APME Knows How To Have Fun

By: Joe Strupp Reporter's Notebook

When actor Ed Asner visited with editors during last week's Associated Press Managing Editors (APME) conference here, he responded to a slew of questions ranging from his thoughts on TV newsroom portrayals to the effect of his political views on his career.

One question he didn't get: Which editors group would his alter ego, Lou Grant, likely have chosen to spend time with: the host group APME, or their rival/counterpart, the American Society of Newspaper Editors (ASNE)? My guess is that Grant, the fictional newsman from "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" and later his own self-titled sitcom, would have gone APME all the way.

I'm not reproaching ASNE, which I've been lucky enough to cover for nearly four years and whose April conferences in Washington I find extremely informative and enriching. But both Grant and Asner seem more the APME type.

What is that type? Well, consider APME's events during this year's conference, which ended Saturday after a four-day run. In addition to serious sessions on everything from Freedom of Information laws to the sniper story to improving Web content, the managing editors also threw some good parties -- such as a seafood dinner at the nearby National Aquarium and a Freedom Forum-sponsored party at the Hard Rock Cafe, complete with a DJ spinning tunes and dancing waiters and waitresses.

I can't decide if the high point was Asner and fellow Lou Grant alum Robert Walden (Joe Rossi) dancing to the Village People's YMCA or outgoing APME President Caesar Andrews leading the conga line.

Another tradition that livened up this year's convention was the annual APME Talent Revue on Friday evening, which included editors performing under names such like "The Ink-Stained Wretches."

APME veterans are still talking about some of the group's previous conference attractions, including the 2000 event that offered authentic Mexican music in San Antonio, and the now legendary 1999 conference in Memphis that included a session titled "Elvis, Music Censorship and the First Amendment." That panel consisted of record producer Sam Phillips, who discovered Elvis, blues star Sir Mack Rice, and John Kay of Steppenwolf. After the discussion, Steppenwolf performed for more than an hour in the ballroom of the Peabody Hotel.

"ASNE would have had you escorted out by security for that," Ken Paulson, executive director of the First Amendment Center and organizer of the event recalled when discussing the 1999 panel. "But APME let us in."

Now, that's not to say that ASNE doesn't make its conventions worthwhile. After all, the group also holds important panels on the newsroom issues of the day, and routinely gets the President of the United States, major cabinet members and members of Congress to speak.

But, in terms of giving convention-goers something to cheer, sing, or dance about, the liveliest ASNE events tend to be quiet receptions at some nearby national landmark. The group also holds three out of every four conferences in Washington, while APME jumps from city to city.

ASNE hit a bit of bad luck during their most recent conference in April, when a broken pipe and flood forced the entire event to be relocated to another Washington hotel and breaking foreign affairs required President Bush and Secretary of State Colin Powell to decline their usual appearances

"We are a little more formal," admitted ASNE Executive Director Scott Bosley, a former managing editor. "We don't try to be, but it tends to be that way. But top editors have fun, too."

Bosley pointed out that next year's ASNE convention will have a chance to let its hair down, since it will be held in New Orleans. "We will have more fun there," he promised.

In that case, maybe Lou Grant would feel more at home at next year's ASNE powwow. But most years, his boss, Mrs. Pynchon, would be more likely to relish the ASNE affairs.