EOTO3: Barlett and Steele

  Donald L Barlett and James B. Steele are not just one of journalism’s most iconic duos in recent history but a unique partnership that has spanned over 40 years. They’ve worked together at The Philadelphia Inquirer, Vanity Fair, and Time and are the only journalism duo in history to have won two Pulitzer Prizes.

The two men first met in 1970 at The Philadelphia Inquirer after each had successful careers at other papers throughout the years. They hit it off immediately, and their brand of investigative journalism quickly became a staple of the industry.

Donald L Barlett

Bob Woodward, fellow investigative journalist and associate editor at the Washington Post, described them as an institution. “They have kind of perfected a method of doing their work, and I have the highest regard for it. Systematic, comprehensive - they take a long time, and they don't mind saying what their conclusions are."

James B. Steele

Barlett and Steele’s first Pulitzer was for a series they published, “Auditing the Internal Revenue Service,” which exposed the unequal application of federal tax laws. Their second was for their coverage of the Tax Reform Act of 1986. They were watchdogs over the House of Representatives, calling out the addendums consistently slipped into the act. They kept the government accountable, telling the public exactly what they were doing and how they did it.

They are also known for popularizing technology in violent crime reporting. They used a computer to analyze over 1,000 cases of violent crime, finding patterns and other vital data in the biggest computer-assisted journalism venture of the time.

After 26 years at the Inquirer, Barlett and Steele left to become editors-at-large for Time Magazine. Their work earned them two National Magazine Awards. The awarded series were "What Corporate Welfare Costs You" and "Big Money and Politics: Who Gets Hurt." Full records of their most notable stories are available on their website.

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From 2006 to 2016, the pair acted as editors for Vanity Fair, continuing to follow the difficult stories that won them their reputations. They covered the disappearance of billions of dollars in cash the U.S. airlifted to Baghdad at the outset of the Iraqi war, the strong-arm tactics of Monsanto against America's farmers, and many other notable events.

Today, both men have retired from reporting. Steele lectures at universities nationwide, and Barlett lives at home with his family. They are journalism heroes in the truest sense, and their impact on the industry will be remembered.

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 I enjoyed the presentation about CNN founder Ted Turner. He is the father of the 24-hour news cycle, as CNN was the first 24-hour news station, with many others following in its footsteps.

Turner started in his family’s billboard advertising business in Atlanta, “Turner Advertising,” working his way up the ranks to manager. After his father passed, he took over the company and renamed it “Turner Broadcasting.” He later sold the company to Time Warner for $7.3 billion and purchased two stations, one in Atlanta and one in Charlotte, NC.

In 1988, he launched Turner Network Television (TNT), intending to air classic films and television shows to which Turner Broadcasting had access.  In 1995, the network acquired Cartoon Network, and they began producing and airing more cartoon shows.

While I grew up on a cartoon network, I knew nothing about its origins. Ted Turner and his companies have had significant effects on television broadcasting, and without him, the landscape of television would not be what it is now.

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 Even though I am most interested in writing, the history of radio and television news fascinates me. I also know very little about sports, but I found it interesting to learn about their influence on the development of broadcast.

A boxing match was the first sport broadcast over the radio in 1921. It was an excellent choice for this first broadcast because boxing is easy to follow along with narration because there are only two participants. It was a great boon to the broadcasting industry, too, as interested sports fans who couldn’t attend in person could still listen in and participate.

The impact of sports on radio listenership was further demonstrated in the same year. In October, the match between the University of Pittsburgh and West Virginia University became the first college football game to be broadcast. The excitement about football was palpable, and it rapidly increased radio listenership. The advertisements in the broadcasts not only earned extra income for both the colleges and the stations but also highlighted the commercial potential of sports broadcasting.

When TV was introduced, already-existing worries that people would stop attending games flared more than during the radio era. Athletic departments were afraid that if people could watch from the comfort of their own homes, no one would want to go to the stadiums anymore.

However, these fears were unfounded, as many people still wanted to see the games in person, considering them a special event and outing. Advertising on television also gave a fantastic boost to sports programs. The first game on TV was a baseball game, Columbia vs. Princeton, in 1939.

