Both Sides of the Question (1970)

okay let's go you ready mark ya ready Danny okay here we go three two one I think it's ugly I don't think it's ugly at all downtown Detroit's beautiful Detroit is the best big city in the country yeah I don't like cities [Music] it's a city with a widest range of people that you can imagine [Music] [Applause] [Music] hey [Music] it's a competitive City television and radio stations are competitive the newspapers are competitive [Music] I think it is one of the best newspapers in the United States I think it's about efforts I think it's very bad news paper as editor I know very well that the day we get no complaints is the day we put out a dull newspaper one moment you're being hanged as too liberal the next day you're being hanged is too conservative in some things we are liberal and others were conservative but there is an effort to give to our best ability both sides of the question to give our readers a balanced diet from which they can select their own opinion the editorial department you the editor has arrived it's the start of a typical work day at the Detroit News and time to produce an all-new afternoon newspaper some of the staff have already been here for hours helping to prepare the first edition a few have been around all night an afternoon paper must keep going 24 hours a day seven days a week if it's going to report all the news as it happens the Detroit News has been doing it for a century which makes it one of the oldest newspapers in America it's also one of the biggest afternoon papers anywhere with the circulation over 600,000 it's Sunday edition the sunday news tops 800,000 almost all this circulation is in the seven counties of metropolitan Detroit that means serving Detroit's needs and interests is the papers number one concern it's a tough beat but hardly adult one the first edition it will be followed by three more throughout all three the news will be re-edited added to and repositioned as more facts flow in by the time the final is out in late afternoon it will be almost a brand-new paper and mr. Worthington would like to talk to your in here to personal okay the editors first order of business will be to check over the first edition to evaluate the treatment of news it's divergent opinion and the discussion there of that makes democracy work after all one of the great things about American newspapers in general is that if you read only that you're gonna get a pretty good view of what's going on number two man on the news side is the managing editor responsible for the day-to-day reporting and writing of hard news Wars politics fires and men who bite dogs are all in his special problems when you get into a metropolitan newspaper you got a special breed of cat it's a little more than a local paper and people expect more of it than and have a right to expect more but we have access to every major wire service the copy considered is comes in here by the ton we like all metropolitan favors maintain a Washington bureau to to cover the capital itself in addition to the wire service we also send people to places where we think we can fruitfully get something that we're not getting from the wire services a point of view a and insight a uniquely Detroit look or maybe a case where we just don't think we've really gotten a good picture what's going on some place let's send somebody there and take a look take a man that we know and trust and send here send people to South America Europe Asia any place that there is anything that we think we can proof way tell our readers that that's interesting or important for them to know that's why we're different for instance France where if you want to know what's going on you by six papers and read all six of them and by believing what you wish to believe from each one you finally get a bit balanced view point the second edition is put together remaking the front page the news editor gives stories new positions and rewritten headlines as they change in importance the idea is to keep the reader right up to the minute on facts and perspective a job that sometimes goes unappreciated wires feel any newspaper magazine you always have to take it with a grain of salt there's not a article it's written it's not slanted in the Articles that I've read I found most of them to be factual I don't feel we get both sides of a question any question well I could take this paper and I kinetic I can put a story in here to make any point I want about any given thing there's no question about it but the idea is it's a very simple idea so you go out and you learn everything you can about both sides of any issue now the key word to me is fairness you you've got to be fair and i'll tell you if we aren't who's gonna be there anything left television has abandoned this completely even the so-called news magazine this is the only place that that's still even trying the desire to report its straight runs deep in a veteran newspaper man it takes a lot of know-how to what the real me is doesn't matter it's what the story is and you learn how to get it you go up you you know the people to talk to and after you've been in this business long enough you know how to talk to different people you talk to hippies one way and you talk to police quite another way just because somebody tells you something doesn't mean that it's necessarily so and if you talk to enough people with a scene any place you can pretty well synthesize a good pretty well doubt straight down the middle version of what happened even though you'll very in details here or there you can come up with an honest close to the facts story sometimes getting close to the facts isn't that easy the papers sports columnist interviews a Yugoslav boxer using a ten-year-old boy as an interpreter phosphate rock pop a was that all one what's his first name rock [Music] [Music] is well-preserved staying objective is a problem for a political reporter as well I'm kind of an old fashioned whose favorite man in a way you know that I don't lead somebody by the hand or by the nose to a truth but just try to give them the the elements so that they can decide what security is it Ravi considering the attack on this country politically you can read this board reporting it straight is a very interesting problem sure I like to unload but if you remember as a politics whether I got to work on both sides of the fence you know and if I start getting very opinionated about you know I hate all Democrats all Democrats feel this way or that way and never never write anything harsh about Republicans or something well I go out to cover Democrats and attend their conventions and talk with them and try to find out the why of what's going on they won't talk to you yeah what I wouldn't blame it being impartial getting the facts telling a good story these are the everyday ingredients of any assignment something else helps to a deep sense of committal to the job of reporting news the idea