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American Morning
Interview With Geneva Overholser
Aired June 06, 2003 - 07:34 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Let's move on to the "New York Times." The top two editors of the "Times" resigned yesterday. This is the latest bombshell in a scandal that has rocked the newspaper. The resignations of executive editor Howell Raines and managing editor Gerald Boyd came five weeks after the Jayson Blair reporting scandal broke. And Blair, the reporter who faked the stories, gave his first television interview.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAYSON BLAIR, FORMER REPORTER: I certainly understand that I played a significant role in the problems that the "Times" is having right now and I feel like on many levels what's going on right now inside of the "Times" is something that I would hope that the media would give them an opportunity to take care of sort of inside the family.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAGAN: How does this affect all news organizations?
Geneva Overholser, a journalism professor at the University of Missouri, has served as ombudsman for the "Washington Post" and as editor for the "Des Moines Register" and she is joining us from Washington.
Good morning.
Thanks for joining us.
GENEVA OVERHOLSER, PROFESSOR OF JOURNALISM, UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI: Good morning, Daryn.
Thanks for having me.
KAGAN: Do you think that people outside of the media and outside of New York City care about this "Times" scandal and should they?
OVERHOLSER: Well, I think they do and I do think they should. Not everyone, of course, is as consumed with it as we are in the media, but the "Times" is, I think, far and away the most important single journalistic institution in the country. And when it goes through the kind of really tragic events it's gone through the past five weeks, I think we all do need to care.
KAGAN: And so some of the events you look at and you go well, not at the "New York Times." But do you think that this could actually happen within any media organization?
OVERHOLSER: Absolutely. I think everybody who thinks oh, only at the "Times," is really courting danger. It's easy to go astray and I think this has been a wake up call for all of us and that newsrooms across America are reexamining their ethics policies and thinking about accountability. And in that way, a very sad thing, I think, could have some good benefits.
KAGAN: And what is the bigger picture, not just to the media, but the media's relationship with viewers, readers and listeners?
OVERHOLSER: Well, you know, I think part of what we've seen here is that arrogance is a bad thing. Many people are saying that Howell Raines, the executive editor's style, has been part of the problem. Of course, the Jayson Blair scandal is what triggered it all. But it turned out there was a lot of unhappiness within the newsroom.
Well, a lot of our readers and viewers and listeners tell us we're arrogant and I think, again, it's a wake up call for all of us to think about why we're here and what we're supposed to be doing.
KAGAN: And so it will depend on that kind of review and self- examination as to whether anything positive can come out of the scandal?
OVERHOLSER: Yes, and my hope, Daryn, is that it will. I noticed in the "Times" editorial this morning they said really what we need to do is every morning struggle to get things right. And I think it'll be a recommitment on all journalists' parts now after this really difficult and extraordinary time with two resignations at the "Times."
KAGAN: Do you think that's what readers want to hear, though, a struggle to get things right, that it really just shouldn't be that hard, that that's our job when we come to work every day?
OVERHOLSER: Well, it is our job. But I would hope that readers would understand that in some ways it's a daily miracle that the newspaper comes out, that these news shows go on. The world is full of a number of things, to put it mildly, and we have to struggle to get them right. And I think most readers and viewers would understand that it's the struggle that is, in fact, honorable and count on us to do it. They can't count on perfection.
KAGAN: We often feel that struggle right here every day.
Geneva Overholser, thank you for your insight this morning.
OVERHOLSER: Thank you.
KAGAN: Appreciate it.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired June 6, 2003 - 07:34 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Let's move on to the "New York Times." The top two editors of the "Times" resigned yesterday. This is the latest bombshell in a scandal that has rocked the newspaper. The resignations of executive editor Howell Raines and managing editor Gerald Boyd came five weeks after the Jayson Blair reporting scandal broke. And Blair, the reporter who faked the stories, gave his first television interview.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAYSON BLAIR, FORMER REPORTER: I certainly understand that I played a significant role in the problems that the "Times" is having right now and I feel like on many levels what's going on right now inside of the "Times" is something that I would hope that the media would give them an opportunity to take care of sort of inside the family.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAGAN: How does this affect all news organizations?
Geneva Overholser, a journalism professor at the University of Missouri, has served as ombudsman for the "Washington Post" and as editor for the "Des Moines Register" and she is joining us from Washington.
Good morning.
Thanks for joining us.
GENEVA OVERHOLSER, PROFESSOR OF JOURNALISM, UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI: Good morning, Daryn.
Thanks for having me.
KAGAN: Do you think that people outside of the media and outside of New York City care about this "Times" scandal and should they?
OVERHOLSER: Well, I think they do and I do think they should. Not everyone, of course, is as consumed with it as we are in the media, but the "Times" is, I think, far and away the most important single journalistic institution in the country. And when it goes through the kind of really tragic events it's gone through the past five weeks, I think we all do need to care.
KAGAN: And so some of the events you look at and you go well, not at the "New York Times." But do you think that this could actually happen within any media organization?
OVERHOLSER: Absolutely. I think everybody who thinks oh, only at the "Times," is really courting danger. It's easy to go astray and I think this has been a wake up call for all of us and that newsrooms across America are reexamining their ethics policies and thinking about accountability. And in that way, a very sad thing, I think, could have some good benefits.
KAGAN: And what is the bigger picture, not just to the media, but the media's relationship with viewers, readers and listeners?
OVERHOLSER: Well, you know, I think part of what we've seen here is that arrogance is a bad thing. Many people are saying that Howell Raines, the executive editor's style, has been part of the problem. Of course, the Jayson Blair scandal is what triggered it all. But it turned out there was a lot of unhappiness within the newsroom.
Well, a lot of our readers and viewers and listeners tell us we're arrogant and I think, again, it's a wake up call for all of us to think about why we're here and what we're supposed to be doing.
KAGAN: And so it will depend on that kind of review and self- examination as to whether anything positive can come out of the scandal?
OVERHOLSER: Yes, and my hope, Daryn, is that it will. I noticed in the "Times" editorial this morning they said really what we need to do is every morning struggle to get things right. And I think it'll be a recommitment on all journalists' parts now after this really difficult and extraordinary time with two resignations at the "Times."
KAGAN: Do you think that's what readers want to hear, though, a struggle to get things right, that it really just shouldn't be that hard, that that's our job when we come to work every day?
OVERHOLSER: Well, it is our job. But I would hope that readers would understand that in some ways it's a daily miracle that the newspaper comes out, that these news shows go on. The world is full of a number of things, to put it mildly, and we have to struggle to get them right. And I think most readers and viewers would understand that it's the struggle that is, in fact, honorable and count on us to do it. They can't count on perfection.
KAGAN: We often feel that struggle right here every day.
Geneva Overholser, thank you for your insight this morning.
OVERHOLSER: Thank you.
KAGAN: Appreciate it.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
