, what their deaths meant to their when I close my eyes.” people died needlessly yesterday. families and their communities, and to The Globe’s headline for this special But then Donnelly began to won- look for ways similar deaths might be section: “None of them had to die.” der: Could he make these deaths real prevented. Below, in bold type, the story began: for readers? Could a newspaper trans- The material the reporters and pho- “Yesterday, 24,000 people worldwide form the WHO’s numbing statistics into tographers brought back was so pow- could have been saved with basic care.” words, photographs and graphics that erful that the project became still more ■ would focus the thoughts and emo- ambitious—a 16-page special section, tions of Americans on this distant suf- in full color. And this special section’s James F. Smith is the foreign editor fering? Could such an effort make a publication signaled the start of a year- of The Boston Globe. difference? long occasional series on this topic. Donnelly and veteran Globe pho- The story’s print version, which ap- [email protected]

32 Nieman Reports / Spring 2003 Reporting on Health

Kin Tem, 53, was a driver for a humanitarian organization before he died at the National Center for Tuberculosis and Leprosy Control in Phnom Penh of tuberculosis a few days after this photo was taken. His wife took care of him in the hospi- tal. In Cambodia, tuberculosis infection rates are believed to be the highest in the world, according to the World Health Organization.

A pond contaminated by manure from the sur- rounding rice fields, and by human waste during flooding, serves as the only water source for seven families in the village of Tropeang Khha, in west- ern Cambodia.

A Cambodian family travels by motorbike with an IV hookup. Eighty percent of Cambodians lack access to proper medical care.

Photos by Michele McDonald.

Nieman Reports / Spring 2003 33 Reporting on Health

Hang Por tries to revive his wife, Ly Chanthon, 26, who later died of tuberculosis in Phnom Penh’s Na- tional Center for Tuberculosis and Leprosy Control.

Meas Rom, 36, a former soldier, lies dying from advanced stage tuberculosis. His mother, 55-year-old Chun Em, exhausted her meager savings to bring him to the National Center for what proved to be a futile attempt to treat him.

In a room doctors called an “intensive care unit,” a child, left, was seriously ill with typhoid fever. On the right, an older boy is being taken care of by his family.

Photos by Michele McDonald, a 1988 Nieman Fellow, who is a staff pho- tographer for The Boston Globe.

34 Nieman Reports / Spring 2003 Reporting on Health AIDS in Africa: A Story That Must Be Told Reporters confront significant barriers, imposed by governments, editors and their own experiences, to accurately portray this health crisis.

By Huntly Collins

very day, 6,000 people in sub- stantiated claims, and to hype putative leaked a government-sponsored HIV Saharan Africa—more than twice breakthroughs in AIDS research. mortality report to the press after health Eas many as were lost in the Sep- The most egregious example of stig- officials tried to quash it. There was tember 11th attack on the World Trade matization that I saw was a headline on one key fact that the government was Center—die of AIDS-related illness. And the obituary of a Gaborone woman trying to suppress—AIDS, the research- each day, nearly 10,000 people in sub- who died of complications from HIV. ers found, is now the leading cause of Saharan Africa contract the AIDS virus. “Have you had sex with this lady?” death in South Africa. Though AIDS has fallen off the front blared the headline in The Voice, a Kerry Cullinan, a reporter at the page in America as life-extending drugs privately owned newspaper in Cape Town-based Health-e News Ser- have dramatically reduced mortality Botswana. vice, consistently reports on complex rates in the United States, a widening In December 2001, the Sowetan, AIDS-policy issues by illustrating their epidemic confronts reporters in coun- the largest newspaper in South Africa impact on people in a compelling way. tries such as South Africa, Botswana and the voice of the black majority, Her story on home-based care for those and Zimbabwe. kicked off World AIDS Day with a front- with HIV began: “Under a camphor I got a close-up look at some of the page story titled “US plot against blacks tree on a green hill in Bizana in the challenges these reporters face when I and gays.” The story went on to quote Eastern Cape, Chief David Mlandizwe spent the better part of last year train- a man named Ed Graves, described as sits with his council of elders, their ing reporters covering AIDS through- a black American AIDS researcher, who horses grazing nearby.” AIDS, the chief out the region, particularly in South claimed that the AIDS virus was con- explains, is claiming the lives of three Africa. My six-month stint in South Af- cocted in a secret cancer research pro- or four young people every month rica, which was sponsored by the Henry gram sponsored by the U.S. govern- and, until home-based care arrived, J. Kaiser Family Foundation, focused ment. the village had little to offer them as on helping reporters at the country’s Last spring, The Sunday Indepen- they died. largest English-language newspapers dent, a respected weekly in And last spring, when a bizarre trea- understand the complex science of HIV Johannesburg, ran a story titled “Threat tise endorsed by a top official of the and translate that into layman’s lan- of AIDS Orphans Gangs.” The lead was ruling African National Congress pos- guage. But I also helped journalists a model of . It said: ited that AIDS was the invention of develop story ideas, thoroughly explore “Time is running out for South Africa Western capitalism, the staff of the those ideas in their reporting, and write to come to grips with the nightmarish weekly Mail & Guardian, based in stories in a compelling way with a strong specter of feral AIDS orphans gangs— Johannesburg, did some clever elec- human element. In the process, I similar to those terrorizing Brazil— tronic sleuthing. Reporters tracked the learned as much, if not more, from the roaming our city streets.” The story mysterious document, titled “Castro reporters I mentored as they learned contained no evidence that any AIDS Hlongwane: Caravans, Cats, Geese, from me. orphans had actually formed gangs and, Foot & Mouth and Statistics: HIV/AIDS if they had, that the loss of a parent to and the Struggle for the Humanisation Mistakes Journalists Make HIV had anything to do with them of the African,” to a computer in the being on the street. office of South African president Thabo By way of background, it’s important Mbeki. to know that the AIDS epidemic took Successes Journalists Have off in sub-Saharan Africa nearly a de- Barriers to AIDS Reporting cade after the first AIDS cases were But there are also shining examples of identified in the United States. So it’s journalistic excellence. Lynne To cover these and other AIDS stories, not surprising to find the African me- Altenroxel, a medical reporter at The reporters in sub-Saharan Africa often dia guilty of some of the same sins that (Johannesburg) Star, broke one story face daunting challenges. Some, such plagued early coverage of the epidemic after another last year, including the as those working for opposition news- in the West—a tendency to stigmatize government’s use of private investiga- papers in Zimbabwe, fight their gov- people with HIV, to pass on unsub- tors to track down the academics who ernments simply for the right to pub-

Nieman Reports / Spring 2003 35 Reporting on Health

lish. Others, including those in Kenya At many papers, the reporter cover- Cape Town, Durban and Pretoria, I and Uganda, have to confront corrup- ing AIDS is a general assignment re- found one other thing that reporters tion in state-owned media. [See Joseph porter who also covers the local schools, had in common: the telltale signs of Ngome’s story on page 44.] the police, and public health. Few re- posttraumatic stress syndrome. How At an AIDS reporting workshop I porters, even at major publications such long, they asked, can you continue to conducted with journalists from East as The (Johannesburg) Star, have ac- sit in huts and interview emaciated Africa, for instance, several reporters cess to the Internet at their desks, mak- children who have lost their parents to asserted that they couldn’t pursue en- ing it impossible to keep up with the AIDS and who are now starving be- terprise stories about AIDS cause there is no one to without paying off their harvest the crops? How own editors. “What?” I Throughout the region, reporters long can you drive off in asked. “Pay your own edi- also face cumbersome government your company car and tor so you can do the work dine at a five-star restau- you are supposed to do?” bureaucracies, some of which throw rant while you sort Yes, they explained. For if up Kafkaesque obstacles to obtaining through your notes? How a reporter actually wanted what in the United States would be long can you hide your to do a story, that meant tears behind the mask of that the reporter was prob- regarded as public information. ? ably being paid off by some- And so, on a morning one else. Editors, I was last May, I called the re- told, wanted a cut of the take. latest medical information about AIDS. porters together for a different kind of Throughout the region, reporters And for a reporter to spend any more workshop. This one was facilitated not also face cumbersome government bu- than one day on a single story is often by me, but by professional grief coun- reaucracies, some of which throw up regarded as a luxury. For instance, one selors from the Center for the Study of Kafkaesque obstacles to obtaining what reporter with whom I worked for a Violence and Reconciliation in in the United States would be regarded week on a story about the emotional Johannesburg. The group was origi- as public information. In Botswana, for stress of caring for people with HIV nally established to help people deal instance, it took Altenroxel and me two was later told that she would never with the trauma of apartheid. I turned and a half days to get the government again be given that much time to pur- to it to help reporters deal with the health ministry to approve a half-hour sue a story because the paper was just trauma of covering AIDS in the most visit to a public health clinic to inter- too strapped for staff. impacted country in the world. One by view pregnant women coming in for one, we pounded wet slabs of clay, prenatal exams. We traipsed from one The Emotional Toll on trying to find the feelings that many of office to another, first being told we Reporters us had buried in order to do our jobs. had to be approved by the national ■ health minister, then being told no, we One final note. While AIDS is taking a had to be approved by the local health crushing toll in human lives south of Huntly Collins, a 1983 Nieman official, and finally being told to visit the Sahara, it is taking an enormous Fellow, covered AIDS at The Phila- the town clerk. Two hours after emotional toll on those who cover it. delphia Inquirer during the past schmoozing with him about everything For some, AIDS is not just a story; it is decade. She was a Henry J. Kaiser from local sewage problems to the a watershed event in their own lives. Family Foundation Teaching Fellow weather, we got the scrap of paper we One Ugandan reporter I came to know, in South Africa in 2002 and is now needed. “Kindly permit these two lady for instance, lost both his parents to director of science communication journalists from South Africa to ob- HIV and helped raise his two siblings and advocacy at the AIDS Vaccine serve and ask a couple of questions,” while anchoring the nightly news on Advocacy Coalition in New York. the handwritten note said. Ugandan television. Reporters through- As significant as the government out the region often spend their Satur- [email protected] barriers, however, are challenges pre- days going to the funerals of family, sented by media owners. To cover AIDS friends and colleagues. And many a in the hardest hit countries in the organization is running short on requires more reporters and more cash for employee medical benefits space. But, throughout the region, as because workers with HIV are draining in the United States, media organiza- the coffers. Virtually everybody, includ- tions are paring their budgets by cut- ing reporters, has a personal connec- ting staff, shrinking the news hole, and tion to AIDS. trimming spending on everything from As I traveled around South Africa, news research to transportation. mentoring reporters in Johannesburg,

36 Nieman Reports / Spring 2003 Reporting on Health Journalism Is Failing in Its Coverage of Global AIDS ‘The worst global pandemic since the Black Death of the Middle Ages receives less media attention than a World Cup soccer match.’

By Sabin Russell

o matter how drawn-out, or covered it well as a homegrown tale. it can be done. And Elizabeth how dreadful, the global AIDS Most reporters and news organizations Rosenthal’s dispatches for The New Npandemic turns out to be, those are ill-equipped to write about this York Times from China have alerted of us who have covered the story from disease and its health issues on a global the world about the looming AIDS cri- San Francisco will always have a unique scale. I count myself among the cul- sis in Asia. perspective. It was here, in a world pable. That there are bright lights in the center of an emerging culture of gay No doubt, the world is a smaller field should not distract us from the liberation, that the virus first signaled place in the era of the Internet. Yet in larger problem afflicting AIDS report- what it was capable of doing to a com- all but a select few media organiza- ing. International stories, by their very munity. tions, international coverage is a poor nature, are more difficult and expen- When we write about sub-Saharan cousin to domestic news. Terrorism sive to report. Some of the barriers are rates of HIV infection to describe the and the prospect of conflict in obvious, others less so. As news organi- double-digit prevalence rates found in and the Middle East have invigorated zations shrink their foreign bureaus, Zimbabwe or Botswana today, the num- international reportage, but resources staff resources in those bureaus might bers do not yet approach the disas- scraped together for a bureau in be restricted to coverage of political trous percentages recorded among gay Baghdad are likely to drain the budgets changes, conflict, commerce and the men in the Castro neighborhood of that might otherwise serve AIDS cover- occasional plane crash. These days, it is our city in the early 1980’s. The San age in Africa, India and China. America the rare news organization that can Francisco AIDS experience has also might be capable of fighting a two- afford a roving foreign correspondent, demonstrated how human ingenuity, front war, but I am not certain that the let alone a globetrotting AIDS reporter. paired with political will, can contain a American press can handle a third front, The pool of experienced AIDS report- disease that now threatens entire popu- the global war on AIDS. ers is limited, and there are few among lations of underdeveloped nations. Publishers assume, with some justi- us that can break away regularly for Yet, two decades into this scourge, fication, that demand is limited for international stories. the story of AIDS is anything but a tale stories that don’t happen on Main of human triumph. The ghastly fact Street. Editors are allotting their prime Difficulties in Reporting the that AIDS has claimed more than 19,000 real estate to the stories that marketing Global AIDS Story lives in San Francisco is becoming just consultants and focus groups say their a footnote to the larger story of a global target audiences desire. The appetite Reporters might be able to find outside calamity where the sick and dying are for international AIDS stories exists, support for the coverage of AIDS. The measured in the tens of millions and but it is limited not only by America’s Kaiser Family Foundation, for example, where the political stability of entire cultural myopia but also by the quality offers paid fellowships for coverage of nations is at stake. of the international product that lim- a wide variety of health policy stories. I ited news budgets can afford. was able to travel to South Africa, A Local Story Becomes Too often, the global AIDS disaster Uganda, Kenya and Zimbabwe through Global is relegated to semiannual statistical a Kaiser grant in 2000, although the updates from UNAIDS, or the biannual San Francisco Chronicle, at the time, A profound local story has been eclipsed reports from International AIDS Con- would not accept stories partly under- by one of international stature. This ferences. The worst global pandemic written by an outside organization. I changed circumstance does not bode since the Black Death of the Middle sold pieces instead to Salon.com. well for the quality of American cover- Ages receives less media attention than Travel costs, language barriers, time age of the current AIDS epidemic. My a World Cup soccer match. No doubt, zone differences, poor electronic com- fear is that just as the crafty AIDS virus some of the international AIDS cover- munications, harsh conditions, and evolves to sidestep the drugs, vaccines, age has been brilliant. Pulitzer Prize- even physical danger make interna- antibodies and other components of winners Laurie Garrett (with Newsday) tional reporting inherently more chal- the immune system, the epidemic is and Mark Schoofs (then writing for lenging. Yet none of these barriers has slipping from the grip of those who The Village Voice) have shown us how stopped the best of our profession

Nieman Reports / Spring 2003 37 Reporting on Health

from covering apocalyptic international HIV. If this simple, low-cost, one-time, first widely publicized to the world, 95 stories: wars, revolutions, famines and and permanent medical intervention percent of those who might benefit natural disasters. AIDS is perhaps best reduces HIV risk by 50 percent or more, from such therapies still have no access described as a slow-moving natural as some studies suggest, the world to them. The path to widespread distri- catastrophe. ought to know about it. There is also bution of generic antiretroviral drugs And therein lies the problem that intriguing evidence that widespread is littered with American-led objections has dogged AIDS coverage almost from re-use of hypodermic needles, washed and obstruction. the beginning. We journalists are great in buckets of tepid water, might be a far It is a story that has been widely at covering the fast-breaking story, the more significant factor in the spread of reported, but seldom on the front pages new scientific discovery, sudden trag- AIDS in Africa than previously recog- of our papers. It is a political story, but edy. Slow viruses and chronic wasting nized. political editors love horse races, not diseases do not play into our strengths I’m fascinated by the progress snail’s paces. It seems to be that this as storytellers. As dramatic and impor- achieved in deconstructing the AIDS slow-killing virus, which preys on the tant as the AIDS epic may be, it is a 20- virus and the hunt for new and better human penchant for denial, also ex- year-old horror movie in which, at therapies. But the technical fix for the ploits our short attention spans. The times, it seems that only the names of AIDS epidemic has the look and feel of AIDS story is chronic, slow moving, the victims are changing. the nuclear fusion solution to our en- and subtle. We favor the acute, the The most critical international AIDS ergy woes—the answer is forever just a dramatic, and spectacular. story of our time—the bid to bring decade or so away. The steps that The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tu- affordable versions of antiretroviral brought this epidemic under control berculosis and Malaria has a goal of drugs to the Third World—is unfortu- in San Francisco are well known, but in raising $10 billion a year, to scale-up nately mired in the nuance of intellec- the Third World they are grossly AIDS prevention and treatment in the tual property law, global trading pro- underutilized: condoms, clean needles, developing world. But pledges to the tocols, and the obfuscation of prevention education and marketing, fledgling fund are but $2.2 billion. The diplomatic prose. Critical decisions are treatment of venereal diseases, HIV program is in danger of running out of reached behind closed doors by diplo- testing, and treatment with triple-com- cash. The Bush administration pledge mats in remote locales such as Doha, bination antiretroviral drug therapy. to this fund remains $500 million, even Qatar and Phoenix, Mauritius. By ignoring international patents and as the President announced his intent I was struck, during the 14th Inter- producing its own AIDS drugs, Brazil is to devote $15 billion during the next national AIDS Conference in Barcelona, an example of a country that has con- five years to fight AIDS in Africa and the with the passion of former President tained a potentially explosive epidemic Caribbean. But even that intention , as he spoke of the need for and demonstrated that a treatment wasn’t in evidence in the budget he the West to bring cheap drugs to the strategy can work for an impoverished submitted to Congress; instead of the developing world. His view was ech- population. two billion he pledged for next year, oed by former South African President the Global Health Council analysis in- Nelson Mandela, and former Canadian The Politics of AIDS dicated a funding request for a bit Prime Minister Kim Campbell, and more than one billion. former Indian Prime Minister Inder AIDS has always been a highly political Meanwhile, America has cut its aid Kumar Gujral, and former Tanzanian story, and its political dimensions have to family planning programs that have President Ali Hassan Mwinyi. What a only grown as the story goes global. any link to abortion, and Africa is un- nice thing it would have been, had all But the level of international coverage, dergoing a condom shortage. World- these former global leaders the cour- like the global response to the epi- wide, donor nations are providing age of their convictions when they could demic itself, is inadequate for the task fewer condoms than in 1990, and the have done something about it. at hand. Secretary of State Colin Powell U.S. latex contribution has been cut in Lacking the resources of The Wall said in November that the AIDS pan- half. HIV rates are soaring in India and Street Journal or The New York Times, demic was “the biggest problem we China, the two most populous nations I’ve had to pick my spots in the interna- have on the face of the earth today,” yet on earth. The fastest growing popula- tional AIDS story. Like any of us, I try to the gap between rhetoric and reality tion of the HIV-infected is in the states keep up with the pack and find stories appears wider than ever. of the former . Twenty others are overlooking. My first front- Three years after Pearl Harbor, million people have died of AIDS since page story about the movement to bring American troops were poised on the the disease was first discovered there down the cost of AIDS drugs in Africa border of Nazi , Japan was in in 1981. There are an estimated 40 was printed in May 1999. retreat, and the Manhattan Project was million currently infected by HIV, and I’ve been drawn to stories I feel are months away from its test of the atomic forecasts are for 68 million deaths by underreported, such as the strong as- bomb. In the nearly three years since 2020. Yet how many people know this sociation between lack of male circum- the Durban AIDS conference, when is happening there? Given the press cision and high prevalence rates of the prospect of cheap AIDS drugs was coverage of this preventable human

38 Nieman Reports / Spring 2003 Reporting on Health tragedy, far fewer know than should. world’s biggest problems should be he has worked for 16 years. He Powell might be right. AIDS might journalism’s biggest stories. By that covers medical science and health be the biggest problem facing the world standard, we are all falling down on the policy. He has written about HIV for today. Yet where does this epidemic job. ■ more than a decade from both San rate among the Bush administration’s Francisco and sub-Saharan Africa. priorities? Where does it rate among Sabin Russell is medical reporter for the priorities of our newsrooms? The the San Francisco Chronicle, where [email protected]

Documenting the Plague of AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa By photographing this disease’s devastation, James Nachtwey appeals ‘to stop the madness, lend a hand, restore humanity.’ By James Nachtwey

or a photographer, a single word the plague years descended upon sub- possible odds in their political struggle. can be worth a thousand pic- Saharan Africa. AIDS will probably wipe The AIDS epidemic is a devastating Ftures. out more people than all the wars, postscript to a story that embodied the During the past 20 years, my work famines and natural disasters of the best that humanity has to offer; there is has taken me to the darkest corners of past decade put together. The drama no alternative but to defeat it. the planet—man-made infernos that of the AIDS epidemic is more subtle Its defeat will only be accomplished make Dante and Hieronymus Bosch than the older calamities that rocked through awareness and education, both look like straight, social documentar- the African continent. It plays itself out within the countries affected and in the ians. To my eyes, recent history has behind closed doors. People are suffer- rest of the world, which is morally unfolded like a serial apocalypse. ing silently, in hospices and hospital obliged to lend support and assistance. “Genocide” is a word so heavily wards and in isolation inside their My goal as a photojournalist has always freighted with memory and responsi- homes. Most Africans cannot afford the been to help create that awareness. bility that it caused the most powerful, cocktail of drugs that forestalls the ef- When a photo editor and I ap- technologically advanced nations in the fects of the disease. AIDS is a death proached the editors at Time with the world to turn their backs as more than sentence, and people are dying qui- idea of a story about AIDS in Africa, a half million people were slaughtered etly, one by one, in the millions. they were extremely supportive. The in the space of a single season with The frontline troops in this war are magazine let me stay in the field for weapons that were no more than farm the gentle souls who have committed more than two months and sent a se- implements. The destruction of food themselves to the saintly task of attend- nior writer to do in-depth interviews. as a weapon of mass extermination is a ing the dying. Grass roots NGO’s and This cover story, which appeared in phenomenon so unthinkable that it Christian missionaries bathe, feed and February 2001, included 10 pages of makes a euphemism of the word “fam- lend emotional support where it is photographs and 10 pages of text. ine.” “Ethnic cleansing” is a sanitized most needed, but they are waging an I am continuing my visual docu- term for the wholesale murder, rape uphill fight. As I accompanied caregivers mentation of the AIDS epidemic, pay- and mass deportation of one’s neigh- on their rounds in shantytowns, hos- ing special attention to caregivers, with bors. The uninhibited military assault pices and farms, I was awed by their the continuing interest of the editors at on civilian populations politely passes selfless, unsung devotion. Where hope Time, the generous assistance of the as “civil war.” Such words have become no longer existed, they replaced it with Alicia Patterson Foundation, and a grant synonyms for the bloody homestretch comfort and dignity. from the Kaiser Media Mini-Fellowships of the 20th century. In the early 1990’s, I spent a good in Health. ■ The images conjured by these words deal of time in South Africa document- burned a hole in my consciousness ing the epic battle to overthrow apart- James Nachtwey has been a contract that I can only attempt to fill with the heid, culminating in the election of photographer for Time since 1984. stark hope that publishing pictures in Nelson Mandela. According to statis- He has devoted himself to document- the mass media not only informs, but tics, South Africans are being literally ing wars, conflicts and critical also makes an appeal to stop the mad- triaged by an invisible enemy that is social issues worldwide. His book, ness, lend a hand, restore humanity. oblivious to the courage and idealism “Inferno,” was published by Phaidon As we entered the third millennium, with which they prevailed against im- Press in 2000.

Nieman Reports / Spring 2003 39 Reporting on Health

Boitumelo Mogorosi, three months old, who is HIV positive and whose mother has AIDS, lives with and is cared for by her grandmother, Emily Mogorosi, 68, in Thaba ‘Nchu, South Africa. September 2002.

Rosinah Motshegwa, 29, HIV positive, lives with her two unemployed brothers in Khutsong, South Africa, and is tucked into bed on a sofa in the sitting room by a caregiver from the Carletonville Homebased Care Program. August 2000.

Photos by James Nachtwey.

40 Nieman Reports / Spring 2003 Reporting on Health

Children who are HIV positive are comforted by Dawn Bell, an administrator at the Sparrow Ministries, which serves as a home and daycare center for those infected with the AIDS virus, in Roodepoort, South Africa. August 2000. Photo by James Nachtwey.

Nieman Reports / Spring 2003 41 Reporting on Health

A brothel in Harare, Zimbabwe, where prostitution is openly practiced even though it is illegal and is one of the most common ways in which HIV is spread. July 2000. Photo by James Nachtwey.

42 Nieman Reports / Spring 2003 Reporting on Health

A patient who has just died from AIDS-related tuberculosis at Beatrice Road Infectious Diseases Hospital in Harare, Zimbabwe, is covered by an orderly before being transported to the morgue. October 2000. Photo by James Nachtwey.

Nieman Reports / Spring 2003 43 Reporting on Health Reporting on HIV/AIDS in Kenya ‘Medical experts are not willing to release the information to the media because they fear rebuttal from government authorities….’

By Joseph Ngome

rom the time the HIV/AIDS goes against communal norms. And ease itself presents a lot of scientific scourge was first reported in the consequences of these transgres- issues. To cover them accurately re- F Kenya in 1986, health experts sions can only be treated by village quires medical knowledge and science and members of the public have re- “medicine men.” In some regions of writing skills, and these hurdles have mained secretive about this disease. western Kenya, death from AIDS is been difficult for journalists here to get Kenyans had heard of the “slim” dis- attributed to the evil hands of envious past. The primary role journalists can ease (named this because of weight neighbors who bewitch their sons or play in reporting on this situation is to loss, emaciation and frailness that oc- daughters. If not, then the sons or bridge the gap between what scientists cur before death) from a distance as daughters must have done something know and what the public needs to AIDS was devastating neighboring against the community’s set of norms. know. And this is only possible if the Uganda. Doors in villages in the Ugan- Such cultural practices and myths journalist understands the subject well dan countryside were closed, homes permeate nearly all of Kenyan society enough to disseminate information deserted, and children left orphaned and also exist in many other countries about it. as parents were swept away by the in sub-Saharan Africa. These, among In Kenya, very few journalists have AIDS storm. other factors, are stumbling blocks in had training in science writing, and Kenyans continued to interact with the fight against AIDS. Scientists, health those who are science writers head for Ugandans, especially along the com- officials, and workers in Kenya agree greener pastures in research institu- mon border in the western region of on one thing: Cultural practices con- tions. And editors tend to prefer politi- our country. Soon the disease was tribute immensely to the spread of cal accounts about AIDS rather than spreading like a bush fire in Kenya, HIV/AIDS in Kenya. For instance, wife scientific ones. Such stories don’t re- claiming the lives of people both in inheritance (a practice in which a widow quire a lot of research work, but they rural and urban areas. However, even becomes the property of clan members are also often relegated to the inside as the number of deaths grew, the after the husband’s death) is a wide- pages. The brief training I did have factors that were contributing to the spread phenomenon in some commu- through the Kaiser Family Foundation HIV/AIDS emergence in Kenya re- nities, and efforts to stop it become program [See Huntly Collins’ story on mained difficult issues for people to divisive national issues. Even when lo- page 35.] and my attendance at the talk about, even while some progress cal HIV/AIDS counselors or health offi- 14th International AIDS Conference in has been made in reducing the rate of cials visit communities to educate Barcelona, Spain have been valuable in AIDS deaths. This disease has been people about this disease, their mes- improving my ability to cover this story. shrouded in mystery, even by medical sages are not persuasive. Old habits, Getting authentic information from experts who ought to be helping the especially here, die hard. medical experts is essential to us being public to understand how HIV is trans- The culture of denial and stigmati- able to do this reporting but, in most mitted as a way of preventing its spread. zation among the public and victims’ cases, accurate information has not relatives has also fueled the spread of been forthcoming. Medical experts are Beliefs About AIDS in Kenya this disease, whose prevalence in- not willing to release the information creases every year. Even former Presi- to the media because they fear rebuttal In rural villages, people regard HIV/ dent Daniel Moi, cabinet ministers, and from government authorities, who con- AIDS as a taboo subject in the commu- key government officials continually ceal facts and figures about this disease nity. When it is spoken of, people use denied the emergence of AIDS in Kenya, and work against the interest of the the word “Chira,” which is understood even as the disease was devastating the general public. Doctors often won’t to be an ailment that strikes the body Kenyan populace. release information even when the slowly and persistently until one is so symptoms leading to a person’s death wasted and tired-looking that no mod- Reporting on AIDS in Kenya are clearly the result of HIV/AIDS. They ern treatment can help. Villagers don’t hide behind patient-doctor confidenti- admit that AIDS is real. Illness is be- As a journalist, reporting on HIV/AIDS ality, but this should not bind them to lieved to strike a man or a woman who presented many challenges. The dis- not release information about whether

44 Nieman Reports / Spring 2003 Reporting on Health patients they are treating are dying cause it was not accompanied by any skills in reporting on this disease and from AIDS. full-scale political backing. improves my knowledge. Two years ago, a government-owned After his declaration, the AIDS epi- What I’ve been able to convey in my published a story about a demic continued to grow. The National stories about AIDS has changed the young woman suffering from HIV/AIDS AIDS Control Council (NACC), where perceptions many have of this disease. who told members of the press about HIV/AIDS programs and funds were While in years past the public paid little her intention to have the names of men managed, was moved from the Minis- attention to news about AIDS, now with whom she had had sexual inter- try of Health to the Office of the Presi- public interest in learning more about course read at her burial. She said dent, where the programs to attract how this disease is increasing. This she’d given this list to her grandmother donor funding in Kenya were housed. encouraging trend is due, in part, to a and instructed her to read the men’s Appointments to this team were based concerted campaign by opinion-mak- names when she had died. She wanted on loyalty and nepotism. Professional- ers, who today are more willing to to become the first AIDS victim in Kenya ism and experience were secondary speak boldly about HIV/AIDS. to go public with the names of those and, as a consequence, NACC’s perfor- However, many in Kenya still lag men with whom she’d had love affairs mance was below par. Those appointed behind on information due to the so they’d know the fate awaiting them. to the AIDS programs often succumbed nation’s high level of illiteracy. A ma- She saw her actions as a way to fight the to corruption, and funds meant for the jority of Kenyans live in rural areas disease. control of the disease were misman- where they cannot get the newspapers By the time I traveled to the hospital aged and misused, as if this disaster that are read by more educated people to meet this woman and find out more was not of national importance. With- and few own transistor radios. And information from her and ask her if she out transparency in government, cor- women rarely own or listen to radios actually had authored the list, she was ruption spread just as AIDS continued so they often rely on information re- dead and buried. She had died quietly to spread. layed from third parties. in her hospital bed and was hurriedly During the Moi regime, members of In Kenya today, HIV/AIDS remains a buried outside of her grandmother’s the Kenyan press were similarly com- controversial subject. The science in- compound. Family members, and even promised; some of them were accused volved with understanding the disease, those in the hospital where she was a of being corrupt. Only in rare cases did its prevention and treatment, is also patient, were tightlipped. Her grand- journalists at mainstream publications quite complicated, so what happens is mother denied having ever seen such a expose any of this corruption. Not only that the public—and even medical ex- list. Nobody wanted to talk about the as individuals, but also as news organi- perts—are often confused in terms of incident because government officials zations, reporters and editors were how to act. And because of this confu- had gone there before journalists like afraid of repercussions from those who sion, less attention than is needed is me arrived and had given a stern warn- were in power. And they had reason to given to the fight against this killer. ■ ing to the family, confiscated her list, be fearful: Reporters lost their lives and guarded her burial. from exposing scandals about drug traf- Joseph Ngome is a reporter for BBC The public never actually heard the ficking, and media owners were warned radio in Kisumu, Kenya. He has names on her list. What the public did of dire consequences for publishing worked with various media organi- know about the list led to divided opin- such investigative stories. zations including The Daily Nation, ion about it and the way this woman The East African, and the former had been treated. There were those Using the Internet ruling party newspaper, the Kenya who believed that her intended action Times, where he was a bureau chief. could have deterred many people from Now, because of information technol- Besides reporting for BBC from extramarital involvements. But some ogy, I can rely on the Internet to find western Kenya, he also coordinates felt differently. current scientific and medical informa- a network of journalists with inter- Until 2000, when President Moi de- tion from different regions in Africa est in reporting on health and envi- clared HIV/AIDS a national disaster, all and throughout the world. From this ronment issues—the Health and information about the disease was information and data, I’m able to com- Environment Media Network treated with much secrecy, and this pare and contrast what is happening in (HEMNet). hindered openness in discussing is- Kenya and provide an accurate context sues surrounding the disease. This cli- for my reporting. The information I [email protected] mate of fear on the part of medical can find using the Internet provides officials and the secretive behavior of me with new story ideas and lets me victims and their families made it diffi- learn about the experiences—both the cult for journalists to report effectively successes and failures—in fighting AIDS and accurately on the subject. And Moi’s in different regions. Having access to declaration did not change much be- this kind of information sharpens my

Nieman Reports / Spring 2003 45 Reporting on Health Why Reporters and Editors Get Health Coverage Wrong Health journalists need and want special training.

