| THE ROAD TO REPORTING |
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At the start of the program, the panelists chatted about their initial forays into the field of journalism, also discussing which presidents were inspirational.
Daniel Schorr: At the age of 12, living in an apartment, one day I heard a big THUMP! outside the window. It was somebody who'd jumped or fallen from the roof, lying there dead. What I did was go out there, wait until the police arrived and take a lot of notes by asking the police what they knew about this apparent suicide. The local paper offered $5 for original news tips. So I called up The Bronx Home News, and I might have said, "Hello, sweetheart, get me a re-write," but I didn't. I decided if I could stand aside from the events – tragic, funny and all the rest – and look to report them for somebody else, I guess I had to become a journalist. President Nixon inspired me to cover Watergate; he inspired me to try to figure out what had gone on there; he inspired me by writing a list of his enemies in which he listed me as number 17, right behind Paul Newman. He made me feel that the function of a journalist (along with a few FBI people) was to save the country and save the Constitution. While it was not his intention, President Nixon really inspired me. Helen Thomas: I saw my byline in the high school paper when I was a sophomore. My ego swelled, I figured I could cut classes, I could get into everybody's business. I had a one-track mind. I think I've covered only one president who had his eyes on the stars, who truly inspired, who told young people to go into public service, went for the first nuclear test-ban treaty, created the Peace Corps – of course, Kennedy – and said, of all things, We're going to land men on the moon. Imagine. He knew there was a world out there, a universe, knowledge that we had to explore, and I've never covered a president who had that much drive and enthusiasm and caring about humanity – no, LBJ, too, for humanity. I think we see their flaws as much as we admire, but you also know the direction. When you get to be president, you've reached the top of the mark. Ain't no other place to go, and you should always want to do the right thing. Scott Lindlaw: I was a miserable failure as a business major and just about everything else I tried. I couldn't get through accounting, I couldn't get through calculus, but I knew I could read and I knew I could write. I abandoned this business track and went into English and joined the school paper. From there I came here [to UC Berkeley] and joined the AP right after that. It's the best move I ever made. I have a front-row seat on history every day. My political consciousness began with the end of Nixon's presidency. I was one of those kids considered sort of freakish, with his nose in the newspaper at age five, watching with great interest as his presidency fell apart. |