WE MAY never know why The Free Lance-Star said "no" to Bob Woodward in 1970.
There probably weren't any openings in the newsroom when he knocked on our door in search of a job. And let's face it, the resume of a 20-something Navy vet from Wheaton, Ill., who had just flunked his tryout at The Washington Post might not have leaped out of the pile
So the Yale man who would become one of the most celebrated journalists of modern times trotted off to a suburban weekly paper in Maryland for seasoning before igniting his heralded
At least I got a laugh line out of that journalistic nugget last week, as moderator of the Fredericksburg Forum with Woodward.
The Watergate sleuth's job history wasn't the only eyebrow-raising tidbit I gathered from journalists over the past few days. Here are a couple
Ron Fournier, online political editor for The Associated Press, has been covering Bill and Hillary Clinton since their Arkansas days.
But he's not counting on another Clinton occupying the White House come January.
Fournier told Associated Press members at a luncheon in Roanoke last week that he stands by his assessment that the Democratic nomination is Barack Obama's to lose. It comes down to the simple math of who has the most pledged delegates.
And he thinks Hillary, whom he considers to
Paul V. Carty, the executive editor of The Town Talk newspaper in Alexandria, La., made
Speaking at another lunch in Roanoke last week, Carty criticized much of the national media for distorting the story of the "Jena 6" in a nearby Louisiana town.
As you may recall, charges against six black high school students for attacking a white student led to national protests that included the Revs. Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton.
Protestors argued that the charges were too harsh, and that white students involved with what some considered an earlier racist incident were dealt with too leniently.
While not doubting that racism still plagues his Deep South community, Carty (who hails from Boston and Philadelphia) said some national media tripped over basic facts they should have checked.
Among them, he argued, was the way the "pack journalists" portrayed the "Jena 6" student who became a symbol of racist oppression. Far from sporting the clean record cited by national reports right up until the day of a major protest march, Carty said the young man had, in fact, been convicted of four previous crimes of violence.
Carty said his Gannett-owned paper remains committed to balanced coverage of the ongoing controversy.
At the forum with Woodward at the University of Mary Washington,
When asked whether U.S. initiatives in Iraq might have been different had Colin Powell been secretary of defense, rather than secretary of state, Woodward questioned whether there would have been a major war at all.
All in all, it was an impressive performance
Perhaps The Free Lance-Star should reconsider his application. Maybe he could send me some clips of his stories.
Ed Jones: 540/374-5401
Email: edjones@freelancestar.com