By Melinda Voss

n 1997, I left behind 26 years of age were published in a leading peer- involving health and medicine. Indeed, reporting at The Des Moines Regis- reviewed medical journal, with smaller the idea of providing on-the-job train- Iter to pursue a master’s degree in numbers appearing in lesser journals ing holds so little sway in the journal- public health. The switch proved great and others going unpublished alto- ism industry that no one knows how fun. I devoured courses in epidemiol- gether. much is spent on professional devel- ogy and biostatistics, health policy and “The current press coverage of sci- opment. The best estimate comes from health behavior theories, research entific meetings may be characterized a recent study by Northwestern methods and program evaluation, as ‘too much, too soon,’” Schwartz University’s Media Management Cen- among others. Invariably, however, in wrote. “Results are frequently pre- ter, which used the standard bench- class, professors criticized—or, to my sented to the public as scientifically mark—percentage of payroll spent on chagrin—ridiculed some ineptly done sound evidence rather than as prelimi- training—to track spending in the news- news story about health and medicine. nary findings with still uncertain valid- paper industry. On average, newspa- Adding to my dismay were various stud- ity. Press coverage at this early stage pers spend seven-tenths of one per- ies I came across that criticized journal- may leave the public with the false cent of payroll on professional ists for careless, unscientific, inad- impression that the data are in fact development, Northwestern’s re- equate or unfair coverage of AIDS, mature, the methods valid, and the searchers found. The national average women’s health issues, chronic fatigue findings widely accepted.” of all industries was two percent in syndrome, health reform, and medical 2000, according to the American Soci- research. Health Journalists Need ety of Training and Development. Often, I have felt hard pressed to Training Though specialized training should defend the news industry. Having been be available for reporters on any beat, a reporter, I knew all too well how little How can this be? The simple answer is it is essential for reporters who cover preparation and on-the-job training that many journalists who cover health health and medicine, the business of journalists typically receive for cover- and medicine have had no specialized health care, consumer health issues, or ing such complex issues as fetal brain training. In fact, a 1999 survey I did health policy. For one thing, health cell implants, HIV/AIDS and, as we have showed that nearly 83 percent of 115 journalists—unlike education or city witnessed recently, bioterrorist threats. Midwestern health reporters who re- hall reporters—need skills and knowl- I am not alone with my concerns. A sponded said they had no training, edge not easily acquired on the job. recent article in the Journal of the besides on-the-job experience, that They should know, for example, the American Medical Association (JAMA) specifically helped them cover health strengths and weaknesses of clinical pointed to the frequency of exagger- issues. And more than two-thirds of the trials vs. case control studies, the dif- ated reporting about preliminary medi- respondents identified four skills— ference between relative risk and abso- cal studies. Dr. Lisa Schwartz of the understanding key health issues, put- lute risk, and how to interpret a statis- Department of Veterans Affairs Medi- ting health news in context, producing tical significance or correlation score, cal Center in White River Junction, balanced stories on deadline, and in- just to name a few. Without such knowl- Vermont reviewed a year’s worth of terpreting statistics—as troublesome. edge, journalists can wreak havoc or, health-related research that resulted in The survey also found that the health at the very least, confusion. news coverage. Her review of 147 re- reporters (all of whom were at daily search presentations at five major sci- newspapers) know they lack profi- Causing Confusion in entific meetings in 1998 found more ciency and want help. Only 31 percent Readers’ Minds than one-quarter of the studies gener- felt “very confident” reporting health ated front-page news stories in at least news and only 9.7 percent felt “very Consider last summer’s blockbuster one major newspaper. Yet more than confident” interpreting statistics. story about the decision to halt the one-third of those reported-on presen- Though these results didn’t surprise large federally funded hormone re- tations either involved small numbers me, I find it shocking even now that the placement therapy (HRT) trial because of human subjects or were based on news industry pays so little attention to the drugs increased the risk of heart animal or laboratory studies. Three preparation and training for reporters attacks, although slightly. Surely, many years later, only half those research and editors, particularly if they are be- of the six million women taking these papers generating general news cover- ing asked to report on complex issues drugs wondered how could this be

46 Nieman Reports / Spring 2003 Reporting on Health

eating patterns, modifying their ex- ercise habits, or getting some kind Covering the Quality of Health Care: of medical treatment. •A January 2000 poll conducted for A Resource Guide for Journalists the American Dietetic Association found 48 percent of respondents who cited television as a leading In 1997, about a half-dozen jour- practice, the price of quality, com- source of nutrition information, nalists gathered in Chicago one paring doctors and hospitals, men- while 47 percent said they get infor- September weekend to form the tal health, long-term care, dispari- mation from magazines and 18 per- Association of Health Care Jour- ties in health care, and cent from newspapers. Physicians nalists (AHCJ). The founders complementary and alternative were cited as a leading source by shared a vision that such a group medicine. A 40-page resource list only 11 percent of respondents. could raise the quality, accuracy offers names, phone numbers, •A March 2002 Harris poll showed and visibility of health care report- Web sites, and e-mail addresses. that about 110 million American ing by helping one another. Creat- Designed to help journalists of adults—nearly 80 percent of all ing a resource guide—the all stripes—broadcast, online and American adults who use the Association’s first major publica- print—the guide is intended to Internet—spend at least part of their tion—was a natural way to help cover this critical issue in an in- time online searching for health care turn that vision into reality. formed, systematic way. It pro- information. On average, they search Our 220-page guide is intended vides crucial context and vital data for health information three times a to put journalists in touch with that will make it easy for journal- month. the experts they need to quote, ists to use this book as a quick the background materials that will reference when doing breaking In short, misleading reporting can give their stories perspective, and news stories or as a thoughtful, be dangerous. As Schwartz noted, “Pa- online links to turn an amorphous provocative starting point when tients may experience undue hope or subject into a clear picture for working on long-range stories. anxiety or may seek unproven, useless citizens, consumers and To order a copy, go to https:// or even dangerous tests and treat- policymakers. Chapters are in- pygmy.jaws.umn.edu/%7Eahcj/ ments.” cluded on medical errors and mal- resource_guide.cgi. ■ Encouraging Professional Development when the press had reported numer- came apparent to me in 2001 when I ous previous studies showing those analyzed news coverage of a clinical So, what’s to be done? The first thing is drugs lowered the risk of heart attack trial involving a new treatment for to encourage the news industry to do and Alzheimer’s disease. Parkinson’s disease patients. The Wash- its duty: Provide the proper training My theory is that few stories during ington Post published a news brief for its reporters and editors. There is the last decade put information about about a study that mistakenly confused no question that journalists want help. HRT in its proper context. Specifically, stem cells with fetal brain cells. A knowl- A study, “Newsroom Training: Where’s many reporters routinely failed to in- edgeable editor would have prevented the Investment?,” done for the Council form readers that nearly all previous such a silly mistake from appearing in of Presidents of National Journalism studies were observational studies. the newspaper. Organizations and funded by the Knight Observational studies, as a well-edu- If news coverage of health and medi- Foundation, showed that the number cated health journalist knows, are a cine didn’t matter so much, maybe I one complaint among journalists is considerably weaker way to assess a wouldn’t care. The fact is that news lack of training. Luckily, some movers treatment’s risks and benefits. That’s reports about health and health care and shakers within the journalism in- why the HRT trial, a well-designed clini- affect the well being of many Ameri- dustry are working to transform atti- cal trial with a large number of partici- cans. And there’s plenty of evidence to tudes so professional development pants, offered strong enough evidence prove it: becomes an indispensable part of a for doctors and scientists to halt the newsroom operation. Last summer, the study in midstream. •A 1997 National Health Council sur- American Society of Newspaper Edi- But let’s not blame reporters here. vey showed that more than half of tors drew together representatives from Editors should be catching errors and Americans (58 percent) claim a medi- about 25 journalists groups to develop omissions—and demanding context. cal or health news story led them to a plan to remedy this situation. The problem is that editors typically consider changing their behavior or An analysis the Association of Health aren’t any better at doing this than to take a specific action, such as Care Journalists (AHCJ) did about a untrained reporters. This situation be- seeing their doctor, changing their year ago found many wonderful pro-

Nieman Reports / Spring 2003 47 Reporting on Health

fessional development opportunities Few, if any, of these programs have might not be fully up and running for out there. But they reach relatively few been evaluated by outside parties to a decade, but I believe it will provide a health and health care journalists. All determine if they improve the knowl- workable and credible way to system- told, each year these workshops and edge and skills of participants—or, atically provide the skills and knowl- seminars attract no more than 200 to what’s more important—if they actu- edge health journalists need to do their 400 of an estimated 3,500 to 5,000 ally raise the quality of news reports. jobs well, without requiring them to journalists who report on these issues. This is where groups such as the AHCJ leave their jobs for a year. It’s certainly Training also seems to reach mostly can provide leadership. We are work- something I wish had been available experienced reporters at large media ing to develop the framework for a when I was reporting on health and outlets. Small news outlets often do comprehensive curriculum that will be medicine. With the knowledge I ac- not allow staffers to attend workshops readily available to large numbers of quired earning a master’s degree in and seminars. This means that young journalists who cover health and health public health, I blush to think of the and inexperienced journalists at small- care and will be properly evaluated. As mistakes and omissions I undoubtedly and mid-sized news outlets—the very part of this effort, AHCJ produced a made. Perhaps this is why I’ve made it journalists who need training the 220-page resource guide for reporters my life’s mission to do what I can to most—are less likely to receive it. on covering quality issues in health improve the quality of news reports Another conclusion: Most work- care. [See accompanying box on page about health and medicine. ■ shops and seminars deal with one sub- 47.] ject, such as cancer or genetics. Some In devising such a curriculum, we Melinda Voss earned a master’s programs, such as the Knight Fellow- will avoid reinventing the wheel. We degree in public health after 26 ships at Stanford, do not focus on health want to include existing programs such years as a reporter at The Des care, but journalists can use the fellow- as those offered by the Kaiser Family Moines Register. She is cofounder ship year to study health topics. How- Foundation, the Knight Science Jour- and executive director of the Asso- ever, almost no program offers train- nalism Fellowships at the Massachu- ciation of Health Care Journalists ing in such journalism fundamentals as setts Institute of Technology, the Knight (www.ahcj.umn.edu). In addition, how to interview health and medical Center for Specialized Journalism at she is the coordinator of the Health researchers or how to report medical the University of Maryland, and at work- Journalism Masters Program at the research. The only systematic health shops and seminars put on by such University of Minnesota and vice- education typically requires 12 months groups as the National Press Founda- chair of the Council of Presidents of to two years in a graduate program, tion, the Foundation for American National Journalism Organizations, and this is often too costly and time- Communications, the American Press an umbrella group of 44 journalism consuming for journalists. Institute, and the Poynter Institute for organizations. Those training programs that do Media Studies. exist also need to be better assessed. This new curriculum and approach [email protected]

An Education in How to Cover the Issues In eight days, journalists gain knowledge and experience that improves coverage.

By Larry Tye

t is one week, with one mission: to to old men who sleep in trees about the Massachusetts Medical Society. ignite medical and health reporters living with mental illness and without It is called the Health Coverage Fel- Iwith a passion for their beat and a home and to fast-food workers about lowship, and it’s open to medical and equip them with the tools and informa- managing with no medical insurance. health reporters from across Massa- tion to cover it. It is not the Nieman or We’ve eaten cheese sandwiches and chusetts. the Knight but a novel fellowship, a talked health politics with a soon-to-be short-form course that can make a huge presidential candidate, drank beer and The Health Coverage difference. Most of all it is fun. debated medical ethics with the former Fellowship We go to hospital emergency rooms editor of The New England Journal of at midnight and government emer- Medicine, and discussed various di- Professional development courses are gency bunkers just after dawn. We talk lemmas facing doctors with the head of critical for journalists no matter their

48 Nieman Reports / Spring 2003 Reporting on Health assignment. But this is especially so on rent mess with Medicare and Medicaid the closure of community hospitals to the health beat, where the issues are and how to get out, while terrorism the proliferation of medical errors. particularly complex and perpetually experts talked about natural disasters Fellows are encouraged to cover these evolving. With that in mind the Blue and man-made ones. issues at the community level, where Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts A dozen field trips helped bring to they occur and where voters and office Foundation last year set up the Health life issues raised by our speakers. The holders are likely to pay attention. Coverage Fellowship to address the fellows spent one night wandering Consider the millions of Americans difficulties journalists—particularly at Boston’s streets with mental health care without health insurance. Everyone small news organizations—have navi- workers, coming away with a clearer knows this is an enormous problem, gating today’s health care maze. understanding of the connections be- yet it doesn’t receive consistent cover- The fellowship runs each spring at a tween homelessness and mental ill- age in big papers and gets even less residential conference center near Bos- ness and why both are so intractable. attention in smaller ones or on com- ton, for eight days and nights, and They rode ambulances to see first-hand mercial television and radio. [See Su- continues with half-day programs and how overcrowding in emergency rooms san Dentzer’s story on page 26.] This is mentoring. It involves 10 reporters and forces hospitals to shutter their doors partly because the issue is so compli- editors from Massachusetts newspa- and shuttle patients elsewhere. cated and so difficult to address. But pers, radio stations and television out- What do all those speakers and site the fellowship tries to address it, help- lets, selected by a panel of prominent visits add up to? Call it an abbreviated ing reporters present these stories in journalists based on past performance journalism curriculum for those who the compelling human terms that will and potential. Now entering its second never went to , with put them on Page One. year, the fellowship might eventually a medical focus for those who never As we get ready to welcome our expand to accept applicants from across expected to be on this beat. While it second class of fellows, can we con- New England and beyond. doesn’t offer the emancipation or du- vincingly claim to be helping to im- The program’s fundamental objec- ration of a Nieman Fellowship, cash- prove health and medical journalism tive is to familiarize fellows with major starved editors and publishers find it in Massachusetts? issues in health care and medicine in easier these days to say yes to a shorter There is no doubt the fellowship is Massachusetts. They are pushed to ask program like this one, focused on the meeting a perceived need: We received the right questions and shown where precise issues and region the reporters applications from enough top-notch to look for answers. They learn to rec- will cover when they return to work. applicants this year to fill two classes, ognize which issues require daily re- Nor does the fellowship end when despite the media’s economic woes. porting and which warrant more in- the journalists head back to their sta- We also were able to reenlist our best depth work. They compare notes and tions or papers. As its director, I am on speakers as well as recruit others who talk about how they attack comparable call for another full year. Drawing on were hesitant last time around. And challenges. And when they head back 15 years covering medicine and the while I doubted whether fellows would to work, they keep in touch via a listserv environment for The Boston Globe come to me for advice on story ideas or and Web site. and teaching journalism, I try to help execution, I have heard from two or when fellows are stuck for ideas or for three each week for a year. Learning Outside the whom to call. I assist in thinking out Then there are the evaluations filled Newsroom projects and carving out clearer defini- out by our first class of fellows, who tions of beats. And I maintain a Web came from big papers like The Boston Eight days isn’t much time to accom- site [www.larrytye.com] with breaking Globe and smaller ones like the plish the program’s ambitious goals, research reports, trend studies of com- MetroWest Daily News, and from large but having great speakers helps. There munity health issues, and postings of broadcast outlets like Boston’s WCVB- were 55 of them last spring, from fellows’ stories. TV and smaller ones like WFCR-FM in Howard Dean, the doctor-governor- Amherst. “I think every science writer presidential aspirant from Vermont, to Connecting Coverage With should have this opportunity,” said the journalist Eric Newhouse from the Policies Globe’s . Rhonda Mann of Great Falls (Mont.) Tribune, whose 12- WCVB-TV called it a “great week of part series on alcoholism proved you The Health Coverage Fellowship has a learning from the top people in health don’t have to be from a big paper (his second agenda that starts not with jour- care, top researchers, top medical jour- has a circulation of about 40,000) to nalists but with those whose lives are nalists, and from each other.” win a big prize—the Pulitzer. [See affected by these health care issues. It What really matters in a program Newhouse’s article about his reporting is to raise public awareness about a like this, however, is not what the jour- on this series on page 28.] Legislators, series of what the foundation believes nalists say but what they do. After re- business leaders, and economists ar- are critical but undercovered issues— turning to work, the fellows continued gued about how we got into the cur- from public health to mental health, to be frustrated with their newsrooms’

Nieman Reports / Spring 2003 49 Reporting on Health

short-staffing and were pressed into Larry Tye, a 1994 Nieman Fellow, Lands: Portraits of the New Jewish service on beats beyond theirs. Still, directs the Health Coverage Fellow- Diaspora.” He is presently writing a they have managed to publish or broad- ship. For 15 years, he reported on book about the Pullman porters and cast nearly 100 stories—on issues rang- medicine and the environment for their role in the civil rights move- ing from insuring the uninsured to the The Boston Globe, and he is the ment. homeless mentally ill—that they tell us author of two books, “The Father of grew directly out of seeds planted dur- Spin: Edward L. Bernays & the Birth [email protected] ing their fellowship. ■ of Public Relations,” and “Home

Examining the Content of Health Care Reporting Neither the health care system nor policies creating it receive coverage they deserve.

By Felicia Mebane

n schools of public health, every- ing health care and health care policy Black Journalists in 1998, about 60 one is aware that the boomers are do not get the attention they deserve. percent of the public believes that the Icoming. That’s because in 2010 the These stories are not told in propor- media do a good job of telling them first wave of the Baby Boom generation tion to the importance these topics and their families what they need to will be ready for retirement, and health play in our lives, nor does reporting on know about health and health care. care services will be in even greater them even receive its fair share of at- But a similar percentage indicated that demand than they are today. By then tention when the overall subject is they would like to see more news cov- the difficult political conundrum of health. Too often, “health” news con- erage of three topics: changes in gov- how to pay for Medicare will have had sists of reporting on diseases or lifestyle ernment policies and the health care to be addressed. So when the Univer- issues, rather than the ways in which industry that might affect their health sity of North Carolina issued a press health care is delivered and the rea- care or health insurance; Medicare and release with the headline, “Old Age sons why. Medicaid, and how to find a health care Won’t Boost Health Care Costs As Much More health care policy news is jus- plan, doctor, hospital or other health As Some Have Predicted,” I expected tified. A 2002 Pew Research Center providers to meet their needs. These that Edward Norton, one of the study’s survey shows that 71 percent of Ameri- results suggest that Americans need authors and a colleague of mine, would cans closely follow health news. More more information that can help them receive a lot of calls from reporters specifically, according to a Kaiser/ understand how the health care “sys- who would be clamoring for more in- Harvard School of Public Health survey tem” works and how they interact with formation. After all, the study’s results in July/Auust 2002, 55 percent of Ameri- it, both when they are well and when challenged the prevailing policy pre- cans closely followed discussions in they are sick. dictions about rapidly rising costs of Congress about a Medicare prescrip- New and improved coverage of care as Americans age. What Norton tion drug benefit. By comparison, in health care policy could be approached and I hoped was that this study might the same survey 82 percent of respon- from a variety of angles. As news fod- become a catalyst for a nationwide dis- dents closely followed stories about der, health care and health policy have cussion about the elderly and their U.S. military efforts in Afghanistan. Even it all: lots of money, drama and con- health care issues. in the midst of the war on terrorism, flict; drugs and new technologies, and This didn’t happen. Coverage Americans sought information about a plenty of just plain contentious issues. stretched as far as brief reports on a change in government policy that might Access to health care, for example, chal- local public radio station, CBS radio, affect their health care benefits. lenges us to think about our rights as and a story in a local newspaper. Though news consumers tell us in human beings, and it can also provoke Why didn’t a report like this one surveys that they like much of what a look at specific consumers’ concerns generate more news stories? I think they find in health coverage, they also by asking questions like what an unin- what happened here is illustrative of a have ideas about ways it might be im- sured family can do when a child’s trend in the coverage of health care proved. According to a survey con- fever reaches 104 degrees and emer- policy. Health is a multifaceted, tril- ducted by the Kaiser Family Founda- gency medical care is required. These lion-dollar industry. Yet issues involv- tion and the National Association of seem like examples of stories that would

50 Nieman Reports / Spring 2003 Reporting on Health entice news audiences and provide Brodie, vice president and director of ing these stories. With commitment news that consumers can use. public opinion and media research at and creativity, internal and external the Kaiser Family Foundation, col- critiques can lead to constructive con- Assessing News Content leagues there, and Princeton Survey versations, training and research that Research Associates—has shed light on might improve coverage of health care When health policy stories are reported, this connection between news cover- and health policy. how various issues are presented can age and public perception. Their re- By reporting on the U.S. health care become a point of contention. For ex- search found that in the 1990’s, most system—and about the public and pri- ample, some policymakers accuse jour- news coverage of managed care was vate policies affecting its ability to func- nalists of repeatedly misrepresenting neutral in tone. However, the tone of tion effectively—journalists provide a Republican efforts to cut spending for the coverage grew more critical as time valuable service to the public. News Medicare. And at a recent academic went by, and its negativity was more in reports are one of only a few ways that health conference, I heard a presenter evidence in televised reporting. the public is able to keep abreast of the contend that “biased news coverage” The researchers’ assessment of the rapid changes in the health care sys- of pharmaceutical advertising contrib- impact of this news coverage was mixed tem. And these changes have profound uted to increased demand for a par- and offered a good reminder of how effects on their lives. As reporters and ticular medication. When faced with one’s sense about something can be editors consider coverage of possible critiques of health care policy cover- proven incorrect once evidence is gath- health stories, priority should be given age, I think journalists should be skep- ered and analyzed. The researchers did to issues of health care policy, such as tical. It often turns out that such cri- find that a large majority of people how reductions in Medicaid budgets— tiques arise typically out of anecdotal believed that rare anecdotal incidents which are now happening in many evidence. And while specific examples of HMO’s withholding cancer treat- states—will affect families and elderly might be illustrative, they actually pro- ment from children—like cases fea- citizens who depend on this program vide little real insight into what health tured in television news programs— for medical services. This certainly isn’t care news the American public absorbs occurred often or sometimes. On the the only health policy story out there, and acts upon. other hand, about half of the public but more coverage of what’s happen- There are, however, some reliable viewed media coverage of managed ing with Medicaid or the uninsured studies by which to judge the quality of care as fair, and only 22 percent said would signal a promising step in the such news coverage. For example, Julie that this coverage “most influenced” right direction. ■ Lima and coauthor Michael Siegel, a their views of managed care. The au- Boston University professor, have thors concluded that “based on our Felicia Mebane is an assistant pro- shown that newspaper coverage of the findings, it would be difficult to argue fessor in the Department of Health 1997-98 tobacco settlements focused that media coverage is by itself creating Policy and Administration in the on the generation of new revenue whatever backlash currently exists.” School of Public Health at the Uni- rather than highlighting specific mecha- A significant weakness of such stud- versity of North Carolina at Chapel nisms for preventing and controlling ies is the lack of practical advice that Hill. She conducts research about tobacco use. When I looked at news emerges from them to benefit report- coverage of health policy and poli- coverage of long-term care issues in ers. It would help us, as researchers, if tics with an eye toward improving 1998, I found that few reports pro- journalists demanded that we provide news coverage. Her study, “Want to vided an underlying context or de- more news about coverage that they Understand How Americans Viewed scribed in any depth the issues that can actually use. Journalists’ organiza- Long-Term Care In 1998? Start with were affecting demand for long-term tions such as the Association of Health Media Coverage,” was published in care or the provision of such services. Care Journalists, and AcademyHealth, The Gerontologist in February 2001. Both Lima’s study and my own demon- a professional society for health ser- strate that the ways in which journal- vices research and policy, should bring [email protected] ists deal with setting a news story in its together reporters and editors, repre- broader context and organizing infor- sentatives of news audiences, health mation are not as comprehensive as care providers, researchers and policy health policy researchers would like. analysts to discuss what news the pub- The tone of news coverage matters, lic wants to and needs to know about too. During the 1990’s, some health care policy. Information gath- policymakers and insurance industry ered in such forums could be used to representatives blamed news reports develop new approaches to aid in the for the public’s backlash against man- coverage of “old” issues, increase re- aged care. Since then, a well-regarded porters’ access to expert sources, and media study—done by Mollyann provide useful guidelines for report-

Nieman Reports / Spring 2003 51 Journalist’s Trade

WATCHDOG Investigating Scandal in the Catholic Church

As New England bureau chief for the Los Angeles Times, Elizabeth Mehren reports for West Coast readers on the region’s newsworthy events. In her story opening our series of articles about press coverage of the Catholic Church’s sex abuse scandal, which began in Boston, Mehren provides a journalistic context for understanding the pressures reporters and editors were under as this “runaway freight train of a story … roared along with fierce—and sometimes frightening—momentum.” As Mehren notes, it is now more than a year since this story broke, and it “shows no signs of going away, much less slowing down.” Walter V. Robinson, editor of The Boston Globe’s Spotlight Team, which broke the story and led the press’s investigation of sexual abuse by Catholic priests and cover-up by the archdiocese, chronicles how his newspaper secured the documents it needed to break the secrecy surrounding these crimes and used them to give the church’s victims a voice they hadn’t had. Stephen Kurkjian, a member of the Globe’s Spotlight Team who has worked on the clergy abuse scandal for more than a year, writes about how difficult it has been to obtain the necessary documents to report in-depth on the Boston archdiocese’s finances. Given the secrecy with which the church handles its financial matters, Kurkjian reports that “we could identify our sources only as ‘unnamed,’ and could not even hint at their business affiliation.” From Rome, John L. Allen, Jr., Vatican correspondent of the National Catholic Reporter and a Vatican analyst for CNN and National Public Radio, explains why there is so little solid news coverage of the Vatican by English-language journalists. Allen explains how this affects his coverage: He is forced to cut “through popular misconceptions that are reinforced by careless reporting.” He also describes difficulties inherent to the beat, including the need to have time to cultivate sources and learn languages, to figure out how to cope with the absence of “spin” and too many unnamed sources, and the lack of editorial commitment and knowledge in the newsroom. From Ireland, Emily O’Reilly, political correspondent with The Sunday Times who has written and broadcast on the topic of clerical sexual abuse, explains how Irish libel laws and “cultural censorship”—“an unwillingness by the news media in general to give the bad news until the populace has been adequately softened up in advance”—made “sexual deviancy within the priesthood [something that] had been whispered about for decades; yet, during those years, no reporter was prepared to go behind the whispers.” The story broke in the Irish media only after British TV stations aired a series of documentaries. As O’Reilly notes, “A phenomenon of Irish journalism, and Irish life, is that our scandals are often first made public by reporters in another country, usually Britain.” In the early 1980’s, the Chicago Sun-Times devoted 18 months to investigating suspected financial wrongdoing of Cardinal John Patrick Cody. Roy Larson, then the newspaper’s religion editor, writes about how Publisher James Hoge issued a warning to the investigative team: “We’re going to have to do as careful and as in-depth reporting as anyone’s ever done, because this is dynamite.” As Larson reports, “the stories were explosive—even before they were published.” The Cody case ended inconclusively but, Larson says, at that time his paper’s “investigation of the cardinal and archdiocese was unprecedented.” ■

52 Nieman Reports / Spring 2003 Church Scandal Investigation Reporting Stories With Children as Victims of Priests For journalists in Boston, ‘this crazy locomotive’ of a story has been unceasing and, at times, wrenching to cover.

By Elizabeth Mehren

or the thousands and thousands of families involved, the clerical Fabuse scandal that exploded in Boston in January 2002 was a tragedy of unimaginable dimensions. For Catholics in America, the crisis was a massive blow to the faith and the insti- tution they were raised to love. For journalists, it was something else en- tirely: a runaway freight train of a story that roared along with fierce—and sometimes frightening—momentum. Day after day, story after story, outrage after outrage, this crazy locomotive just kept tearing along. Many days, it felt like no one was in the driver’s seat. It was a special challenge for me, a one-woman bureau assigned to cover six New England states for the Los Angeles Times. This ongoing tale of shattered trust and broken lives also gnawed at me as few news sagas have Cardinal Bernard F. Law departs Suffolk Superior Court in Boston in May 2002 after he managed to do. The same month that gave his first deposition in the clergy sex abuse scandal. Pool photo by David Ryan/The lawyer Roderick MacLeish, Jr. produced Boston Globe via The Associated Press. documents detailing horrific violations of children by former priest Paul Shanley, my son Sam turned 12—the machines, I learned to read backward courtroom already packed with news very age when so many victims of pedo- and upside down. I have covered dread- people squeezed between two families phile priests were stalked and savaged, ful stories of human atrocity. I like to who made the Hatfields and McCoys physically and emotionally. think of myself as even-keeled and ob- look like kissing cousins. Grown men and women wept in my jective. But on these days, I wept, too. This Thomas Junta trial was, in its presence as they described alarmingly This is how it started: For a sturdy way, a preview of coming Boston news similar experiences with men who stole corps of local reporters, peppered by attractions. That case ended on a Fri- their innocence: men who called them- the handful of national correspondents day. The following Tuesday, in the same selves “Father,” men who called them- who call Boston their home, the year Middlesex county courthouse, the child selves holy. My office is at home, and I 2002 dawned in a courtroom in Cam- molestation trial of former priest John share a wall with my son’s playroom. bridge, Massachusetts. A mammoth, J. Geoghan began. Some days, transcribing these victims’ muscular father pegged by his lawyer Midway through the Junta proceed- accounts into fodder for news stories, as a “gentle giant” was charged with ings, The Boston Globe published an I would hear Sam and a friend sharing beating another father to death follow- extraordinary story. In painstaking and the simple joys of childhood. Twelve is ing a dispute at a skating rink. The sensational detail, the Globe used court an age when boys boast machismo and “hockey dad” trial, as this surreal scene records to show that the Boston arch- vulnerability in equal measure. They soon became known, picked up its diocese knew all about Geoghan’s his- tell dirty jokes at one moment—and, in pitch and its pace each day—until fi- tory as a pedophile priest. Rather than the next, they role-play with stuffed nally, as the verdict was handed down, yanking him from the priesthood, local animals. I am an old-hand reporter, so four reporters from People magazine church leaders moved Geoghan from ancient that in the days of Linotype were jockeying for seats in a minuscule parish to parish—the “geographic

Nieman Reports / Spring 2003 53 Journalist’s Trade

cure,” as this practice is known. Rather Call after call to the venerable Rogers to transmit the latest church-scandal than protecting young parishioners Law Firm, long the counsel to the arch- offering. Time after time, I told myself: from a monster in a Roman collar, diocese, went unreturned. Forget about it, get this story in the archdiocese officials aimed to safeguard All this unfolded in the face of doz- paper, wherever it runs. That became the reputation of the church. ens of other New England news sto- my objective: advancing this amazing Let me say right here, loud and clear: ries. There was the murdered fashion news organism, keeping up with it as it Hats off to The Boston Globe. Some writer, Christa Worthington. There grew and morphed and mutated. days—many days—it was frustrating were verdicts for the teenage killers of By the time the cardinal at last re- and downright annoying to add the Dartmouth professors Half and signed on December 13th, an odd ca- phrase “as reported in The Boston Susanne Zantop. There were impend- maraderie had grown up. Journalists, Globe” to stories I wished could have ing elections, Acting Governor Jane protesters and counter-protesters all been fully original in content. But the Swift’s latest antics, and the forthcom- knew one another from gatherings Globe outran us all on this one, start- ing corruption trial of Providence mayor outside the chancery or in front of ing with its dogged fight to obtain Vincent A. “Buddy” Cianci, Jr. Boston’s Cathedral of the Holy Cross. damning documents the church kept But the church abuse locomotive Lawyers got way too candid and vic- hidden for decades. The Globe’s cov- kept steaming along. Chug, chug, chug: tims shared black-humor jokes, along erage was so thorough and relentless That was the sound of scandals break- with copious quantities of tears. Rodney that at times I felt like a solitary runner ing out in parishes all across America. Ford, the father of one alleged Shanley competing in an uphill marathon Slam, slam, slam: That was the sound victim, became so accustomed to my against a relay team that never ran out of the church perfecting the art of inac- phone calls at his home that he would of stamina, not to mention Gatorade. cessibility. playfully shout to his wife, “Honey, it’s I called my editors in Los Angeles In April, Boston was the setting for that pain in the ass from the L.A. Times!” the day the Geoghan story broke in the what might have been a three-ring Under “C,” for Catholics, my contact Globe. Heads-up, I said: Watch out for media circus. Instead it was a turning file began to bulge. On many Sundays this one, it’s going to be B-I-G. Yeah, point that sped the scandal up still I went to Mass twice—once at the ca- yeah, yeah, they said, barely suppress- more. Looking every inch the circus thedral and once at some rebel parish. ing their yawns: We have dirty priests impresario as he snapped his lapel I am not Catholic, but by Advent I had out here, too. Besides, my editors coun- microphone into place, attorney memorized the responses that wor- tered, this guy Geoghan was only MacLeish filled a hotel ballroom with shippers recite each Sunday. I knew charged with one count of fondling a reporters and dozens of others who when to kneel and when to stand. kid at a swimming pool. What kind of a turned out to be abuse victims and “Hum a few bars and she fakes it,” said scandal was that? their friends and family. The lights dark- Father Frank Fitzpatrick, a Brockton Just wait, I promised. ened and a 30-foot Power Point screen “good priest” I came to know and ad- lit up. All we needed now were lions, mire. The Scandal Unfolds tigers and cotton candy vendors. Now a full year has passed. The But MacLeish delivered, mesmeriz- cardinal is gone, but this story shows Geoghan’s trial stretched through Feb- ing the room with pictures and docu- no signs of going away, much less slow- ruary. By March, I was writing about ments that made it clear that former ing down. Almost 500 civil claims are rumblings that Cardinal Bernard F. Law priest Paul Shanley’s predilection for pending against an archdiocese that would step down. I broadened the sex with children was no secret to has threatened bankruptcy to avoid scope to write about women in the church authorities. Journalists are no- payment. New victims continue to pour church: How was the crisis affecting torious for our short attention spans. forth. Previously confidential church them? I went to New York to meet with Fifteen minutes, and we start to fidget documents—papers long kept locked some Jesuits, writers themselves, who and reach for our cell phones. But in secret chancery files—now are en- debriefed me on the innuendoes of what MacLeish produced was spell- tered into court records. After all this clericalism. I sought out victims’ groups binding. For almost two hours, the time, the shock of reading those records in Boston and around the state. I stood only movement from journalists was has not worn off, not one bit. Journal- on the frozen steps of a church in the furious scrawl of pens across istic jadedness or battle fatigue has yet Worcester, waiting to talk to priests notepads. (thank heaven) to rear its weary head. and worshippers there. I drove out to Never mind that my story the next The sadness never leaves this story. Leominster, in central Massachusetts, day ran inside the paper. This was one These are, after all, real people. Almost to watch a group of women charge of the challenges in a year-long story: universally they seem less intent on their childhood priest with raping them making it fresh and new every day— financial restitution (if such is pos- as little girls. I tracked down “good” and doing so for editors and an audi- sible) than on striving to assure that no priests who were as angry and appalled ence 3,000 miles away. Time after time boy or girl ever suffers the way they as any of us. I tried to make contact I whispered the phrase “Page One can- did. But mixed with the sorrow is the with church officials and their lawyers. didate” as I pressed the “send” button promise of transformation. All over

54 Nieman Reports / Spring 2003 Church Scandal Investigation

America, Catholics are questioning their and just as many victims. The villains close to complete. ■ hierarchy and calling for reform. Fine, are despicable. Meanwhile, the prover- strong priests have emerged to make bial quest for truth and justice—what Elizabeth Mehren is New England their profession proud. brought us all into this line of en- bureau chief for the Los Angeles In some ways, the clerical abuse deavor, after all—is always at the fore- Times where she has worked for scandal has become a journalism text- front. more than 20 years. She is also the book. Consider the elements: power, All these qualities and characters are author of three books, including corruption, intrigue, tragedy, sex, be- crammed onto that freight train that “Born Too Soon: The Story of Emily, trayal, money—and an institution that rushed out of the Boston station more Our Premature Baby.” dates back 2,000 years. Faith and mo- than a year ago. One thing is certain: rality juggle with hundreds of heroes This wild and crazy ride is nowhere [email protected]

Shining the Globe’s Spotlight on the Catholic Church After publishing more than 900 articles about sexual molestation by priests, The Boston Globe’s coverage isn’t over yet.

