Decrying Public Journalism p.20

By: Mark Fitzgerald

Publisher Michael Gartner tells Society of Professional
Journalists conference that the practice is a 'menace;'
denounces publication of Unabomber manifesto sp.

Public journalism is a "menace" that is best exemplified not so much by civic-minded community campaigns as by the decision of the Washington Post and New York Times to publish the Unabomber's manifesto, Iowa publisher Michael Gartner told the Society of Professional Journalists' recent annual convention.
"The Unabomber decision ? that was public journalism run amok," Gartner said.
And, he added, the decision to print the Unabomber's rambling manuscript at the urging of top federal law enforcement officials was a sort of coming out occasion for public journalism.
"When the [New York Times] publisher says it was not a journalistic decision, I knew public journalism was here," Gartner said, editor, chairman, and one of three co-owners of the Daily Tribune in Ames, Iowa.
Gartner's argument against public or civic journalism appeared to be warmly received by the 600 or so professional and student journalists at the speech ? despite the fact that the four-day convention included several sessions that more or less explicitly endorsed the concept of putting journalism in the service of the community.
Indeed, controversy was a no-show at the banquet speech by Gartner, whose selection as a speaker earlier this year had aroused strong dissent from some members (E&P, March 11, p. 12).
Washington, D.C. chapter president Jonathan Salant, for instance, argued Gartner had "forfeited his right to that honor (of being a keynote speaker before SPJ) because of his ethical lapses at NBC."
During Gartner's five years as NBC News president, the network stirred some controversy by identifying the woman who accused William Kennedy Smith of rape and rigging an explosive device to a vehicle as part of a demonstration of supposed safety flaws in General Motors trucks.
At the convention, however, Gartner was given a standing ovation when he donated one of his signature bow ties in an impromptu SPJ Legal Defense Fund auction ? and was cheered on further when departing society president Reginald Stuart announced Gartner had agreed to serve as honorary chairman of the group's Freedom of Information committee.
In addition, the society's resolution committee rejected a proposal from Salant and others that would have prohibited SPJ from inviting as keynote speakers anyone with a record of journalistic ethical lapses.
"The resolution committee felt the free speech considerations took precedence and even listening to scoundrels has its uses sometimes and, therefore, voted not to submit the proposal" to the convention floor, resolutions committee chairman Alan Carmichael explained.
During his remarks, Gartner blasted public journalism of every stripe as wrong "journalistically or morally or philosophically."
Besides linking the Unabomber manifesto publication to public journalism, he also condemned efforts by the Akron Beacon Journal to promote better community race relations with its coverage and the Detroit Free Press' offer to draft legislation to protect children.
"Newspapers are not to take sides ? even for Mom and apple pie and the flag . . . . That stuff should be saved for the editorial pages," Gartner said. "It ultimately will cost newspapers their credibility."
Newspapers should not be convening community meetings, writing legislation or "soothing" their readers, he said.
"They're supposed to tell the truth ? and God knows that is hard enough to do all by itself," he said.
Worse, public journalism is distracting newspapers from their most important task, he added.
"By doing [public journalism projects] they are cutting back on their readers' real needs: Their needs for facts," Gartner said.