that what you right where you find out about events things are happening today may influence people or at least shape they're thinking about events to me is important if people are uninformed how can they make reasonable decisions about my life their lives in the nose in the country itself it's a simple as I can you work Saturday over time okay we got the parade down Woodward more of a parade we also have the factor to the peace marching they wanted to braid down Woodward and didn't get a permit to say they're still mighty do something if there is a confrontation between wise we had in New York between the hard hats and and the anti-war kids how do you want to cover this make sure that we don't overemphasize any violence that may occur we get criticized for that and violence always makes news but let's be sure that's kept in perspective unless we have real trouble [Music] on the face of it it's just another peace march but it can't be just another story the reporter must find an approach that makes it come alive and have meaning for the reader an approach that gets at both sides of the question in this case there was an obvious way to do it there were essentially two story I followed both first to ask the people who were there why they were there in their own words and then talk to the people along the parade route and asked them what they thought of this demonstration of respectable and we've those two together it was a delightful contrast I think it's discussing I think the way they're going about this protest business is all wrong going down here shouting obscene language down the street what kind of our protest is that it's nothing you have the right to protesters yeah everybody's got a right to protest if they're a inner if they know what they're talking about no wonder what is right and wrong what what is wrong so you don't think they know what they're doing I don't think any of them know what they're doing they want a protest just to be protesting that's all anything anything that comes up they want a protest about a Detroit News photographer how many assignments pictures are as important as words it's not like a silly question but why are you well I'm here because I feel strongly that the war must end and in now but building a gas chambers who are you difference of opinion always makes for a good story but a reporter must document it not aggravated the risk is he may aggravate it without meaning to just because he's there traitor taking no chances he leaves the parade early to phone in his story yeah I'll say I war protesters staged their version memorial day parade yeah Detroit News gives me a great deal of freedom and what I do what I write goes in the way I write it go back me up on it will be editing for style for clarity for accuracy but the editors don't distort what I write and make it into something else some papers do this the Detroit News doesn't we're accused of it but it simply doesn't happen so I can maintain my own integrity even though I may disagree personally philosophically with some of the editors because what i write if it's fair and accurate goes in the way I write it this is important printed paper variety of people and variety of opinion that's Detroit it holds true at the news as well men and women of all ages and races work together in all departments reflecting a personnel policy the judges employees by performance only it makes for a more responsive paper closely attuned to the diverse City the news serves there's the kind of an excitement about working in the building at a newspaper even though the work is routine the environment in the atmosphere is I love the people here some of them are weird but you know it makes the day funny you need it you need to use to lighten the place up and you need the aid just a peeper a firm happening if things get so radical as far as our staff is concerned we try to have its representative staff as we can for instance like every other major newspaper 25 years ago we had no black reporters we now do women especially have come into their own at the paper both in the editorial and business areas some head up whole departments like the women's section here recently it was incorporated into the news department recognition of the growing significance of news events that interest women women have also invaded the traditionally male inner sanctum of the editorial board writers of the papers controversial editorial page this is the place where the management of the news speaks out on current issues probably no other section of the paper draws such strong reaction some of it complimentary some of it highly critical from readers who disagree with its opinions the whole purpose of editorial writer is to be opinionated otherwise end up with readings this is the one page of the paper that's opinion and not fact but it must be restricted to the editorial page and the reason this integrity must be preserved because we've got to give people the reasonable expectation and they pick up our paper and look at a news story they know that this to the best of our ability is an account of what happened in our editorial page it's our job to express our viewpoint which should be accepted for just exactly what it is it's our viewpoint and nobody else's and we don't try to make ourselves popular page we try to state we believe the thing is that you can't you can't you you're not always right yourself you know either when I look back over some of the editorials I've written in my 10 years on the news for some things that I said in 63 peps 65 that have been proved wrong and I wish I hadn't said him but damn it if you're going to nobody's got a crystal ball there to see five years ahead so your phone to be wrong in this business you think it's that I think we should admit when it's wrong like that oh I think it I think it's a sound principle in retaining confidence of your supporter if you say well I put up a back here I was wrong on that one but and then go on with because you can't anticipate all the all the trends in this world no one knows but when you come to think of it 10 years ago compare 60 or 70 and look at the state of the world it's so changed so much that normally can see that far ahead [Music] one thing no one foresaw was the rebellion of a number of young people today against the establishment an establishment represented by their elders as well as institutions like the news anyone who is working for the detainees is very much inside the establishment and they're trying to write and relate to people who are really entirely outside of the establishment and they can't do them to reach across the gap the news has been angling many of its stories directly at detroit's view the editor of the Petrie department makes a special point of it a newspaper of the future is in its youth and in its youthful readers and if we don't get the young reader to have respect for us and read us then we stand a chance of not getting