By Walter V. Robinson

y August 2001, after three de- cades of investigative work, The BBoston Globe Spotlight Team had filled scores of file drawers, com- puter queues, and warehoused car- tons with left-over documents, old notes and the like, chronicling mis- deeds by a cast of scoundrels familiar to reporters at most any newspaper: corrupt politicians and judges, greedy developers, no-show public employ- ees, cops on the take, even an FBI agent who protected mob bosses who had themselves been under the Globe’s scrutiny. As far as we can tell, there was nary a file folder on a priest, much less a bishop or a cardinal. Eighteen months later, the Spotlight Michael Sweeney (second from right, pointing) expresses his opinion as he stands with Team’s offices are littered with stacks fellow victims of sexual abuse during a press conference in October 2002 in Lowell, of documents and crammed with boxes Massachusetts, after meeting with Cardinal Bernard F. Law. Photo by David Kamerman/ of the most private and incriminating The Boston Globe. files of the U.S. Catholic Church. Those documents describe criminal acts far more heinous than the wrongdoing cilitated—by bishops and cardinals who molested by priests in the Boston arch- ascribed to the newspaper’s usual in- were unquestioned moral icons in the diocese. America’s most influential car- vestigative targets: In the Boston arch- most Catholic of America’s major arch- dinal, Bernard F. Law, has resigned in diocese alone, countless children were dioceses. disgrace. The archdiocese he ruled im- sexually molested in recent decades by On January 6, 2002, we published periously from his Italianate mansion so many priests that the number admit- the first of more than 900 news stories is close to fiscal ruin. ted or accused is now about 150. These about this scandal. Since then, more For decades, the church’s cover-up hideous crimes were hidden, forgiven, than 500 people have emerged with succeeded: The overwhelming major- overlooked—and, indeed, all but fa- legal claims that they were sexually ity of the crimes are well beyond the

Nieman Reports / Spring 2003 55 Journalist’s Trade

criminal statute of limitations. Geoghan to a new parish know- Only a half dozen priests have ing that he had molested chil- been indicted. And a secret state dren. The new editor wanted to grand jury has been forced to use know why all of the church docu- its subpoena power to extract ments turned over to a lawyer documents and testimony from representing Geoghan’s victims a recalcitrant church hierarchy. were under a court-imposed con- In Boston, the Globe struck a fidentiality seal. The answer: The match very near some very dry church’s lawyers had asked for tinder. The fire spread quickly. the protective order. Nationally, in 2002, similar accu- Within days, Baron made two sations forced the removal—of- decisions. First, he asked the ten grudgingly by bishops—of newspaper’s attorney, Jonathan an estimated 450 priests. The M. Albano, to file a motion ask- U.S. Catholic Church, which ing the court to lift the confiden- claims more than one in every tiality seal, on grounds that the five Americans as members, is public’s right to know about the mired so deeply in a crisis of issue outweighed the Catholic confidence and leadership that Church’s privacy claim. The sec- the story is likely to preoccupy ond decision was to ask the Spot- journalists for years to come. light Team—me and reporters Yet, despite all that, and ex- Matt Carroll, Sacha Pfeiffer, and cepting Boston and a handful of Michael Rezendes—to take a look other dioceses where powerful at the Geoghan case and how forces have compelled wide dis- one priest could have accumu- closures, many American bish- lated so many victims in six dif- ops have made only minimal ad- ferent parishes before being re- missions. And few newspapers moved in 1993. in other cities have pushed to the This was a tall order. The Bos- degree necessary to get at the Cardinal Bernard F. Law reads a statement of apology in ton archdiocese, like every arm extent of the problem. Elsewhere November 2002 before Mass at the Cathedral of the of the Catholic Church, had long in the country, many people, Holy Cross. Photo By Tom Herde/The Boston Globe. been secretive about its inner journalists among them, seem to workings. In 1992, when the think there was something Globe aggressively reported on unique about Boston, perhaps some- porting is good work if you can get it. the case of James R. Porter, a pedophile thing in the water, which made priests In a typical year, the four-person Spot- priest who had more than 100 victims here more likely to molest minors. Not light Team produces two or three in- in the adjoining Fall River diocese, so. The evidence suggests that most of vestigative series, with the pace broken Cardinal Law denounced the news cov- that iceberg has yet to be discovered. up now and then with a one-day spe- erage. At one point, he called down the Even in Boston, the cover-up con- cial report that might be turned around “power of God” on the media, and tinues. relatively quickly—in perhaps two or especially the Globe. three weeks. For reporters accustomed Baron had given us—dare I say it?— Getting Church Documents to the frontlines of daily newspapering, the assignment from hell: A Spotlight has long offered the lure of newspaper’s investigative team pointed Like many major stories, this one be- never having to write a lead that con- at the city’s—any city’s—preeminent gan with a trek, without high expecta- tains the word “yesterday.” Until Mar- sacred cow. How do you get at a story tions, down one narrow path—a well- tin Baron moved from The Miami Her- that no one within the church would worn one. Like other newspapers have ald into the Globe editor’s chair on July discuss? How do you breach an institu- done since the 1980’s, the Globe set 30, 2001, it was a job you could do and tion that has neither the obligation nor out to discover how the predatory still get home for dinner. the inclination to make its records pub- sexual abuses of a local priest could Baron was fresh from a state where lic nor discuss how it operates? have gone unchecked. In the end, we just about everything is public record. Until then, the Geoghan case had won access to documents that exposed So, almost immediately, Baron ex- received modest news coverage, often that story in excruciating detail. But pressed curiosity about a fresh legal accompanied by adamant church as- just as we started our reporting, we admission by the cardinal’s lawyer that surances that his was an isolated in- stumbled onto something much larger. was buried in a court filing. In 1984, stance of a single aberrant priest. Only Here at the Globe, investigative re- Law had transferred the Rev. John J. Kristen Lombardi at the weekly Boston

56 Nieman Reports / Spring 2003 Church Scandal Investigation

Phoenix had written extensively about victims, she learned, died in a car crash Searching Court Records Geoghan’s victims and their belief that with Paquin behind the wheel after a the church knew more than it had night of drinking. We also combed through a state trial admitted. court database, looking for cases in If that was so, how to prove it? We Following a Church which victims had filed lawsuits. That started by interviewing everyone we Roadmap led to the identities of other accused could think of who knew anything priests. Then we assembled a list of about the Geoghan case. We called We had faces and voices. But we every attorney we knew who had lawyers, known victims, prosecutors, struggled for ways to quantify the ex- handled a sexual abuse complaint, the the small circle of people who had tent of the abuse and the church’s cardinal’s lawyers included. From the studied the issue of clergy sexual abuse. efforts to hide it. That is where the courts, we obtained docket numbers Within a week, we had learned pre- church, unwittingly, provided us with of all civil cases those lawyers had cious little about Geoghan that was a roadmap: Its annual directories list handled since the late 1980’s. Among new. But we came across something every priest and his parish or adminis- the hundreds of docket numbers, we unexpected. Geoghan, we were told, trative assignment. But they listed other found other lawsuits that had never was the tip of a very large iceberg, categories, too, where we knew priests been reported. anomalous mainly because his crimes like Geoghan, Shanley and Paquin were In some instances, we plugged in a had become public. During the 1990’s, placed after the church finally lost pa- docket number and the computer gave we learned, the Boston archdiocese tience with their sexual misbehavior. us a brusque response: No informa- secretly settled claims by victims of a “Sick leave” was the most common. tion available on that case. Suspicious, “large number” of other priests. Law- But there were others, like “awaiting we went to courthouses in Suffolk and yers—on both sides—called the settle- assignment,” “clergy personnel office,” Middlesex counties and asked for files. ments “hush money.” How many and “unassigned.” We were told we could not have them. priests? We did not know. The people Using nearly two decades of the di- The judges in those cases had ordered we talked to would not say. Perhaps a rectories, we set out to determine how all the records impounded. It was as if dozen, maybe 15, we thought. It many priests were in “on the shelf” the lawsuits had never been filed. seemed incredible. categories. We combed the directories Early in 2002, the Globe won court Baron and Ben Bradlee, Jr., the and plucked out the name of any priest victories in both counties lifting those deputy managing editor for projects, who had ever been in any of those impoundment orders. The records were alerted to what we had been told. categories. Then, going book by book, showed that church lawyers were ea- We were ordered to launch a full inves- the team’s computer-assisted report- ger to have the files sealed. The lawyers tigation. Albano filed his motion and ing specialist, Carroll, entered his en- for the victims, just as eager to get their then argued it on September 6, 2001 in tire assignment record into a spread- settlements and the one-third or greater a Springfield courtroom before Supe- sheet. share they took as their fee, were all too rior Court Judge Constance M. This work was tedious and took sev- willing to go along. And so were the Sweeney, a product of 16 years of Catho- eral weeks. Here is what we discov- judges. lic education. The only reporter in the ered: Some of the offending priests un- courtroom was Mike Rezendes from wittingly identified themselves. We Spotlight. • In the mid-1980’s, there were usu- knew the archdiocese warehoused The following day, September 7, I ally about two dozen priests in all many of its sexual predators at a man- was given in confidence the names of those categories combined in any sion the church owned in suburban more than 30 priests in the Boston one year, out of more than 1,000 Milton. More than a dozen of those archdiocese whose cases had been se- priests. priests had obligingly listed themselves cretly settled by the church during the •By the mid-1990’s, after the church on the town’s annual census. Last year, 1990’s—without the lawyers for the had begun to pay secret settlements the archdiocese even had to remove victims ever having to walk into a court- and quietly remove offending priests the director and counselor at the facil- room. Soon, we made contact with from parishes, the number shot up ity. Both men had been accused of victims of Geoghan and other priests, to more than 100 priests. molesting minors. most notably the Rev. Paul R. Shanley In November 2001, Judge Sweeney and the Rev. Ronald H. Paquin. Both In this database, we found the names ruled on the Globe motion in the men had accumulated numerous vic- of most of the 30 priests who had been Geoghan case. She lifted the seal and tims during their years in the Boston identified to us in September. When ordered all the documents filed with archdiocese. Reporter Pfeiffer learned the scandal broke in January and we the court. The archdiocese, shocked by how Shanley, a well-known street priest were inundated with calls from victims the decision, appealed her decision to during the 1970’s, lured troubled teen- eager to identify priests who molested the state Appeals Court. In December, agers into counseling sessions and then them, we found many of the abusers’ a single justice upheld the order. molested them. One of Paquin’s many names in our original database. With those documents set for re-

Nieman Reports / Spring 2003 57 Journalist’s Trade

lease in January, Spotlight shifted gears. We had voluminous evidence about other priests, but we knew the Geoghan files would be explosive when the 10,000 pages became public in late January. We prepared a two-part Geoghan series for early January. Even without the 10,000 pages, we had al- ready discovered, in public court files, documents that contained strong evi- dence of the Geoghan cover-up, and Law’s involvement in it. There was even a letter from an auxiliary bishop advis- ing Law not to make that fateful 1984 assignment. Geoghan always loomed large. His case was public. He had scores of vic- tims. He was facing criminal charges. And, surely, the reporting about him A press conference in the law office of Mitchell Garabedian, right, on the day Cardinal was a serious blow to the church. But it Law resigned. Several clients are with him, victims of priest sexual abuse. William Oberle was the extent of the abuse, the large is at the microphone, while Patrick McSorley collects his thoughts. Photo by George number of priests involved, and the Rizer/The Boston Globe. church’s preoccupation with keeping it secret that shook the Catholic Church to its core. tentacles that the Globe doubled the some basic journalistic principles. corps of reporters assigned to it, add- Some are obvious. We afflict the The Archdiocese Responds ing religion reporter Michael Paulson comfortable from time to time, or so and investigative reporters Stephen they believe. But we’re not so good at The archdiocese, sensing what we had, Kurkjian, Kevin Cullen, and Thomas comforting the afflicted. There are tried a little intimidation. On Decem- Farragher. people in pain, with grievances long ber 13, 2001, Wilson D. Rogers, Jr., On January 31, 2002, after three ignored. They have no voice but the Law’s lead attorney, wrote to Albano, weeks of damning disclosures about one we provide them. Each of the vic- our attorney from the law firm of Geoghan, the Globe reported that the tims of priests who had the courage to Bingham Dana. “It has been brought to archdiocese had secretly settled sexual step forward is a reminder to all of us. my attention that certain reporters of abuse claims against “at least” 70 other After months of reporting, we knew your client, The Boston Globe, have priests in the previous 10 years. No one something else by the time we broke been making inquiry of a number of from the archdiocese took issue with the story—how little we knew. So we priests of the Archdiocese of Boston that report. Small wonder: Now, after asked for help. Starting with the first regarding these cases,” Rogers wrote. 14 months of unending disclosures on story we published, we ran an accom- He went on to state that our question- our pages, all too many with the word panying box asking readers for infor- ing was based on the secret court files “yesterday” in the lead, the number of mation. Hundreds of victims re- and that we were violating court rules accused priests is more than double sponded, and it was their by doing so. In fact, we didn’t get those that initial number. accounts—some of which had never particular files for another month. But even been shared with family mem- some documents were already a part of Lessons Journalists Learned bers—that propelled the story forward. the voluminous public file. “In the event If we had waited for the church’s re- that The Boston Globe in any way fur- All of us, reporters and readers alike sponse, we would never have printed a ther disseminates these materials, ei- across the country, have learned a lot word. Just before we published our ther by way of inquiry or publication, I about the Catholic Church since Janu- first story, the spokeswoman for the will seek appropriate sanctions against ary 2002. Now that many of the Boston archdiocese told us that the both your client and Bingham Dana,” scandal’s headlines have moved off Page cardinal was not even interested in Rogers warned. One, it’s time for journalists to con- knowing our questions. Albano ignored the threat. So did sider what we’ve learned about what If the church’s most embarrassing Globe editors. And after the avalanche we do. Though we are still caught up in secrets can be exposed, there surely of news stories began in January, Rogers a story producing fresh disclosures, must be ways to retrieve information never asked the court for sanctions. the experience has been an invigorat- from other institutions. Even the most The story quickly developed so many ing refresher course, a reminder of secretive of organizations have soft

58 Nieman Reports / Spring 2003 Church Scandal Investigation underbellies. Recent scandals involv- long as secrecy prevails. critics of the Globe, are grateful the ing the United Way and the American For some of us at the Globe, the crimes have been exposed and for the Red Cross also remind us of something most important lesson is one we are opportunity to help their church heal. else: Not nearly all of the wrongdoing still learning. It’s about the institutions If that reaction suggests anything, it we should be looking for is confined to that mean so much to the life of the is this: Especially in our coverage of government agencies and for-profit, community. Most newspaper editors, our most respected institutions we, as parasitic companies like Enron. no matter the size of the city, know that journalists, should not check our skep- In a story of this magnitude, there is the Catholic Church and other reli- ticism at the door. The institutions no substitute for documents to prove a gious, charitable and cultural institu- might chafe at the tough questions. case. We found some on our own. But tions expect to receive respectful cov- But our readers expect us to ask them. the fruits of the Globe’s decision to go erage. And most often, they deserve ■ to court suggest there is a powerful it—whether or not the publisher sits incentive for other news organizations on an institution’s board. Walter V. Robinson is editor of The to do the same when the public inter- When we began publishing this story, Boston Globe’s Spotlight Team. The est is at stake in civil lawsuits. Judge we steeled ourselves for an onslaught Globe’s reporting on the church Sweeney agreed, and her ruling be- of criticism from Catholics we thought scandal won a 2002 George Polk came the basis for her subsequent de- would be upset at reports of corrup- Award. In 30 years at the Globe, cision ordering the public disclosure tion in the chancery. But no serious Robinson has covered local and of records on scores of other priests. criticism materialized. Save for a few national politics, the White House, Confidential settlements, and not just nicks, the messenger escaped un- and the Middle East. In the mid- in clergy abuse cases, have kept mat- scathed. Despite the trauma prompted 1990’s, he was city editor and then ters of enormous public importance by months of revelations, Catholics metropolitan editor. hidden from the public, with the risk directed their anger at the church. Most that more people will be injured as Catholics, including some long-time [email protected]

Secrecy Remained in Place With the Church’s Finances Journalists were not able to secure the financial documents they needed to back up their reporting from informed sources.

By Stephen Kurkjian

he scarring of the faithful’s trust to their feelings regarding the terrible Trying to Follow the Money in the bishops of the Roman scandal of sexual abuse of the young by TCatholic Church from the clergy clergy,” David W. Smith, chancellor of The Constitution’s First Amendment abuse scandal has had a devastating the Archdiocese of Boston, said in a provides complete protection from effect on the church’s ability to raise prepared statement in September. state oversight to religious institutions. money. From Sunday collection plates Smith, the chief financial officer for the This means that even though the Catho- to the generous annual checks received archdiocese, said this as he announced lic Church operates with a $45 million from well-heeled business leaders and the archdiocese’s decision to mortgage annual budget and owns an estimated family foundations, there has been a the 16-acre site of its chancery and the $2 billion worth of real estate in east- precipitous decline in giving to the cardinal’s residence on the Boston- ern Massachusetts, the Boston arch- church. A Gallup poll in December Newton line to borrow $38 million diocese, like the 185 other dioceses found 40 percent of Catholics less likely from the Knights of Columbus. and archdioceses in the United States, to give to the church and its worth- It was a surprising admission, since cannot be forced to make public any while missions because of their disap- several months earlier Smith and other data on its financial condition. pointment in the handling of the sexual church leaders were denying that the When reporters at The Boston Globe abuse cases. scandal was having any significant ef- went looking in customary places where “It is clear that some people who fect on Sunday collections or larger such information on nonprofits is have supported the Church’s work in donations. Regrettably, there was no found—the state Attorney General’s past years are withholding, at least tem- way for journalists to document the charitable division of GuideStar.org, a porarily, their support financially due accuracy of either of these claims. national database—they learned noth-

Nieman Reports / Spring 2003 59 Journalist’s Trade

Cardinal Bernard F. Law issues a statement in December 2002 to the press inside the Creagh Library on the grounds of the archdiocesan chancery complex in Brighton, Massachusetts. Photo by Bill Greene/The Boston Globe.

ing. For an institution that had found • The archdiocese’s two major insur- documentary backup. This meant that ways to keep silent the complaints of ance companies threatened to with these financial aspects of this story, more than 200 victims during one two- present legal defenses that would we weren’t able to give our readers— year period, who were molested by leave the church having to pay all of who were by now accustomed to us priests in the Boston area, the secrecy the $100-150 million in expected sharing with them the documents we’d with which it maintained its financial claims out of its own pocket. found to substantiate our reporting— dealings was not surprising. And this • The Archdiocese took serious steps this level of detail. secrecy was maintained, even as the towards becoming the first Catholic The church did not begin to place a news of the priests’ sexual abuse and organization in the United States to tight grip on its financial records with the church’s cover-up was published, file for bankruptcy. the clergy abuse scandal. To a great and the financial impact of the scandal measure, the faithful have always been became an increasingly larger part of Yet each of these developments got denied information about its finances. the story. into the paper only on the basis of Two years before the scandal broke, I On the financial frontlines, several information we gathered from in- was focused on the personal and finan- situations received considerable cov- formed sources. Unlike the Globe’s cial activities of a priest at one of the erage: reporting on the priests’ sexual abuse archdiocese’s largest parishes. In seven and the Church’s attempts to keep that years as the church’s pastor, he had •Boston Cardinal Bernard F. Law’s information hidden—in which docu- never provided the lay council that was fiscal advisers rejected as too costly ments were often made available by appointed to advise him on financial a settlement package for 86 victims court order—these financial stories had issues any basic information, such as of Rev. John J. Geoghan. to be published without any adequate where he kept the parish’s bank ac-

60 Nieman Reports / Spring 2003 Church Scandal Investigation counts or even how much money was cent independent audits that showed the council’s sessions are shrouded in in the accounts. When a member of the it had sold $40 million in stocks and such secrecy—members don’t even church, a lawyer and certified public bonds to pay its bills. But when further know what’s on the agenda until a day accountant, asked for an accounting, questions were posed about the $600 or two before the meeting—those who he was informed by the archdiocese million in assets maintained in sepa- were willing to share any information that he had no standing to question the rate insurance, health and pension ac- had to be given strict pledges of confi- decision-making of the parish priest. counts, the archdiocese refused jour- dentiality. The pastor is answerable only to the nalists access to those audits. This arrangement meant that when cardinal as bishop of the archdiocese, We were also told that Cardinal Law our reporting appeared in the paper, and he is answerable only to the pope. had the sole authority to determine we could identify our sources only as The byzantine structure of the whether the archdiocese would ap- “unnamed,” and could not even hint at church and its hierarchical decision- prove a settlement. Yet, as the cardinal their business affiliation. “I’ll not meet making process on money issues com- got ready to approve a deal that would with you,” one member, who provided plicated the task of reporters who be- have paid the 86 victims of former pieces of information along the way, came focused on the fiscal side of the priest John Geoghan between $15 mil- told me. “If anyone ever asks me if I’ve scandal. Although public records show lion to $30 million, reporters learned ever spoken to you, I want to be able to parish property to be listed in the name of the existence of an arcane group, the say, ‘No, I’ve never met him.’” ■ of the archbishop of Boston (as a “cor- Archdiocesan Finance Council. This poration sole”), through our reporting turned out to be a group of about 15 Stephen Kurkjian has been working we discovered that there were limita- members comprised mostly of Catho- on the clergy abuse scandal for more tions to this centralized power. Under lic business leaders who provide finan- than a year as a member of The canon law, the bishop or archbishop cial advice to the cardinal. Boston Globe’s Spotlight Team. A can sell a parish building or parcel only Although they were appointed by reporter and editor at the Globe for with the assent of the parish priest. the cardinal and serve at his leisure, more than 30 years, he has special- This limitation left Cardinal Law with when we made calls to several of them ized in local investigative and enter- fewer options in settling the sexual their responses revealed great unrest prise reporting. He currently holds abuse claims. on whether the Geoghan settlement the title of senior assistant metro- To document that the Church was should be approved. In the end, Law’s politan editor. losing money before the scandal broke, request that the deal be signed was the archdiocese released copies of re- overwhelmingly rejected. But because [email protected]

The Neglected Vatican Beat ‘… most reporters are constrained to do less than full-time work on a beat that demands more than full-time competence.’

By John L. Allen, Jr.

ith few exceptions, English- deployed to cover the possible war in counted on two hands. The Associated language journalism doesn’t . The Rome bureau chief for CNN, Press and Reuters each have a Vatican Wtake the Vatican terribly seri- for example, just spent several weeks writer, and Newsweek has a part-time ously. The Vatican press office accred- in . correspondent whose primary interest its dozens of English-speaking Rome- It’s not that the Vatican doesn’t merit is the Vatican. In the “trade press” of based reporters, but most of them coverage. The pope sets the spiritual specialized Catholic news organiza- spend perhaps 25 percent of their time and moral tone for one billion Catho- tions, there are perhaps five or six full- on the beat. A typical correspondent lics scattered in every corner of the time Vatican English-language corre- for an American or British media outlet globe, and the Vatican is an influential spondents. is also likely to be responsible for Euro- player in the critical political or cul- The inevitable result of this neglect pean politics, business and culture, as tural debates of the day, from the Middle is that much reporting is superficial, well as the southern Mediterranean East to cloning. driven by stereotypes and conventional and the Balkans. These days, several Yet full-time English-language re- wisdom. During the past year, this Rome-based correspondents have been porters on the Vatican beat can be weakness showed up repeatedly as the

Nieman Reports / Spring 2003 61 Journalist’s Trade

American press too often missed the is far more prosaic. The Swiss Guards and handle information responsi- context necessary to account for devel- are indeed colorful, but they’re no more bly. The result is that some people opments in the emerging sexual abuse adept at managing the information flow regard covering the Vatican as a half- crisis. An example of this occurred in than Enron’s security force. As with any step up from a gossip column. the reporting about the policy adopted other bureaucracy, nothing remains by the U.S. bishops in ; those hidden for very long. For example, Hence, an appeal to editors: De- who cover the Vatican knew it wouldn’t since the Second Vatican Council (1962- clare a moratorium on the “ultra-secre- be accepted. Since the mid-1980’s, 65), a body called the Synod of Bishops tive Vatican” rap. You’ll be doing the Vatican officials have repeatedly insisted has met 20 times in Rome, bringing journalistic enterprise a favor. on using church courts rather than a together some 250 bishops from There are several other difficulties bishop’s administrative authority to around the world to advise the pope. facing a Vatican correspondent (what remove priests from the ministry. More They deliberate for three weeks, and at the Italians call a Vaticanista), created informed reporting would have pre- the end they adopt a set of proposi- by the unique nature of the assign- pared the public for what was likely to tions. The bishops are sworn to abso- ment. happen. Instead, most American news lute secrecy about the content of the Time: To cover the Vatican well, media outlets appeared to be propositions and, every time, without one must master at least three foreign blindsided by the Vatican reaction and, fail, an Italian news agency called Adista languages: Italian, because it is the at least initially, they insisted on treat- publishes the propositions within a working language of the papal bureau- ing it as another example of “conserva- matter of days. cracy; the language of the Catholic tive Vatican vs. independent-minded How? They do what reporters do— Church, because without a knowledge American church.” (In fact, often the they gather news from their sources, of church history, scripture, theology, more liberal bishops and canon law- without getting an engraved invitation liturgy and canon law, a Vatican re- yers in the United States were the ones from officialdom to do so. Indeed, many porter will be lost; and the language of who hoped the Vatican would demand bishops at the Synods are actually ea- the Roman Curia, the pope’s civil ser- changes towards greater due process ger to hand out the texts of their sup- vice, which has its own history, culture for accused priests.) posedly secret speeches, wanting to and argot. see their golden words in print. The It’s a beat where personal contacts Challenges on the Vatican problem with the Vatican is not that it outside official channels make an enor- Beat is secretive, but that it is unique, and it mous difference and that takes time to takes time to become familiar with the cultivate. It requires taking Vatican of- The greatest challenge I have as a system and its personnel. Once that’s ficials to lunch and dinner, attending Vatican correspondent is cutting accomplished, however, there’s very the sometimes tedious symposia and through popular misconceptions that little an enterprising reporter can’t fer- book presentations and embassy par- are reinforced by careless reporting. ret out. ties, where contacts are made and im- These misconceptions include: Why is the secrecy myth a problem? pressions formed, and reading theo- logical journals and news services in Vatican “secrecy”: Few stereotypes • It leads to a tolerance of specula- several languages where intelligence are more enduring. Consider this lead tion, and this means that a lot of on the Vatican is found. A reporter from a story about the sex abuse scan- frankly ridiculous reporting ends up needs the phone numbers and e-mail dals that appeared above the fold on in print or on the air. Then, every- addresses of theologians and church the front page of a major American one else has to respond, and time historians and diplomats, with the un- daily: “The sense of impenetrability and energy gets tied down in doing derstanding that these folks are dis- begins at the Vatican gate just beyond nonstories. (The best current ex- posed to be helpful. St. Peter’s Square. Swiss Guards … lift ample is the theme about an “aging, With English-language journalists, their pikes to allow passage only after out of touch” pope manipulated by coverage of the Vatican thus amounts receiving orders. Farther inside, a his aides that cropped up repeat- to a mismatch: Most reporters are con- gatekeeper checks his list before giving edly in reporting on the sex abuse strained to do less than full-time work a reluctant nod for a visitor to enter a scandals). on a beat that demands more than full- 12-foot door reinforced with steel and • It creates an impression that there is time competence. News organizations iron spikes to repel invaders …. Inside no hard information about the need to free up the time and resources the fortress-like building, an air of se- Vatican; hence one guess is as good to do the job right. crecy and monarchical power wafts as another about what’s happening. Cultural Gaps: While Italian is the through elegant, marble halls like a This confusion obscures the distinc- default working language of the Ro- thick plume of incense.” tion between correspondents who man Curia, people who deal with the Such imagery may make copyeditors make it up as they go along and Vatican use any of six European salivate, but the truth about the Vatican those who carefully cultivate sources tongues: Italian, French, German, Span-

62 Nieman Reports / Spring 2003 Church Scandal Investigation ish, Portuguese and English. “Vatican was a very different outlook. Good who actually do the work. This rule documents” are prepared in any or all reporting means providing the cultural means, however, that most Vatican of these languages (English is not al- context necessary to help the readers sources can never be quoted by name. ways among them). Moreover, the re- understand. Even for those officials who can theo- porting, theological discussion, and Lack of Spin: As much as journal- retically speak to the press, many pre- correspondence important to under- ists complain about spin doctors, the fer to do so only on background. For standing the Vatican goes on in all six truth is that when a major story is one thing, in Vatican culture the em- of these languages and many more. breaking, it can be helpful if an institu- phasis on someone’s “competence” is This places a premium on linguistic tion puts public relations people in the very strong, so that if it’s a particular competence, leaving many Anglo-Saxon field. At the very least they can provide official’s job to speak on an issue, col- journalists disadvantaged. The result is basic information and, in the rush to leagues are reluctant to be seen as that American and English reporters file stories or assemble TV packages, invading his area of responsibility. For covering the Vatican tend to depend the institution’s view gets into the mix. another, Vatican officials often see the on English-speaking officials, thereby For whatever reasons, the Vatican press do a lazy job of reporting, so they limiting their range of sources. doesn’t spin its own story very well. are understandably wary about attach- Language is the doorway to culture, When the American cardinals were ing their name to information that might and reporters covering the Vatican face in Rome in April 2002 for a special be misused. the challenge of crossing the gaps that summit with the pope on the sex abuse The result is that Vatican correspon- divide Anglo-Saxon readers from other crisis, an army of American reporters dents are frequently constrained to cultures. For example, southern occupied the square outside the Vatican write stories on the basis of unnamed Mediterraneans have a very different press office. They were desperately hop- sources. Good reporters find this a attitude towards law than Anglo-Sax- ing for any scrap of information or frustrating, dangerous practice, and do ons. Mediterraneans see law as an ex- comment. While the American bishops everything they can to get voices on the pression of an ideal, understanding did a creditable job of making them- record. The problem, of course, is the that most people in most circumstances selves available, little was forthcoming potential for abuse. Who are these will fall short; Anglo-Saxons regard law from the Vatican, to the point that unnamed sources? How does the reader as the rule to be obeyed. Hence, when many reporters were still desperate to know they’re real or how seriously to the Vatican inveighs against birth con- find someone who could tell Rome’s take their information? In the end, only trol, Anglo-Saxons are scandalized be- side of the story. the journalist’s reputation offers a reli- cause many Catholics simply disregard This absence of spin can be seen as able guide. the rules; in Rome, the attitude is, either a symptom of an unaccountable Lack of Editorial Critique: If a “What else is new?” institution that disdains the press or a White House reporter filed a story claim- There are also Latin Americans, charming lack of concern for public ing that George W. Bush was about to Asians and Africans in the Vatican, as relations. Either way, it creates a real resign, it wouldn’t make it very far up well as northern Europeans and North headache for journalists. The Vatican the copyediting chain before some- Americans. In order to cover the beat, press office closes most days at 3:00 body raised questions. Most editors one has to know something about the p.m.; if news breaks later in the after- know enough about the White House cultural background, both social and noon, reporters are basically on their to realize how improbable such an ecclesiastical, of all these regions, be own. There is also no such thing as a event is and have their own sources able to apply them to specific debates daily briefing, and top Vatican officials from whom they could get an indepen- in the church, and then explain the almost never give news conferences. dent read of what’s going on. That kind impact of those differences to readers. When they want to communicate with of familiarity with the Vatican doesn’t This amounts to an exercise in cultural the world, they typically grant an inter- exist inside most English-language anthropology that doesn’t come easy. view to one Italian news outlet, count- newsrooms. Copyeditors and assign- This cultural gap became clear in ing on the rest of the press corps to ment desks don’t have much sense of coverage of the sex abuse scandals. For pick it up. who John Paul II is, how the Vatican example, Vatican officials repeatedly Sourcing: The Vatican employee works, or the internal politics of the expressed caution about policies oblig- handbook specifies that only the offi- Catholic Church. The result: Stories ing bishops to report accusations of cials at the highest levels in a given that would never make it past the edi- sexual abuse against priests to the po- office are allowed to speak with the torial filters on other beats can sail lice. Americans, by and large, saw this press. Technically, this would mean through when it comes to the Vatican. as a cover-up. For churchmen (such as only three people in each of the nine Correspondents thus have to find other Pope John Paul II himself) from cul- congregations and 11 councils—a sources of feedback and critique for tures in which the police and criminal grand total of 60 people—can deal their coverage of the Vatican and, like justice system have frequently been with reporters. In fact, Vatican report- any self-imposed discipline, there’s al- tools of oppression, however, there ers talk all the time to the desk officers ways the tendency to get lazy.

Nieman Reports / Spring 2003 63 Journalist’s Trade

Lack of Editorial Commitment: makes decisions, how it views the Until this neglect changes, the En- It’s a well-documented reality that edi- American situation, who is actually in glish-speaking world will get the un- tors and reporters in the American charge, and which policies are likely to even Vatican coverage it deserves. We media tend to be less religious than the be pursued. can’t blame that on Vatican secrecy. ■ general population, at least as mea- That interest, however, was episodic sured by participation in institutional and has already diminished. There is John L. Allen, Jr. is the Vatican corre- churches. Many editors regard religion little sustained commitment in many spondent of the National Catholic as a less serious beat than politics and news organizations to getting the Reporter, an independent American finance. The Vatican seems a bit like Vatican right. Even when reporters do newsweekly, and a Vatican analyst Buckingham Palace: good theater, but produce serious, well-sourced, for CNN and National Public Radio. the real news is at 10 Downing Street. groundbreaking stories, they some- He is also the author of “Conclave: The wake-up call in the sex scandals times find little editorial interest in The Politics, Personalities and Pro- of 2002 for the American press was that their own newsrooms. Aside from oc- cess of the Next Papal Election” the Vatican is an enormously conse- casional bursts of frenzy related to plan- (Doubleday, 2002). quential player in the lives of 65 mil- ning coverage of the death of the pope, lion American Catholics. News organi- there’s been little new investment of [email protected] zations scrambled to get people into resources to bring a more attentive, Rome to do stories on how the Vatican deliberate focus to the beat.

