By Susan Roth
The guy, Randy Lilleston, covered the Arkansas congressional delegation but rarely ventured over to the White House. Along with other reporters at the paper, he was suddenly thrust into the national pack chasing Clinton and the other Democratic candidates.
Lilleston logged the most miles with the governor, but it became clear when Clinton won that Lilleston would need help.
Husband-and-wife team Terry Lemons and Jane Fullerton, who were relatively new to the paper but ambitious, had worked the phones from Little Rock, producing various stories during the campaign. They moved to Washington and helped organize a new bureau three weeks before Clinton's inauguration.
The trio quickly set up shop in the former Bergen Record office in the National Press Building, with Lilleston covering the White House, Lemons taking over the Hill and Fullerton filling in as needed on both beats.
One of Fullerton's most fruitful early ideas was writing profiles of Arkansans in Washington, both those who had come with Clinton and those already working throughout the government. Though these sometimes seemed like puff pieces to those of us back in Arkansas, they gave Fullerton an invaluable stable of reliable sources and connections between Arkansas and Washington.
Almost immediately, the bureau began what seemed like a never-ending chain of scandal coverage, bouncing from one crisis to another -- Travelgate, Filegate, Whitewater, Paula Jones, campaign finance irregularities, Kathleen Willey and then of course, Monica, Monica, Monica, culminating in Juanita Broaddrick and impeachment.
Needless to say, it was never dull. And the down times were few and far between. The bureau couldn't count on having lazy days in August or December. Usually, even if Congress was in recess, there was some major news breaking out of the White House, often on Friday afternoons around 5 p.m.
The hard part having to follow the national media -- the "big dogs" with unlimited resources like the New York Times, Washington Post, CNN and the Associated Press.
Though the bureau hustled hard and maintained a number of good White House and Hill sources, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette was just not the first place top officials called when they wanted to get a story out. With Democrats, it didn't help that the paper's editorial page vociferously opposed Clinton and the headlines invariably spun against the White House.
Covering the White House also was difficult on a low budget. For instance, most of the regular White House press corps travels with the president -- often, if not all the time. The Democrat-Gazette rarely sent a reporter on those expensive trips, where camaraderie and critical "face time" with the president and top aides make it more likely that those aides will return calls later.
While most big White House stories got great play on page one of the paper, there were times when the editors at home did not understand the importance of a story. Sometimes, when the bureau got a bona fide national scoop, it wound up buried deep in the paper.
But the bureau did get several telephone interviews with Clinton over the years. And the president showcased his amazing memory by calling on Fullerton by her first name at a mid-1999 press conference where she was seated near the back of the room.
"I don't know if I liked that," Lemons quipped.
The job was punishing, and in 1995 Lilleston moved to Congressional Quarterly. Luckily for the paper, top-notch D.C. veteran Kathy Kiely was between jobs because her previous paper, the Houston Post had folded. The Democrat-Gazette snagged her for the bureau chief's job during the important 1995-97 period.
When Kiely left, the paper moved me here from Arkansas. Lemons, who took over as bureau chief, and Fullerton took a long vacation right after I arrived in August -- it seemed like a particularly slow August in Washington. But shortly after they left, I got my first story: the 39-count indictment of former Agriculture Secretary Mike Espy, who was accused (and later acquitted) of taking gifts from Arkansas' Tyson Foods Inc., among other companies he regulated.
After the end of the impeachment saga, the scandal-starved Democrat-Gazette lost interest in the president and Washington politics, even declining to cover most of first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton's historic run for the Senate because she was no longer from Arkansas.
By early 2000, the bureau's future was in doubt. Veterans Lemons and Fullerton had drifted away, he to a public relations job at the IRS, she to full-time motherhood. Uncertain of my job security, I jumped ship in April and Patrick Howe, who had joined the bureau during the impeachment trial, moved back home to Minnesota last summer.
But publisher Walter Hussman finally agreed to staff a two-person bureau. The paper hired Arkansas veterans Paul Barton and Kevin Freking to mop up the Clinton administration and close the circle, returning the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette to its pre-Clinton role as a regular regional bureau in Washington.
By Carl Weiser
With the Clinton Administration leaving town, I was curious as to the
experiences regionals had had with press folks at federal agencies and
departments. Here are some of the results from our informal survey:
"April Kaufman at the Energy Department press office is amazing. Not only
does she return phone calls promptly and actually BEFORE my stated deadline, but she was always willing to explain complicated issues and give background
information on
things," said Suzanne Struglinski of Greenwire.