I learned that sports and journalism are highly intertwined in history and current practices. Without journalism, sports would never have become the massive, culturally changing industry it is. Without sports, journalism would have less appeal to the masses, and a massive job market would never exist.

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 One of my classmates gave a presentation about William Randal Hearst, developer of America’s largest newspaper chain and media company. Despite his family’s insistence that he go into the mining field, he refused and convinced his father to give him The San Francisco Examiner. His father only owned it as it was given as repayment for gambling debt.

William Hearst

Hearst used his family’s fortune, hired top-of-the-line reporters, and took on sensationalist stories, skyrocketing the business from a failing one losing money to one cranking out a profit in just three years. The number of papers in circulation went up from 5,000 before Hearst took over to 55,000.

Hearst purchased the Morning Journal in 1895, rescuing the failing business from the brink of disaster and beginning to refocus its audience. He aimed to appeal to the middle class, primarily immigrant workers. The paper now sought out stories calling out corruption in the government and advocating for better working conditions, causing circulation to soar.

After this, he attempted to run for president after being elected to the House of Representatives in 1902 but never managed to land the Democratic nomination. He never held another elected position. Instead, he focused on his massive media empire and founding Hearst Communications.

Without Hearst, several papers that are well-known companies today would not exist, and journalism as we know it may look completely different without their influence.

The Front Page

 “The Front Page” is a comedic depiction of the newspaper industry in the early 1920s. Thanks to its light-hearted nature, this movie was a breath of fresh air compared to “Shock and Awe” and “Good Night, and Good Luck.”

The movie follows Hildy Johnson, an ace reporter at the Chicago Examiner. Our introduction to him is watching him cheerfully sing his way to his boss's office, relishing the process of quitting, effective immediately! He’s off to Philadelphia to be married, with a new job at his Fiancée’s uncle’s advertising business.

Meanwhile, his boss, Walter Burns, is as unusual and forceful as always, proudly showing off the hidden ankle camera he made to take illegal pictures of the execution of leftist Earl Williams. When he hears that Hildy is quitting, he immediately accuses him of going to work for a competitor and then, after learning the truth, begins to try to sabotage Hildy’s relationship to keep him at the paper.

He stops short at nothing, even trying to convince Peggy Grant, Hildy’s fiancée, that he’s on probation for exposing himself in public, encouraging her to run away without him. This fails once Hildy calls and realizes what his boss is doing, cursing him out before slamming down the phone.

Meanwhile, Earl, the communist, has escaped from prison. As it turns out, his only actual crime was stuffing fortune cookies with messages about freeing two men from death row who were there for overblown murder convictions.

The movie is consistently light-hearted, with gags and overdramatic moments throughout. When Burns pretends to be Hildy’s probation officer, the “badge” he flashes is an aluminum star he pulled from a poster. The man who was supposed to be a dangerous communist is a bumbling, awkward man who wants to run away with Molly Malloy, the $2 whore, as she calls herself.

As the movie continues, Earl and Hildy meet, and of course, Hildy can’t possibly pass on the biggest story of his life. Earl hides in a desk while the room searches for him, constantly interrogating people in increasingly aggressive and funny ways.

While journalism is a serious field with many contributions to the world, it’s important to remember that it’s not all darkness and war. There’s fun in journalism, as there is in any field.

 

Shock and Awe

 September 11, 2001.

It’s a date that’s burned into the minds of generations, even those not yet born that day, due to the tragedy that took place and the egregious loss of life. The pain rippled through the country, causing a surge of patriotism and sending many young men and women rushing to enlist in any military branch they could.

But behind the scenes, the narrative was guided, and the government pushed a narrative most journalists refused to dispute.

The 2017 blockbuster Shock and Awe is based on the true story of the Knight Ridder Paper and how it stood above the rest as a pillar of truth in a time of high-strung emotions.

The story follows John Walcott, Johnathan Landay, and Warren Strobel as they fight back against the nationalistic movement the government was pushing and expose every lie President Bush told the people.

Jonathan Landay and Warren Strobel

Alongside the journalists, we follow a young veteran, Adam Green. After the attacks of 9/11, he felt compelled to serve in the military, desperate to save his country from more danger. At 19, Green went behind his parent’s backs and enlisted despite their worry and terror.