Reporting the Catholic Church’s Scandal in Ireland Hindered by its secrecy culture, Irish journalists were helped by dogged reporting from Britain.

By Emily O’Reilly

ome years ago, a reporter for the another country, usually Britain. Brit- bad news until the populace has been Irish national broadcasting chan- ish TV stations beam into Ireland and adequately softened up in advance. Snel, RTÉ, asked the then-Arch- are watched as easily and almost as Sexual deviancy within the priesthood bishop of Dublin, Desmond Connell, if regularly as the national channels. In had been whispered about for decades; the archdiocese had paid money to a the past 10 to 15 years, two of the yet during those years no reporter was named victim of clerical sex abuse. The biggest stories of corruption were bro- prepared to go behind the whispers. archbishop denied the charge. Later it ken by British TV stations. One con- emerged that the archdiocese had ad- cerned corrupt practices in the Irish Irish Press Tell the Story vanced a “loan” to an abusing priest beef industry; the other—clerical sex effectively to pay off one of his victims. abuse—was brought to public atten- The Irish press began to more aggres- Strictly speaking, the Cardinal was tell- tion in a series of documentaries. sively pursue this story around the mid- ing the truth: the archdiocese had not The Irish media were no less avid 1990’s. At that time, the church was paid the money directly to the victim. than their British counterparts to get already reeling from a series of scan- The Cardinal’s deeply disingenuous these stories out, but two things con- dals that in hindsight seem almost in- reply would become a watershed for spired against them doing so. The pri- nocent: One concerned the fathering what would transpire in the years mary one was our libel laws. Irish courts of a child by high-profile and popular ahead—as the painstaking revelations demand high standards of proof when Bishop Eamon Casey, the other con- of widespread clerical sexual abuse of it comes to media allegations. Victims’ cerned the fathering of another child children throughout Ireland emerged stories, no matter how compelling, by a high-profile Dublin priest. The fact in the press, as did the attempts to were not enough to beat the libel laws. that the media reported both stories cover up the scandal by some of the Concepts of freedom of speech and fair proved that a massive sea change had most senior members of the Catholic comment are not as highly developed taken place. Church in Ireland. in this country as they are in the United In 1994, for reasons too compli- A phenomenon of Irish journalism, States. The second was a sort of cul- cated to retell, the Irish government and Irish life, is that our scandals are tural censorship, an unwillingness by fell—in a very tangential way—over a often first made public by reporters in the news media in general to give the scandal involving an abusing priest.

64 Nieman Reports / Spring 2003 Church Scandal Investigation

He repeatedly denied any collusion on the part of the church hierarchy with the protection of abusing priests. Irish reporters found it difficult to break through the wall of obfuscation and denial. Then another British TV docu- mentary propelled the story forward. Broadcast last year, it told the story of Father Sean Fortune, a priest who had committed suicide some time earlier, before he could be tried on 66 charges of rape and molestation of young boys. The program proved beyond doubt that Fortune had been protected, moved from parish to parish as soon as his “guilt” became known. Bishop Brendan Comiskey, in charge of Fortune’s former diocese, resigned in the wake of the program revelations. Archbishop of Armagh Sean Brady, left, and Cardinal Desmond Connell at a press A few months later RTE’s Raftery pro- conference in Maynooth College, where they announced an independent audit to be held duced a program that for the first time into the controversy surrounding clerical child sexual abuse. Photo by © Leon Farrell/ pieced together the entire jigsaw of Photocall Ireland, August 2002. clerical abuse and the hierarchy’s col- laborative efforts to keep knowledge of that abuse away from the people, par- The revelations that led to the contro- called “States of Fear.” This wasn’t about ticularly from the courts. Her program versy were revealed in a British TV abusing priests per se but rather about profiled a number of convicted or documentary, which opened the flood- a whole culture of child abuse within known clerical abusers and traced their gates in Ireland. One by one, victims the clerical-run institutions that looked emerged to tell their stories. Investiga- after destitute, orphaned and aban- tions were carried out, charges pressed, doned children until relatively recent convictions secured. Once a convic- times. Raftery had managed to access tion had been secured, the press at last records, and with that access she pro- were able to reveal what had happened duced a program that sent shock waves and to dig deeper. through the church and state. The re- The reporting wasn’t easy. The sult: a strengthening and emboldening Catholic Church stonewalled, denied of the growing acceptance of wide- and hid behind canon law—the laws of spread abuse among the clergy, ac- the church that appear to bypass the companied by further revelations by norms of civil law but which in fact victims of what they had suffered. have no legal standing. But the media By 2000, the revelations and convic- were emboldened by the fact that re- tions were coming thick and fast. What spect for the church—in the wake of a was also becoming clear was that many series of scandals—was collapsing. of the abusing priests could have oper- Culturally, it became much easier for ated only if they were in some way journalists to break the bad news. sheltered by their leaders. In a direct Yet the Irish media were still hin- parallel with the Boston experience, dered by a secrecy culture. There was priests appeared to have been moved precious little access to court or other from parish to parish as soon as their documents. Unlike The Boston Globe abusing practices became known. In reporters, who were able to access a no case, however, were the abusers mountain of church documents and reported to the civil authorities. George Bell, right, breaks down crying records, the Irish media had to rely on after trying to tell his story about child- the testimony of victims, most of which, Confronting Church Denials hood abuse during a protest in Dublin naturally, was uncorroborated. when Cardinal Desmond Connell was In the late 1990’s, RTE producer Archbishop Connell was now Cardinal celebrating a mass. Photo by © Leon Mary Raftery produced a documentary Connell, and he was under pressure. Farrell/Photocall Ireland, August 2002.

Nieman Reports / Spring 2003 65 Journalist’s Trade

abusive path from parish to parish. already had another church-run inquiry Emily O’Reilly, a 1988 Nieman Viewers were left in no doubt that the under way that he was forced to drop. Fellow, is political correspondent men had been deliberately moved on It’s been a long road for the Irish with The Sunday Times in Ireland. to avoid detection by the civil authori- media. The Catholic religion is in the She has written and broadcast on ties. nation’s DNA, and it is consequently the topic of clerical sex abuse, with Raftery’s program proved to be an- much more difficult to explore and special emphasis on the reaction of other watershed. There were calls from attack the Catholic Church than in the political system to the scandal. victims’ groups, from some Catholic other, more secular countries. Yet, laity, even from some priests for despite these difficulties, individual [email protected] Connell to resign. The Minister for journalists and producers have pro- Justice promised to set up a public duced fantastic investigative work. But inquiry into the alleged collusion and it was the added input of our col- cover-up, an inquiry with powers to leagues across the sea that made the compel witnesses to attend. Connell vital difference. ■

In the 1980’s, a Chicago Newspaper Investigated Cardinal Cody ‘We’re going to have to do as careful and as in-depth reporting as anyone’s ever done, because this is dynamite.’

By Roy Larson

oston’s Cardinal Bernard F. Law enue Service. (In December 2002, Chi- The team’s painstaking approach was not the first member of the cago magazine, in a story about the made it difficult to dismiss the paper’s BRoman Catholic Church’s elite Cody investigation, revisited the re- findings casually. Soon after the series College of Cardinals to be the target of tired Internal Revenue Service agent was published, Governor James a major investigation by a newspaper who had cooperated with the report- Thompson, in the fourth year of what in his own metropolitan area. That ers two decades earlier. Referring to was to be a 14-year reign as the state’s distinction belongs to Cardinal John the Cardinal, the agent, who did not top official, was asked to respond to Patrick Cody, archbishop of Chicago want his name to be published, de- the Sun-Times’s stories. “I wouldn’t from 1965 to 1982 at a time when his clared, “I believed then and I believe touch that with a 1,001-foot pole,” archdiocese, with 2.4 million mem- now that he was guilty.”) Thompson replied. But a month later, bers, was the nation’s largest. Thompson, who had been elected gov- On Thursday, September 10, 1981, Investigating a Cardinal ernor after building a reputation as a the Chicago Sun-Times splashed across tough prosecutor as U.S. Attorney in its front page a three-tiered headline Fully aware that they were dealing with Chicago, told the Chicago Conference that jolted the city: “Federal grand jury an explosive issue in a metropolitan on Media Practices and Investigative probes Cardinal Cody use of church area where the Catholic Church was a Reporting that the stories represented funds.” A subhead read: “Investigation powerful institution with members at an “extraordinary piece of journalism.” centers on gifts to a friend.” The first in the top levels of the city’s political, Expanding on this, Governor Th- an extended, multifaceted series of in- judicial, business and labor establish- ompson said: “It occurred to me … vestigative stories did not appear until ment, the tabloid’s publisher and edi- when I read the preface of the series, a team of three Sun-Times reporters tors were not in a rush to get into print. would the Sun-Times or the Tribune or had completed an 18-month search for When the reporting team was first as- Channel 7 or any other news organ in sources, documents and other substan- sembled, Publisher James Hoge told the city, or indeed in the country, had tiating evidence. And this investigation the investigative unit: “We’re going to been quite so delicate, quite so careful, took place at a time when reporters have to do as careful and as in-depth had been at such pains to assure its still shared information with federal reporting as anyone’s ever done, be- readers that they had gone the extra authorities, including the Internal Rev- cause this is dynamite.” inch, or indeed mile, before they

66 Nieman Reports / Spring 2003 Church Scandal Investigation brought this story to the front page if of two, the reporters still felt it was had a long track record of publishing the subject were not a cardinal of the necessary to explain to readers the hard-hitting investigative stories, de- Roman Catholic Church of one of the nature of the ties that bound the two. veloped a strategy to present this series largest Catholic archdiocese’s in the The task was made difficult by the fact in a low-keyed fashion. Instead of break- country, indeed in the world, but were that Helen Wilson was described in ing the story on a Sunday, as was usu- a Chicago alderman?” different ways by different people. As a ally the case with its previous investiga- Unlike The Boston Globe’s investi- result of news reports in St. Louis and tive reports, it introduced the series on gation into sexual abuse of children by Chicago, some people, including Thursday. Publication was not accom- priests and Cardinal Law’s handling of priests, were led to believe she was panied by a promotional campaign. priests accused of this abuse, the main Cody’s cousin; others thought she was The writing style was simple and issue in the Chicago investigation was his niece. Cody himself called her his straightforward, with no rhetorical money. Carrying the bylines of investi- cousin although, genealogically, she flourishes. No cartoons related to the gative reporters William Clements and was not. At times, in published reports subject appeared in the paper. And, Gene Mustain and me (then religion she was described as a widow when, in once the stories were published, the editor), the lead story on September fact, she was divorced and her former reporters were instructed not to be 10th began: “A federal grand jury in husband was still alive. interviewed by other publications or to Chicago is investigating whether Car- appear on radio or television talk shows. dinal John P. Cody illegally diverted as Reaction to the Reporting Needless to say, that strategy did not much as $1 million in tax-exempt ward off criticism. One of the city’s church funds to enrich a lifelong friend As Publisher Hoge predicted at the most powerful political leaders, then from St. Louis.” It went on to report: investigation’s outset, the stories were and now, Alderman Edward M. Burke, “The grand jury has issued a subpoena explosive—even before they were pub- said a few days after the story broke: “It for Cody’s personal banking records as lished. It was no secret around Chicago would seem to me that one could con- well as one seeking financial docu- that the Sun-Times and, at one stage, clude that the only difference between ments of the Archdiocese of Chicago reporters for the Gannett newspapers, what the Sun-Times did to Cardinal dating back to the mid-1960’s.” were investigating the cardinal’s finan- Cody in this instance and what the Ku Other related stories in the same cial dealings. As early as July 1980, Klux Klan did to the Catholic Church in edition of the paper demonstrated that more than a year before the Sun-Times the early 1900’s is that the Sun-Times the paper was “all over” the exclusive first story appeared, the Chicago Catho- leaders did not wear hoods and white story. These accounts, illustrated with lic, the archdiocesan weekly newspa- flowing capes. It is vicious; it is unwar- photographs, reported that Cody pro- per, launched a preemptive strike. It ranted; it is clearly … the greatest ex- vided the money for a luxury vacation accused the Sun-Times of conducting a ample of yellow journalism that I’ve home for his friend, Helen Dolan Wil- “journalistic inquisition,” contending seen in a Chicago newspaper in de- son, in Boca Raton, Florida and that in that the paper and its editors were not cades.” earlier years he had helped Wilson get “proper judges of an archbishop, a A month after the first story ap- a job in the administrative offices of the successor to the Apostles, whose au- peared, the paper’s public relations Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. thority did not come from a board of department had logged 241 negative Louis where Cody was the chancellor. election commissioners.” Subse- phone calls and 223 that were support- For the next several days the Sun-Times quently, the church paper declared the ive. Sun-Times Editor Ralph Otwell produced new revelations. The paper Sun-Times was “engaged in a program reported that the series had almost no reported that Cody had put Wilson on of clandestine character assassination effect on the paper’s circulation fig- the payroll of the Archdiocese of Chi- that perhaps would win the endorse- ures or advertising revenue. cago while she was living in an expen- ment of the Ku Klux Klan.” Before and after publication of this sive apartment on the city’s lakefront; In November 1980, Cody escalated series, the newspaper’s editors and that Cody had steered insurance con- the attack by authorizing his public reporters worked under some degree tracts to his friend’s son, David Dolan relations officer to release a statement of emotional stress. Mustain learned Wilson, and that Wilson was the benefi- to the in which the that Chicago police had looked into ciary of a $100,000 insurance policy on cardinal said the Sun-Times investiga- rumors that his home was the scene of Cody’s life. tion was “an affront to all Catholics.” wild parties, a report that he denied. In The newspaper went to great lengths The statement, published on the one of his classrooms at a Catholic high to keep the focus of the stories on the Tribune’s front page, suggested that school, Mike Clements, a son of re- issue of money, specifically charges the Sun-Times was attacking the cardi- porter William Clements, heard his that the cardinal illegally used tax-ex- nal because he and the Church “have teacher say the Sun-Times reporters empt church funds to enrich his friend. enunciated a lifestyle opposed to that would go to hell. A letter sent to Otwell Without implying there was an inti- of the Sun-Times.” described me as “a fallen away Method- mate relationship between the arch- Given the volatility of the subject it ist with an axe to grind” and ended bishop and Wilson, a divorced mother was covering, the Sun-Times, which with the threat, “I work in the building,

Nieman Reports / Spring 2003 67 Journalist’s Trade

so watch it, Roy.” to them that they do not now have—a In 1982, the Rev. , In another letter to the editor, a gift, a grace—to renew themselves by the Korean-born leader of the contro- veteran Chicago priest advised Otwell turning from a delusion toward truth.” versial , was con- to “get your affairs in order. We pray for Cody never publicly stated what the victed on charges of income tax eva- your sudden and unprovided death investigators would discover if they did sion and subsequently served a term in every day.” For several weeks, the turn “toward truth.” He refused to be a federal prison. Although a number of Archdiocese’s public relations office interviewed by the Sun-Times, and he mainline religious leaders filed friendly answered all phone calls from the Sun- refused to turn over any documents to briefs on his behalf, Moon’s conviction Times with the stock reply, “It is our the federal authorities. On the day fol- and the news reports about it elicited policy not to speak to the Sun-Times.” lowing the publication of the first sto- fairly mild reactions, to no small extent One rewrite man was startled to get ries, Cody’s powerful attorney Don H. because Moon’s following in the United this robotic response when he called Reuben stated that “the Cardinal is States was comparatively small and the church office to verify information answerable to Rome and to God, not to widely dispersed, and he was disliked about a fire in a Catholic school. the Sun-Times.” by many more people who thought of The Rev. Richard McBrien, then chair him as a cult leader. How the Cody Case Ended of the department of theology at the As director of the Garrett-Medill University of Notre Dame, immediately Center for Religion and the News Me- Legally, the investigations by the paper took issue with Reuben and his client. dia at Northwestern University the last and the federal prosecutors ended in- “As the principal pastoral minister (ser- eight years, I have closely monitored conclusively. In that sense, the legal vant) of the local church, the bishop is the way the media have covered reli- tactics followed by Cody and his law- answerable not only to Rome and to gious issues. In 1981 there still was a yers—chiefly a strategy of delays and God, but to his own people as well.” climate around newsrooms that tended stalling—succeeded in preventing any to treat the church and its leaders def- indictments. Eight months before the Reporting on Church erentially that, instead of reflecting re- first story was published, the U.S. Leaders spect, often reflected a kind of secular Attorney’s office issued subpoenas to cosmopolitan condescension. But that Cody and the archdiocese, but the in- Two decades later in Boston and at climate was starting to change, espe- formation that was sought was never Catholic dioceses across the country cially at papers like the Sun-Times, turned over to the government. Even and throughout the world, the issue of whose editors were firm in their belief after the series was published, the stone- a bishop’s accountability again has risen that religious leaders should be treated walling continued. A new U.S. Attor- to the forefront of debate within the like all other public figures. By 2002, ney, Dan Webb, had taken over the church and in civil society. And so it is when stories about this sex abuse scan- government’s investigation and issued perhaps instructive to compare the dal broke, this point of view had be- new subpoenas, but Frank McGarr, the 1981 and 2002 newspaper investiga- come the conventional wisdom at met- chief judge of the U.S. District Court tions of the Roman Catholic Church ropolitan papers across the country, for the Northern District of Illinois, did and understand more fully what has but most notably in Boston. ■ nothing to move the case along. Fi- transpired in the coverage of religious nally, the Cardinal’s health became an institutions in the time between when Until his retirement in 2002, Roy issue. On April 25, 1982, he died. In these two stories were being reported. Larson was for eight years the direc- July 1982, Webb terminated the inves- The 1981 Sun-Times investigation tor of the Garrett-Medill Center for tigation, stating: “Once the cardinal of the cardinal and archdiocese was Religion and the News Media at passed on, the investigation as to the unprecedented. A year earlier, the Northwestern University. After leav- allegations against the cardinal became Gannett News Service won a Pulitzer ing the ordained ministry of the moot.” Prize for its investigation of the scan- United Methodist Church in 1969, he Two days after Cody’s death the dalous financial wrongdoings of the was the religion editor of the Chi- vicar-general of the archdiocese at a Paulist Fathers, a Catholic religious cago Sun-Times until 1985, when he press conference released a copy of a order based in Pennsylvania. That dra- resigned to become editor and pub- letter Cardinal Cody had written in the matic and well-researched series, lisher of The Chicago Reporter. weeks before his death in which he though widely criticized by church of- said: “I have forgiven my enemies …. I ficials, did not evoke the kind of out- [email protected] can turn away because I am a Christian, bursts as the Chicago investigation a bishop, a person. I do so. But God because the Paulist Fathers, unlike the will not so forgive. God’s is another Archdiocese of Chicago, did not have a way—he stands before my former en- solid core constituency concentrated emies insisting forever with good will in one metropolitan area where its that they change. If they change, it will religious and secular power were con- be because God has given something siderable.

68 Nieman Reports / Spring 2003 Words & Reflections

Journalists Testifying at War Crimes Tribunals

Should journalists who cover war be required to testify before tribunals in which cases involving those accused of war crimes are heard? A December 2002 ruling by the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia clarified that reporters cannot routinely be subpoenaed. But this ruling did not end debate among journalists about whether they should testify, even if not forced to do so. Some who have reported on war crimes share their perspectives about various journalistic and ethical issues that arise. Nina Bernstein, now a New York Times reporter, writes about when she was asked to provide evidence from reporting she did in Bosnia in 1992 for Newsday. That request—and her consideration of it—led to an abiding interest in this issue, which she written about for the Times. Here she describes her experience and the reaction of other journalists to it. Excerpts follow from a brief filed by a coalition of news organizations to argue against the court’s ability to compel journalists to testify. Roy Gutman, whose reporting for Newsday disclosed systematic killing at concentration camps in northern Bosnia, urges journalists to report more about how the tribunal process treats journalists and what happens when journalists testify. Excerpts from his witness statement and Boston Globe reporter Elizabeth Neuffer’s affidavit accompany his story. Lindsey Hilsum, diplomatic correspondent for Britain’s Channel 4 news, explains her decision to testify about her reporting in Rwanda and describes why British reporters are more likely to agree to testify than are their American counterparts. Kemal Kurspahic, the former editor in chief of the Sarajevo daily Oslobodjenje, agrees with the court’s decision not to compel journalists to testify, but also strongly supports reporters who went to The Hague as witnesses for the prosecution. “There are some things in this world that a person simply can’t be neutral about,” he writes. In reviewing Kurspahic’s recent book, “Prime Time Crime: Balkan Media in War and Peace,” Senad Pecanin, editor in chief of Dani magazine in Sarajevo, says that it “provides excellent testimony to the devastating things that happen to journalists when they fall under the control of authoritarian leaders.” Bill Berkeley, now a reporter for The New York Times who reported as a freelancer in Africa during the early 1990’s, takes us through his reversal in thinking as he first decides he will testify about what he reported from Rwanda, then decides against it. Russell Mills, former publisher of the Ottawa Citizen and currently a Nieman Fellow, shares his idea about creating a journalistic organization with the ability to do case-by-case reviews before a subpoena is issued, when an international court seeks evidence from a reporter. Coverage of War

Photojournalist Peter Turnley and former ABC News correspondent Bob Zelnick present through images and words ways for us to visualize and reflect on casualties of war, both military and civilian. Turnley’s photographs show scenes of death at the end of the Persian Gulf War; Zelnick’s article recalls various ways in which civilian casualties have been reported during previous wars. ■ Words & Reflections Testing Different Expectations of Journalism An American journalist wrestles with the request to provide evidence to a war crimes tribunal.

By Nina Bernstein

he call from The Hague came in July of 2001, almost nine years Tafter I had torn open the Velcro strips of my secondhand flak jacket for the last time and passed it on to an- other journalist heading into Bosnia. Nothing since has seemed as impor- tant, as frightening, or ultimately as frustrating as reporting from eastern Bosnia in the late summer of 1992. But I did it only for a month, dispatched by Newsday as temporary reinforcement for Roy Gutman when he broke the story of Bosnian death camps. Why did an investigator for the U.N. Interna- tional Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) want to meet with me now? What the ICTY was after, I eventu- ally realized, was a sheet of paper stashed in a sagging cardboard box above a garage in upstate New York. Journalists watch a giant monitor in a hall in The Hague, while former Yugoslav Presi- Stored as a souvenir with my note- dent Slobodan Milosevic appears at the U.N. war crimes tribunal in The Hague, July books and clippings, it was a routine 2001. Photo by Serge Ligtenberg/The Associated Press. document in Serbian that gave Nina Bernstein, journalist, permission to enter Serb-held territory in Bosnia be- Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic cific, written authorization to enter tween August 18th and 20th. One of who orchestrated it all from Belgrade, Batkovic, a secret detention camp said the illegible signatures at the bottom, I she had been indicted for genocide to exist on a dead-end road north of had reason to remember, belonged to and other crimes against humanity. Bijeljina. Without an escort, Landay Biljana Plavsic. considered the hunt too dangerous. Plavsic was the former biology pro- Encountering Biljana Plavsic The week before, he and another re- fessor and strident nationalist who porter, Peter Maass, had been threat- called Bosnian Muslims “a genetic de- But when I first glimpsed her on a hot ened with death by paramilitary goons fect on the Serbian body.” She had August day in 1992 at Villa Bosna, the guarding the road. celebrated the bloody beginning of the Bosnian Serb headquarters in Belgrade, Plavsic finally pushed aside coffee of “ethnic cleansing” in Plavsic just looked like a 62-year-old cups, took our ordinary passes, and the spring of 1992, publicly embracing woman with badly dyed hair, in an added her signature. Then she named the paramilitary chieftain known as office meeting with half a dozen men. a top police official in Bijeljina who “Arkan” after his troops casually ex- The door was ajar, and my two sea- could escort us to the camp. As it turned ecuted Muslim civilians in the streets soned companions recognized her— out, our entry was delayed by a day of Bijeljina. She had been deputy and Jonathan Landay, then a stringer for when camp guards, acknowledging that then successor to Radovan Karadzic, United Press International, and Seska we had “civilian authorization,” de- the leader of the movement that carved Stanojlovic, our translator. Landay manded an okay from the military gar- out an “ethnically pure” Serbian state barged in and began arguing for what rison in Bijeljina, as well. The next day, in Bosnia though massacre, rape and we had been falsely promised the day when we managed to get into Batkovic, deportation. And, by 2001, like the before by Karadzic: an escort and spe- we found it was hiding survivors of

70 Nieman Reports / Spring 2003 Journalists Testifying other camps as part of the Bosnian compel the testimony of Jonathan thing as a Serb,” she said later, explain- Serb shell game to appease interna- Randal, a retired correspondent for ing why she had spent three days talk- tional opinion. . He appealed the ing to the investigator and sent her on ruling, backed by 34 news organiza- to me. Weighing the Arguments tions, and on December 11th, the Legal advice was also mixed. Since I tribunal’s appeals court set aside the had reported from Bosnia before I I had gone to Bosnia believing that if subpoena. For the first time, the deci- joined the Times, whether and how to we journalists only reported out the sion set limited legal protection for cooperate was my call, said Adam story of the camps and ethnic cleans- war correspondents against being com- Liptak, then working for the Times as a ing, the world would have to inter- pelled to testify. But it did not resolve lawyer, now its legal affairs correspon- vene. I soon realized that Western gov- the question that a growing number of dent. He said the Times never shares its ernments unwilling to risk casualties reporters will face in this era of interna- unpublished information with pros- had their own ways of defusing the tional courts and terrorist wars: ecutors, defendants or others involved initial public outcry. The U.S. State whether, or when, to give evidence in legal proceedings. But hearing my Department was “unable to confirm” voluntarily. My own experience shows ambivalence, he suggested informal, what it studiously avoided learning. how complicated and conflicted such a limited, off-the-record help might be Experts blamed “centuries of incom- choice can be. justified and even prudent in this case. prehensible blood hatred” for a con- John Kifner, veteran New York Times Newsday lawyers took a hard line, flict fomented by neofascist war correspondent, was my nearest worked out years earlier with the edi- over state-controlled news media. Jew- neighbor in the Times’s newsroom tor, Anthony Marro, when tribunal pros- ish groups split over the evocation of when the investigator reached me. I ecutors were pressing for Gutman’s the Holocaust as a goad to action. Con- shouldn’t even speak with her off the testimony. “We told Roy we didn’t want gress failed to hold hearings on whether record, Kifner contended. His stron- him to do it and told investigators we’d “ethnic cleansing” met the international gest argument was the most personal: fight any subpoena,” said Stephanie definition of genocide, and diplomats Since I was now a Times’ reporter, if I Abrutyn, the lawyer advising Newsday announced peace agreements that went cooperated with prosecutors I would then. “Tony’s position is it confuses quietly unenforced. put him at greater risk of being shot the things when a reporter sides with a The tribunal might be the last chance next time he approached some war- prosecutor, no matter how sensible to hold perpetrators accountable. If its lord with his press tags dangling, say- and logical it might seem and how investigators believed that I could ac- ing, “I just want to tell your story.” good the cause is.” tually help build the criminal case On the other side was Maass, who Newsday maintained that there was against Plavsic, my first reaction was to had reported from Bosnia as a stringer no way to confidentially provide infor- feel gratified and eager to talk. Then for The Washington Post and also writ- mal cooperation and strongly preferred the investigator, Susan Malone, men- ten a book about the war. Asked to that I not meet with the investigator at tioned that she was a former FBI agent. testify in the tribunal’s first genocide all. In theory, Abrutyn added, Newsday Suddenly I knew it was not so simple— trial, he had weighed and ultimately could try to stop me, by claiming that not for a reporter steeped in the cul- discounted arguments like Kifner’s. The anything I had gathered in Bosnia was ture of the First Amendment. only reason he had not taken the stand the paper’s property. In practice, she During the Nixon era, FBI demands was that the defendant had died of a added, “Tony’s view is we cannot com- for evidence from reporters were widely heart attack first. pel you.” Her most telling point was criticized as a danger to news media “I was a freelancer in the end,” Maass the simplest. “If you turn over the docu- independence and the free flow of in- told me, explaining why a newspaper’s ment,” she asked, “who would give it to formation. Federal court rulings on reputation for impartiality was not re- you the next time around?” the matter were equivocal. But after ally at stake in his case. “These days I’m What was at stake was not a smoking reporters demonstrated a willingness a magazine writer, and there isn’t the gun, not an eyewitness account of atroc- to go to jail rather than violate profes- same demand for the appearance of ity, but the glue of newsgathering. And sional principles, limited protections not being involved.” He added: “The this was typical, I found. From Maass, came from shield laws passed in 31 rules that they teach you in journalism for example, prosecutors did not need states and guidelines adopted by the school, when you’re in a war zone they testimony about the notorious Omarska justice department. just don’t apply, whatever the nice camp, but evidence that the defendant The least I owed that tradition, I ideas are back home about objectivity.” had authorized his tour there. From decided, was to consult with colleagues For my former translator, Randal they did not need an account of and newspaper lawyers about the ethi- Stanojlovic, a journalist for the dissi- ethnic cleansing in Banja Luka, but his cal, legal and practical issues at stake. dent magazine Vreme in Belgrade who interview about it with the town’s The views I gathered were contra- had also worked for Gutman and Bosnian Serb boss. dictory. Last year the debate sharp- Randal, the stakes were even more For prosecutors, such details can be ened after the tribunal court tried to personal. “I felt responsible for every- legal links in a chain of evidence to

Nieman Reports / Spring 2003 71 Words & Reflections

prove that an official had “command ists who testified tend to frame the critically. “Most [British] journalists do and control responsibility” of crimes choice as a contest between profes- not take their role as part of the fourth committed on the ground. But did the sional rules and personal conscience, estate seriously,” he wrote, pointing to prosecution really need journalists to or journalism vs. justice. But I saw no an array of curbs and gags in a system supply such nuts and bolts, or was it a justice without journalism, and my con- lacking the protection of a First Amend- matter of convenience? As Liptak asked, science was engaged on both sides. It ment. “The British press holds itself in “Do we want these people going out was Gutman, sharing his experience of such low esteem because it lacks a and gathering their own information, divided conscience, who helped me proper constitutional function.” or just freeloading on the reporters?” formulate an answer I could live with This helps explain why Vulliamy when the investigator came. [See Roy wrote proudly that journalists who tes- Deciding What to Do Gutman’s story on page 74.] tified could now have “an impact be- Soon after September 11th, I met yond mere ‘reporting.’” Or how Jacky Where would I draw the line? At best, briefly in the Times cafeteria with the Rowland, a BBC correspondent, could the pass Plavsic signed was meaning- investigator. I said I was willing to breezily report on her own cross-ex- less without my explanations—which listen, but that prosecutors would have amination by Milosevic. Complaints by a defense lawyer would of course want to persuade me that I had evidence retired BBC editors that her testifying to cross-examine. What about my notes? crucial to their case, which seemed compromised the BBC’s reputation for Maass said he had refused to give pros- highly unlikely. I never heard back. independence seem like the exception ecutors his notebook. But the British that proves the rule. correspondent Ed Vulliamy, who actu- Reflecting on Varying On the other side of the transAtlantic ally took the stand in the same case, Perspectives divide is Bill Berkeley, who had agreed had to turn over his notebooks to the to testify at the Rwanda tribunal when defense on order of the court and was Months later, in the Randal case, the he was a freelancer writing a book, but grilled for days about “context” and First Amendment lawyer Floyd Abrams had changed his mind by the time the numbers culled from the margins. argued for a similar balancing test. The case went to trial, when he was writing “We often have these murky rela- decision itself set a somewhat less strin- editorials about the tribunal for The tionships with our sources where we gent standard: To compel a reporter’s New York Times. [See Berkeley’s story trade information, so it seems very testimony, the evidence sought must on page 83.] Of course, from the Brit- natural to talk,” Tom Gjelten of Na- be “of direct and important value in ish perspective, the Times and Newsday tional Public Radio told me later. “You determining a core issue in the case” might also be seen as exceptions that have to stop and think through whether and “cannot reasonably be obtained prove the rule—the rule that in an age it compromises principles that protect elsewhere.” of Internet bloggers and media con- us in other situations.” Revisiting the issue recently in a glomerates, expecting the best from Such concerns can seem petty in story I wrote for the Times (“Should journalism might be no less delusional comparison to the enormity of the War Reporters Testify, Too? A Recent than expecting it from the tribunal. crimes being prosecuted, or to the Court Decision Helps Clarify the Issue And yet, without having turned a noblest aspirations of international but Does Not End the Debate”), I found press pass into criminal evidence, I can justice. But Diane Orentlicher, a law divisions among reporters growing bit- rejoice that reporting and prosecution professor at American University, re- ter. Europeans were quick to link the have now accomplished something minded me that in operation the tribu- Randal position to U.S. opposition to beyond many people’s expectations: nals are no less fallible than other insti- the International Criminal Court, or to Plavsic, expressing deep remorse, tutions. And it was the glue of the unilateral behavior of the world’s pleaded guilty to crimes against hu- newsgathering that had made them sole superpower. Some treated a re- manity. On February 27th, Plavsic, now possible, by bringing the crimes to light fusal to testify as a failure of personal 72, was sentenced to 11 years in prison. in the first place. courage or integrity, even when they ■ Richard Goldstone, the tribunal’s knew better, while some Americans first chief prosecutor, agreed. “I appre- discounted British claims of conscience Nina Bernstein, a 1984 Nieman ciate the importance of the media in as self-promotion. Fellow, has been a reporter for The uncovering human rights abuses, and I At stake, I realized, were differing New York Times since 1995. She is a don’t think anything should be done to expectations of journalism itself, 2002-2003 Holtzbrinck Fellow at the imperil that,” he said, adding that news- shaped both by the role of the press in American Academy in and the paper policy alone should not deter- the reporter’s home country and by author of “The Lost Children of mine whether a journalist provides the changing demands of individual Wilder: The Epic Struggle to Change evidence. “You have to deal with each careers. Journalism is not sacrosanct in Foster Care” (Pantheon Books, case on its merits. Ultimately, I think it Britain, Lindsey Hilsum notes. [See 2001). should be left to the journalist.” Hilsum’s story on page 78.] The British Vulliamy and other British journal- historian Piers Brendon has put it more [email protected]

72 Nieman Reports / Spring 2003 Journalists Testifying

Journalists Should Not Be Compelled to Testify

In an amici curiae brief filed in sup- tigating crimes and apprehending its tinction. By compelling reporters to port of Washington Post reporter perpetrators. testify whenever the tribunal deter- Jonathan Randal’s appeal of a deci- The Trial Chamber also did not ques- mines that they might have pertinent sion to compel him to testify at the tion that these benefits can only occur testimony, the tribunal will rob war U.N. International Criminal Tribunal if journalists are provided continual correspondents of their status as ob- for the Former Yugoslavia, 34 news access to war zones to conduct inter- servers and transform them into par- organizations and associations from views and observe crimes. What it failed ticipants, thus undermining their cred- around the world explained why jour- to appreciate, however, is that forced ibility and independence. nalists should not be forced to testify. disclosure of the fruits of journalists’ If war correspondents are perceived In December 2002, the tribunal handed newsgathering activities or the pro- as betraying confidences or as later down its ruling that said that report- duction of investigative materials or aiding in criminal prosecutions, they ers cannot be subpoenaed to testify the compelled testimony of journalists will be viewed with a higher level of before this court unless the testimony against those very sources they used, suspicion and will not be given oppor- “is of direct and important value to would seriously frustrate the tunities to interview, observe or report determining a core issue in the case,” newsgathering and reporting functions from war-torn regions. As one observer and it must be demonstrated that the of war correspondents. Quite simply, queried: “Might [the tribunal seek] … evidence cannot be reasonably ob- compelling reporters to testify will in- the effective conscription of war re- tained elsewhere. Journalists can, how- evitably reduce their access to poten- porters as the court’s agents, observers ever, testify voluntarily, which some tial sources for news…. and therefore its unarmed foot sol- have chosen to do. What follows are The hazards of forcing reporters to diers? Such a policy would be counter- excerpts from this brief. testify at war crimes tribunals exist at productive, since a dead witness is of many levels. First, compelling journal- no use to any tribunal.” …. Journalists’ work frequently aids the ists to testify about their newsgathering The result is certain: The clear ben- investigation of war crimes by uncover- would fundamentally curtail their abil- efits journalists provide—and which ing evidence that war-crimes investiga- ity to access information. To take just both the Office of the Prosecutor and tors themselves have yet to uncover. one example, Ms. Neuffer broke a story tribunal acknowledge—will be severely To cite only a few of countless ex- in 1996 about the chain of command in undermined by routinely or too easily amples, war correspondent Elizabeth the Srebrenica massacre, identifying compelling reporters’ testimony. Even Neuffer of The Boston Globe led inves- for the first time the links between the when findings are published and tigators in Bosnia on the Srebrenica men on the ground and their com- sources are known, the link between case to a trail of skeletons she and a mander, Radislav Krstic. A second story, the forced disclosure and the loss of colleague discovered, the bodies of which appeared a few days later, de- journalists’ independence is compel- which were those men who marched scribed a subsequent campaign to con- ling, as it significantly changes the tone out of Srebrenica. Similarly, in 1997, ceal the evidence of the mass graves. of journalists’ work and the willing- journalists who reported from Rwanda Ms. Neuffer states unequivocally in her ness of sources to comply with report- and Zaire found themselves in posses- affidavit that she “never would have ers’ requests for interviews…. sion of vital information (including been able to systematically piece to- We do not urge that the journalists’ plans of imminent attacks) that tribu- gether either story” if she had not been privilege with regard to nonconfidential nal investigators could not have uncov- able to assure her sources that they materials should be absolute. Nobody ered because they had not received would be protected and that she would before this Court has argued for an permission to cross into Zaire. It was not find herself forced to give evidence absolute privilege. While the protec- the reporters who retrieved this infor- about them to the tribunal…. tion of journalistic interests—and the mation and made it available to tribu- Similarly, journalists will have less interests of the public that are served nal investigators. In Northern Ireland, access to information if they lose their by journalists—is of the greatest im- evidence collected by journalists sig- independence, or if others conclude port, the need for justice in the pros- nificantly aided the judicial inquiry into that journalists are not independent. ecution of war criminals is also one of the killings on Bloody Sunday in 1972. At their very best, journalists are objec- the highest order. A qualified privilege This critical reporting both serves as an tive reporters of the news. They are not strikes the right balance between pro- early warning system against the com- tools of the prosecution or investiga- tecting journalists in most cases, with- mission of crimes, and the critical step tive arms of governments or courts— out fatally compromising in any case in gathering crucial evidence in inves- and it is important to honor this dis- the important work of the tribunal. ■

Nieman Reports / Spring 2003 73 Words & Reflections

WATCHDOG Consequences Occur When Reporters Testify A reporter urges journalists to be better watchdogs of the war crimes tribunal process.