Newhouse's Mike Magner seconds the motion: "As for the better operations,
I'd have to say the Energy Department has almost always gotten back to me in
a timely manner."
"I found the EPA HQ flack staff to be absolutely abominable. Virtually never
get to a real flack on first call. Their voice mail is always on. Then when
you get a call back, turns
out the question I had was in on an issue handled by another flack. Rare
that I could get what I needed on deadline. Even on enterprise stories, EPA
HQ was of little help. I called them for two weeks running in October for a
Superfund story. Never did get an interview," reported Larry Wheeler of
Gannett News Service.
Again, Newhouse's Magner seconds: "The EPA press office has to be one of the
worst in Washington. I've had them return calls 2 or 3 days after doing a
story, if they call back at all."
The office, it s
eems, treats national reporters far better than regionals. I
personally nearly went bonkers trying to get accurate and timely information
from EPA's Mid-Atlantic office on a fairly innocuous story.
There were a number of comments about the White House's regional press
operations, which we all know has been basically a black hole. Sometimes the
flacks there were "absurdly arrogant," as GNS's Susan Roth noted. Sometimes
they made an effort to return calls without actually providing any
information. I personally gave up on them years ago.
A few press folks there stood out for their efforts to help regionals:
Elizabeth Newman got kudos, as did Sarah Geggenheimer.
Also praised: The U.S. Department of Agriculture.
"Calling there, I usually can be rather quickly connected with the
appropriate person within the huge agency who can answer my questions on
farm programs. The people there also can usually explain complex issues in
plain enough English," said Small
Newspaper's Angela Greiling.
I also found them willing to take the time to explain complex farm programs
to me, a Delaware reporter who rarely covers agriculture.
Michael Kharfen at the Department of Health and Human Services won praise,
as did the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association, the Health Care
Financing Administration, the Interior Department's Tim Ahern, and the U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service.
Those getting panned included: Department of Justice, Housing and Urban
Development, the Federal Communications Commission and the Securities and
Exchange Commission.
Some regional reporters said that their experience varied, even with the
same flacks
at the same agencies. Some found former reporters to be good flacks; others
found career department folks to be most knowledgeable and less likely to
tell you how to write your story.
"I spent 30 years covering Washington," said the Milwaukee Journal's Frank
Aukofer, "and can count on both hands the really good press secretaries I've
dealt with."
By Carl Weiser
Another busy month in my oval office.
Election 2000:
Many of us have had the privilege of covering three once-in-a-lifetime
events - really, once-in-a-century events.
Some of us were here in November, 1994, when the Republicans took back the
Congress for the first time since 1954. Then in 1998 and 1999 we covered the
first impeachment trial since Andrew Johnson, not to mention the resignation
of two House Speakers. Now we got to cover an election night so
extraordinary and exciting that it will not be topped in our lifetime. And
you were there.
Yes, all these events were incredibly time-consuming and stressful. I know I
worked until 4:30 a.m. on election night. Goodness knows what the Texas,
Tennessee, Wyoming and Connecticut reporters had to do. But what a gift to a
reporter.
Remember back when you were covering parades in some small town, or checking
the police blotter, or making rounds at city hall. And think how few
reporters got to be in your position this last week.
Federal agency sites:
One is www.govwire.com, which posts the press
releases from agencies in one
handy spot. It's timely.
The other is www.editorsweb.org, which e-mails
the days press releases to you.
Unfortunately, they do it the next day. But they identify localities. A
typical headline to click on: "Consumer Product Safety Commission:
Dolgencorp
Inc. (Goodlettsville, TN) recalls 113,000 toy xylophones for potential
choking hazard."
Another similar site currently under construction is
www.policymakersforum.com, which collects
Washington stories and press releases by subject. Former regional Bob Vitale
is working on that site.
E-groups:
Event help:
They're willing to join us in putting on events, and possibly giving us free
rooms and coffee, which can be surprisingly pricey. Our thanks to the club,
and we look forward to working with it.
