SPJ learns about media and politics
By Andrew Donovan
Staff Reporter

This year’s first meeting of the TCU chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists brought together a panel of professionals from the departments of journalism and politics, including a former speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, to discuss the relationship between media and politics Wednesday night.

Jim Wright, who resigned from the post of speaker in 1989, said the experiences he had as a political figure helped him believe that most media organizations are fair in reporting. However, some reporters had a tendency to pick on Capitol Hill, said Wright, currently an adjunct political science professor.

“I remember one time a reporter said that it would take Congress three years to boil instant coffee. I mean that is just vicious,” Wright said.

Adam Schiffer, a political science professor, said the biggest problem with reporting and politics is that politicians tend to try to distract reporters from the correct information on issues. He said he also feels that, contrary to popular belief, there really isn’t any ideological biases in the media.

Jack Smith, the political columnist for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, said he agrees with Schiffer that in news stories, reporters are usually careful in showing bias. Smith said he feels the real problem comes when they don’t get all the information about the issues they are covering.

“Reporters have a tendency to quote ‘Candidate A’ saying it is raining and quote ‘Candidate B’ saying it is not raining,” Smith said. “It’s the responsibility for (the reporter) to look outside and see if it is actually raining.”

The final panelist, former executive editor and ombudsman at the Star-Telegram Phil Record, discussed the concern with handling the privacy of political figures and their families. Record, the current professional in residence in the journalism department, said he had several experiences with this while working at the newspaper.

“In most stories, there is a great collision between privacy and what readers need to know,” Record said. “It’s tough to know where to draw the line.”

While the panel may have been split into media and politics, Wright said he believes the two parties aren’t so different.

“I have always believed that there’s a little journalism in politics and a little politics in journalism,” Wright said. “We just have to work at understanding each other better.”