By Roy Gutman

n its decision to quash the bizarre case; it is tough arguing your way out of in both cases was identical. order that former Washington Post a signed commitment. And therein lies the story behind the Ireporter Jonathan Randal testify to In fact, Randal’s case was inherently story. This important new United Na- the veracity of an interview he had stronger than it appeared, for the un- tions’ institution has been purring done 10 years earlier, The Interna- derlying question is how did the along with scarcely any oversight from tional Criminal Tribunal for the Former prosecutor’s staff obtain his signature the news media. Until the Post mounted Yugoslavia was attempting to curb the in the first place? Having spoken at its challenge, the major journalistic or- powers of the prosecutor in an area in length to another reporter who signed ganizations had shown minimal inter- which they were undefined and ex- a similar statement, I would posit that est in whether reporters testify or not. panding without check. the prosecutor’s office has developed a Let us hope the journalistic organiza- Prosecutor Carla Del Ponte chose, routine in approaching journalists that tions will remain engaged. At the same however, not to yield, and two months leads at the end of an interview to a time, reporters have to be more aware after the appeal’s ruling she renewed form of entrapment. I base this on a of what they are dealing with in talking her demand for Randal’s testimony. small sample—of two. But the method with tribunal prosecutors. Whether the The Randal case has thus turned United States continues the into a test, not only of the rela- Bush administration boycott or tionship of journalists to inter- eventually agrees to join, the national justice, but also of the ICC is a reality, and news media functioning of the first U.N. crimi- should begin focusing on it. And, nal tribunal set up since the finally, news organizations Nuremberg trials. Moreover, it should cover these proceedings has been a wake-up call to our with more skepticism. profession, which put aside its usual anarchy and rallied behind The Prosecutor and the the notion that journalists de- Journalist serve procedural protection be- fore this court. This is not a jeremiad against Now it is time for a more rigor- The Hague tribunal, for any re- ous discussion about journalists porter who covered the crimes and the court, particularly in light of the four Balkan wars from of the creation of the U.N.’s per- 1991 to 1999 has to view justice manent International Criminal after such suffering as an ad- Court (ICC). It is vital that this vance for civilization. Between permanent court adopt the pro- the closing of the Nuremberg tections implicit in The Hague Tribunals and the opening of court’s ruling regarding journal- The Hague, international jus- ists’ testimony and that it recog- tice existed largely in theory. nize the unique role journalists The failure to prosecute no play in exposing war crimes. doubt was viewed by violators The Randal case presented a as a green light. Although The special challenge to the lawyers Hague tribunal and its Arusha for the Post, for they were well branch for Rwanda were estab- aware that in summoning this lished by Western leaders partly most accomplished of reporters, At her home in Tuzla, Bosnia, Zehta Mujicic, a survivor of to compensate for their feck- the tribunal was following the Srebrenica massacre in 1995, in which 7,000 Bosnian lessness in Yugoslavia and through on Randal’s own writ- Muslims died, is reflective during a live broadcast of the Rwanda, these tribunals have ten agreement to appear. This first day of ex-Yugoslav leader Slobodan Milosevic’s trial. taken on a life of their own. was, on the surface, a pretty weak Photo by Amel Emric/The Associated Press. Their proceedings have helped

74 Nieman Reports / Spring 2003 Journalists Testifying not only to bring some justice where ous examination by Hague-based re- derstand the psychology. Given our there had been genocide, but also to porters of this flawed indictment. I tools of the trade, it is amazing that a strengthen the law, set precedents and, must presume this is not the only case journalist can, with a notepad and one hopes, deter future such crimes. like this. The tribunal has also had to ballpoint, expose the worst criminals Nevertheless, like any other institu- drop other charges and cases, and its of our time and see them land in the tion, these courts need watchdogging. prosecution of the highest profile case, dock. Now imagine that a member of And they are not getting it. I reported of Serbian strongman Slobodan the prosecutor’s staff asks for an ap- (in Newsweek) in August 2001 that Milosevic, is far from airtight. pointment and holds a long interview one of The Hague tribunal’s indict- Randal’s case illustrates the prob- in which the journalist—who is now ments against a Croatian general stated lematic side of international justice. being regarded as a witness—recounts charges that were 180 degrees at vari- Unbeknownst to him and to his law- the context, content and significance ance with what I and even the spokes- yers, the prosecutor’s office had devel- of his/her coverage. woman for the tribunal, Florence oped a system for interviewing report- In the case of Dusan Tadic, it was a Hartmann, had reported (for Le ers that ends up with a signed German reporter who uncovered both Monde) at the time and knew to be the agreement to appear in court. To un- his role and whereabouts with the re- case. I never saw a follow-up or a rigor- derstand the method, you have to un- sult being the arrest and prosecution of the first defendant before The Hague tribunal. But there were so many wit- nesses in Western Europe that the pros- Roy Gutman’s Witness Statement ecutors never debriefed this journalist. Late last year, the prosecutors discov- ered their lapse, made contact with What follows are excerpts from a debate within the profession when this journalist, and did about 12 hours witness statement that Roy Gutman, it comes to testifying before the U.N. of interviews during several days. diplomatic correspondent for International Criminal Tribunal for During their interviews, prosecutors Newsweek, filed in the motion on the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) or pushed these journalists to relive those behalf of Jonathan Randal to set International Criminal Tribunal for hours of history-making reporting, to aside his confidential subpoena to Rwanda (ICTR). Based on my own recount their roles, and try to recreate give evidence. experience and that of my col- the context in which they operated. If leagues, and after thinking about their emotions were not engaged, they The role reporters played in bring- this issue long and hard, I believe are not human. Next, the prosecution ing the crimes to light puts the jour- testifying puts the above stated pro- staff wrote up a memo on what the nalistic profession in a difficult posi- fessional obligations in jeopardy. journalists said and asked them to sign tion when the tribunal follows up In a recent book on humanitarian it with an agreement that should there on news media leads. The objective law entitled “Crimes of War” that I be a challenge to its content, the jour- of our profession is to make public coedited, Richard Goldstone, former nalists would address the court. My the best material we have and to do chief prosecutor at ICTY, recom- German reporter friend signed. So did it quickly, accurately, and in a way mended that reporters be given pro- Randal. There was no discussion about that compels credibility. Profession- tection similar to that afforded aid the implications, and both Randal, a alism obliges us to protect our workers. “Like aid workers and Red retired Post staffer, and my German sources, to be responsible for our Cross or Red Crescent delegates, if colleague, a freelance journalist, saw judgment, to correct our errors, and reporters become identified as no obvious conflict—nor were they in general to operate in a manner would-be witnesses, their safety and warned of any. A staff reporter might that permits us to return to the scene future ability to be present at a field have had a different reaction, as have I, and carry on with reporting. A jour- of battle will be compromised,” Jus- namely to check with my editors be- nalist must be able to claim he or she tice Goldstone wrote. “I would there- fore committing myself to anything. has not taken sides or become parti- fore support a rule of law to protect san, but has simply reported the journalists from becoming unwill- Consequences of Journalists’ facts. Returning to the scene and ing witnesses in situations that would Testimony reporting further is an assertion of place them or their colleagues in that claim. future jeopardy …. They should not Let us hope that practices like this will Anyone who believes justice must be compelled to testify lest they give end given the recent decision in the be done will want to cooperate at up their ability to work in the field, Randal case. But I would like to see the least informally with investigators, but they may of course testify volun- prosecutor’s office draw back from its and that is the practice of journalists tarily.” I wholly endorse Justice use of reporters’ testimony in general. the world over. But there is serious Goldstone’s comments. ■ There seems to be an underlying view, even among the first-rate U.S. Justice

Nieman Reports / Spring 2003 75 Words & Reflections

Department and military prosecutors speech. frequently do with local district attor- sent from Washington to The Hague The second example involved Ed neys and prosecutors in domestic set- and Arusha tribunals, that reporters Vulliamy, formerly with The (London) tings. The question is whether one should take the stand to reaffirm their Guardian. When he testified in the case should take the stand to attest to the coverage. This view has been encour- of Milan Kovacevic, on trial for his role veracity of an article one wrote years aged by the tendency, particularly in running the Omarska death camp, earlier. My own standard is that if my among British reporters, to submit to Vulliamy was subjected to cross-exami- testimony would make the difference every request and provide everything nation that went far beyond the charges. between conviction and release of a they have to the tribunal. No surprise, for the defense attorney person I know was a killer or the plan- Here is what can result. In the Dusan had told a New York Times reporter, ner of killings, I would testify out of Tadic case, Britain’s ITN television pro- “We’re going to roast him alive.” After conscience. Short of that substantive vided not only the televised tapes, but he testified for a half day about his role, it seems to me I am either there to also the untelevised film of their fa- interviews with Kovacevic, Vulliamy was self-advertise my role in nailing the mous visit to Omarska and Trnopolje cross-examined for three-and-a-half culprit, being used as window dressing camps in August 1992. The defense days by the defense, who demanded for a weak case, or being made vulner- made the material available to a sup- access to his shorthand notes. The judge able to a perfectly legal demand for posed “expert” witness. Based on these so ordered. The defense attorney then discovery by the defense and, where outtakes, this witness subsequently started examining the original note- that ends, heaven only knows. I would published articles alleging that ITN had books, found the names and numbers not, as Vulliamy did, make my notes “set up,” i.e., staged, its famous images of contacts unrelated to the case, and available to the court. of starving detainees. ITN sued the began asking more detailed questions. But there is another reason for sug- magazine that published these asser- This was a classic fishing expedition. gesting the prosecution alter its atti- tions for and, after a long Vulliamy cooperated. He would do it tude. International humanitarian law and costly battle, won in court. This again. is utterly different from domestic crimi- was an improper use of discovered or Make no mistake: Many reporters, nal law. These big crimes—repeated disclosed journalistic material with myself included, feel a moral obliga- violations of the laws of armed conflict consequent chilling effects on free tion to assist the tribunal, as reporters (war crimes), the massive and system-

Elizabeth Neuffer’s Affidavit

Elizabeth Neuffer has reported for The sions, when I found I had general in- received permission to cross into Zaire, Boston Globe for more than 14 years, formation that was of no particular use where retreating Hutu Interahamwe including reporting on war crimes in to my stories but related to war crimes had left piles of documents detailing Bosnia and Rwanda. She is also the cases, I passed it along to staff from The everything from gun smuggling to plans author of “The Key to My Neighbor’s Hague. For example, investigators on to attack Rwanda in their wake. While House: Seeking Justice in Bosnia and the Srebrenica case will remember that I was not one of the journalists who Rwanda,” published by Picador in my translator and I led them to the trail retrieved such evidence, I know those 2002, which chronicles the develop- of skeletons we discovered on Mt. who did and willingly made it available ment of the war crimes tribunals and Kamenica—the bodies of those in the to tribunal investigators anxiously wait- tells the story of several families who column of men who marched out of ing in Rwanda. sought justice before them. What fol- Srebrenica. Such examples, I believe, show that lows are excerpts from an affidavit I think this is an important point to journalists in good faith try to cooper- she filed in support of the amici curaie make to underscore the informal co- ate with the tribunal when they can. It brief filed by various news organiza- operation many journalists, including is the nature of journalism, however, tions in support of Jonathan Randal’s myself, have shown to the tribunal. In that such cases are often the exception appeal to set aside the confidential these instances, we journalists were rather than the rule. Reporting on war subpoena to give evidence before the neither asked to cooperate, nor were crimes—particularly breaking news tribunal. we compelled to do so. Similarly, jour- about someone’s involvement in an nalists who reported in 1997 from alleged crime—often requires a de- My path often crossed in the field with Rwanda and Zaire found ourselves in gree of confidence placed by sources that of the war-crimes investigators and possession of information that tribu- in the reporter. That confidence often prosecutors, as we were often chasing nal investigators could not physically includes a belief that their identities the same information. On several occa- retrieve. Investigators then had not will not be revealed, even to war crimes

76 Nieman Reports / Spring 2003 Journalists Testifying atic acts against civilians (crimes against this sense of exposing the truth, iden- journalists often play a unique role in humanity), and attempts to eliminate a tifying the culprits, and most of all exposing war crimes, and it is in people or nation in whole or in part bringing the violation to a halt, the everyone’s interest that they continue (genocide)—are crimes committed by at times can be a coequal doing that. The existing tribunals— and on behalf of the State. The State branch with the third. and the new ICC as well—would be acts not as prosecutor, but conspira- My own stories exposing concentra- foolish to jeopardize this rare, almost tor. Its top legal authority does not tion camps such as Omarska were fol- magical, power of journalism, for it is investigate, prosecute and incarcerate, lowed a few days later by their closure. in our common aim to see these crimes but covers up and conceals. This is why Elizabeth Neuffer’s courageous exposés stopped. Thus, the media and the courts war crimes have been beyond the reach in The Boston Globe of indictees run- are effectively allies. So I am glad the of justice for most of the 20th century. ning around with impunity led to ar- tribunal made the right decision; now Tribunals, at most, will punish a token rests and a change of policy. Neuffer I would like to see journalists start number of top criminals and extensive said in her affidavit that her ability to covering the tribunal more rigorously. trials will be staged only if there is a report this and other stunning stories ■ complete military takeover. would have been greatly hampered if she knew she would have to testify Roy Gutman has reported on foreign Journalists’ Broader Role later. My own argument was that I want affairs for Reuters, Newsday and to be able to assert my nonpartisanship Newsweek and was coeditor with It is in this context that journalists play on a story, and to do that I have to feel David Rieff of “Crimes of War: What a much broader role than in domestic free to return to the scene and carry on the Public Should Know,” published justice. At times journalism can have reporting. If I testify, I think I will be in 1999 by W.W. Norton & Company. the same impact as a tribunal and a lot identified with the prosecution. [See He is currently a senior fellow at the faster. A timely, well-documented, ir- accompanying boxes for excerpts from U.S. Institute of Peace, researching a refutable exposé can pack such a wal- Neuffer and Gutman’s statements to book on the Afghanistan civil war. lop that the mere shining of additional the court.] multiple spotlights on a scene can My point is not special pleading or [email protected] change the behavior of the culprit. In self-advertising, rather to relate that

investigators who pose them no harm. Bosnian Serbs embarked on a cam- continue to do on war crimes would That was particularly true in Bosnia paign of disturbing mass graves from not have been possible …. Covering in 1996, when peace was so fragile and Srebrenica, so that the evidence would stories about wartime situations can be hatreds so deep many feared to tell the be compromised. dangerous business. Potential war truth. There were times I found I could Both stories were later faxed to tri- criminals might see journalists as po- report a story only on the condition bunal investigators at their request. I tential enemies if they knew that jour- that I would not reveal a source’s name would never have been able to system- nalists could be compelled at some and, sometimes, their location to any- atically piece together either story had later time to testify against them at the one. Such reporting would have been I not been able, in good faith, to give tribunal. impossible had I then known that some- my word that my sources would be In order to provide journalists with day I might be compelled to testify in protected and that I would not find the independence they need to effec- front of the tribunal. Had that been the myself forced to give evidence about tively gather the news, journalists who case, I would not have been able to them to the tribunal. The latter is a key do not wish to or cannot testify should break several stories that, ironically, point: Many witnesses insisted I not be protected from doing so unless there aided the tribunal in several of its cases. pass on any information to investiga- is a showing that the evidence is abso- For example, in 1996 I broke a story tors, fearful they would be killed if they lutely essential to the case and that it that outlined the chain of command were compelled to testify …. If the cannot be obtained from other sources. among the Bosnian Serbs in the tribunal were to establish a legal prece- Without such a privilege, I fear that Srebrenica massacre, identifying for the dent that journalists could be com- both the public and the tribunal will first time the links between men on the pelled to testify before a war crimes suffer greatly as the number of sto- ground and their commander, Radislav court—about either confidential or ries—and the amount of public infor- Krstic. A second story, which appeared nonconfidential sources—I sincerely mation—pertaining to war crimes will several days later, outlined how the believe much of the reporting I did and likely diminish significantly. ■

Nieman Reports / Spring 2003 77 Words & Reflections Deciding to Testify About Rwanda ‘As a journalist, I might argue against testifying but, as a human being, I could not.’

In 1997, British journalist Lindsey Hilsum testified before the Interna- tional Criminal Tribumal on Rwanda about events she’d witnessed while working in that country as a freelance journalist in 1994, primarily for the British Broadcasting Corporation. In this article, she describes why she agreed to testify.

By Lindsey Hilsum

he accused, dressed in a dark jacket, sat impassively staring Tahead, just a few yards from me in the sweltering courtroom. The alle- gations: genocide and crimes against humanity. Jean-Paul Akayesu had been mayor of Taba, in central Rwanda, while villagers and militia under his control slaughtered thousands of people with Rwandan refugee children plead with Zairean soldiers to allow them across a bridge machetes and nail-studded clubs. His separating Rwanda and Zaire where their mothers had crossed moments earlier before was the first case to be heard by the the soldiers closed the border in August 1994. Photo by Jean-Marc Bouju/The Associated International Criminal Tribunal on Press. Rwanda in Arusha, Tanzania. On Janu- ary 20, 1997, I took the stand as a witness for the prosecution. and might compromise our integrity of what I saw in Rwanda was so great, Emmanuel Rudasingwa was plan- and impartiality. British journalists— normal rules no longer applied. ning to testify, too, but he was mur- several of whom have testified at the I believe that the United Nations was dered before he could do so. His widow, tribunals on Rwanda and the former right to set up a special tribunal for Godlieve Mukarasasi, thought she knew Yugoslavia—tend to take a less rigid Rwanda as a way of bringing justice to why. Akayesu’s defenders were deter- stance, leaving the decision more to the perpetrators of a mass crime that mined that anyone who knew anything individual conscience. These stances ranks alongside the Holocaust and what about the campaign to wipe out the seem to emerge out of differing expe- happened in Cambodia. Who am I to Tutsi people in his area would not riences and perspectives: American say Emmanuel Rudasingwa should tes- make it to court in Arusha. Rudasingwa journalists believe they have enormous tify, but I should not? Hundreds of ran a small shop in Taba and was brave influence on governments, but in Brit- Rwandan peasants have risked every- enough to talk to the tribunal investi- ain we rarely feel we make a difference. thing to go to Arusha and tell the truth gators who visited the area. That is why Journalism is not considered sacro- about what happened. Some have sub- he died. “Everyone knew Emmanuel sanct and, therefore, we should not sequently fled into exile, knowing the was talking because they saw such a big exaggerate our own importance. In tribunal’s witness protection program car outside the door,” said Mukarasasi. normal circumstances, journalists in cannot save them. Others have returned Britain do not appear as witnesses for to their villages to be threatened or Deciding to Testify the prosecution or defense. But wars treated as outcasts. By contrast, I have and the crimes that take place during continued my work as a journalist cov- American journalists argue that if we them are anything but normal circum- ering conflict, and I do not see any testify in war crimes tribunals we put stances. Reporting matters, but some- evidence that my actions have put other our colleagues and ourselves at risk times justice matters more. The horror journalists in danger. A war correspon-

78 Nieman Reports / Spring 2003 Journalists Testifying dent’s job is more dangerous than it the phrase “rivers of blood” was a meta- humanity and sentenced to life impris- used to be because 24-hour satellite phor, but in Kigali I saw gutters literally onment. Most of the alleged ringlead- television has made combatants aware streaming red. ers of Rwanda’s genocide are now be- of the media, not because a handful of I was not asked to testify against ing tried or are awaiting trial in Arusha. us have testified at these tribunals. Akayesu personally, but to provide evi- These days, I try not to think about dence that his alleged crimes took place what I saw in Rwanda too much. But Testifying About Rwanda in a situation of war and that the kill- while researching this article, I read ings were “widespread and systematic.” some recent testimony of a peasant I testified because, by accident of his- It could be argued that others might woman from the southern Rwandan tory, I witnessed one of the worst mass testify similarly or that my writing and town of Butare, identified only by her crimes of the 20th century. In April broadcasting at the time would pro- initials, S.U., who wept in the court- 1994, I was living in the Rwandan capi- vide the same information. But the room as she described how her baby tal, Kigali. After the killing started, I prosecution felt that I was a credible was hacked to death on her back, her was in constant touch by phone with eyewitness, and the system requires four other children were also killed, the U.N. and with endangered Rwandan that witnesses appear in person. and she, badly injured, was partly bur- friends who sobbed as they described To my mind, the tribunal is not ied and left for dead. I reported as best how bands of militia were combing there solely to provide justice, but also I could in Rwanda. I did not change the their neighborhoods and slaughtering to set down as definitive a record as course of history. I did not save anyone’s any Tutsis they could find. At night I possible of what happened. Already life. And then I returned home to my listened to the rocket fire, but I grew to revisionists say that what happened in family and friends and career. I think fear the silent times most because I Rwanda was not really genocide, that the least I could do was to testify along- learned that was when the armed gangs somehow the main victims, the Tutsis, side the Rwandans who lost everyone moved freely. While other journalists brought it on themselves. I wanted my and everything. ■ were still struggling to get into the account to be part of the historical country, I ventured onto the streets of record. Rwanda was not just another Lindsey Hilsum is diplomatic corre- Kigali. I will never forget the red-eyed story, like dozens of others I have cov- spondent for Britain’s Channel 4 drunken soldiers and militia at check- ered. As a journalist, I might argue news, an hour-long nightly TV news points, the hundreds of hacked bodies against testifying but, as a human be- program. Prior to this, she was a piled on trucks and buzzing with flies, ing, I could not. I did it because I freelance journalist reporting nor the baby at the hospital whose believed it was the right thing to do. mainly for the BBC. severed leg was hanging by a tendon. I In 2001, Jean Paul Akayesu was found said in my testimony that I had thought guilty of genocide and crimes against [email protected]

Objectivity Without Neutrality A Bosnian journalist reflects on the value of testifying about the crimes of genocide.

By Kemal Kurspahic

ast year I was approached by a I did not sign the petition. And I journalists in future conflicts if they are member of one of the 34 news made my decision not because of my perceived as potential witnesses in pros- Lorganizations that were cam- recent association with the United Na- ecution of war crimes, and protecting paigning against the ability of the war tions (as a spokesman for the Office on sources’ and reporters’ access to war crimes tribunal to compel journalists Drugs and Crime in Vienna, a position zones. But as someone who practiced to testify at The Hague tribunal. I was that has nothing to do with this de- journalism under fire—running a daily asked to sign the petition supporting bate), but because of my conflicted from the atomic-bomb shelter at the the refusal by veteran Washington Post feelings about the issue. frontline of the besieged Bosnian capi- reporter Jonathan Randal to appear in As a longtime journalist, I under- tal of Sarajevo—I have a great admira- court. “We will understand if you can’t stand the concerns of news organiza- tion for colleagues who decided to sign it as someone now working for the tions—maintaining professional impar- testify in order to help bring to justice United Nations,” the friend told me. tiality, avoiding increased risks to those responsible for genocide.

Nieman Reports / Spring 2003 79 Words & Reflections

Acting on the Facts about journalists serving as witnesses propaganda, “This is only the [Bosnian] in the court. While Gutman believes Muslim government trying to blame I agree with the court’s decision not to reporters do their part by exposing Serbs, nothing else.” It is in situations compel journalists to testify unless the atrocities to the public [See Gutman’s such as this one that neutrality works information they have is essential to story on page 74.], Vulliamy argues against objectivity. the trial or it cannot be obtained in any that it is an extension of journalists’ other way. I also strongly support those mission to help bring to justice those Memory and the Power of who went to The Hague as witnesses responsible for genocide. Testimony for the prosecution, and I have rea- The search for “neutrality at any sons—both personal and profes- cost”—to the point of looking for bal- On a personal level, I can’t think about sional—for feeling the way I do. ance in reporting on war where there is the question of journalists testifying There are some things in this world no balance on the ground—distorts about war crimes without thinking that a person simply can’t be neutral reality. A case in point was the massa- about our two slain colleagues, Kjasif about. Genocide is certainly one of cre in Srebrenica. In July 1995, Serbian Smajlovic and Daniel Pearl. Kjasif was a them. In the Freedom Forum’s Media forces under command of general Ratko small-town (Zvornik) correspondent Studies Journal (Fall 1995), I pub- Mladic took over that supposedly “safe for my paper—the Sarajevo daily, lished an article, “Neutrality vs. Objec- zone,” and in a matter of days killed Oslobodjenje. He was the first of 51 tivity,” in which I set forth my views. I almost the entire male population of journalists killed in three-and-a-half used the war in Bosnia and reporting the town, some 8,000 people. years of war in Bosnia. He died because on genocide to argue that journalists Some television networks—practic- his town was on the Bosnian bank of can be perfectly objective without nec- ing that art of perfect neutrality, which the Drina River. This river separated essarily being neutral. has value in debates in civil societies Serbia from Bosnia, and his was the The reporting of some brave indi- but not in the case of massive slaughter first town to be “ethnically cleansed” to viduals in American and British media of innocent civilians—brought to their connect Serbia proper with the Serb- such as Roy Gutman (then with studios a “representative of the other inhabited territories in Croatia as part Newsday), John Burns (The New York side,” a young lady speaking for those of the grand plan of creating “Greater Times), Peter Jennings (ABC docu- responsible for the slaughter. She Serbia.” mentaries), Christiane Amanpour shrugged off the story of the massacre Kjasif knew he faced a death threat: (CNN), David Rhode (then The with a favorite line of ultranationalist Serbian artillery was pounding his town Christian Science Monitor), Ed in order to discourage any de- Vulliamy and Maggie O’Kane fense. This brave man put his (The Guardian), to mention just family on one of the trucks full those few, provide examples of of refuges escaping the immi- this combination of objective nent fall of Zvornik while he fact-gathering used to tell sto- continued to report. In his last ries that made a positive differ- call to our regional office, an- ence. Their reporting was based nouncing his daily work plan, on facts, yet the stories they told he said, “If I manage, I will were instrumental in moving report on the attack on Zvornik, governments into action in the and then you won’t hear from face of genocidal atrocities in me again.” He did not manage. the last decade of the “never Serbian paramilitary fighters again” century. found him in his Gutman and Vulliamy, with correspondent’s office behind their firsthand reports about the his old-fashioned typewriter, existence of concentration writing his last report. They camps in Bosnia, helped to save tortured and killed him. He was thousands of lives. Once their buried in a mass grave along stories and pictures of starving with about 100 of his fellow inmates reached the public, the citizens, marked only by a num- Red Cross entered those areas, ber tied to his toe. Daniel Pearl’s put together lists of camps and death is a more recent and well- prisoners, and brought an end known story of The Wall Street to torture and execution. British Broadcasting Corporation’s former Belgrade corre- Journal reporter brutally mur- Gutman and Vulliamy emerged spondent, Jacky Rowland, gives evidence in August 2002 dered by Islamic militants in from their professional experi- against ex-Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic. Photo Pakistan. ences with different feelings courtesy of Reuters/ICTY TV. Neither of these reporters

80 Nieman Reports / Spring 2003 Journalists Testifying are here to participate in debates about subfreezing temperatures, no electric- was over I felt as if a great burden had journalists as potential witnesses to ity nor food—I feel strongly that bring- been lifted. For me, the Balkan wars the war crimes. And dozens of other ing those most responsible to justice is were finally over. Now I could go journalists were killed in the Bosnian a much needed symbolic first step to- home.” ■ war long before the International Crimi- wards reconciliation among the inno- nal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia cent on all sides. Kemal Kurspahic, a 1995 Nieman was even created. “Press” signs, visibly I have a special respect for Serbian Fellow, is a former editor in chief of displayed on their cars, served as one journalists who recently went to The the Sarajevo daily Oslobodjenje, of the favorite targets for Serb snipers. Hague to testify against the man ac- 1988-94. For keeping his paper alive My colleagues at Oslobodjenje in cused of presiding over a “joint crimi- during the siege of Sarajevo, he was Sarajevo risked their lives daily to keep nal enterprise,” long-time Serbian named the 1993 International Edi- their newspaper alive, but I always felt strongman Slobodan Milosevic. Dejan tor of the Year (World Press Review- we only shared the terror of our city. Anastasijevic, who reports for New York) and a World Press Free- We risked no more than Sarajevo’s Belgrade’s Vreme, was one of those dom Hero (IPI–Vienna). He has children, some 1,800 of whom were brave men who were not afraid to give published two books in the United killed by snipers and artillery surround- televised testimony about war crimes States, “As Long As Sarajevo Exists” ing the city. about which they had reported. He (Pamphleteers Press, 1997), and After living in a besieged European wrote about his experience for Time, a “Prime Time Crime: Balkan Media in capital, terrorized for three-and-a-half magazine to which he also contributes War and Peace” (United States years and deprived of the most basic reporting. “It may have been the most Institute of Peace Press, 2003). human needs—no running water or important thing I will ever do,” heating in windowless apartments with Anastasijevic wrote. “After my testimony [email protected]

The Roles Journalists Played During the Balkan War ‘… this book is a welcomed reminder of how journalism can be a noble calling, but also a foul profession.’

Prime Time Crime: Balkan Media in War and Peace Kemal Kurspahic United States Institute of Peace Press. 261 Pages. $19.95 (pb).

By Senad Pecanin

efore the Balkan war, my par- who sought refuge and salvation ents, my sisters and I lived in throughout Europe and in the United Bone country: They were in States—was being Muslims. Some of Montenegro, and I was in Bosnia and their neighbors decided, despite the Herzegovina. Our country’s collapse murders and various forms of pres- came with the assault of the Yugoslav sure, to remain in Montenegro. My Peoples’ Army, first on Slovenia, then parents and sisters were advised to on Croatia and, in April 1992, on Bosnia leave—because of me. Why? Because and Herzegovina. Politika Ekspres, Belgrade’s daily news- I still live in Sarajevo, but for 11 paper, published on several occasions years my parents and sisters have lived that I was in the group of famous in Sweden. They had to leave their Sarajevo artists, athletes, journalists and homeland because of the hurricane of public figures who were (in this city nationalistic frenzy that was launched that was besieged by Serb guns) “mur- from Belgrade under the command of dering and slaughtering Serbs, raping Slobodan Milosevic. Their “sin”—just Serb women, and throwing Serb chil- like the sin of thousands of other people dren into the lion cage in the city zoo.”

