By Carl Weiser
The Washington Press Club Foundation has created a new David Lynch
Regional
Reporting Award for regional coverage of Congress, worth $1,000.
Lynch covered Washington for hometown readers for more than 25 years. He
created the Lynch News Service in 1982; his clients included The Cedar
Rapids (Iowa) Gazette and the Lincoln (Nebraska) Journal.
"He was truly a regional's regional, resisting the temptation to follow
the
pack and cover the 'inside baseball' story because he knew his
responsibility was to the readers and listeners back home," said his
friend
Cheryl Arvidson, a long-time Washington correspondent for Cox Newspapers
and
Dallas Times Herald and now a senior writer at the Freedom Forum.
Added Jane Norman, who competed against Lynch for the Des Moines
Register,
"He was the kind of reporter who would ask questions at press
conferences
that left you shaking your head and muttering, 'Why didn't I see that?'
He
also regarded being a regional reporter as an important calling, not a
way
station while angling for that bigger job. David knew it was his
responsibility to hold the local pols up to the light, and write news
out of
Washington that makes this place make sense for Midwestern readers way,
way
outside the Beltway."
Lynch was born in 1942, in Milford Mass, and graduated with a journalism
degree from Boston's Northeastern University. His first job was with
the
Worcester, Mass., Telegraph and Gazette.
He came to Washington in the early 1970s to work for Griffin-Larrabee
News
Bureau as a regional reporter, writing for the Buffalo, N.Y. Courier and
Express in both Washington and Buffalo, before beginning his own news
operation, Lynch News Service, in 1982. He also provided agriculture
coverage for DTN, an agriculture news service, according to Arvidson.
Friends and former colleagues said Lynch, a fixture in the Senate Press
Gallery for more than a quarter century, ferreted out the local angle in
major policy pronouncements, made the often-complicated Washington
bureaucracy a little more understandable, and managed to keep his sense
of
humor and his perspective so his work was not tarnished by cynicism.
Some of the highest praise of his work has come from his competitors and
those he covered on a daily basis.
After his death from cancer on Dec. 31, 1998, the Des Moines Register's
Jane
Norman, wrote in a column "Washington journalism lost some of its
spunk."
"David was delightfully irreverent, unfailingly cheerful and had the
healthy
skepticism characteristic of good reporters," she wrote. "He never
flinched
from asking just the right, tough question - or a surprising question
that
forced a politician to suddenly shed light on a situation. He was also
fair,
a quality sorely lacking in many instances here."
Lynch left a wife, Deborah Strauss Lynch, and a daughter, Samantha.
The Lynch award is funded by contributions from David's many friends and
colleagues who gave generously to create this lasting memorial to the
high
journalistic standards and professionalism that David embodied.
The Washington Press Club Foundation has agreed to take responsibility
for
the Lynch memorial fund and administer the award, and the winner will be
honored each year at the WPC Foundation Congressional Dinner.
The first award will be given out at next dinner on Feb. 6, 2001.
Gannett News Service
The David Lynch Regional Reporting Award will be given annually to the Washington-based daily newspaper reporter whose work best exemplifies the thorough and incisive regional coverage of Congress that was the hallmark of Lynch's work.
This year's award is $1,000, and the winner will be recognized at the Washington Press Club Foundation's annual Congressional Dinner in February 2001.
Award entries should consist of no more than four examples of work published during the previous year.
"Regional reporting" for purpose of this award means work that provides insight into how actions on Capitol Hill impact the local community and coverage that provides a better understanding of the inner-workings of Congress, with emphasis on the local delegation.
The judges also will take into consideration the clear, engaging nature of the writing, and the reporter's ability to explain difficult and complex subjects to a hometown audience.
Eligible entries will be stories published between Nov. 1, 1999, and Nov. 10, 2000. Entries must be received by Dec. 12, 2000, and be mounted on 8-by-11-inch sheets of paper. A letter from the reporter explaining special circumstances involved in the submissions is allowed but not required.
Please submit entries, including the name, address and telephone number
of
the reporter, to:
The Standing Committee of Correspondents
Attention: David Lynch Regional Reporting Award
Senate Press Gallery, S-316 U.S. Capitol
Washington, D.C. 20510
Contact: Joan McKinney, 202-224-0241
By Bill Hillburg
For readers, who get to elect only one member and usually do so based on
local issues and perceptions, the battle for Congress often sounds like
just
one more reverberation from within the Beltway echo chamber.
To turn this story line into a saga of local interest, you first have to
give readers some basic training in seniority and the power inherent in
committee assignments.