Three hours after he was deployed into Iraq, his transport exploded. He was left wheelchair-bound for the rest of his life for the war.

 Meanwhile, the reporters are shocked to hear that the government was going after Iraq when the evidence pointed towards Al Qaeda, an Afghan terrorist organization. Strobel, in particular, was chasing down sources while getting anonymous sources telling them the truth that Iraq wasn’t to blame.

The movie reflects on a recent but horrifying period where American men and women died and were permanently injured in the name of freedom, fighting with the truest intentions to protect their country while failed by their government. It’s implied in the film that at least some of the reasoning is to keep the interest in the wars alive since taking out the real threat in Afghanistan would wipe out public interest in it, and military funding would drop.

Knight Ridder’s part in spreading truth in a time when misinformation ran through the wires, presenting itself as truth in the minds of many, needs to be memorialized for its actual impact on the country. Their desperate attempts to share the truth shine as a beacon of journalistic integrity and dedication to fact. Regardless of mainstream media’s refusal to pick up their stories, they refused to stop writing in truth.

The secondary plotline with Green was a bone-chilling display of the harm done to our military service members. It added an emotional connection and draw to the film that made each moment feel more significant and personal.

Shock and Awe is a masterful tribute to the political climate of the early 2000s. The actions taken and choices made have a ripple effect throughout the future, and remembering where they started is crucial so as not to repeat our mistakes. 

Good Night, and Good Luck.

 Good Night and Good Luck is a film set during McCarthyism. It follows journalist Edward R. Murrow and his battle against the oppression and silencing of the press, specifically his battles with Senator Joseph McCarthy.

Edward R. Murrow

Murrow hosted the show See It Now, which focused on controversial issues in the 1950s. However, the show is best known for its willingness to criticize Mccarthyism and the Red Scare. It significantly contributed to Senator McCarthy's downfall if it wasn't the leading factor.
"Good Night, and Good Luck." got its name from Murrow's iconic closing line. He signed off every broadcast with that statement.

The movie begins with McCarthy on TV claiming that there are over 200 communists in the government and the news team discussing what they want to cover. Murrow decides he wants to go against the government and defend an Air Force member who is being tried because his father and sister had been accused of being communist sympathizers.

Senator McCarthy

Murrow's motivation to pursue that story comes from the fact that the charges against Milo Radulovich, the active service member, were in a sealed envelope, and no one knew its contents.

The next airing of See It Now included an interview with Radulovich, even though the military tried to intimidate Murrow out of it. The news team then focused on McCarthy, challenging his questioning techniques and the lies he spewed in hearings. Murrow had to pay for the newspaper advertising, as CBS wasn't allowing him to use its money.

During the program, which in real life was titled "A Report on Senator Joseph McCarthy," Murrow used clips from the senator's speeches to point out where he contradicted himself, criticize him and challenge his questioning methods.

Murrow then publicly invited McCarthy to speak on the show uninterrupted so he could defend himself, which the senator did on April 6, 1954.

"Ordinarily, I would not take time from the important work to answer Murrow. However, in this case, I feel justified in doing so because Murrow is a symbol, a leader, and the cleverest of the jackal pack, which is always found at the throat of anyone who dares to expose individual Communists and traitors." - Senator Joseph McCarthy.

During his rebuttal segment, McCarthy accused Murrow of being a communist and a member of the Industrial Workers Of The World. At the time, this labor union was described as "revolutionary industrial unionism" and had ties to socialist, syndicalist, and anarchist labor movements.

Murrow expected these claims and denied both accusations in the following program. He pointed out that in the 30-minute segment, McCarthy had never once commented on Murrow's statements of fact. He also highlighted the fact that anyone who dared to speak against McCarthy immediately had a finger pointed at them in accusation.

After that, McCarthy was investigated.

Murrow is a journalism icon for a reason. His fame in the field comes from his hard-hitting broadcasts and refusal to shy away from the truth, even when his determination cost him his career. Regardless of what else he did, he will be remembered as the man who took down McCarthy.