Nieman Reports / Spring 2003 81 Words & Reflections

My family’s destiny is not as tragic as rifying stories of once-good neighbors . In the book’s is that of millions of citizens who lost as dangerous enemies, the nationalist- final chapter, “Policy Recommenda- their beloved ones in the wars that controlled media became instigators— tions,” Kurspahic helps readers under- ravaged what was once Yugoslavia dur- not just witnesses—of terror, killings stand what the international commu- ing the last decade of the 20th century. and exodus of genocidal proportions. nity could have done better in its efforts However, what links these tragedies is The front pages of newspapers and to help the development of the free the crucial, dirty and indecent role that evening television newscasts churned media in the Balkans. has been played by the great majority out a nightmarish years-long prime time This book benefits by the fact that of the media organizations and jour- crime.” Kurspahic is one of the most promi- nalists. Kurspahic’s book is divided into nent and highly respected journalists seven chapters. The first, “The Yugoslav in the Balkans and also because of the The Media’s Role in Media in Tito’s Time,” compares the comprehensive interviews he did with Yugoslavia’s Collapse development of the media during the 30 journalists from Serbia, Croatia and 35-year-long rule of Yugoslav President Bosnia and Herzegovina. These jour- The warlords of the former Yugoslavia, Josip Broz Tito to what happened in nalists, like him, refused to betray the led by Milosevic, would not have suc- other Communist countries of Eastern principles of professional ethics for the ceeded in using the lethal mechanism Europe. In “Manufacturing Enemies,” sake of serving nationalist leaders in of their army unless a nationalist eu- his next chapter, he offers a detailed their regions. By offering readers nu- phoria had not been generated in the analysis of the key role played by the merous examples of journalistic dis- first place. Even the most superficial media in Milosevic’s rise to power in honesty on one hand and impressive analysis of post-World War II bloody the League of Communists. In his chap- cases of heroic servitude to truth on European wars leads to this conclu- ter “Serbo-Croatian War: Lying for the the other, he shows us the opposing sion. A key player—besides the nation- Homeland,” Kurspahic analyses the role faces of what journalism looked like in alist elites, churches and religious com- of the media in strengthening the rule the Balkans during the last part of the munities—in the creation of an of the nationalist president of Croatia, 20th century. environment in which the country’s the late Franjo Tudjman, and in their “Prime Time Crime: Balkan Media collapse occurred is the media. Simply attempts to hide the crimes committed in War and Peace” is an extraordinary put, every bullet and artillery shell fired, by Croatian military forces in both their and important book that should be every fallen civilian, every concentra- defensive war for Croatia and their must reading for a wide circle of read- tion camp prisoner, and every de- aggression against Bosnia and ers. For both students and professors stroyed cultural and historical monu- Herzegovina. The fourth chapter, of journalism, as well as working jour- ment was preceded by careful media “Bosnia: Ground Zero” describes the nalists throughout the world, this book preparation. role of the media in the nationalist is a welcomed reminder of how jour- The recently published book, “Prime destruction of the multiethnic struc- nalism can be a noble calling, but also Time Crime: Balkan Media in War and ture of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Here, a foul profession. Also, from experts of Peace,” by distinguished Sarajevo jour- alongside imported Serbians and Balkan history to those who find this nalist Kemal Kurspahic, provides ex- Croatians, yet another extremism region too complicated to grasp, this cellent testimony of the devastating emerged—that of Bosniak, which rep- book helps to make clearer the picture things that happen to journalists when resented the Muslims. of what has been and is now the Balkans. they fall under the control of authori- In “Balkan Media Post-Dayton: I will send this book to my parents tarian leaders. And what happened was Missed Opportunities,” one learns and sisters in Sweden. I am certain it especially harmful because this was a about how media developed in the will give them a much clearer under- society in which decade-long Commu- post-war period, from 1995 to 2000. standing of why they were forced to nist rule had been replaced by the rule Through positive and negative ex- leave our home and live thousands of of ultranationalists. amples of international “media inter- miles away in the other, much happier Serbia foremost, but also Croatia ventions,” the author points to weak- part of Europe. ■ and Bosnia and Herzegovina, whose nesses that can arise when international media Kurspahic analyzes in his book, support for the media ignores local Senad Pecanin, a 2001 Nieman became paradigmatic models of socie- capacities and, by doing so, can under- Fellow, is editor in chief of Dani ties in which professional immorality mine the process of building civil soci- Magazine in Sarajevo, Bosnia and and irresponsibility paved the road to ety. “The Year 2000: The Beginning of Herzegovina. Kemal Kurspahic is a hell for millions. As Kurspahic writes, Change” deals with dramatic events 1995 Nieman Fellow. “Once the demons of the Balkans’ surrounding the end of Milosevic’s era myths and history had been unleashed, in Serbia and of Tudjman’s in Croatia [email protected] flooding the newspaper pages and ra- and the strengthening of the dio and television programs with hor- antinationalist Bosniak alternative in

82 Nieman Reports / Spring 2003 Journalists Testifying A Reporter Decides to Testify, Then Decides Against It Students ask him, ‘Is a journalist not a human being?’

By Bill Berkeley

n June 1994, I was in Rwanda re- tained by the Tutsi-led rebel army A third put it this way: “I did not porting on the genocide that would known as the Rwandan Patriotic Front believe the Tutsis were coming to kill Iclaim the lives of half a million (RPF), which now controlled the area. us and take our land, but when the ethnic Tutsis in three months of con- Why did they do it, I asked? How government radio continued to broad- centrated slaughter. In a rubble-strewn, could ordinary men like these partici- cast that the RPF is coming to take our rebel-held town called Kabuga, on the pate in such a monstrous crime? land, is coming to kill the Hutus— outskirts of Kigali, the Rwandan capi- “The government always told us that when this was repeated over and over, tal, I met a group of admitted members the RPF was Tutsi, and if it wins the I began to feel some kind of fear.” of the Interahamwe militia—“those war, all the Hutus will be killed,” one of who attack together”—the Hutu death them replied. His name was Emmanuel, Telling What One Has Seen squads that had stabbed, clubbed and 18 years old. Sullen and withdrawn, he hacked to death their friends, neigh- wore a mangy purple corduroy jacket, Five years after this encounter, in 1999, bors and even relatives in the weeks blue jeans, and plastic high-top sneak- a prosecutor for the United Nations just prior to our meeting. ers. “At the time,” he said, “because it International Criminal Tribunal for The massacres were still unfolding was the government saying so, using Rwanda visited me in New York. He in the south. Hundreds of dazed survi- the radio and, because I had not known asked if I would be willing to testify vors, some of them wrapped in gauze the RPF before, I believed that the against Colonel Theoneste Bagosora, that barely concealed their hideous government was telling the truth.” by most accounts the top conspirator machete wounds, loitered amid the Another added, “They were always in the genocide—Rwanda’s Himmler. wreckage of their lives in the looted telling people that if the RPF comes, it He told me that the article I produced and gutted ruins nearby. The young will return Rwanda to feudalism, that from those interviews in 1994, which militiamen had just recently been de- they would bring oppression.” appeared in The New Republic, was the only piece ever published that quoted admitted participants in the genocide blaming the government’s radio propaganda for their conduct. My testimony, the prosecutor told me, could provide an indispensable link between Colonel Bagosora’s military regime and the actual perpetrators of the genocide. I was flattered to be asked to testify and to be told I could help to convict a war criminal of such magnitude. After years of reporting on ethnic conflict in Africa, I was convinced that a culture of impunity for political crimes was a fun- damental problem that brought out the worst in the continent’s leaders and selected far the worst among them, making huge-scale mass slaughter pos- sible. Bringing men like Colonel Bagosora to justice, I believed, could have a major impact, not least by illu- Refugees carrying water containers make their way back to their huts at the Benaco minating how Africa’s ruinous conflicts Refugee Camp in Tanzania near the Rwandan border in May 1994. Photo by Karsten were the product not of ancient, exotic Thielker/The Associated Press. hatreds but of calculated tyranny.

Nieman Reports / Spring 2003 83 Words & Reflections

And, too, it occurred to me that detachment with regard to a judicial I teach a master’s-level writing semi- participating in such a trial could pro- proceeding that might or might not nar at Columbia University’s School of vide a fascinating inside look at a his- represent an adequate international International and Public Affairs. Each toric proceeding, perhaps well worth response to genocide, depending on year we have a lively discussion of this writing about at some point. I was a the quality of justice it provides. issue. My students are often dum- freelance writer at the time, complet- Moreover, as I have talked to other founded by my assertion of a journalist’s ing a book about Africa that concludes journalists and followed the burgeon- allegiance to a necessarily indepen- with a chapter on the Rwanda tribunal. ing debate on this problem—there was dent calling. Many abhor the notion of I didn’t feel bound by the constraints virtually no debate underway when I a writer who, in a crisis, adheres to that might properly apply to newspa- was first approached—I have begun to Ruskin’s seemingly cynical injunction: per correspondents. So I agreed to take more seriously the responsibili- “Does a man die at your feet, your testify. ties even of a freelance author toward business is not to help him, but to note But it would be three more years his or her colleagues and the profes- the color of his lips.” before Bagosora’s trial began. Mean- sion as a whole. I believe that the per- “Is a journalist not a human being?” time, the prosecutor who wanted me ception of journalists as potential arms my students ask. to testify left the tribunal, and I moved of a criminal prosecution should be My answer is that journalism, my to The New York Times as an editorial avoided at all costs, not least for the life’s work, is an expression of my hu- writer. For reasons that were never safety of future war correspondents manity and the best contribution I have clear, the matter of my testimony was and for their ability to do work that to make to justice as well as truth. ■ eventually dropped. Had the new pros- ultimately is as essential to the pursuit ecutors really wanted me to testify, by of truth as any criminal proceeding is Bill Berkeley is a reporter for The then I would probably have declined. likely to be. New York Times and the author of One reason is that I was now in a It is important to stress that I was “The Graves Are Not Yet Full: Race, position to be writing editorials about not subpoenaed to testify, as The Wash- Tribe and Power in the Heart of the tribunal, and in fact I did write a ington Post’s Jonathan Randal was. I Africa” (Basic Books, 2002). He was number of editorials that were critical was simply invited. I would have con- previously an editorial writer for the of the tribunal on procedural grounds. tested a subpoena. I believe there might Times, and for more than a decade Even aside from the Times’s institu- be extraordinary circumstances in he reported on African affairs for tional concerns, which I respect, I which a journalist could well be per- The Atlantic Monthly, The New couldn’t see participating in a trial and suaded to testify if he or she has unique Republic, The New York Times Maga- maintaining the kind of journalistic and invaluable evidence that can be zine, and The Washington Post. detachment required even of an edito- gotten nowhere else. But that should rial writer. By that I don’t mean detach- be the exceptional case, and the deci- [email protected] ment in response to genocide. I mean sion should be the journalist’s own.

Balancing Journalism and Justice A journalist proposes what might be a workable solution.

Current Nieman Fellow Russell Mills, By Russell Mills former publisher of the Ottawa Citi- zen, explored the issues involved in n December the United Nations zones. If this is accepted as a precedent journalists testifying before war crimes International Criminal Tribunal for by other international courts, much of tribunals for a course he was taking at Ithe Former Yugoslavia ruled in the the agonizing about whether war cor- the Kennedy School of Government. Jonathan Randal case that the report- respondents should testify against His research led him to propose an- ers may not be routinely subpoenaed those they have reported on should other way in which decisions about to testify in war crimes cases before the disappear. whether journalists will testify might court. This was a huge breakthrough in There is no guarantee of this, how- be reached. His ideas are presented in recognizing the vital role that journal- ever, and it is sure to be strongly re- the following excerpt from the paper ists play in reporting on conflicts and sisted by defense attorneys. If an inter- he wrote for this class. the particular dangers they face in war national court still decides that it needs

84 Nieman Reports / Spring 2003 Journalists Testifying the evidence of a journalist in the fu- Criminal Court. news organizations because of strict ture, it might be wise to set up a pro- The process might work as follows: views of First Amendment rights. To cess to involve the international jour- If an international tribunal decides that ease some of these concerns, the com- nalistic community at an early the evidence of a journalist is necessary mittee might be established for a trial stage—before a subpoena has been in a particular case, court officials would period of two to three years to test its issued—in a case-by-case review of the approach that person and ask for vol- usefulness and to work out problems. need for evidence from a journalist. untary participation. If the journalist Since requests for evidence from jour- Currently, there is no journalistic orga- refuses, the matter would be referred nalists have been relatively rare, the nization with either a sufficiently broad to the review committee (rather than a review committee could also be a vir- membership or mandate to perform subpoena being issued). The journal- tual one that would only come to- such a task. But such an organization ist would be free to refuse the services gether when required. could be created; its title could be the of the committee, but if the journalist For the sake of its legitimacy, the Journalists Committee on International wanted the committee to review the initiative to establish such a process Justice (JCIJ). request, then committee members must come from the international jour- The JCIJ could be created by and would consult with all relevant parties nalistic community, not from courts. made accountable to a coalition of in- and try to reach a decision. And, if the relevant press organizations ternational journalistic can’t agree on the organizations such as makeup of a review the Committee to Pro- If an international court still decides that it committee, an organi- tect Journalists, Inter- zation already exists national Federation of needs the evidence of a journalist in the that could serve as the Journalists, Reporters future, it might be wise to set up a process committee on an in- Sans Frontières, and to involve the international journalistic terim or even a per- the International Press manent basis. The Institute. This new community at an early stage—before a UNESCO Advisory organization’s role subpoena has been issued—in a case-by- Group for Press Free- would be to develop case review of the need for evidence from a dom was formed in and oversee a review 1995 and now in- process. It would be journalist. cludes 16 distin- imperative that this re- guished journalists view committee be re- from many parts of the garded by journalists as world. Many of them an internal watchdog group whose goal This decision could be a statement belong to other press freedom organi- is to protect journalists from unneces- of support for the refusal of the jour- zations. That this advisory group is sary snooping by international tribu- nalist to testify; a suggestion for other attached to but not part of an interna- nals. Although its legitimacy would not ways for the court to get the evidence tional organization like UNESCO might be accepted by journalists who would it needs; a suggestion for a compro- help to make it more acceptable to the refuse as a matter of principle to testify mise on the scope or nature of the international tribunals. under any circumstances, it would gain request; or, perhaps in rare cases, sup- There are no easy answers to resolv- considerable support from many jour- port for the position of the court. All of ing this conflict of rights—the right of nalists if it took strong positions against this would be advisory and nonbind- reporters to protect their sources (and identification of sources and revealing ing. The court would remain free to themselves) and the right of courts to of unpublished material. reject any compromise and issue a sub- request citizens to present relevant There would be some U.S. news poena. The journalist would also be evidence. Resistance to the establish- organizations that might not support free to reject a compromise and mount ment of such a process might be sub- this process on strict First Amendment a legal challenge. stantial and, in certain cases, might fail grounds. However, the U.S. Supreme There are, of course, several pos- to bridge the gap between journalism Court’s many decisions that support sible barriers to establishing such a and justice. In some cases, however, press freedom while not granting ab- review committee and process. Inter- such a process might provide a useful solute privilege could be helpful in national courts could refuse to accept route to assisting international courts guiding this committee’s work. And it because of possible delays and ad- that does not do damage to the contin- even without full U.S. participation, verse publicity. Then there is the ued access and safety of journalists. ■ the committee could put in place a internecine rivalry of international useful process to protect most of the press freedom organizations that might [email protected] world’s journalists who are from coun- each want to control it. And there is the tries that support the International anticipated low participation by U.S.

Nieman Reports / Spring 2003 85 Words & Reflections Coverage of War The Unseen Gulf War A photographer portrays human suffering in war.

In December 2002, Peter Turnley’s up of troops took place, then sat out flect more fully on the realities of war. words and images entitled “The the “air war.” I flew from my home in American citizens have the right to see Unseen Gulf War” were featured on Paris to Riyadh when the ground war these photographs so they can make The Digital Journalist, an interactive began and arrived at the “mile of death” an informed decision about going to Web magazine featuring work of very early in the morning on the day war again, and part of my role as a leading photojournalists the war stopped. Few other journalists photojournalist is to enable viewers to (www.digitaljournalist.org). were there when I arrived at this in- draw from as much information as Turnley’s essay that follows is credible scene, with carnage that was possible in developing their judgments. adapted from a letter he wrote to strewn all over. On this mile stretch This past war has often been por- Dirck Halstead, the editor and were cars and trucks with wheels still trayed as something akin to a Nintendo publisher of The Digital Journalist, turning and radios still playing. Bodies game. This view conveniently obscures as United Nations’ inspectors were were scattered along the road. Many the vivid and often grotesque realities in Iraq and the Bush administration have asked how many people died apparent to those involved in war. As a was developing plans for a possible during the war with Iraq, and the ques- witness to the results of that war, the war with Iraq. tion has never been well answered. televised, aerial and technological ver- That first morning, I saw and photo- sion of the conflict is not what I saw, graphed a U.S. military “graves detail” and I would like to present some im- By Peter Turnley burying many bodies in large graves. I ages that represent a more complete don’t recall seeing many television picture of what this conflict looked s we approach the likelihood of a images of these human consequences. like. new Gulf War, I want to explore Nor do I remember many photographs At best, war is a necessary evil. Any- A an idea, and it occurs to me that of these casualties being published. one who feels differently has never The Digital Journalist might be the The next day I came across another experienced or been in one. After cov- place to do it. As we all know, the scene on an obscure road further north- ering many conflicts around the world military pool system created then was east in the middle of the desert. I found during the past 20 years and witness- meant to be—and was—a major im- a convoy of lorries transporting Iraqi ing much human suffering, I feel a pediment for photojournalists in their soldiers back to Baghdad. As the con- responsibility to use my photographs quest to communicate the realities of voy passed through this area, it was to ensure that no one who sees the war. This fact does not diminish the clear that massive firepower had been brutal realities of armed conflict can great effort and courage and the im- dropped; everyone who’d been here ever feel that war is comfortable or portant images created by many of my had been carbonized. Most of the pho- convenient. ■ colleagues who participated in these tographs I made of this scene have pools. However, you would have a very never been published anywhere, and Peter Turnley, a 2001 Nieman Fel- difficult time today finding an editor of this has always troubled me. low, has covered most of the major an American publication who doesn’t As we approach the looming possi- international news stories of the condemn this pool system and its re- bility of another war, a thought comes past two decades. He is very famil- strictions, even though most publica- to mind. These photographs I took iar with conflict, having covered as tions and television entities more or immediately after the war don’t repre- a photojournalist the wars and civil less accepted the idea before the war sent a personal point of view or politi- strife in Somalia, Chechnya, Bosnia, began. This reality has been discussed cal judgment about the Gulf War. But , Israel’s occupied territories, far less than critiques of the pools them- they do represent missing parts of an the Gulf War, South Africa, Haiti selves. accurate picture of what happens in and Northern Ireland. During the Gulf War, I refused to war and in that war, in particular. I’ve participate in the pool system. I was in always hoped that true images of con- [email protected] the Gulf for many weeks as the build- flict give people an opportunity to re-

86 Nieman Reports / Spring 2003 Coverage of War

A few days after the end of the Gulf War’s ground battles, a beheaded Iraqi soldier lies in the desert where his convoy of vehicles was bombed and strafed by allied aircraft on its retreat from Kuwait on an obscure road northeast of Kuwait City. Photo by Peter Turnley.

Nieman Reports / Spring 2003 87 Words & Reflections

Iraqi prisoners are guarded in the desert north of Kuwait City.

A U.S. soldier helps support an injured Iraqi soldier as a large group of Iraqi soldiers are taken prisoner by the allied forces. This scene was very near the “mile of death” north of Kuwait City.

Photos by Peter Turnley.

88 Nieman Reports / Spring 2003 Coverage of War

Using a bulldozer, a U.S. military graves detail buries in a mass grave the bodies of Iraqi soldiers killed along the “mile of death” be- tween Kuwait City and Basra. Few images of this scene have been published.

Iraqi prisoners are guarded in the desert north of Kuwait City.

Photos by Peter Turnley.

Nieman Reports / Spring 2003 89 Words & Reflections

Soon after Iraq invaded Kuwait, thou- sands of immigrants working in Kuwait became refugees in the desert between Iraq and Amman, Jordan.

At the end of the Gulf War, about 450,000 Kurdish refugees fled from northern Iraq into the mountains of southern , including this woman and child.

After the Gulf War, an American soldier looks at a dead Iraqi soldier lying in the desert. Allied bombing left most of the Iraqis in this soldier’s convoy carbonized, and their bodies were quickly buried by allied forces.

Photos by Peter Turnley.

90 Nieman Reports / Spring 2003 Coverage of War War Reporting: How Should Civilian Casualties Be Reported? A veteran journalist looks at other wars to help journalists understand the value of this reporting and how best to cover them.

By Bob Zelnick

ess than a month after U.S. weight before a country decides to do but also serving as carriers for what- forces began military op- battle. “Very few commentators pub- ever message Saddam seeks to convey. Lerations in Afghanistan, Walter licly considered whether starvation, During the first Gulf War, Western Isaacson, then the editorial boss at ruined lives, increased infant mortal- reporters in Baghdad found themselves CNN, issued a memo warning against ity, depressed economies, and the more accused of doing Saddam’s bidding by overly credulous, simplistic reporting countable civilian deaths were an ac- paying excessive attention to the few of civilian casualties. As reported by ceptable part of war,” he complained. incidents involving significant civilian Howard Kurtz of The Washington Post, casualties, while most residents of Iraq’s Isaacson wrote: “As we get good re- Journalism’s Tensions in War capital went routinely about their busi- ports from Taliban-controlled Afghani- Reporting ness confident that the highly accurate stan, we must redouble our efforts to U.S. missiles and bombs were not tar- make sure we do not seem to be simply Isaacson’s move reflected the general geted at them. Will reporters in the reporting from their vantage and per- state of confusion among the news next Gulf War, or subsequent conflicts, spective. We must talk about how the media following September 11th re- face the same dilemma? Will they be Taliban are using civilian shields and garding their proper role as potential forced to choose between coverage how the Taliban have harbored the molders of public opinion. The New that is perceived as aiding the “enemy” terrorists responsible for killing close York Times that November reported vs. injecting a mechanical “balance” in to 5,000 people.” As Isaacson later ex- that, “television images of Afghan bomb- response to domestic political pres- plained to The New York Times, “It ing victims are fleeting, cushioned be- sure or the dictates of editors far from seems perverse to focus too much on tween anchors or American officials the scene? the casualties or hardship in Afghani- explaining that such sights are only This should not happen if reporters stan.” one side of the story.” During the same and correspondents resist demands Reaction to Isaacson’s directive drew period, the White House successfully that detract from their professionalism comment along more or less predict- lobbied the networks against playing and instead apply the principles and able philosophical lines. Brit Hume, unedited Osama bin Laden tapes be- techniques of sound journalism to their the Fox News anchor, supported the cause it might inspire his followers, or work in the field. notion that such casualties should not even covertly trigger new al-Qaeda acts be overplayed, because “Civilian casu- of terrorism. And for months following The Case for Reporting alties are historically, by definition, a the attack one could rarely see a local Civilian Casualties part of war.” On the same Fox pro- news anchor’s lapel unadorned by an gram, National Public Radio White American flag. Journalists ought to begin by examin- House correspondent Mara Liasson Now, as the combat phase of the ing the superficial fact that civilian ca- agreed, saying, “War is about killing Afghanistan operation has wound sualties are a part of every war. Sure people; civilian casualties are unavoid- down, the United States is building its they are, but their number and causes able.” forces in the Persian Gulf for what has differ materially from war to war. In Opponents of military intervention the makings of round two with Saddam World War II, for example, Edward R. in Afghanistan did not share the equa- Hussein. This time—rather than the Murrow could look down from the B- nimity about civilian deaths of their desert campaign of 1991—the objec- 17 bomber in which he was flying and more hawkish colleagues. The very fact tive is “regime change,” with the conse- describe Berlin as “an orchestrated that such deaths are inevitable, argued quent risk of urban warfare and high hell.” Murrow’s description was accu- a young Canadian journalist who uses civilian casualties. Reporters are already rate because the Allies deliberately tar- the pen name Dru Oja JAY on the leftist flooding Baghdad at the regime’s invi- geted civilians in German cities for Weblog, “Monkeyfist,” makes it impera- tation, covering the work of United purposes of undermining enemy mo- tive for journalists to assign them some Nations’ arms inspectors to be sure, rale. This strategy had its most grue-

Nieman Reports / Spring 2003 91 Words & Reflections

some application in the firebombing of the overwhelming application of U.S. Kosovo and the remainder of Serbia Dresden, where the civilian death toll force against a regime with no army. flew high enough to stay out of the exceeded 50,000. Ironically, the strate- The purpose was to remove a single range of Serb gunners. Because of these gic bombing survey commissioned at troublesome strongman, Manuel tactics, Serbian air defenses were not war’s end concluded that targeting ci- Noriega, from power. The operation completely neutralized, and Serb forces vilians had the perverse psychological reflected the military doctrine of the inflicted far more damage inside Kosovo impact of rallying Germans behind their new chairman of the Joint Chiefs of than would have been the case with government. Staff, Colin Powell. In addition to the more effective U.S. air power. Several In retrospect, the American public presence of vital interests, public sup- “friendlies” were inadvertently hit from might have been better served if re- port, mileposts and exit strategies, the air, and the Serb forces operating porters had taken a more skeptical Powell insisted on missions that could in Kosovo suffered relatively little battle look at the deliberate targeting of civil- be resolved with military hammer- damage. The press reported extensively ians, even in a transcendently just war blows. A Vietnam veteran, he wanted on civilian casualties, and Clinton’s against Nazi Germany. nothing resembling gradual vice-tight- approach remained controversial In Korea, during the first weeks of ening. Nearly 1,000 Panamanians died throughout the war. No U.S. forces panicky retreat following the June 1950 in the action, most of them noncomba- were killed in the operation. invasion, U.S. forces sought to prevent tants. Few journalists questioned the advancing North Korean troops—some proportionality of the effort. Covering the Consequences disguised as civilians—from overrun- During the Persian Gulf War the of Economic Sanctions ning them. They bombed or dynamited reporting of CNN correspondent Peter bridges bulging with fleeing South Arnett from Baghdad became a micro- Not all civilian casualties result from Korean civilians, extracting a fearsome cosm for many complaints about re- direct military attack. Following its in- toll in “friendly” civilian lives. One can porters permitting themselves to be- vasion of Kuwait, for example, the argue the civilian deaths were a neces- come conduits for enemy propaganda. United Nations, with a strong push sary price, since U.S. forces barely man- Arnett reported on the results of U.S. from the United States, imposed a com- aged to establish a line of defense at bombing raids: The first was against a prehensive regime of economic sanc- Pusan. But clearly the civilian deaths factory that the Iraqis claimed produced tions against Iraq. These sanctions were were an integral part of the war story. instant milk formula and that the United extended after the war pending Vietnam saw the first substantial re- States said manufactured chemical Saddam’s compliance with an assort- porting of civilian casualties inflicted agents; the other was against a bunker ment of Security Council resolutions. by Americans by print and television that intelligence had described as an During the late 1990’s, a UNICEF study correspondents. Terms like “tactical important command facility but that concluded that more than 500,000 Iraqi evacuation,” and “harassment and in- turned out to be a shelter for well- children had died as a result of the terdiction” fire, entered our lexicon, connected Iraqi civilians. Hundreds sanctions. Confronted with a question and a little girl running naked down a were killed in the latter attack. about the report, Secretary of State highway—her clothes having been To many observers, Arnett’s report- Madeline Albright replied, “I think this scorched from her body by napalm— ing conveyed a credulous acceptance is a very hard choice, but the price—we and a marine using his cigarette lighter of the Iraqi line on the factory and think the price is worth it.” to set fire to a thatched peasant hut uncritical reporting of Iraqi assertions The issue of civilian consequences became emblems of the war’s human that the bunker attack had deliberately of economic sanctions against Iraq has toll. Books have been written about targeted civilians. The conservative to this date received far less analytical the alleged in coverage of columnist Charles Krauthammer was coverage than one would expect for Vietnam, and to this day there are mili- moved to suggest that Saddam had one of its magnitude. tary veterans who argue that by under- only three cards left: “his Republican The question of coverage of civilian mining public support for the war, the guards, his chemical weapons, and casualties has often arisen in connec- media effectively limited military op- .” tion with the Israeli-Palestinian dispute. tions that might have produced vic- The 1999 NATO campaign to oust Israel has been confronting an intense tory. Serbian troops from Kosovo involved campaign by suicide bombers and other Perhaps more context was needed, nearly 80 days of intensive bombing of terrorists for more than two years, suf- particularly regarding Vietcong and Belgrade and other Serbian cities, plus fering in excess of 700 fatalities, often North Vietnamese atrocities. But no missions flown against Serbian forces at the hands of people disguised as reasonable case can be made for tem- in Kosovo. With shaky domestic sup- workers, students, orthodox Jews, wait- porizing reports of the war’s impact on port, President Bill Clinton was anx- ers and even members of the Israeli the civilians that U.S. forces were fight- ious to avoid U.S. military casualties military. Suicide bombers have passed ing to “save.” and committed no ground forces to through checkpoints, scaled walls and The 1989 Panama invasion involved the operation, while aircraft in both fences, blended into sympathetic

92 Nieman Reports / Spring 2003 Coverage of War crowds, hidden in the homes of con- cupied PA-administered lands. On the ties? Apart from physical damage, is federates, and barged into markets, other hand, citizens following events there any political impact of the inci- discos and restaurants. In response the in the media would have had a surfeit dent in the immediate area or else- Israelis have restricted travel, closed of stories on the matriculation of sui- where? To what propaganda use is the their borders to Palestinian workers, cide bombers, the support of their fami- host country putting the incident? assassinated key terrorist leaders, dis- lies, and their heroic status as martyrs If questions such as these are kept in mantled the security structure of the in their communities, important stuff mind by reporters and editors, the story Palestinian Authority, and swept to be sure, but usually presented in a defines itself, and there should be no through and reoccupied cities and way that conveyed a sense of moral need for arbitrary formulas and conde- towns where trouble has occurred, ar- equivalence between victim and killer. scending reminders of why the war is resting hundreds of “suspected terror- being fought. An errant bomb that kills ists.” Israel has killed more than 1,700 Reporting Well on Civilian a score or so civilians might, for ex- Palestinian “civilians” during the cur- Casualties ample, require only short mention or rent cycle of conflict, often to the ac- brief footage. Events that reveal more companiment of some of the most Civilian casualties are intrinsic to most about each side’s strategy or tactics noncontextual journalism of recent military campaigns. So are military ca- might demand more time or space to times. sualties, bombing sorties, the move- tell the story. Rarely, if ever, should a Unless one scanned both the print ments of armored units, artillery particular story’s impact on domestic and electronic coverage with exquisite clashes, efforts to suppress enemy air morale influence the report, even were care, the reader or viewer would have defenses, operations designed to in- that elusive concept capable of precise little inkling of the hundreds of terror- terrupt the other side’s lines of com- measurement. ist attacks pre-empted by The United States is, af- Israel’s reoccupation of ter all, a country committed lands placed under control Covering civilian casualties usually to democratic values. It of the Palestinian Authority carries the additional challenge of thrives on robust debate and by the Oslo accords, or the operating at the sufferance of the the informed consent of the lack of any realistic alterna- governed. It is a nation that tive to that action. Nor other side, usually in its own brought low two totalitar- would he or she have much territory. ian systems during the past sense that the entire intifada century, not by aping their would never have occurred values but by asserting its had Palestinian Authority own. When this nation be- leader Yasir Arafat not insisted at Camp munication, and battle damage assess- gins to run on the theory that truth is David and Taba on the right of Palestin- ments offered by military intelligence. the enemy, it will have suffered a self- ian refugees to return to pre-1967 Is- During a war, journalists try to cover all inflicted wound more grievous than rael, a formula for functional termina- of these things, given the vagaries of any adversary is likely to inflict. ■ tion of the Jewish state. Viewers or military access, logistical problems, and listeners would have little notion that the availability of reliable sources. Cov- Bob Zelnick is chairman of the most of the settlements the Palestin- ering civilian casualties usually carries Department of Journalism at Boston ians complain about would have been the additional challenge of operating University and a research fellow at dismantled under the Clinton peace at the sufferance of the other side, the Hoover Institution on War, plan accepted by Israel or of the strate- usually in its own territory. Journalists Revolution and Peace. For 21 years, gic alliance forged by Arafat with the gain entry when the enemy believes he reported for ABC News covering Hamas and Islamic Jihad organizations they will be useful to its cause. If offi- Russia, the Middle East, the Penta- dedicated to Israel’s destruction. cials conclude they are not, they will be gon, and Capitol Hill. Similarly, the press has provided restricted, expelled or worse. scant inkling of the disaffection of much Still, good journalism involves ac- [email protected] of the Palestinian intelligentsia from quiring relevant information and put- the current intifada, their disgust with ting it into context. How many civilians the suicide bombing campaign, and died in the incident? What was the the feeling of betrayal by many veter- proximate cause? What is the relation- ans of the first intifada (1987-90) as ship between the strategy and tactics of regards the “Tunisians” who returned the party inflicting the casualties and with Arafat and imposed a corrupt and the incident itself? How about the strat- brutal dictatorship on the West Bank egy and tactics of the other party and and Gaza, long before the Israelis reoc- their role in generating civilian casual-

Nieman Reports / Spring 2003 93 International Journalism

The December election of ’s new president, Roh Moo-hyun, writes In-Yong Rhee, a news commentator for Seoul’s Munwha Broadcasting Corporation and current Nieman Fellow, was a “victory of the Internet, where the driving force of the young generation is bringing a shift in media power, creating what can be described as a ‘cyber Acropolis.’” He describes how online news services emerged as an important source of information for younger voters who are more distrustful of newspapers. “… frustrated young voters saw the Internet as an outlet where they could spill out their diverse views and create a counteragenda forum against the conservative papers,” he writes. In this election’s wake, the influence of major conservative newspapers is waning, and the Internet has emerged as a powerful media force. In her story about the life of former Chinese journalist and author Peter Liu, Yvonne van der Heijden, a Beijing-based correspondent with the Netherlands Press Association and the Financial Economic Times of during the 1990’s, describes the reporting help he gave her by putting developments in China into a broader perspective. She also provides glimpses of the harsh life he experienced under Mao’s rule, as told through his recently published autobiography, “Mirror: A Loss of Innocence in Mao’s China.” Nicholas Daniloff teaches journalism at Northeastern University in Boston and at the Uzbek State World Languages University in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. It is his Uzbek experience that Daniloff writes about, as he explains what it is like to lecture (in English) to students majoring in international journalism on “the virtues of independent media” when they live in a country with “a miserable human rights record, including Soviet-style censorship.” Uzbekistan’s president created this Center for International Journalism in 1999 where several American professors teach. When Daniloff asked the former rector what he hoped the program would accomplish, he replied: “I want them to encourage the students to tell the truth. We must plant the seeds of free discussion. I’m not sure we’ll see the fruits in our lifetime, but we must plant now.” Watson Sims, who was a foreign correspondent for The Associated Press and editor of newspapers in Michigan and New Jersey, describes how between 1984 and 1990—in visits arranged under the auspices of the American Society of Newspaper Editors and the Union of Soviet Journalists—115 American and Soviet editors learned from and about each other as various delegations assembled in the two countries. “The hundreds of articles published as a result of the exchanges undoubtedly had an impact on public opinion in both countries,” writes Sims, who was a participant. As one editor commented after his visit to the Soviet Union in 1987, “Americans don’t really understand Russians, and they don’t understand us.” At the start of the 21st century, Sims worries about whether Russian journalists—given the nation’s economic and political circumstances—will remain able to ask questions they need to ask. ■

94 Nieman Reports / Spring 2003 International Journalism The Korean Election Shows a Shift in Media Power Young voters create a ‘cyber Acropolis’ and help to elect the president.