Most readers are unaware that a committee chair, especially in such key
areas as appropriations, can muscle an inordinate number of earmarked
money
for the home folks. Citizens Against Government Waste and other
anti-porkers
notwithstanding, many readers still measure the effectiveness of their
House
member by the amount of bacon he or she brings home.
Once the rules of the money game are set down, you can offer a basic
breakdown of what will be won or lost if the GOP continues in power or
the
Democrats achieve a majority.
An analysis of current power sources and ranking minority members within
Southern California's 24-member house delegation found seven GOP
congressmen
holding committee and subcommittee chairs. The roster included such key
players as Rep. David Dreier, R-Covina, chairman of the House Rules
Committee; Rep. Jerry Lewis, chairman of the Defense Appropriations
Subcommittee; and Rep. Howard P. ``Buck'' McKeon, chairman of the Post
Secondary Education Subcommittee.
All three chairmen have had a major impact, drawing dollars and programs
to
the region and their districts. Lewis has been particularly effective in
corralling defense contracts for Southern California.
The analysis also found that should the Democrats take over and
incumbents'
committee assignments remain the same, Southern Californians would
control
only four chairs. Once the serious stuff is aside, and sprinkled with
the
necessary reverberating quotes from electeds, aides and spinners on both
sides of the aisle, you ca
n get down to battle lines that almost every
voter
can identify with.
We're talking office space, with the top of the heap a suite within the
Capitol, replete with a fireplace. At the low end of the seniority totem
pole is the four floor of Cannon, a gloomy, elevator inaccessible realm
known as ``the Gulag.''
Our graphics department whipped up an aerial photo and list showing who
resides where among our 24 members.
And let's not forget control over a committee or subcommittee budget,
and
closer parking slots and other perks that also are also prized by
readers in
the private sector.
Your readers will still only get to vote for one House seat and most of
them
will probably never be asked to be active in a party, short of writing a
check to a campaign or a high-sounding PAC. But at least they'll have an
insight into what went down when they watch either Dennis Hastert or
Richard
Gephardt whooping it up on the night of Nov. 7.
By Angela Greiling
We hear Sunday morning pundits talk about the low excitement factor, and
man-on-the-street interviews often show the same. But as regional
reporters,
part of our job descriptions includes making topics such as this
appealing
to our readers.
So, what do our peers do to rev up the enthusiasm in a
duller-than-average
political season?
First of all, writes the Minneapolis Star Tribune's Eric Black, there
are a
plethora of reasons why the upcoming election is, in fact, not boring.
He
even ticked five of them off in a recent column. They include: the
impact
the presidential race will have on the Supreme Court and the slim line
that
will divide the majority and the minority in the U.S. House of
Representatives.
Black points out that four of the court's justices are likely to retire
soon, and the political party of the next President will therefore have
a
long-term impact on legal opinions in the country.
As for control of the House, many states have races that will be
integral
parts of deciding which party controls the chamber come January.
Reporters
would be wise to put their local House races into a broader context,
particularly if the seat has been targeted by one or both parties.
Bill Cahir, of Newhouse News Service/MediaNews Group, is following a hot
Senate race. But he also gets to dip into presidential coverage.
Cahir has written on how much money presidential candidates are raising
from
the regions he covers (parts of Pennsylvania and New Jersey), what local
party leaders think about top-tier races and about how the presidential
race is affecting other match-ups on the ticket.
Emily Goodin, an associate editor at The Hotline, a daily online
publication
that summarizes the day's political news, said it is important that
regional
reporters invest time covering the nation's big races.
"It's the only way people in that area of the country will learn how
presidential policies will affect them directly," Goodin said. "Because
everything else is pure politics."
Goodin, who reads regional stories every day from across the country,
said
the most successful presidential policy stories she reads incorporate
what
the local effect would be.
"Most people would rather read a piece about how a family of four in
their
neighborhood would be affected by the Bush or Gore tax plan than a
generic
policy piece," she said.
Rafael Lorente, Washington correspondent for the Fort Lauderdale
Sun-Sentinel, said it is up to the regional reporter to digest the
issues
and deliver the local angle. For their south Florida readers, Lorente
and
his colleagues have been writing about Social Security, gun control,
education and Cuba policy.
"I do not believe people are uninterested in the presidential race,"
Lorente
said. "They may not be very interested in either candidate, but they
care a
lot about certain issues and respond well when you write stories that
tell
them what the candidates are saying about those issues."
By Carl Weiser
New discussion group
The Regional Reporters Association has launched a new e-mail discussion
group. I urge everyone to join it.
I envision this as a great way to:
Get questions answered quickly ("Where do I get stats on Medicaid
recipients in my state?" "Is there a flack at HUD who's competent?")
Trade tips ("Data from HHS out today on teen pregnancies." "Free
foodtonight at press club.")
