star-telegram.com: David House

Boiling down all that information

Wed, 02 Apr 2008 04:39 CDT

By DAVID HOUSE

There is bias in the following text. What kind?

"Trinity's affiliation with the United Church of Christ makes it part of a liberal, mostly white denomination that was the first in America to ordain gays, women and blacks as ministers."

Is that text (A.) from a radio talk-show script, (B.) special-interest propaganda, (C.) partisan chain letter spin or (D.) an accurate, dispassionate distillation of facts?

And there's bias in this paragraph:

"But in repudiating and putting in context [the Rev. Jeremiah] Wright's inflammatory lines about whites and U.S. foreign policy, Obama, the Democratic presidential front-runner, didn't address other potentially controversial facts about his church and its ties."

Those two paragraphs of straight-news narrative were part of a recently published story from the McClatchy Washington bureau that explored contextual angles related to developments involving Sen. Barack Obama's controversial former pastor and his church.

Reported and written by Margaret Talev, the story "appalled and insulted" one reader.

"Did anyone on your staff notice that Ms. Talev's own personal opinions are sprinkled throughout her article?" she asked. "Her personally biased opinions made her article an editorial."

This is a frequent reader concern regarding political coverage in which a reporter uses a workhorse technique that's as old as the use of written accounts: straight-news narrative, a distillation of information that has far more details than can be accommodated. (Answer D above.)

Credible straight-news narrative is simple, factual and spin-free -- unlike its relative, story-telling narrative, which employs the license and creativity seen, for example, in the Star-Telegram's recent true-crime serial "To Catch a Killer."

In each form, the thoughts and words are the writer's and therefore tinged with subjectivity. Although the print medium has always utilized straight-news narrative, the technique in these politicized times strikes some readers as reportorial editorializing.

As with editorial commentary, narrative text flows from a writer's personal opinion, but in the sense that it's crafted as a summary of the writer's understanding of the information.

Poorly crafted narrative suffers from problems such as imprecise language and careless judgment. Colorful description can be a minefield laced with inaccurate, prejudicial verbs, adjectives and the like. Lost is narrative's underlying motive: to examine and inform within the bounds of accuracy, balance and fairness.

Those were the characteristics of Talev's article, which was a good example of how to write straight-news narrative in response, I should add, to an assignment that gave her clear direction.

In light of so many controversial ties linking Obama, Trinity United Church of Christ and Wright, Talev's assignment was to help readers "learn more about the church -- beyond Rev. Wright. What and who shaped its ideas and ideals," she said in an e-mail exchange.

Talev turned to many sources as she examined complexities ranging from black liberation theology, which TUCC incorporates, to the church's ministries and how Obama and Wright figure into the mosaic.

As in her congressional coverage, Talev applied curiosity unobstructed and unfiltered by personal opinion. That might be difficult for some readers to accept, but that's professionalism at work, she said.

"It is a mantra of newspaper reporting that the coverage be objective, so while (the pursuit of) that becomes second nature it's also something constantly thought about and talked about in our profession. But it's also true that many times reporters really don't have much of an opinion one way or another on a subject."

"On some stories there is a 'truth' that can be pinned down, but on others it is a more elusive task of exploring points of view. The training really is to try to see a subject from many points of view, so as to understand where various sides are coming from," Talev wrote.

That would be an overwhelming volume of information to report without straight-news narrative and the bias -- the aim -- that drives it: keeping the public informed with facts, not opinion.

Nailing down the Wright story

Wed, 19 Mar 2008 04:35 CDT

By DAVID HOUSE

Last week's presidential campaign coverage ignited controversy that actually cleared a path toward demystifying some newsgathering practices.

First, consider that readers expect news that's fair and balanced, not just accurate. Problem is, readers sometimes want that news faster than pursuit of fairness and balance allows.

All of this was at work Friday when some readers accused the Star-Telegram of shielding Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama from fiery comments made by his pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr., that they had heard about the day before.

Readers said they expected print coverage to follow TV news and talk-show chatter that had focused on a Thursday ABC News report based on recorded sermons of Wright's in which he roasted America during services at Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago.

In one sermon from 2003, Wright said blacks should say "God d--- America ... for treating our citizens as less than human. God d--- America for as long as she acts like she is God ..."

