Inaugural D.C. 'Journopalooza' Fund-Raiser a Success

By: Shawn Moynihan Four D.C. musical groups that included journalists from The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, McClatchy Newspapers, the Washington Independent, and Bloomberg News, among other news outlets, performed to claim the title of Best Reporter-Based Washington Rock Group at the National Press Club at Friday night?s Journopalooza? battle of the bands.

While the big prize at the event, it would seem, was going to be the bragging rights of being voted the top band for the evening, the festivities reportedly went so well that a more diplomatic tack was taken instead.

?We decided not to declare a band as a winner for the night,? said Christina Davidson, the event?s organizer. ?Everyone kind of felt like fierce competition would detract from the camaraderie and charity the night really represented.

?I?d do it again in a heartbeat. It was a lot of fun,? Los Angeles Times terrorism ccorrespondent Josh Meyer told E&P on Monday. On the bill were Meyer?s band Suspicious Package, Nobody's Business, Anchorage, and The Surge.

With more than 700 tickets sold, ?the real winners were the media causes,? she added. ?With all expenses paid, we raised about $15,000 for CPJ's Journalist Assistance Program and NPC's scholarships and training programs. The night was such a success the Press Club is already discussing Journopalooza II.?

The event also drew a mostly unexpected guest, at least in rock ?n? roll circles: CIA Director Michael Hayden, who had been invited down to the gig by McClatchy Newspapers national security and intelligence correspondent Jonathan S. Landay -- who plays guitar in Nobody?s Business.

James Gordon Meek of the New York Daily News? ?Mouth of the Potomac? blog reports today that the retired Air Force four-star general didn?t seem to let the naming of his replacement, Leon Panetta, ruin his weekend. Hayden and his wife Jeanine came out to lend their support.

Meek reports that when asked by one reporter if he was going to do any dancing with the media stars, the general joked, ?If you were to see me dance, you would say freedom of expression isn?t all it?s cracked up to be.?

Half the proceeds from the event will benefit the Committee to Protect Journalists' Journalist Assistance Fund, the group's emergency resource to save journalists who must go into hiding or exile to escape threats; journalists in need of medicine and other material support in prison; and journalists injured after violent attacks. The other half will help fund the National Press Club's training programs and scholarships.