them when he was more along a year it seems to me that in this world which today is so so big and so complex and so exciting that the role of the feature department I really think probably has its greatest challenge that it's ever had in the history of the newspaper business features once just used to be those things that you found in the back of the newspaper but today features really are the extras of the newspaper and a newspapers roll with TB and with the way the communication of gold it has more to do and a greater responsibility than just to present last nights news what we try to do is present a magazine that is viable when we have printed the story here there was a great deal of discussion among the others exactly where should we drop this picture and we crafted where you see we crafted her behind it show now we expected a large reaction from this we got one phone call from a creaky elderly lady and she said she liked the article very much but did we have to print those pictures we say to a guy like that this is life this is where it's at we think most people want to know what their kids are doing we did not take sides in this matter we rarely presented it this picture is on view downtown in Detroit your kids can pay four or five dollars and go and see it would you like to know what's in the movie and she had to agree she would like to know because it appears in the news it should not have a cloak over it any more than the television set should have a shade on it when certain things come across that you may not want to see but which may be by a vital to your understanding what the life is in this world another unforeseen event was the rise in street crime in the inner city unfortunately the black community reacted to a news campaign to cut down on the crime as criticism of blacks it led to a short live boycott of the paper today black opinion has improved but news columnist jun brown sometimes gets an earful when she goes after an interview for a story dirty uh you know i'm writing this column for the detroit news so i want to know but my friends are thinking about the detroit news to you you take for you me personal just my friend I don't know what you personally think do you do you take the David news no I don't take it anymore I just take it now on Sunday remember this crying back yeah they had this big article in the paper about they would have about 20 black and two white that crime in the street yeah the crime in coverage yeah nobody does no crime but the black people according to cut the card to the Seas again and I didn't like that so I feel like that little phony well that was my personal opinion about you know then to my customers truth they call me and tell me you're taking it a little rough stock they read the baby and i decided i would tell everybody else the same thing you know huh what do you think what could the news do to make you buy it again tell it like it is one way the news is telling it like it is is by recognizing black achievement here it sponsors an award crediting a community leader with keeping things cool during a hot summer now first of all I'd like to thank the Detroit News for making this award possible it's an award for police citizen to please Citizen Award in recognition of outstanding contribution to police citizen cooperation and understanding to Reverend Isaiah Patterson we have thousands a good substantial decent well-established Negro citizens who are working as hard as anyone else to try and make it a good town and they and the similar thinking white citizens are gonna do it when you get right down to it black people and white people want basically the same things blacks merely want to be treated like human beings you know like everyone else just like an American no more no less and I think any any group or any agency or anything institution does that is going to have support the black communities that is why are working for the Detroit News because in spite of the differences between the black community with the news editorial policy you have a very good personnel phone hmm and this is the paper that has given all of us estar aya and very intimately involved with the news the news which has been in my home since I learned to read and when you get a paper like that the paper becomes a part of you and when a paper does something that hurts you editorial it's almost as though someone you love has been untrue and it hurts you so very deeply and even when I get mad at the news the news are still the best paper you have to come to Rita Griffin and I were talking about it the other day she says that she gets mad at the news and thrilled for the waves and she's got a sneak back and read because it's the only way you're gonna know what's going on the main plant is gonna be setting back 150 members of management discussed the building of a new printing plant on a site in sterling heights it's part of a general expansion of facilities plan to take care of the expected upward growth of the paper in the years ahead there are other things ahead to like increasing computerization the news plans to go on adding advanced equipment to streamline production as the paper expands it will also mean more job opportunities for everyone like any newspaper the news depends on its advertising especially its classified ads it's tremendous pulling power has helped forge success in the past in the future a growing readership will increase its pulling power even more I think our first ad ran about 20 years ago and today we're spending approximately a half a million dollars per year the results are quite spectacular the news is determined to go on improving its editorial product it will extend its coverage of local and national affairs gearing it more than ever to the needs and interests of a tough hard to please audience the average Detroiter I think the news is typically backward as far as women's equal rights are concerned it's a very good paper I love it I love it I wouldn't have a change from the world it seems that they could be a lot more liberal now we make people mad as a matter of fact the day that newspaper comes out and everybody reads it and nobody's mad you're almost dead certain that that was a bad news paper that's the theory of our form of garrulous involves informed populace well we're part of that information process and the better we do it the better in his favor I'm not a politician I just read the Detroit News the grandma out to her reads it and it's in print and it's the gospel truth because she read it in the newspaper and I think that they do have a tremendous influence if not directly at least indirectly in the attitudes of people how they look at the city and how they look at life in general I think from the day this paper started it was dedicated to this community to covering the news of this community to being as much as it can be a light and dark places in the community to suggest how things might be improved [Music]