Readers have read about controversial remarks from Wright and other candidates' spiritual colleagues, but they were livid about Wright's apparent cursing of America. They asked a good question: Why didn't the Star-Telegram have that story Friday? "If you don't have it," one angry caller warned, "there'll be protests."

John Gravois, assistant managing editor over government and political coverage, explained: "We didn't get a story" from any of the wire services. "There was nothing to run."

Most readers said they expected coverage from The Associated Press, so I called AP's New York offices, explained readers' concerns and asked why there was no Thursday-for-Friday coverage about the ABC News exclusive.

"We waited for Senator Obama to make a statement," AP spokesman Jack Stokes said. That statement came Friday, not Thursday, resulting in coverage for Saturday, which the Star-Telegram carried on Pages 1A and 6A.

Additionally, The AP was nonplussed by another set of outrageous Wright comments and needed to test the comments' relevance to the presidential race.

Waiting for Obama's statement and not parroting broadcast news and talk shows gave Obama the fairness extended to Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain, Stokes said.

Last month, controversy erupted after McCain was endorsed by San Antonio televangelist John Hagee, who caused nationwide furor when he said the Roman Catholic Church is "apostate" and "the great whore of Babylon" and that New Orleans' sins drew God's chastisement via Hurricane Katrina.

The AP didn't move a Hagee story, Stokes said, until they had reaction from McCain and had completed independent verification, a time-consuming but essential practice.

"We have to do our own reporting. That's how The AP handles controversial statements. We're very cautious."

Obama and McCain distanced themselves from the preachers' comments.

"If candidate Obama had endorsed (Wright's) comments in any way, the news value would have soared," Rex Seline, Star-Telegram managing editor/news, said. "Just as if McCain had endorsed Hagee's comments. They didn't do that. In fact, they rejected the comments."

"AP -- and, by extension, the Star-Telegram -- typically won't pick up a controversial story from broadcast without checking it out. Liberal conspiracy? No. Responsible media? Yes."

Wright's likely to remain an outspoken newsmaker, with a boost from the Black Leadership Award he'll receive March 29 from Brite Divinity School at Texas Christian University during Brite's fourth annual State of the Black Church summit.

The Star-Telegram will cover the event if the school allows us in, and there are questions about access. Odds are Wright will share provocative thoughts. The media will learn what he said -- and launch another exercise in fairness, balance and accuracy.

'We must bring local news to life' Journalism

Wed, 05 Mar 2008 04:37 CST

By DAVID HOUSE

Life's good even when it's raining rotten eggs and invective -- at least for Star-Telegram columnists. They're supposed to provoke thought, and there's no better measure of success than reader reaction.

Bud Kennedy, a local columnist for 20 years, gets splattered regularly, as I mentioned Feb. 20 when looking at how he and other columnists add depth and perspective to the day's news. Kennedy's enterprise was pointedly provocative during the run-up to Tuesday's primary elections as he explored local and statewide political developments.

Readers praised and pilloried his work. And they had questions. Here are Kennedy's replies:

Are you a liberal?

"I'm a fierce centrist. The two-party system is the only way to keep both sides honest. So I write about candidates in both parties and hope for balance.

"I generally support economic success and growth, which is why I've agreed with President Bush and business groups about immigration. But I also write about racial issues, because they never go away.

"My father was a conservative deacon in the Church of Christ. We lived near the railroad yards in west Fort Worth, in a mixed Anglo and Hispanic neighborhood not far from Lake Como. Every time the question of race came up, or somebody made a hateful comment, my father would say sternly, 'My Bible says, "All men are equal in the eyes of God."'

"He was a hard-working man. I still stick up for good, hard-working Texans of all colors."

What's the point of your column?

"Actually, I don't call it my column. It's for the Star-Telegram and our readers. I don't like columnists who write too much about themselves instead of what readers want to know.

"Mainly, my goal is to be worth 50 cents. That way, if it was a slow news day, the reader still feels like there was something worthwhile in the paper. Ideally, I want to comment on the local news of the day, or tell a good story that relates to current news."

What fed your interest in journalism?

"I grew up reading the old Fort Worth Press, the Scripps evening paper. I never had a lot of toys, but we had an old typewriter, and I would sit and retype the news stories from the Press, and we also had a little neighborhood kids' newspaper.