Gripe ("What's the deal with press secretaries who won't speak on the
record?" "My editor wants 25 inches on a one-minute speech.")
Discuss ("Does this group put out good data?" "If a senator invites you
out
for a beer, who should pay?"
The more who join, the better the discussions.
To join: go to www.egroups.com/group/regionalreporters
Click on subscribe. They ask for some perfunctory personal data. Fill it
out,and you're in the gang!
And remember: If you reply to a posting, everyone sees it!
Letter about hard passes
I sent a letter to the White House lamenting the lack of "hard passes"
for
regional reporters and the difficulties we have in getting them.
The first draft of the letter reflected the rage of the e-mails I got
from
members, who complained about the cronyism and attitude of the press
officein dispensing - or failing to dispense - the press passes.
Here are some samples from the e-mails I got:
One thing that personally outraged me was that a few regionals responded
that they had been able to get hard passes - because they knew the right
person in the press office.
That is not the way it should work.
Ultimately though, yelling at this lame duck White House about the
problem
won't solve it. So the version of the letter I eventually sent, after
some
editing by RRA board members, was much more, uhh, constructive.
The letter reminded the White House that regional reporters often want
to
cover events the national press ignore, yet the hassle involved in
getting
in often deter us from attempting to cover them.
I hope in the next administration fewer regionals find themselves stuck
at
the guard booth in the rain while some local mayor meets with the
President
inside the White House. I sent copies to the Bush and Gore campaigns,
since
that's who this is really aimed at.
No response yet.
Supreme Court newsmaker
We had a decent newsmaker event at the Supreme Court, where regionals got some information on how to look up local cases.
The
upshot: It's not easy, and the court doesn't really care.
Since the newsmaker, incidentally, the Supreme Court has put up a
searchable
docket page on their web site at www.supreme courtus.
gov. Click
on
"docket."
Contact me!
As always, let me know of any concerns or ideas you have for the
Regional Reporters Association. I can always be reached at
cweiser@gns.gannett.com.
Or better yet, use the new e-group!
By Jennifer Sergent
"Do you ever cover the Supreme Court?" was all it said.
When I asked for more details, I was ready to give my editors all the
information they needed.
They had seen a wire story about a case involving an investor and a
local
land deal that had made its way to the Supreme Court. The story said the
court decided to hear the case.
Thanks to the information session, I knew exactly where to go. I called
the
public affairs office, whose number I had at my finger tip, and asked
the
status of the case. A very nice voice on the other end of the phone told
me
the court had "granted cert.," which the wire story had referred to, and
oral arguments on the case are expected to be scheduled between January
and
April. Call in December, I was told, when the schedule of oral arguments for
next
spring will have been prepared.
After I got this information, I wrote an authoritative email back to my
editor, informing her of all the details of how the case would play out,
and
assuring her I would be there for the arguments.
"You're wonderful!" was the email I got back.
So if you want to get wild praise and kudos from your editors, there are
just a few things to keep handy in your Supreme Court file. The public
affairs office will go out of its way to help you. You just need to know
the
case number and style (i.e. State of Florida vs. Smith). 202-479-3211,
and
then dial 1.
There are four opportunities to cover a case in the court:
The justices will decide if they will hear it (deny cert. or grant
cert.)
within 45 days. If it's denied, that's it. If it's granted, go on to the
next step.
2. Order
The decision to grant or deny will be posted on "orders" which are
posted
every Monday at 10 a.m. If the case is granted before January (the
official
term begins the first Monday in October), arguments will be held between
January and the end of that term in June. If it's granted after January,
it
will be heard in the next term.
3. Arguments
When you know the date the case will be heard, call the public affairs
office and make a seat reservation. They are first-come, first-served,
and
if you call late on a high-profile case, chances are that you will be
stuck
in a section behind huge pillars with no view of the lawyers or the
justices.
4. Decision.
After the arguments, the public affairs office will usually give you a
rough
idea about when the decision is due. You just need to keep in touch with
them, and keep a calendar of days in which the justices issue the
decisions.
Just keep checking the decision in the month it's expected to be
published.
The two public information officers who can help you are Ed Turner, the
assistant PIO, or Kathy Arberg, the head PIO. They handed out bulging
press
packets on covering the court with samples of orders and dockets in
them,
which you can probably still request.
The packets are tremendously helpful, so you don't feel so unfamiliar
with
the whole process when you're thrown into a situation where you have to
cover a case there and you're not one of the "regulars." The most
helpful
item is a booklet on how to track a case through the federal judicial
system, and it translates legal verbiage into laymen's terms for us
dummies.
Web link
Cameras and tape recorders still aren't allowed in the U.S. Supreme
Court.