By In-Yong Rhee

ecember’s presidential election tary elections four times in his home- hyun.” This action marked the begin- in Korea resulted in a victory town in Gyeongsang Province, because ning of what became one of Roh’s Dfor Roh Moo-hyun, who was the party he belonged to was not based strongest political assets. the candidate for the Millennium there. Democratic Party (MDP). As the first Roh was often dubbed as an “unre- The Internet Replaces post-war generation politician to head alistic, foolhardy” politician, but he held Newspapers the nation, his emergence as the firm during the rough times he faced in country’s new president can be inter- politics. His repeated failure to win No one will dispute that Roh owes his preted as a victory of reform, post-cold- political office, in the end, strength- victory to the Internet, which provided war sentiment, and antiregionalism. ened him as a presidential candidate, a reliable source of news and an outlet But it was also a victory of the Internet, in part because of the reaction and for people to voice their opinions. As where the driving force of the young work of his young supporters. Immedi- his election polls showed, his support generation is bringing a shift in media ately after Roh’s loss in the parliamen- mostly came from reform-minded power, creating what can be described tary election in 2000, his supporters, young voters. Sixty percent of voters in as a “cyber Acropolis.” mostly people in their 20’s and 30’s, their 20’s and 30’s cast ballots for Roh. Riding on the crest of “netizens’” voluntarily gathered to form an online In a highly technological country, where support, the high-school graduate support group by the name of its people spend more time surfing turned lawyer beat the odds to become “Nosamo,” which is the Korean acro- online than any other place in the president. Roh is unique in his political nym for “people who love Roh Moo- world, the Internet served as a window roots in Korean politics, in through which the which deep-rooted region- younger generation alism traditionally pits the could see the world and southeastern Gyeongsang create a forum for their Province against the south- political debates. western Cholla Province. What also happened The Gyeongsang Province is that online news ser- (from which Roh is a native) vices began to emerge as has been the stronghold of an important source of Korean politics for the past news for this online gen- 40 years and became the base eration who are more dis- of the opposition Grand trustful about the news National Party (GNP) dur- they read in the newspa- ing the recent Kim Dae-Jung pers. The outcome of the administration, when the Korean presidential elec- Cholla Province served for tion clearly points to a the first time as the ruling decline of influence in party’s political turf. Region- the nation’s big three alism in Korea has been newspapers: Chosun, manifested by voters’ strong JoongAng and Donga. preference for a presiden- These right-wing news- tial or parliamentary candi- papers, which were all date representing a political fervent supporters of Lee party based in that region. Hoi-chang, the oppo- Roh, who vowed to abolish sition’s presidential regionalism, represents a nominee, failed to wield party that is based in the significant influence in Cholla Province, so it was this election. Comprising not surprising that he failed A South Korean man surfs the Web at an Internet cafe in Seoul. Photo 70 percent of the news- in mayoral and parliamen- by Rhee Dong-Min/Reuters. paper market share,

Nieman Reports / Spring 2003 95 International Journalism

these papers have consistently morning of Election Day and criticized the Kim admin- posted messages such as “Let’s istration’s sunshine policy of go vote!.” With these, they ap- engaging and advo- pealed to young netizens to go to cated the opposition party’s hard- the polls. According to exit polls, line approach. They also have Roh was behind Lee by a margin been critical of the liberal Roh, of one to two percent in the morn- since Roh declared he would em- ing. However, a large influx of brace Kim’s policy toward North young voters poured into the vot- Korea. ing booths in the afternoon. As But what was most problem- the online media Pressian put it, atic for readers during the elec- “a great drama emerged from 2 tion was the ways in which these p.m.” From then on, exit polls newspapers misinformed the reversed and Roh began to take public through biased reporting the lead. and distortion of facts, while Without this driving force of claiming that their papers do not the young voters, the outcome of endorse any candidate. These the election would have been re- conservative papers, which have versed. National Assemblyman always represented the main- Kim Hyong-oh of the opposition stream public and politicians, GNP said, “The key player of the continually shunned the liberal Korean presidential election was and minority parties. For ex- the Internet, the winners were ample, Roh’s MDP, which is a the netizens. The power of ruling party yet a minority in the ‘Internet democracy’ has been National Assembly, has contin- Members of president-elect Roh Moo-hyun’s Internet- rising in Korea for the first time in ued to be treated as a minority based support group, “Nosamo,” celebrate his victory. the world.” party by the major newspapers. Photo by Jin Seong-cheol/Yonhap News Agency. However, it cannot be said that Amid such stifling circum- the Internet was totally respon- stances, frustrated young voters sible for Roh’s victory. According saw the Internet as an outlet where tensions on the Korean peninsula dur- to an opinion poll taken after the elec- they could spill out their diverse views ing election times tend to favor the tion, the media that most decisively and create a counteragenda forum conservative candidate. The big three influenced the public’s choice of can- against the conservative papers. quickly capitalized on their chance to didate was television. It is worth men- During previous elections, news and sway the public support for Lee and tioning that, unlike the major newspa- editorial strategies employed by the played up this news. It didn’t work. pers, TV news coverage and on-air big three newspapers would have been This time, the Internet—acting as a debates were relatively fair and non- very effective in influencing voters’ news provider—was where younger partisan during the campaign. opinion. There are sayings in Korea voters, in particular, went to find the This Korean presidential election that “these newspapers make the presi- news and posted messages on the bul- resulted in several changes in the me- dent,” and “the power of the media letin boards. And Roh quickly recog- dia environment. There is the waning exceeds the political power.” But, in nized the enormous potential of the influence of the major conservative this election, this power didn’t work. Internet long before other presidential newspapers and, in its place, voters A couple of days before election day, candidates. He noted, “The vast num- rely more on TV news for more objec- when a North Korean ship carrying bers of cyber communities can be highly tive and fair reporting. But most im- missile export cargo was stopped by effective in drumming up voter’s sup- portant is the dramatic emergence of the United States, the North Korean port.” As he predicted, the Internet the Internet. In essence, Korea’s young issue was exacerbated. Roh was nailed played a decisive role on election day. voters created a cyber acropolis, a to a corner. (In fact, there was specula- On the night before election day, modern day adaptation to the ancient tion that the Bush administration in- multimillionaire politician Jung Mong- Greek’s direct democracy. ■ tentionally stopped the North Korean joon, who had unified a single candi- vessel to help the conservative candi- dacy with Roh a few weeks before the In-Yong Rhee is a 2003 Nieman date Lee Hoi-chang. Koreans would election, suddenly withdrew his sup- Fellow. In Korea, he is a news com- call this “North Wind from the U.S.” port. Speculation was rampant that mentator for Munwha Broadcasting “North Wind” refers to North Korean this tremendous blow to Roh would Corporation in Seoul, South Korea. factors in South Korean elections.) Con- cause him to lose the election. Young ventional wisdom is that heightened voters went to the Internet early on the [email protected]

96 Nieman Reports / Spring 2003 International Journalism Reflecting the Life of China in the Mirror of His Life A Chinese scholar and one-time journalist describes what happened to him during the Cultural Revolution.

By Yvonne van der Heijden

My story is the unhappy experi- all, criticism focused on the monopoly ence of my country,” says Chinese of power of the Communist Party and “scholar and one-time journalist the abuses that went with it. Very soon Peter Liu, who is 78 years old. During the party had second thoughts on the an interview on a hot autumn day, “hundred flowers” campaign and in- however, his fierce eyes and firm voice stead unleashed an anti-rightist cam- hardly betray his ordeal. Liu Naiyuan, paign. by his Chinese name, spent 21 years in “I was one of the flowers. I spoke Chinese labor camps, the laogai. Only up,” Liu said. “A lot of things regarding in 1979, when Deng Xiaoping consoli- the government I did not like eight dated power after ousting the leaders years after the Communists took power. of the chaotic Cultural Revolution, was I touched a raw nerve in suggesting Liu released and fully rehabilitated. Liu that the political leaders, most of them wrote a book in English about his tem- peasants before they enlisted in the pestuous life, “Mirror: A Loss of Inno- People’s Liberation Army, should get a cence in Mao’s China,” which was pub- proper education. A good guerrilla lished in the United States in 2001. commander was not going to make a “Like a mirror, my tragic life reflects the good leader of a university or a govern- life of the nation,” Liu observed. ment institution. If they refused to be Peter Liu, good-humored and brim- educated, they should step down. ming with optimism, spoke at length in China had to be rebuilt and was in his apartment in Beijing, explaining need of capable leaders. Well, after I the circumstances that made his life a had reported a lot of shortcomings— living hell for so many years. “The mis- mind you, I was invited to do so—I was cially true after the dramatic develop- fortune that befell my country in the called a criminal, a bourgeois. In French ments in Tiananmen Square in June ’50’s lasted three decades. I was a vic- this word means citizen, but in Mao’s 1989. Nevertheless, Peter and I got tim of the crackdown on so called ‘bour- China it meant enemy of the people. Of along well. During my eight-year stay, geois rightists.’ Mao Zedong planted a course, I was not the only one. Because Peter frequently helped me to put de- booby trap, which he called a good Mao very frequently gave instructions velopments in China into a broader plot.” that five percent of the people were perspective. That “good plot” was the political bad, by the end of 1958 some 550,000 His “lectures” gave me a unique in- campaign, “Let a hundred flowers Chinese were picked out to be labeled sight into several aspects of the bloom,” which got into full swing in rightists.” country’s long history and the way April 1957. Mao and other Communist Communist China was ruled. Having leaders, including late Premier Zhou Trained as a Journalist this independent knowledge available Enlai, felt the party’s work since the was a gift to me because, during the start of the People’s Republic in 1949 I got to know Peter Liu, who speaks early 1990’s, the only information for- had been so successful that it could English fluently, in the early 1990’s eign correspondents would get was take a little criticism. A general appeal when I was a correspondent in Beijing from rare press conferences by govern- for critical comments went out, and for Dutch-language newspapers. The ment officials or from the state-run intellectuals around the country re- situation a decade ago in China was media. It was very difficult to get facts sponded with unprecedented enthusi- harsher than it is today. Chinese people, and even harder to interpret develop- asm. Complaints poured in on every especially intellectuals, still had to be ments. A lot of foreign correspondents issue, from corruption within the party careful in their contacts with foreign- also had fixed ideas about what was to control of artistic expression, from ers. Foreign journalists had to keep in wrong with China and its rulers. the unavailability of foreign literature mind that the Chinese they talked to Peter Liu provided a well-consid- to low standards of living. But, most of might get into trouble. This was espe- ered countervailing power to all of this

Nieman Reports / Spring 2003 97 International Journalism

by giving me the pros and cons on all of International News Service (INS, one translator for Soviet experts in the army. kinds of issues from domestic politics of the forerunners of UPI), needed a In 1954 he asked to be demobilized. to Sino-foreign relations and China’s translator and hired him. “Later I be- He was stationed as an education offi- one-child policy. In talking about copy- came his assistant,” Liu told me. “He cial in a poor district near Peking. In rights, for example, Liu explained that trained me to become a journalist. This the momentous year 1957, when the the Chinese attitude on this reached was the critical period of the civil war. “hundred flowers” campaign began, back to Imperial times when a painter I principally reported on the progress he was transferred to Xinhua, the New or calligrapher became a master only of the ongoing struggle between the China News Agency. when he was able to copy exactly the Nationalists and the Communists.” Liu works of famous predecessors. In the also reported on the presidential elec- Criticisms and Consequences Chinese mind, to copy is a quite honor- tions which, according to Liu, were able thing to do. manipulated by Chiang Kai-shek, the Peter Liu did not fit in with those who Peter Liu is an erudite man, a scion Nationalist military and political leader. wanted to control ideology and con- of a family of scholars. He and his three “Reporting was 2especially intense at stantly he was criticized. His indepen- brothers were educated at a mission- the outbreak of emergent events, like dent mind, his “American” history, and ary school from the American Presbyte- the manuever by Chiang Kai-shek over his family background all worked rian Church. Liu went on to study En- his feigned resignation and the struggle against him. In the summer of 1957— glish literature at St. John’s University of General Li Tsung-jen as acting presi- like all intellectuals and government in Shanghai. dent,” Liu says. functionaries—Liu was encouraged to In 1945 China was at the brink of In May 1949, on the eve of the Com- tell what he thought were shortfalls of civil war. The United States sided with munist takeover, Liu quit his INS re- the Communist Party. He complied, Chiang Kai-shek’s Nationalist Party porting job. “The reason was that the but a fortnight later the wind changed, (Kuomintang) and sent General George Communists were very hostile to Ameri- and those who were outspoken about Marshall to take part in a tripartite cans because the massive military aid the Communist Party’s shortcomings Mediation Committee. The American for the Nationalist government con- were denounced and labeled “bour- army employed Peter Liu as a transla- tributed to the loss of Communist lives. geois rightists.” tor in the mediation executive head- On the whole, brief as it was, mine was “I did everything to try to prove that quarters. A year later the civil war broke a turbulent and intersting journalistic I did not want to harm the party. But I out and the executive headquaters was career.” ended up as a rightist of the worst disbanded. Peter Liu favored the Communist category, which meant expulsion from But Liu was lucky. Seymour Top- takeover. He could have chosen to go work unit and loss of all rights of a ping, a reporter in the Nanking bureau to the United States. Or he could have citizen.” For 16 years, Peter Liu had to cast his lot with the Nationalist govern- do manual labor—farm work such as ment that fled to Taiwan. His life would tilling the earth, planting rice and other have been quite different. “Since child- crops, digging canals and lakes. “In the Seeking Help in the Search hood, I was very patriotic. I loved my end I was a grape care expert.” In 1974, country, not the Nationalist Party, he became a teacher at a labor camp for Peter Liu’s Articles though, which was corrupt to the bone. middle school for the children of camp Peter Liu worked as a journal- I was convinced the Communists would officers, and his life improved. ist for International News change politics, eradicate corruption Liu recalls times of great despair. At Service (INS), a forerunner of and poverty, and govern in the interest some point he seriously considered United Press International. of the Chinese people. So I did stay on taking his own life. In the end, he did One of the things he regrets and welcomed the Communists with not because he would die as a political most is that he handed over all open arms. My country would have a prisoner and his relatives, his mother the clippings of his articles to bright future under Communist rule, I and his only daugther, Jane, would party officials. He could not thought.” suffer the rest of their lives. He decided make copies. It would be very He was enrolled as a student at a so- not to die as a coward and to bear the nice to dig up articles with his called revolutionary university. “In six hardship. Now he is happy he lived on. byline from American archives. months I finished with bad grades. Peter Liu’s autobiography, with its I would like to ask anybody They did not like me. I asked too many very detailed account of harsh life in who has an idea how to un- questions. Western journalists de- China under Mao’s rule, ends with his earth Liu’s articles to contact scribed these classes organized by the release in 1979. In the early 1980’s, his Peter Liu at [email protected] Communists as brainwashing institu- life took another dramatic turn, this or Yvonne van der Heijden at tions. It was the initial stage of the time in a welcomed direction. He met [email protected]. reeducation of Chinese intellectuals.” his current wife, Yu Qin, a middle- After he got his “revolutionary degree,” school teacher of English who also Liu had to study Russian and became a suffered untold harassment at the hands

98 Nieman Reports / Spring 2003 International Journalism of the Communist Party. They started a nothing can be done about it. And it is 1991-1999. Currently, she is working new life together. Listening to Peter better to experience misfortune in the as a freelance journalist based in Liu is not like listening to a bitter man. beginning of your life and fortune later, Loon op Zand, the Netherlands. Liu’s His humor and optimism were prob- then the other way around.” ■ book, “Mirror: A Loss of Innocence in ably the keys to his survival. He credits Mao’s China,” was published by Yu Qin for the renewed zest for life he Yvonne van der Heijden, a 1986 Xlibris Corporation and can be has acquired. “Some of my friends tell Nieman Fellow, was a correspon- ordered at www.Xlibris.com. me my turbulent life is unfortunate. I dent in Beijing with the Netherlands agree that my life has had its bitter Press Association and the Financial [email protected] days. And I suffered a lot. I did. But Economic Times of Belgium from

Creating a Different Approach to Telling the News An American journalism professor teaches students about free speech in authoritarian Uzbekistan.

By Nicholas Daniloff

am standing in room 44 of the dent replies. “I can see what is written Teaching About Freedom of Uzbek State World Lan- on EurasiaNet, Human Rights Watch, Speech Iguages University in Tashkent, lec- and other groups about Uzbekistan. I turing again on the virtues of indepen- guess I would tell the president to Since the students in the international dent media to my international jour- minimize charges.” journalism major are supposed to be nalism majors. The atmosphere is Other students propose different learning about the United States, we awkward because Uzbekistan is a Cen- approaches. Our give-and-take includes work almost entirely in English. I occa- tral Asian republic with a miserable acknowledging the charges of police sionally clarify issues in Russian when human rights record, including Soviet- brutality and intolerance of extremists, something is unclear. Although I am style censorship. but offering justifying explanations. We studying Uzbek, I am nowhere near “President Karimov is going to Wash- seek parallels in which American au- able to teach in that Turkic language. ington,” I tell the class of third-year thorities have announced tough re- The students, who are very curious students who are of Uzbek, Russian, sponses to terrorism after September about the West, seem to enjoy the role- Uigur and other assorted nationalities. 11th. We finally agree on something playing. It gives them a chance to ex- “He is going to be peppered with diffi- along these lines of advice for Presi- press in the relative privacy of the class- cult questions about his authoritarian dent Karimov on his trip to the White room many different points of view policies. I want you to pretend you are House in March 2002: that don’t show up in the Uzbek media. his advisors and develop answers for “You must understand, Uzbekistan Usually they know English better than him.” This exercise requires students lives in a troubled neighborhood. As their Soviet-educated professors and to consider criticisms of the top leader- president, I was the subject of an assas- are much better at using the Internet. ship—something not tolerated in pub- sination attempt in 1999 in which more Teaching democratic values in an lic discourse here. than 100 people were killed. It is es- authoritarian country might seem para- A young man stands up. Like the sential for Uzbekistan to have stability doxical. It is one aspect of the $200,000 other male students, he is conserva- for the moment so we can build up our grant I received from the U.S. State tively dressed in a dark suit, white shirt, economy. So we sometimes have to Department for a three-year partner- and tie. “I suppose President Karimov take strong measures. We, like you ship between the School of Journalism will be attacked for suppressing dis- Americans, are in the forefront of the at Northeastern University, where I sent and for abuse of police power.” struggle against Osama bin Laden and teach, and the Uzbek university. Al- “Correct,” I respond. “How do you international terrorism.” though there are many problems in know that and, even more important, I tell the students that President Uzbekistan, I have come to believe that what will you advise him to answer if he Karimov would do well to avoid get- the future of freedom of speech in gets such questions from the American ting rattled and to try to deliver the Uzbekistan, though problematical, is press?” message with a smile if and when he not hopeless. “I go to an Internet café,” the stu- addresses the American press. President Karimov, who created the

Nieman Reports / Spring 2003 99 International Journalism

Center for International Journalism at Censorship in Uzbek Media paper Hurriyet (Liberty) published an the university by decree in 1999, has article titled “It Is Better to Light One frequently said he wants to encourage To make sure that formal censorship Candle,” about a September 2002 con- a more professional media. But his was really dead, I visited room 316 ference dedicated to freedom of speech. Soviet-trained underlings seem to put during my most recent visit to Tashkent “Before you never found such articles,” obstacles in the way. “The president’s in November 2002. Sure enough, the one of my students told me. “Yes, these words go out and seem to float in the censorship apparatus was gone. The articles are not so critical but they were air. They hit a concrete cloud and there space has been taken over by the news- published.” is no change underneath it,” said one paper Marifat (Enlightenment). Editor The atmosphere in the classroom American professor at World Languages Khalimjon Saidov, who showed me the has lightened up since I engaged the recently. I asked Jamalladin Buranov, rooms, commented, “You see, all that students in playing “presidential advi- before he retired as rector last year, is left are the iron door jambs.” sor.” Restraints at the university are what he hoped the presence of Ameri- So what difference has the end of softening. We can discuss issues such can professors would do for the uni- censorship made? as AIDS, poverty, unemployment, pros- versity and ultimately for Uzbekistan. In television, which any ruler knows titution, environmental pollution, He replied, “I want them to encourage is the crucial medium when it comes to health and the status of women openly. the students to tell the truth. We must governing, very little has changed. Of- I don’t doubt that this worries some of plant the seeds of free discussion. I’m ficial Uzbek TV continues to glorify the the older professors who grew up un- not sure we’ll see the fruits in our president and downplay the country’s der the Soviet system. On the other lifetime, but we must plant now.” difficulties. Russian TV, which is avail- hand, the career of journalism seems Uzbekistan gained independence in able in the capital, gives a richer diet of more attractive now to the students. 1991 when the Soviet Union collapsed. international and Russian news, as well They are beginning to see it as a way to It wrote into its new constitution that as entertainment. Occasionally, how- help Uzbekistan modernize, not just as there should be no prior restraint—no ever, Uzbekistan jams critical broad- a career that would allow them to travel censorship—of media. In flagrant vio- casts by the BBC and Radio Free Eu- out to the West (and possibly not re- lation of this constitutional assurance, rope/Radio Liberty. turn). Uzbekistan continued Soviet-style cen- To protect themselves, some news- One curious issue arose last fall when sorship on the grounds that military paper editors have hired unemployed a student wrote an article in a wall secrets had to be protected. Here ev- censors to act as consultants. That newspaper—an unofficial publication erything hinges on definition. What amounts to the privatization of censor- that doesn’t require official approval affects national security? Should dis- ship. Other editors are careful to exer- because it doesn’t circulate and is cussion of public issues really be se- cise self-censorship. “You must under- pasted to a wall—asserting America’s cret? Uzbekistan continued to use the stand,” says journalism professor Akbar Statue of Liberty would break into tears Soviet manual of forbidden topics, Normatov, “when you yoke a horse to if she came to Uzbekistan and saw the which was extremely broad. The a pump and have him walk in circles for poor state of free discussion. At first manual itself was classified secret. No decades, there is no great change when the university administration tried to mention was to be made in the media the chains come off. The horse contin- dismiss the student on grounds of poor about the censorship office, which was ues to walk in circles.” academic performance. But, when the located in room 316 at 32 Matbuotchilar Yet there are some subtle develop- issue was described on the Internet, Street. The chief censor’s name was ments that we should not overlook. that initial decision was reviewed. The Erkin Kamilov. The Committee to Protect Journalists, student was offered the chance to take On July 3, 2002, President Karimov a monitoring group based in New York, a test, which he passed, and he was made a dramatic decision. By decree reports that a small group of reporters readmitted. he abolished censorship, eliminated in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, have quit I tell the students that a major task the censor’s office, dismissed Kamilov, official media to send reports to before them now will be to develop a and declared that henceforth editors Internews, an American organization journalistic code of professional eth- would be fully responsible for what that tries to promote independent tele- ics. We discuss the usual issues that was published or broadcast. If infor- vision stations in provincial cities. must be included—verification of facts, mation was inaccurate or caused social Some newspapers have begun push- access to governmental information, turmoil, editors would find themselves ing the envelope, too. Yash Kuch protection of confidential sources, and out of a job. To show that he meant (Young Power), for example, recently so forth. “Unless you develop such a business, editor in chief Abdukayum published an article about media being code, you’ll probably find that the gov- Yuldashev of the newspaper Mohiyat the fourth estate of government, the ernment will develop a code for you,” (Essence) was dismissed July 19, 2002 implication being that independent I tell the students. “And you won’t like for publishing an article by an author media was more truthful than official that.” They get the point. who had previously been blacklisted. media were. The independent news- The end of censorship has ener-

100 Nieman Reports / Spring 2003 International Journalism gized journalism professors, too. The Students who are lucky enough to win are curious about the world beyond joint American-Uzbek manual on inde- scholarships to the United States and Uzbekistan’s borders, and many are pendent journalism that I have been study journalism find that when they comfortable with the Internet. In the promoting for the past two years now return home they are looked upon as next three decades, these students has a reasonable chance of being ac- upstarts by their elders and do well to might bring changes in Uzbekistan as cepted by the Ministry of Education keep their foreign ideas to themselves. the country strives to find its place in and eventually being published. The Furthermore, Uzbek society is orga- the world community. I am sure this Soviet-educated professors, wary of too nized along clan lines where personal will not be fast enough to satisfy the much freedom of speech, seem willing influence, family ties, and bribery have U.S. Congress, which finances my grant, to give the American approach a try. a long history. Central Asia is an area but at least the logjam of free speech is where people are generally unwilling groaning. ■ The Future of Free Speech to wash dirty linen in public. Neverthe- less, I do believe that freer discussion is Nicholas Daniloff, a 1974 Nieman Does any of this mean that Uzbekistan, important for identifying problems and Fellow, teaches journalism at North- a secular Muslim state, is moving to- examining a variety of solutions for eastern University in Boston, Massa- wards free speech or democracy? Is the dealing with them, even in an authori- chusetts and at the Uzbek State U.S. State Department succeeding in tarian state. World Languages University, extending Western concepts to this far- In June 2003, the Uzbek State World Tashkent, Uzbekistan. flung region of Central Asia where Languages University will graduate its Russia’s influence is felt more strongly first students in international journal- [email protected] than America’s? ism. Many of them know English well; I would not get over-excited yet. some have visited the United States. All

Journalists Built a Bridge of Understanding Between East and West During the cold war, Soviet and American editors learned from one another.

From 1983 until 1991, Watson Sims later, they met again, and the journalist the Union of Soviet Journalists. For us chaired a committee of the American learned that the girl had borne his son. to be able to laugh together in this way Society of Newspaper Editors on Soviet “Why didn’t you tell me?” he asked. was quite remarkable, given the high exchanges, traveling with five Soviet “Father wouldn’t let me,” she replied. level of tension between Moscow and delegations in the United States and “He would rather have a bastard grand- Washington and the fact that our ex- five ASNE delegations in the Soviet son than a journalist son-in-law.” changes began in an atmosphere of Union. He was also a moderator for I heard the story from Vitaly mutual suspicion. But as we came to journalism conferences in Moscow in Chukseev, foreign editor of Tass News know one another, it became clear that 1988 and 1995 and directed a 1992 Agency, as we returned from dinner at despite harsh rhetoric between our Gallup Institute survey on Russian at- the home of Edward Bloustein, presi- governments, as journalists we could titudes toward freedom of expression. dent of Rutgers University, in February communicate with one another. And I In this article, he describes the value of 1987. I told Chukseev it reminded me believe that these journalistic ex- those exchanges and the evolving state of William Tecumseh Sherman’s reac- changes, in part, helped to end the of journalism in Russia. tion when the general was told three cold war. journalists had been killed during the We shared a number of concerns. siege of Vicksburg: “Good! Now we’ll Among them was the perception and By Watson Sims have news from hell before breakfast.” reception our reporting received from Chukseev was a member of the third our respective audiences. Public image Russian journalist fell in love delegation of Soviet journalists with is a concern for all whose work reaches with a girl whose father, thinking whom I traveled during the cold war in an audience. But it offers a special A her too young to marry, sent her exchanges between the American Soci- challenge for journalists, who rarely to live with a distant relative. Years ety of Newspaper Editors [ASNE] and own the organizations for which they

Nieman Reports / Spring 2003 101 International Journalism

work and are often subject to guidance ing these people?” asked Tom Driscoll, Tallin, Tashkent, Samarkand and sev- in their presentation of news. Publish- press secretary to Senate Majority eral smaller cities. ers may demand excessive profits or Leader Howard Baker. “There’s no way special treatment for advertisers or the speaker will see these guys,” said Portraying Life on the Other sponsors. Governments may restrict Christopher Matthews, assistant to Side reporting on grounds of security. Con- House Speaker Tip O’Neill. “There are sumers generally prefer good news to no journalists in the Soviet Union. If The hundreds of articles published as a bad news and can resent those who they find journalists over there, they result of the exchanges undoubtedly bring unwelcome messages. lock them up.” had an impact on public opinion in With many masters to serve, it is not The 1984 exchange did little to im- both countries. Not only in Moscow surprising that journalists often score prove understanding. In Washington, and Washington, but also in outposts poorly in public esteem. A November the Soviet delegation cancelled a meet- such as Port Huron, Michigan and 2002 study by the Gallup Organization ing with Secretary of State George Almaty, Kazakhstan, readers saw famil- found only 26 percent of Americans Shultz after a speech in which the sec- iar bylines from the other side of the surveyed rated U.S. journalists “high or retary criticized Soviet policies. A Mos- Iron Curtain, often bringing unex- very high” in honesty and ethical stan- cow roundtable ended with ASNE Presi- pected views of life under capitalism or dards. (Nurses, by comparison, scored dent Richard Smyser telling his hosts, Communism. 79 percent and high school teachers 64 “You are apples and we are oranges. It “I am impressed by how little we percent). A somewhat comparable poll might have been better for you to have Americans know about the Soviet by Professor Iosif Dzyaloshinsky of had an exchange with spokesmen for Union,” Editor John Emmerich wrote Moscow State University found only 13 the White House or State Department.” in The Greenwood, Mississippi Com- percent of Russians willing to trust It is doubtful that more exchanges monwealth in 1987. “Much of our in- journalists. would have occurred, had not Mikhail formation is inaccurate or out-of-date. Gorbachev become president and in- Americans don’t really understand Melting the East-West Chill stituted a policy of glasnost, or open- Russians, and they don’t understand ness, which led to laws guaranteeing us. The Soviet people are cordial and When ASNE suggested in 1969 that newspapers the right to publish and friendly. Our group of 12 editors was delegations meet to discuss their pro- permitting journalists greater freedom well received everywhere we went. I fession, the Union of Soviet Journalists to travel and report news. encountered not a single incident of replied, “We have nothing to exchange Between 1984 and 1990, ASNE and hostility or meanness. We met and in that area.” A.M. Rosenthal of The the Union of Soviet Journalists ex- talked with hundreds of people. Virtu- New York Times was among American changed five delegations, in which 63 ally all indicated they would like to be editors who held a similar view when a American editors visited the Soviet better friends with the United States.” meeting was next discussed in 1983. In Union and 52 Soviets came to America. “An attentive, respectful attitude a letter to ASNE President Creed Black, Doors were opened to an extent un- toward the client, worrying about Rosenthal wrote, “These are not sim- imaginable at the height of the cold whether he is comfortable, whether he ply journalists—in some cases not jour- war. Whereas few U.S. officials would is satisfied—this is in the blood of the nalists at all—but officials of a society receive the Soviets in 1984, on a single American service industry,” Nadezjda devoted to the repression of any form day in 1989 a Soviet delegation met Garifullina wrote in Lights of the Alatau, of free expression, particularly the with Vice President Dan Quayle, Secre- a newspaper published in Almaty, press. I doubt that this gains us much tary of State Jim Baker, House Speaker Kazakhstan, in 1988. “We were not respect even from the Soviet guests, Tom Foley, House Minority Leader asked for documents in a single hotel, who are far too sophisticated to feel Newt Gingrich, and National Security which is done so unceremoniously in that they and the American editors have Adviser Brent Scowcroft. Soviet del- our own country. I hope readers will anything in common.” Others dis- egations visited hospitals, newspapers, not accuse me of lack of patriotism, but agreed, including Tom Winship, editor universities, space research centers, why can they and why can’t we? Why is of The Boston Globe, who wrote: “I see television networks, polling organiza- it that in any American store you can nothing to lose by communicating at tions, and the National Organization examine goods and no one demands every level with our adversaries. We for Women. They interviewed mayors to look into your purse when you walk learn from whomever we communi- of a dozen cities, attended Broadway out? Why are such things possible over cate with, no matter what the circum- theaters, the San Francisco ballet and there and not here?” stances are.” services at Atlanta’s Ebenezer Baptist At roundtables and in many smaller After a divided ASNE board agreed Church, and rode horses in . ASNE conversations, Soviet and American on an exchange in 1984, many U.S. delegations were exposed to a spec- journalists discussed problems—and officials refused to receive the Soviet trum of Soviet life through visits to contrasting styles—in covering news. journalists. “Who’s going to be watch- Moscow, Leningrad, Kiev, Tblisi, Riga, During a 1987 meeting, Viktor

102 Nieman Reports / Spring 2003 International Journalism

Afanasyev, editor in chief of Pravda and newspaper’s editor, said complaints was Artyom Borovik, whose father led chairman of the Union of Soviet Jour- came not only from the city council, a delegation of Soviet journalists to nalists, boasted that a telephone on his but also from displeased readers. “Edi- America in 1984. Artyom Borovik won desk led directly to President tors sit at different tables, but they eat acclaim for reporting Soviet Army re- Gorbachev. Boris Yeltsin, then Mos- the same bread,” said Shegolikhin. “An verses in Afghanistan and exposing cow city boss, had criticized the party’s editor’s bread is tough to eat.” corruption among government officials leadership, and Jim Gannon, editor of After the Soviet Union collapsed into before being killed in a suspicious air- The Des Moines Register, had a sugges- smaller states the bread grew tougher. craft crash. In an article published by tion: “Pick up the phone and ask Although Russia’s newspapers re- the International Press Institute, Gorbachev what he’s going to do with mained free to publish, there was no Genrikh Borovik wrote that his son Yeltsin.” stream of advertising or comparable died in a losing battle for press free- In a discussion of personnel, income to replace subsidies that sup- dom and concluded, “The plan to put Afanasyev said, “I had a reporter who ported the official media under Com- the press in order is working.” The was useless. I talked with him many munism. Thousands of newspapers grieving father found small comfort in times and finally removed him from his were launched, only to fail for lack of the creation by The Overseas Press job. He has sued in one court after support. In 1995, Vsevolod Bogdanov, Club of America of an annual Artyom another. Paper has flooded my office. chairman of the Union of Russian Jour- Borovik Award for courageous report- Sometimes I think it would have been nalists, successor to the Union of So- ing. easier to keep him on the job.” viet Journalists, reported that Russian Looking back on the exchanges and “We’ve been there,” said Gannon. journalists earned only $30 to $40 per their aftermath, I believe the decline of month. “The economy is poor, and press freedom in Russia stems not from Freedom Confronts most journalists know their papers can absence of brave and able journalists, Economic Realities close at any time,” said Bogdanov. but from history and economics. Lack- “When they work, it is under very dan- ing a sound financial base on which to Always there was the question of access gerous conditions, with too many be- practice freedom, too many newspa- to news. When John Driscoll of The ing attacked and murdered. Many jour- pers and too many journalists supple- Boston Globe told a Leningrad meet- nalists say they cannot live without ment their income by performing fa- ing in 1987 that both nations should subsidies.” He noted that much of the vors for sponsors. This damages their allow reporters greater freedom to media’s support came from individu- product and weakens their support in travel, the editor of Leningrad Pravda als, political parties, or criminal ele- a society long accustomed to authori- declared, “We vote ‘aye’ with both ments seeking to manipulate public tative rule and where officials are un- hands.” opinion. likely to welcome public scrutiny of Cautiously at first, some Soviet visi- Although individual Russian jour- their performance. In 1987, a sarcastic tors acknowledged they were expected nalists have won international acclaim mayor of Leningrad asked his Ameri- to serve an ideological purpose. “If we for courageous reporting, their image can visitors, “Can the editor of Pravda see a beggar in America, we make a big at home has declined in recent years. A make the trains run on time or see that deal of it,” one visitor said in 1984. As study by Moscow State University Pro- only fresh bread is sold in our baker- the exchanges progressed, the Soviets fessor Dzyaloshinsky reported in 1990 ies?” The answer, of course, was no, increasingly diverged from their tradi- that 70 percent of Russians were will- but had not the issue been raised by a tional role. When laws were passed to ing to trust journalists, but by 2001 brave editor, the trains might have be- guarantee newspapers the right to pub- only 13 percent were willing to do so. come slower and the bread more stale. lish, Soviet journalists were quick to The Russian government, equally dis- Whether journalists remain free to ask exercise their freedom. trustful, imposed stern limits on cover- such questions is by no means assured “We once did not write about such age of what it considers terrorist activi- in Russia today. ■ things as crime or earthquakes,” Pravda ties. And it uses financial pressure to Editor Afanasyev told an ASNE delega- punish media organizations of which it Watson Sims, a 1953 Nieman Fellow, tion in 1987, “but now we have no disapproves. The International Press was a foreign correspondent for The taboos.” In Leningrad an ASNE delega- Institute has placed Russia on its watch Associated Press, editor of newspa- tion found Pravda campaigning against list for press endangerment, and the pers in Battle Creek, Michigan and the sale of stale bread in city bakeries Committee to Protect Journalists added New Brunswick, New Jersey, and is and failure of the city’s streetcars to President Vladimir Putin to its list of 10 now a scholar in communications at operate on schedule. In Samarkand, a greatest enemies of a free press. the George H. Gallup International delegation found the newspaper The Glasnost Foundation in Mos- Institute, Princeton, New Jersey. He Lenin’s Path under fire for publishing cow said 17 journalists were killed in lives in Asheville, North Carolina. an article on suicide among young Russia during 2001 and about 100 were Muslim women. Boris Shegolikhin, the assaulted. Notable among casualties [email protected]

Nieman Reports / Spring 2003 103 Nieman Notes Nieman Notes Compiled by Lois Fiore

Courageous Zimbabwean Editor Becomes a Nieman Fellow ‘Like a recurring nightmare, Nyarota became a frequent occupant of Harare’s police cells.’