"I got interested in TV news watching Bob Schieffer, but I started working for the Star-Telegram at 16 covering high school football and went on to study journalism at TCU and UT-Austin (no degree).

"Boring resume: I designed and edited sports sections at the Austin American-Statesman, the Dallas Times Herald, Dallas Morning News and came back to the Star-Telegram as sports editor.

"One day in 1987, Gerry Zenick (now vice president/operations) and another managing editor asked me to develop an evening paper metro column in place of Jim Trinkle, who retired."

Why are local columns needed?

"The metro column tells the reader what's really going on in the community, or what's behind the story, or simply what's funny about the day's news. Reporters cover events, but the columnists go to the same events and see something different."

What's one thing about today's journalism that you would change?

"I'd like to see reporters try harder to connect every story with local communities, neighborhoods and even local streets. Mike Huckabee isn't just a former governor. He's the Mike Huckabee who used to live off Mid-Cities Boulevard in North Richland Hills. It bothers me when I see somebody named in a news story or editorial without some description that helps me meet this person.

Those pillars of the newspapers

Wed, 20 Feb 2008 05:08 CST

By DAVID HOUSE

Recent controversy over a Colleyville elementary school's inclusion of Spanish in its curriculum inflamed readers of all stripes -- English-only advocates, foreign-language advocates and "patriots" who view Spanish studies as a curse of illegal immigration.

This was a local issue thick with argument, emotion and entrenched views -- a natural web of conflict in need of perspectives beyond straight coverage. That's what Star-Telegram columnist Bud Kennedy provided, and in doing so, he exemplified the value of a columnist as an agent of understanding.

In a Feb. 10 commentary about the controversy ("Spanish-haters either forget or ignore history of our state"), Kennedy put the situation in various contexts and raised two compelling points:

Latino civil-rights organizations support teaching English to all children.

Spanish holds a revered place in Texas history. One example Kennedy noted: "After the Battle of the Alamo, the heroes' funeral was conducted entirely in Spanish by Texas officers."

His column drew heavy reaction -- "the most positive response ever to a column about Spanish or immigration," Kennedy said. "People called up, crying. One reader wants to write me a poem. Two left messages in a mixture of Spanish and English. Very humbling."

A metro daily's credibility rests on many cornerstones, but none is more important than its high-profile columnists -- writers for readers who relish commentary rich with expertise, passion and compelling insight.

Columnists personalize a paper. In their quality of thought and literary personality, those at the Star-Telegram range from gruff, booty-kickin' brawlers to polished students of business and politics. They're all gifted with encyclopedic knowledge and rampant curiosity that finds hidden angles on developments.

Contrarians, they make enemies. An e-mail from "American Patriot" demanded: "Fire Bud Kennedy! He is a racist radical who is in favor of the invasion of illegal aliens from Mexico!"

On the other hand, "Bob" wrote of the Feb. 10 column: "Thanks, Bud, for decreasing the ignorance, teaching a bit of Texas history, and bringing civility to the situation."

Readers ask many questions about Kennedy. This seems like a good time to share some of them and Kennedy's answers. There's too much for one column, so we'll make this a two-part look at one of the Star-Telegram's top columnists who's also a virtual institution in North Texas.

What attracted you to the Spanish-class issue?

"I thought we had a good news report, but I felt like somebody should stick up for the Grapevine-Colleyville schools.

"Like it or not, the officials and trustees decided that every kid needs a little basic Spanish. It's only two days a week and only half the year. And then along came these parents saying the district should cater to their whims, all the time accusing the district of catering to other parents."

What influences you most when you're looking for a topic?

"I try to check the talk shows and blogs to see what everybody else thinks is important that day. And I've been known to call friends at work and ask what the topic of the day is around the water cooler. If there's one dominant news story, whether it's local or national, I try to think how it relates to readers in Tarrant County."

What determines a columnist's credibility?

"What counts is whether you treat readers like neighbors and friends, and whether you have a stake in the community. I'm not some itinerant radio host who just came in with my suitcase. I grew up here, I went to public schools and college here, and I have followed local and Texas politics since I was in high school.

"Readers might disagree with political comment, and since I'm almost a radical centrist, folks from both sides disagree. But if you hate me today, I might make you laugh tomorrow. I hope I'm never predictable."

Radical centrist? Hmm. We'll take a look at that and more in the March 5 column.