While flying to our Virginia estates, I had the pleasure of sitting next to Helen Thomas, the first lady of the first row in the White House press corps for the last several decades. While I am not a huge fan of her recent bout of negativity toward this president in particular and life around her in general, she is still an impressive woman who has seen so much over her career and remains quite sharp at age 86.
Those who know me are aware I strike up conversations with any poor soul sitting next to me on airplanes unless they give me that “don’t bother me” look. If I am want to engage with mere mortals, obviously there would be nothing to stop me from bending Helen’s ear for a two-hour flight. To my surprise, there was mutual ear-bending and we had a great conversation about a whole host of things.
I found out a few things about her. One, she drinks Scotch. Perhaps at a volume most would consider excessive. Two, when I asked her who her two most interesting interviews were she quickly answered JFK for his intellect and charisma and LBJ for his paranoia.
We also share the same notion of the modern journalist – that they are pack-like, following the lead of their colleagues only when it’s safe to echo the thoughts of the others. Ms Thomas is just the opposite; speaking her mind, perhaps too often for most, and is very critical of her colleagues for failing to keep the public informed. She even wrote a book about it and called out many of her peers by name (Watchdogs of Democracy?: The Waning Washington Press Corps and How It Has Failed the Public).
Something I didn’t need to learn – mainly because it is obvious to anyone – is she hates our president and this war with the passion of the converted. Not sure if it’s because of her Lebanese upbringing or jaded opposition to authority and brazen power. It was difficult to have a conversation without her making a negative comment about GW and the war. Even if her facts were suspect (dwelling on the myth that 650,000 Iraqis have been killed since 2003 – or 13,000 per month), her passion was real and it was difficult to argue with many of her points on American standing around the world.
We did agree on one point about journalists, however. It was obvious that Ms. Thomas has been paying attention throughout her years and knows more about most things than most journalists. We talked about a range of subjects that I know simply because of where my own work has taken me. I mentioned I was working in the Balkans and she instantly asked me if certain Serbian war criminals would be caught and knew their names. Outside of Serbia there are only a handful of people who know that kind of detail. She even told me she once interviewed Tito who told her when he died the Balkans would explode into ethnic war; which, of course is what happened.
Most journalists coming out of school these days have no historical reference point beyond their own years. While it is encouraged, they are not required to study the Humanities and rarely know much about the subjects they cover. This lack of intellectual curiosity can be a real danger when journalists utilize the lessons of history to compare to current events and often make bold observations that assume we are living in the worst of times. Many younger journalists also come to the job as an advocate rather than an observer. They follow the words of famed journalist I.F. Stone who once wrote “It is the job of the journalist to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.” I thought the job of the journalist was to tell us the truth, at least as they see it, and let us make our own decisions. Ms Thomas’ opinions may be contrary to most, but she will never be accused of not trying to bring us the truth as she sees it. It was a great ride sitting next to her and far better than the guy picking his nose and reading over my shoulder on this flight. How do you like those apples, Mr. Nosey Pants?
No comments:
Post a Comment