By Shyaka Kanuma

t no point in his career did Zim- wife, Virginia, and two of their three Mugabe’s ruinous land-grab policy and babwean journalist Geoffrey children. the violence this policy unleashed on ANyarota imagine, as he tried to Soon afterwards, the Committee to both white and black citizens. After all, contribute to a better society in his Protect Journalists (CPJ) alerted the Mugabe’s government thinks nothing country by being a freethinking jour- Nieman Foundation of Nyarota’s plight. of arresting, detaining and badly tor- nalist, that his road would be anything The foundation took emergency steps turing journalists as a way of trying to but rocky. However, little had prepared to appoint him a Nieman Fellow and to control what is published, as Zimba- him for the fact that along the way his get him and his family to the United bwean journalists Ray Choto and the offices would be bombed, there would States. “It is with a feeling of great relief late Mark Chavunduka, a 2000 Nieman be arbitrary weekly arrests and threats that I am here, and it is my fervent hope Fellow, discovered to their peril. of physical violence, and death. In short, that what I gain as a Nieman Fellow I For his work, Nyarota has won a the gamut of skullduggery only a thor- will use to benefit independent jour- string of international journalism oughly repressive system is capable of. nalism in Zimbabwe,” Nyarota tells me awards, among them a CPJ award in For Nyarota, the final obstacle was as he reclines on a settee in the apart- 2001 in New York City and the World put in his path when the board of ment that is his family’s new home in Association of Newspapers’ Golden Pen directors of his newspaper, the Daily Cambridge. last year. But these came with a very News, sacked him a few months ago. Nyarota becomes a Nieman after heavy price. What the state and its He learned of his firing by unconven- devoting more than two decades of his hired thugs had in store for the Daily tional means—a radio news bulletin, life to journalism in Africa. He is among News and its journalists was an un- which is one of the surest indications that continent’s most prominent news- precedented campaign of violence and in Africa that a job has been lost at the paper editors. During his career, he intimidation. A year after the Daily News instigation of forces in “high places.” displayed extraordinary levels of cour- first was published, a bomb blast went Nyarota, who arrived at Harvard in age in exposing graft, larceny and all off underneath the newspaper’s build- January for his Nieman Fellowship, kinds of unethical behavior by the pow- ing. No serious investigation into the explains, “In effect, when I lost my job erful interests in his country. He cause nor arrests were made. Not long it meant I no longer had the institu- founded the Daily News in 1999 upon after, an even more powerful blast de- tional protection the newspaper had his return from Mozambique, where stroyed the paper’s presses. Confronted afforded me. Also, I suddenly found he had gone into exile because of re- by all of these problems, the publica- out that all my friends had abandoned porting that exposed a vehicle-dealing tion began to hemorrhage money. me and that the police were looking for scam involving some of the highest- Like a recurring nightmare, Nyarota me.” ranking government officials. became a frequent occupant of Harare’s He knew then that it was time to The Zimbabwean editor’s stature police cells. He was charged under the leave what he had been trying to do in and that of the Daily News in African country’s draconian press laws on Zimbabwe. With nothing more than a journalism were firmly established by widely interpretable charges such as few belongings hastily thrown in a suit- the resolve and courage with which criminal defamation against the presi- case, he slipped into neighboring South they undertook the highly risky ven- dent. When a state security operative Africa, where he was soon joined by his ture of fighting President Robert casually informed Nyarota in an eleva-

104 Nieman Reports / Spring 2003 Nieman Notes tor that he had been instructed to as- ishing readerships due to economic The New Vision, a Ugandan daily, sassinate him and then tried to extort hardships, and other demoralizing ef- and The East African, a regional him and a colleague of a large sum of fects on journalists. weekly. While working for those money, it did little for badly frayed For such journalists at Nyarota, be- papers, he and a few other journal- nerves at the Daily News. Nerves were ing granted a Nieman fellowship seems ists developed plans for an investiga- already stretched by the abduction by a godsend. ■ tive weekly, Rwanda Newsline. The hired thugs of some of the newspaper’s idea, Kanuma said, was to “expose writers and the fact that Mugabe’s In- Shyaka Kanuma, a 2003 Nieman corruption and incompetence in formation Minister Jonathan Moyo had Fellow, is a freelance contributor to high places, helping to create a told one journalist to her face that they The Mail and Guardian in vibrant civil society.” However, the would begin targeting individual jour- Johannesburg, South Africa. Kanuma new weekly was up against the nalists with the paper. began his journalism career as a strength and determination of those By the time he got sacked, Nyarota’s reporter in Rwanda for a govern- in power, who wanted to drive departure from Zimbabwe was well ment-owned weekly, The New Times. Rwanda Newsline out of business. overdue. Having a long-time passion for After barely two years, the weekly His story is one lived daily by coura- journalism and a strong desire to was forced to close because of gov- geous journalists all over Africa, albeit contribute to the rebuilding of ernment harassment and interfer- with varying degrees of severity. As in Rwanda through his work as a ence with the paper’s advertisers. Zimbabwe, journalists often lock horns reporter, Kanuma was seriously Although the paper closed, it had set against more powerful and ruthless disappointed by the lack of indepen- the journalistic standard in forces. But then they also have to con- dent journalism he found at The Rwanda, and Kanuma was the first tend against factors not directly related New Times. He felt that truth was reporter in the country to win a to reportorial work, but that are no less sacrificed for political expediency continental award—CNN’s Free a hindrance to the development of a and blatant corruption was ignored. Press Africa Award in Johannesburg, free press, including very poor facili- Within seven months of starting his South Africa ties, economies so weak that advertise- work at The New Times, he resigned. ment markets hardly exist, ever dimin- Kanuma then became a stringer for [email protected]

—1941— communities,” a reporter at The Adver- Stewart began his career in journal- tiser wrote in Chaplin’s obituary. ism as a reporter for United Press and George Chaplin died on February Chaplin’s passionate work on the later for Newsweek, covering the U.S. 17, 2003 in McLean, Virginia, from com- editorial page and in the community, Senate and the Supreme Court. He plications after a fall in which he broke the obituary continued, stemmed from also wrote the column “Washington his shoulder. He was 88. “his dream for Hawaii to build a truly Week” for . Chaplin served as editor of The pluralistic society where class, race and Stewart continued on to work with the Advertiser, the largest news- religion didn’t matter.” Thurston U.S. State Department at its mission to paper in Hawaii, for 28 years, retiring Twigg-Smith, former owner of the Ad- the United Nations in New York as a in 1986. Before he went to The Adver- vertiser and long-time friend of liaison between the U.S. delegation tiser, Chaplin was the editor of the Chaplin’s, said, “He helped bring the and the media. He also worked person- New Orleans Item, the largest paper in whole community together and was ally with former first lady Eleanor Louisiana. Among Chaplin’s favorite the first editor of The Advertiser to Roosevelt when she was developing editorial topics was statehood for Ha- actively try to bring all racial groups the United Universal Declaration of waii and, through a series of pro-Ha- together and move forward with the Human Rights adopted by the United waii statehood editorials in the Item, growth of the state.” Nations. Chaplin caught the attention of pub- Chaplin’s wife, Esta, died in 2001. As an avid student of American his- lisher Lorrin P. Thurston, who was He is survived by his son, Steve Chaplin; tory, Stewart also wrote many articles looking for someone to take over the his daughter, Jerri Chaplin; a sister, about American history and recently news operation of The Advertiser. Kay Greene, and four grandsons. finished a book, “George Washington When Chaplin started at The Adver- and the French in the American Revo- tiser in 1958, “he immediately set about —1947— lution.” Prior to his retirement, Stewart breaking down the barrier between was the assistant director of informa- what was seen as an aristocratic, haole Gilbert W. “Pete” Stewart, Jr. died tion at the Tennessee Valley Authority [Hawaiian for a white person], anti- on January 21, 2003 in Knoxville, Ten- in Knoxville for 20 years. labor institution and the various ethnic nessee. He was 90. His wife, Laura Denton Stewart,

Nieman Reports / Spring 2003 105 Nieman Notes

writes, “I have many happy memories will start a program with Moscow State ant, chairing a joint public affairs com- of attending Nieman reunions with my University and University of Missouri mittee and reporting directly to the husband, the last being the reunion of soon. Human rights issues and prob- Group chairman. When the two min- 2000.” He is also survived by his son, lems with trafficking of women and ing giants separated organizationally, I Gilbert W. Stewart and his daughter, children are the focus of some state remained with De Beers until my re- Mary Jo Jaqua. department projects and may also in- tirement at the end of 2002, although I volve a trip to Greece this year for will continue to act as personal con- —1949— training. Some Middle Eastern projects sultant, particularly on political issues, have emerged for attention this year as to De Beers Chairman Nicky Grady Clay, one of Louisville’s most well. Oppenheimer. significant urban analysts, is set to be “Repotting instead of retirement “After my two-year fellowship at the the honorary chairman for “Creating a seems to work if you don’t run out of IISS (1986-87), I remained a member City: A Symposium To Examine How pots. We are two hours from Washing- of the Institute, and in the mid-90’s was Architecture and the Built Environment ton and 10 minutes from Browntown, invited to join its council. I am now vice Affect Our Lives,” to be held in March Virginia (one general store, no traffic chairman of the IISS and chairman of 2003 at The Speed Art Museum in Lou- lights). If you are in the area, give us a its executive committee. isville, Kentucky. call: 540-635-6395 or e-mail: “Although I have—since leaving [email protected]. Mailing Harvard—contributed to or edited a —1968— address: Long Mountain, 617 Seven number of books, I have yet to emulate Oaks Drive, Bentonville, Virginia 22610. some of my fellow Niemans and pro- Jerome Aumente writes: “After sam- duce one myself. Perhaps the greater pling the Virginia mountains for nearly —1981— freedom of the retired state will finally two decades with a vacation house, deprive me of all excuses. At the mo- Mary [Aumente’s wife] and I decided Fleur deVilliers brings us up to ment, however, I am enjoying the lazy to become full-time mountaineers and date on her work since her Nieman peace and quiet of South Africa’s Cape built a retirement home on Long Moun- year: “I returned to South Africa to be coast where I bought a holiday home in tain, surrounded by the Blue Ridge and made assistant editor of the Sunday 1992 (when the longed-for light began Massanutten mountains and the Times—at the time South Africa’s big- to beckon at the end of South Africa’s Shenandoah Valley down below. I con- gest circulation paper—with special long dark political tunnel.) The house tinue as special counsel to the dean at responsibility for overseeing its politi- is conveniently situated on the shore of the School of Communication, Infor- cal coverage, leader writing, and edit- Walker Bay (a world famous whale- mation and Library Studies at Rutgers ing the op-ed pages. By 1985, however, watching spot) near some very good University, but have time for other work. with the political landscape growing wine estates and makes a wonderful This included two trips to Russia last ever darker and with no gleam of light bolthole from the dreariness of a Lon- spring, a human rights workshop in in sight (how wrong I was), I felt the don winter. London is, however, now Croatia for Balkan journalists, and an need for some academic detachment my home and I will return there in late investigative reporting workshop for and refreshment. I was offered and March.” Montenegrin journalists in Washing- took up a Visiting Fellowship at the Fleur can be reached at: ton and New York. I am writing mod- International Institute for Strategic [email protected]. ules for a CD to train journalists in Studies (IISS) in London. I had just health reporting and just finished one arrived when the Times (of London) —1983— focused on reproductive health care invited me to write its editorials on and family planning in Africa. I signed Southern African issues, something I Huntly Collins, former reporter at a contract with the New Jersey Press continued to do until the mid-90’s. I The Philadelphia Inquirer, has taken a Association to write a book on newspa- also found myself doing a great deal of new job as director of science commu- pers for their 150th anniversary in 2007, political consultancy, commenting and nication and advocacy at the AIDS Vac- and I am designing a series of work- analysis for various British TV networks cine Advocacy Coalition (AVAC) in New shops to help journalists in covering as the South African story was seldom York. The coalition aims to provide childhood development issues in New out of the news. One thing led to an- accurate and unbiased information Jersey with a Robert Wood Johnson other and my initial London “sabbati- about experimental AIDS vaccines and Foundation funded project, Children’s cal” became permanent, and I made their ethical testing in clinical trials in Futures. my home in the UK. both the West and developing coun- “In the spring of 2003, I will do a “I subsequently joined the London tries. It is financed by the Bill & Melinda workshop for Bosnian journalists on office of the global diamond mining Gates Foundation, the Ford Founda- economics reporting and go to Bosnia- and marketing group, De Beers, and its tion, and several other philanthropies Herzegovina in June for our Rutgers- then-sister company, Anglo American and accepts no government or indus- SCILS-University of Sarajevo project. I Corporation, as public affairs consult- try funding.

106 Nieman Reports / Spring 2003 Nieman Notes

Collins, who covered AIDS for the this time of year (summer here) is hot, point where we are printing many other past decade at the Inquirer, left the running between 90F and 105F daily. Indian newspapers and other commer- paper in July 2001 to mentor reporters The people are pleasant and open. cial print jobs along with books, maps, covering AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa. What is most interesting is to see the brochures and catalogs,” Giago says. [See her story on page 35.] She con- culture here—it is caught with one foot “We will produce quality printing at ducted journalism workshops in in the 1700’s and one foot in the 21st competitive prices but, best of all, all of Botswana and Kenya and spent the century. There are great numbers of my printers will be Lakota. The press first six months of 2002 living and cell phones, more than land lines, but has opened up several career opportu- working in South Africa, which has five at the same time donkey carts are in the nities for the Indian people and, in the million people living with HIV, more street and you must watch out for goats end, that’s what it’s all about.” than any other country in the world. and cows while driving. Traditional Her work has been funded by the healers using spirit medicine and con- —1993— Harvard School of Public Health, the sultation with ancestors are the chief International AIDS Vaccine Initiative, form of treatment, but there are some Terry Tang, former editor of The and the Kaiser Family Foundation. sophisticated medical laboratories and New York Times’s op-ed page, has Collins, who spent her Nieman year top-notch Western doctors as well. joined the paper’s technology news studying labor economics at Harvard There are no independent daily news- desk as deputy editor. and MIT, was a reporter at The Orego- papers and, until this year, no journal- Having worked as a lawyer for a firm nian in Portland for nine years before ism school. I hope to teach journalism in Seattle and for a Seattle weekly, moving to the Inquirer in 1983. She at the first journalism program later Tang joined the Times’s editorial page and her life partner, Esther Miller, a this year.” in 1997 after eight years as a columnist public-interest lawyer representing and editorial writer with The Seattle physically disabled people, now live in —1991— Times. Philadelphia’s Mount Airy section with their eight-year-old daughter, Mia Qian Tim Giago, owner, publisher and Andrew (Sandy) Tolan is a teach- Miller Collins. Contact: editor of the Lakota Journal, the largest ing fellow at the Graduate School of [email protected]. independent American Indian news- Journalism at the University of Califor- paper in the nation, has purchased the nia at Berkeley. He writes, “I have a —1985— King Press from the Durango Herald in two-semester appointment as a visit- Durango, Colorado. Giago says, ing fellow cosponsored by the Gradu- Phil Hilts is now in Botswana. He “There’s an old adage—‘Freedom of ate School of Journalism and the Cen- writes: “I’m working on a book on the press belongs to those who own ter for Latin American Studies at UC AIDS in Southern Africa, in particular the press’—and I’ve always felt that to Berkeley. In the fall I was the I.F. Stone following the national experiment in control the quality of the newspaper Fellow at the J-School. I am teaching a Botswana, in which the government is and the timeliness of it, you need to two-semester class called ‘Politics and hoping to deliver sophisticated three- own your press. Otherwise, you’re at Petroleum,’ which will culminate in drug AIDS treatments to all in the coun- the mercy of the printer.” The press about 10 students traveling to Venezu- try who need it, free. Donors have will enable the Lakota Journal to print ela, Mexico, Ecuador, Colombia, Brazil supplied the money and sent some different quantities of a large variety of and Peru to report on the effects of oil experts to help out. But the real ques- publications: “My goal is to see the production in the region that the United tion is, can the slow, inefficient govern- States currently relies on most for its ment of a developing nation gear up to oil imports. (Latin America supplies become an efficient deliverer of medi- about one-third of foreign oil to the cines that require sophisticated techni- United States, more than all Mideast cal monitoring? And can they help those countries combined.) with HIV who are still in denial change “Also, I am at work on a book, “The their attitudes? Botswana currently has Lemon Tree,” the story of a Palestinian the worst burden of AIDS in the world; and an Israeli who lived in the same about 38 percent of the adult popula- house at different times, before and tion is infected. after July 1948, in what is now Ramle, “My wife, Carisa, is working on HIV Israel. The book will be published by here as well, in public health commu- Bloomsbury USA.” nications, and our daughter is in school Apprentice printers Dave Charging, Tolan is cofounder of Homelands here in the equivalent of fourth grade. Bryan “Kelly” Charging Cloud, press Productions, a public interest journal- “We are living out here for a year to foreman Paul Mousseau, and Tim Giago, ism organization covering the environ- two years, in a pleasant little house in publisher, stand in front of the new King ment, the global economy, and indig- the capital, Gaborone. The weather at Press purchased by the Lakota Journal. enous affairs. Homelands Productions

Nieman Reports / Spring 2003 107 Nieman Notes

specializes in documentary work for —2000— NPR. Honoring Mark Chavunduka Through ‘Distress Fund’ Mary Kay Magistad writes, “As of —1994— January 2003, I am the Beijing-based Many of Mark Chavunduka’s friends are memori- Northeast Asia correspondent for the Larry Tye, director of the Health alizing him through the Committee to Protect Public Radio International/BBC pro- Coverage Fellowships and former re- Journalists (CPJ). CPJ maintains a “distress fund” gram ‘The World.’ That means that porter for The Boston Globe, is the for journalists that offers emergency help to those North and South Korea are most defi- recipient of an Alicia Patterson Foun- whose work puts them at risk. When he needed nitely part of my patch (and have, not dation fellowship, the nation’s oldest help a year ago, Mark himself got money from this surprisingly, been taking up most of journalism writing fellowship. The one- fund. Contributions in Mark’s name can be sent my time since I arrived). year grants of $35,000 are awarded to to: “Before this, I opened National Pub- print journalists to “pursue indepen- lic Radio’s (NPR) Beijing bureau and dent projects of significant interest.” Joel Simon was NPR’s China correspondent, 1995- He writes, “The Alicia Patterson fel- Committee to Protect Journalists 99. I had also been NPR’s Southeast lowship will help support my travels 330 7th Ave. Asia correspondent, 1993-95, and a around the country to talk to Pullman 12th Floor regular Bangkok-based stringer for The porters, most of whom are in their late New York, NY 10001 Washington Post, The Boston Globe, 80’s or older (the last one I talked to and NPR in Southeast Asia, 1988-92.” was 102), and nearly all of whom are in Please earmark any contribution for the distress precarious enough health that I try fund and make checks out to CPJ. ■ Thrity Umrigar’s memoir, “First and get to them as soon as I find them. Darling of the Morning,” will be pub- “My book is tentatively titled, ‘Ris- lished by HarperCollins, India, this ing from the Rails: Pullman Porters and summer. The book tells the story of the Birth of the Black Middle Class,’ and women’s issues were back. At some Umrigar’s childhood in postcolonial and I am writing it under contract to point, the government thought I could Bombay, India, and ends with her leav- Henry Holt publishers. It, like so many contribute in the United States, in this ing for the United States at age 21 to good things in my life, was inspired field, to the new free trade agreement continue her education. Both a lament during my Nieman year, when I took between Chile and the United States and a valentine to the city of her birth, John Stilgoe’s great course at the Gradu- that will be signed soon. Even though the book shows how the political and ate School of Design. tariffs, production, imports and ex- the personal converge in the life of one “I also have a Rockefeller Founda- ports, and jobs are the main issues, middle-class Indian girl. tion media fellowship for this book, there is also a big area to look into in Umrigar, currently a visiting profes- one that will let me spend the month of cultural and education interchange. I sor of creative writing at Case Western February reading/writing at the won- am doing my best to spread Chilean Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, derful Bellagio Study and Conference idiosyncrasies through forums, confer- is also the author of the novel, “Bombay Center on Lake Cuomo, Italy.” ences and cultural events.” Time” (PicadorUSA, 2001).

—1997— —1999— —2001—

Verónica López has been appointed Mary Williams Walsh, a reporter at Mark Pothier is now senior assis- Counselor of Cultural Affairs at the The New York Times, received the tant metro editor for The Boston Globe. Embassy of Chile in Washington, D.C. George Polk Journalism Award in the He had been assistant metro editor. Prior to her appointment, López was health care reporting category along His responsibilities now include Globe the editor of the Saturday magazine of with and Barry Meier. South, a zoned twice-weekly edition of El Mercurio, Chile’s main newspaper. Bogdanich, Meier and Walsh won the paper that covers 48 cities and She writes, “that has been my job for the award for a series that “showed towns. He also writes regularly for The over 30 years, founding and launching how two private companies cornered Boston Globe Magazine, which is pub- magazines, mostly feature magazines, the market on the sale of drugs, medi- lished on Sundays. except Seman, in Colombia, which was cal devices, and other supplies to many a news magazine. hospitals, inflating costs while distrib- Ron Stodghill, a senior writer and “The main issues in the last maga- uting inferior products,” according to former Midwest bureau chief at Time, zine I had worked with were focused The Associated Press news release. has been named the new editor in chief on emphasizing the importance of cul- The Polk awards were created by of Savoy, a Vanity Fair-inspired, tural and social topics in the comeback Long Island University in 1949 to honor 325,000-circulation, 10-times-yearly of democracy in Chile. In the 1990’s, the CBS reporter killed while covering magazine serving African Americans. theater was back, literature was back, the Greek civil war. Vanguarde chairman/CEO Keith

108 Nieman Reports / Spring 2003 Nieman Notes

Clinkscales, one of the founders of successful in starting an energetic dia- more peace and stability in Burundi. Savoy along with the magazine’s vi- logue with readers,” he says. “My role Also, I have to participate in the intel- sionary and former editor in chief, Roy will be to refine and continue this rela- lectual life of the university and attend S. Johnson, expressed his confidence tionship.” meetings with other fellows hosted by that Stodghill is the right person for the other universities of the greater Bos- post: “Because the publication is Afri- —2002— ton area. I am also auditing classes can American-oriented, I felt it was related to my work at Fletcher and the important that it have an African-Ameri- Agnes Nindorera, a producer at John F. Kennedy School of Govern- can editor. Studio Ijambo in Bujumbura, Burundi, ment this spring term.” “I would have limited the talent pool at the time of her Nieman Fellowship, Nindorera’s fellowship is funded by greatly if I had said that [editor in chief is now a research fellow at the Center the Boston Consortium for Gender, experience] was a requirement,” for Human Rights & Conflict Resolu- Security and Human Rights, a group of Clinkscales says. “Ron has a great man- tion at The Fletcher School of Law and five leading academic centers and pro- agement ability, a great journalistic Diplomacy at Tufts University. She grams “dedicated to research on issues curiosity, a sense of news, and the right writes, “[The fellowship] provides sup- of gender and security, human rights, cultural sensitivities.” port … for a year. As a research fellow, conflict resolution and prevention.” ■ Stodghill plans on picking up where I am expected to write a paper related Johnson left off: “[Keith] and Roy were to community-based leadership for

College the Second Time Around

By Morgan Baker

In the fall of 2001, I met Dejan, Lidija more precarious position: threatened derstand the whole service, but I saw and Madka from Serbia. I met Agnes and chased and, if caught, beaten or how hard this young boy/man had stud- from Burundi, Wasiri from Nigeria, killed to keep them silent. I met some ied and how well he did. Not only were Owasi, Amra and their children from of those journalists. One planned to his parents and family from Israel proud Pakistan, and the Schofields from Mis- stay here for another year and others of him but so were the children from souri. were anxious about what they would America, Costa Rica, South Africa, Paki- My husband was the Nieman, I was be returning to. stan, and Serbia. the affiliate—the term for spouses and Our kids’ worlds also expanded. I admire the Nieman families who significant others. I knew the year They celebrated Chinese New Year with left their lives behind and moved to would be good for Matt. What I didn’t Yuan. They played international soc- Cambridge, where they made new know was that the year would pro- cer. Ellie’s new best friend Sana is from friends and lived a different lifestyle. I foundly affect me, too. Pakistan, and Maggie’s ready to live watched families navigate a new city I tried new things. I took courses in somewhere else, “bored” with the and grapple with a foreign language. I psychology and human development United States. One day, some of the saw how exciting it could be to try and sat in on lectures and seminars kids decided to play basketball at a something new and a bit scary. about politics and journalism. I went nearby playground, and I watched as a Our Nieman year came to a close. Salsa dancing and made pottery. I group of 15 kids aged six to 14 walked Our new friends returned to Washing- watched and admired Yuan stand by down the street together speaking in ton, D.C., Seattle, New York, New Delhi, her husband quietly and protectively different accents. Costa Rica, Johannesburg and Beijing. as he died of cancer at Brigham and We had a party for Greek Easter in We stayed here, left behind. I’m afraid Women’s Hospital. I watched the the spring. A local friend came and said of driving around Cambridge, afraid Greens debate whether to return to it felt like college, except everyone was I’m going to see the back of someone’s Israel at the end of the year. I listened middle-aged. That’s what’s made this head, a gait, a ring of cigarette smoke to Middle Eastern journalists explain year so inexplicably great. We’ve had and do a double take before I realize why so many dislike America. the opportunity to be college students it’s not Zoran or Giannina or Dave. ■ I also learned how much we take sharing common interests again, but our free press for granted. U.S. journal- with maturity as our gift. Morgan Baker is a Nieman affiliate ists might get hate mail, even death Our family went to our first Bar from the class of 2002. She teaches at threats, but they’re just threats. Jour- Mitzvah in May at the only synagogue Emerson College in Boston and is a nalists in other countries are often in a in Cambridge, for Avishai. I didn’t un- freelance writer.

Nieman Reports / Spring 2003 109 Nieman Notes

Letter to the Editor End Note

Although I admire Peter Lord as a reporter and have for two decades supported his work, it is impos- sible to let his opinions of The ‘News to Images’ Providence Journal go unchal- lenged. In his article about environment ainter Melora Kuhn first saw a These are two of 11 artists whose coverage (Nieman Reports, Win- photograph of ’s Dionne work was a part of “News to Images,” ter 2002), Mr. Lord wrote that “we Pquintuplets in The Boston Globe a show about how visual artists absorb haven’t had pay raises for three in 1998 in an article about their suc- what they see and read in the press years.” First, it should be pointed cess suing their government because and turn the mix of information and out that the newspaper’s manage- of the separation from their parents emotion into art. ment and the newspaper guild, while they were young children. The “News to Images” was presented in representing about 450 news, ad- article included a history of the exploi- the fall of 2002 in the gallery of the vertising and janitorial employ- tation of the quintuplets by their par- Brickbottom Artist Building in ees, have been in contentious ne- ents and others, and Kuhn said she Somerville, Massachusetts. The germ gotiations for three years and have was “compelled by the fear and sad- of the show began in the summer of not agreed on a contract and that ness in their expressions, and the story 2000, while I was looking for images Mr. Lord is a member of the union. struck me as tragic and obscene.” She to use in a section of Nieman Reports Therefore, I view it as a failure on did a painting reflecting her reaction focusing on and war. his part and on the part of Nieman to that photo and article. In 2001, she One photo I found from Sierra Leone Reports to point out that the lack read about the death of one of the was of a boy without a hand. It had of a contract accounts for the lack quintuplets in The New York Times. been cut off by a group of young of a pay raise. In fact, more than The photo accompanying the Times rebels. An image came to mind of what 700 other Journal employees, in- article showed them, at least on the it might have been like at the moment cluding members of the Team- surface, to be happy, well-adjusted the hand was cut off: the boy lying flat sters’ and Pressman’s unions, have children. Kuhn painted their portrait on the ground, his face in the dirt, his received raises because of con- again. wrists in pain. He starts to lift his head tracts signed since Belo Compa- In July of 2000, painter Jose Santos to see what happened and realizes nies acquired the newspaper. read a letter to the editor of The New that his arms have moved, but his He also contends that staff York Times. He was struck by the line, hands are dead still. For years that buyouts and departures have re- “Since 1980 we have produced more image stayed with me until, finally, the sulted in a loss of institutional prison cells than low-income housing idea of creating a show made up of knowledge. While it is true that 25 units. And most new prisons are in artists similarly haunted by a newspa- news people voluntarily left the rural Congressional districts—in other per article or photograph gave me the paper when buyouts were offered words, a jobs program for rural, white context to act, and I was able to paint in the fall of 2001, there are cur- residents who overwhelmingly vote my images, “The Moment It Hap- rently 80 news employees (out of Republican.…” Troubled by the infor- pened.” a full and part-time news staff of mation in the letter, he read more In working with the artists who 248) who have worked here more news articles about prisons. Then he were part of this show, I was moved by than 20 years, among them 25 spent painstaking months working on the surprising and often profound ef- reporters. paintings to reflect his feelings about fect journalism can have on its read- the U.S. prison system, exploring “the ers. ■ —L.F. Sincerely, physical space of being imprisoned, treating it as a subject that is disturb- Joel P. Rawson ing and beautiful at the same time.” Senior Vice President and Executive Editor Company

110 Nieman Reports / Spring 2003 Nieman Notes

“Dionne Quintuplets I” “Dionne Quintuplets II” Oil on canvas, 41" x 35" Oil on canvas, 47" x 54" Melora Kuhn Melora Kuhn

“American Pie” “Wailing” Oil on canvas, 38" x 40" Oil on canvas, 38" x 40" Jose Santos Jose Santos

Nieman Reports / Spring 2003 111 Nieman Notes

“The Moment It Happened” I and II Pastel on paper, 29" x 43" Lois Fiore

112 Nieman Reports / Spring 2003