But thanks to the Internet, information about the court's work -
including
its docket, schedule, orders and other basics - is easier to access than
ever before. Below are some helpful sites, many of which offer the same
information in different formats:
http://supreme.findlaw.com/Supreme_Court/resources.html
www.medill.nwu.edu/docket/
Another Find Law resource with links to news stories on the court.
http://supct.law.cornell.edu/supct/
The New York Times (http://www. nytimes.com/library/politics/scotus/
index-scotus.html) and The Washington Post (
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/supcourt/supcourt.htm)
also maintain pages for the courts. The Times requires free
registration.
By Jessica Wehrman
But during those times more than ever, the Washington D.C. correspondent
plays an essential supporting role.
The regional, after all, can step back and look at the big picture. And
the
regional can provide vital checks and balances on what the feds say
they'll
do and what they're actually doing.
Lee Bowman, health and science reporter with Scripps Howard News Service
and
a former regional for the Pittsburgh Press, said there are a couple of
angles a reporter can follow outside of the obvious "what is the
government
doing to help" stories.
The first is to tap the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) both
for
on-the-spot disaster reporting as well as features.
When Bowman first came to Washington, FEMA was the forgotten stepchild
of
politics. "They were not considered a disaster response agency so much
as a
disaster recovery agency," he said.
That has changed under the leadership of FEMA director James Lee Witt,
who
knows the importance of being on the ground early. Now, FEMA is one of
the
top agencies to keep in touch with in case of a disaster.
Jennifer Sergent, Scripps Howard's Florida regional, once found a great
story by hanging out at FEMA offices during a hurricane.
She'd been there for a briefing the night before, and asked the press
people
if she could stay around the clock the next day.
"I talked to various people monitoring various computer terminals on
various
aspects of the storm and got a really great feature on that," Sergent
said.
Routine trut
h-squading of disaster relief agencies - simply checking to
see
if they are delivering what they promise - often turn up meaty stories.
Bowman once wrote an acclaimed series when he discovered the Red Cross
was
falling short on its promises. To do this kind of work, keeping up with
your
co-workers at the local paper is essential.
"If FEMA says they sent 50 mobile feeding units, ask the reporters down
there, 'Do you see them?'" Bowman said.
For reporters whose regions are prone to massive natural disasters, a
report
called "After Action Service Report" is a must-have. Produced by the
National Weather Service, the study examines how well the agency
forecast
the event. It usually comes out about six months after the calamity.
Bowman advised finding out who is in charge of the report and keeping up
with them throughout the investigation.
For hurricane state reporters: how smooth is the National Highway
Traffic
Safety Administration process? Did a specific federal program exist in
the
event of this emergency? Did it work?
Some agencies are re-evaluating their evacuation procedures to determine
what intensity of storm requires that all of a region's residents must
be
cleared out. Sophisticated predictions can determine how high the storm
surge will be and what areas are safe, Bowman said.
As for other major catastrophes, it helps to know ahead of time what
your
primary contact agency will be: for floods, the U.S. Geological Survey
is
often key; the U.S. Corps of Engineers should be contacted for disasters
involving dams and levees; and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration has a storm prediction center.
Greg Wright will switch from the Muskogee/Fort
Collins/Great Falls beat to covering technology.
Mike Madden is the new Washington and Oregon
correspondent. He left the Philadelphia Inquirer, as well as a former
Gannett internship, to take his new gig.
States News Service
Got news? call Jessica Wehrman at (202)408-2705 or send it to wehrmanj@shns.com
Los Angeles Newspaper Group
How to beat election apathy
Small Newspaper Group
President's Report
Supreme newsmaker on high court
Insights into keeping tabs on cases that affect your region
Scripps Howard News Service1. When a petition is filed
www.supremecourtus.gov/
The court's own Web site debuted in April. You can use it to search the
court's docket, review orders and find out background about the justices
and
how the court itself works.
Supreme_Court/resources.html
This is Find Law's gateway to U.S. Supreme Court. An excellent site. You
can
drill down to lots of other resources on individual cases, find lawyers,
appeals court decisions and, in some cases, pretty decent legal
analysis.
This looks like a fairly new site from Northwestern University's
journalism school.
http://legalnews.findlaw.com/legalnews/us/sc/
Cornell University's Supreme Court site.
When Mother Nature strikes
Where to go before, after a disaster
Scripps Howard News Service
RESTIVE REGIONS
Gannett News Service
Fredreka Schouten will leave the Idaho/Nevada beat to cover education for Gannett.
Laura Winter recently left to work for
the Associated Press in Hong Kong. She's a general assignment reporter
there.
June/July 2000 Regional Reporter
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