Newsletter:
I'm confident that we will work out the kinks and have a fully e-mailable,
and legible newsletter in the coming months. We might try a text-only
version, sending it out as a Microsoft Word document. Or if there's someone
who knows a better way to do it, I'm happy to hear from you. 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 Jonathan Salant
First, you have a wonderful excuse to get that first interview. Between now
and late January, when Congress gets down to work, he or she will be making
several trips to Washington. There will be organizational meetings,
orientation, house-hunting, office selection, and other official business.
It's an opportunity to meet the staff as well, especially if the lawmaker is
going to keep the press secretary in the district, meaning that you'll need
to rely on a different staff member in Washington.
You may want to follow the lawmaker as he or she goes through the procedures
of setting up an office and moving to Washington. Several years ago, I made
a deal with a freshman lawmaker in my delegation, James Walsh: I would help
him unload his truck (he moved himself) if he allowed me to chronicle him
moving into his Capitol Hill apartment. He did and I did. See if the
lawmaker is going to move his or her family to Washington or just rent an
apartment and go back to the district on the weekends.
Also take a look at the staff that is being hired.
Despite the anti-government rhetoric that is still in fashion by some
candidates, most winning lawmakers have some government experience in the
past. Many were elected officials. They had staffs back home, and may bring
them to Washington. They may hire some Washington veterans, giving them
instant savvy. They may simply retain the staff of the member they
succeeded. Or they may pick some ideological staffers who were working for a
think tank or a controversial member, which would provide a clue on just
what kind of a lawmaker the freshman is going to be.
For Republicans, there's a big difference between hiring a former member of
Rep. Marge Roukema's staff and hiring a former aide to Tom DeLay who is now
working for the Cato Institute. For Democrats, are they hiring staff from
the Democratic Leadership Council
or Americans for Democratic Action?
See which committees the lawmaker is trying to get assigned to. Is he or she
lobbying colleagues. Few freshmen are going to land seats on Ways and Means,
Commerce or Appropriations. If yours gets one of those plum seats, that's a
story in itself. But if the lawmaker represents an urban area and winds up
sitting on Agriculture and Resources, that's also a story.
There are some other fun orientation stories as well. For example, there is
a lottery where offices are handed out. Each freshman, or a designated
representative, draws lots to see when he or she can pick. The highest
numbers get the dreary offices on the top floor of the Cannon Building.
If your lawmaker is the son or daughter of a former member of Congress or a
former legislative aide, see if they are making allies with colleagues of
their parents or their former bosses. Walsh was helped in his first weeks in
Washington by former colleagues of his father, former Rep. William Walsh.
Since most newly elected lawmakers do have government service, they leave
behind a record of performance. Check past votes on the state or local
level. Talk to former colleagues of both parties. Talk to some of the key
lobbyists, union officials or business leaders who would have dealt with the
lawmaker in his or her previous position. The reporter back home who covered
the person in his or her pre-congressional days should be able to put you in
touch with the right people.
Also check campaign finance records. The Center for Responsive Politics has
analyzed most of the data at www.opensecrets.org
www.opensecrets.org, as has the Center for Public Disclosure at
www.tray.com. See who the biggest financial supporters
of the lawmaker were. And if the lawmaker had an easy race for Congress, see
if he or she decided to share the campaign largess with the less fortunate.
In 1998, Thomas Reynolds of New York, running for an open seat but facing no
serious opposition in a heavily Republican district, contributed $100,000
from his campaign account to the National Republican Congressional Committee
before being elected to Congress. Reynolds was rewarded with a seat on the
powerful House Rules Committee.
And in early December, candidates must file their post-election finance
reports. This will let you know what they spent during the final three weeks
of the campaign. More importantly, it will let you know if special interests
who guessed wrong and didn't support them during the campaign are trying to
ingratiate themselves with the victor after the election. Of special note
are the interests affected by the committees that the new freshman is
appointed to. In 1994, after Nebraskan Jon Christensen was named to the Ways
and Means Committee, insurance companies that had supported the Democrat he
ousted quickly sent post-election $5,000 checks to his campaign committee.
By Suzanne Struglinski
The "transition process," the period between the Clinton and the
president-elect's administration is in limbo right now. What was once an
11-week period, carefully mapped out to some degree is no on hold until the
Florida decision becomes final.
Paul C. Light, head of the Brookings Institution Presidential Appointee
Initiative says that for each day the new president is not named, it may be
one week longer until the new administration is firmly in place.
That means positions in your home state may be in limbo as well, from
Department of Interior field representatives to Department of Transportation
regional administrators. Many of these positions will be political
appointments -- folks who likely are pretty anxious for the presidential
transition to begin.
The formal process began with the Presidential Transitions Act of 1963. This
allowed the General Services Administration to pay for costs association
with a new administration starting work prior to its actual takeover,
meaning after inauguration. The transition headquarters, waiting to be
filled with staff, is at 1800 G. St NW. The office, which used to be used
for Y2K planning, remains empty until the president elect gets named. June
Huber is GSA's director of presidential transition support.
Here are two great resources to help you track the transition and get a
better grasp of what is actually at stake:
Released Dec. 8 by the Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs, the book
lists the 7,000 jobs that need Presidential appointment. Close to 1200 of
these need Senate Confirmation. Officially called the book on "U.S.
Government Policy and Supporting Positions," the book is divided by
department or agency and the greatest part is that there is a category by
state within each section. Not all of the positions are in D.C. Find it at
www.gpo.gov/plumbook/2000/index.html
Doug Abrahms recently joined the staff at Gannett News Service as a regional
reporter. He came to Gannett from Communications Daily, where he covered the
FCC and telecommunications industry. He also covered the FCC and Congress
for Bridge News and the Washington Times, high-tech Washington-area
companies for the Washington Business Journal, the SEC for States News
Service, and various beats for the Port Arthur News.
Maureen Groppe will be joining the Gannett as regional reporter for Indiana
beginning Nov. 27. Maureen has been Tribune Newspapers' Washington regional
reporter for Arizona since 1997. She was Thomson's regional for a group of
Midwestern papers from 1995-97. She previously worked at Congressional
Quarterly Weekly Report and for newspapers in South Bend and Kokomo, Ind.
Ellyn Ferguson of Gannett's Indiana papers, will take over a new beat that
will include papers in Illinois and Michigan. Brian Tumulty will report for
Gannett's Wisconsin papers.
Bill Straub of the Cincinnati Post/Kentucky Post has been promoted to an
as-yet undetermined national beat at Scripps Howard News Service.
Jack Torry of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette/Toledo Blade Washington Bureau has
left that job to work at the Columbus Dispatch Washington Bureau.
Got news? call Jessica Wehrman at (202)408-2705 or send it to wehrmanj@shns.com
Gannett News Service
Rating the flaks of the Clinton Administration
Gannett News Service
President's Report
Wow. I would like to take a minute here and encourage regional reporters to
ponder their fortune.
Speaking of making rounds at city hall, you can almost do that now with the
federal government - on the web. There are two good web sites that allow you
to cruise through executive branch press releases.
Our e-group now has 41 members, which is excellent. Some may be wondering
how to post a message. The easiest thing to do is to bookmark the home page
for the e-group. It's at http://www.egroups.com/group/regionalreporters.
Then click on "Post" and type away.
Our friend, the National Press Club. Julia Schoo, the Club's Director of
Membership Development, said the club wants to help our RRA!
About a dozen reporters complained they couldn't open the pdf version of the
newsletter that was e-mailed last month. Some found it a little fuzzy,
because it was scanned in and then sent.
Covering the new guy
Associated Press
The Plum Book and other guides to help
reporters covering the presidential transition
Greenwire
RESTIVE REGIONS
Sergio R. Bustos, a New York regional reporter at Gannett News
Service, is switching assignments. He is now a Southwest regional
reporter, writing for the Arizona Republic (newly acquire by Gannett), the
Tucson Citizen and the El Paso Times in Texas.
October 2000 Regional Reporter
September 2000 Regional Reporter
June/July 2000 Regional Reporter
May 2000 Regional Reporter
September 1999 Regional Reporter
August 1999 Regional Reporter
June/July 1999 Regional Reporter
May 1999 Regional Reporter
April 1999 Regional Reporter
March 1999 Regional Reporter
February 1999 Regional Reporter
January 1999 Regional Reporter
December 1998 Regional Reporter
November 1998 Regional Reporter
October 1998 Regional Reporter
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August 1998 Regional Reporter
July 1998 Regional Reporter
June 1998 Regional Reporter
May 1998 Regional Reporter
April 1998 Regional Reporter
March 1998 Regional Reporter
February 1998 Regional Reporter
January 1998 Regional Reporter
December 1997 Regional Reporter
November 1997 Regional Reporter
October 1997 Regional Reporter
September 1997 Regional Reporter
August 1997 Regional Reporter
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