By Bruce B. Brugmann
(Scroll down for the full SPJ awards program, press release on the winners, and Tom Honig on "The Vanishing Journalist")
The Northern California chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists held an inspired and inspiring Excellence in Journalism awards program last Thursday night at the Yank Sing restaurant in San Francisco.
The room was full of reporters and editors who have been laid off or merged out, and many others fearful of being laid off or merged out. This point was made eloquently by Bruce Newman, who won the criticism award for his movie reviews in the San Jose Mercury News, and announced in his acceptance remarks that his position of movie critic had been eliminated five weeks ago.
Yet, despite the problems of the media and the economy, the award winners and their work this year were extraordinarily worthy. The program was excellent. The food was good. And Ricardo Sandoval, the incoming SPJ president, and Linda Jue, the outgoing SPJ president, and many of the award accepters made the crucial point: that the worse the news is, the more SPJ and good journalism are needed.
And so SPJ chose this year to give its premier award, the Journalist of the Year award, to "The Vanishing Journalist." And they chose Tom Honig, the distinguished former editor of the Santa Cruz Sentinel, to accept the award. Honig was the classic California community journalist:he started on the old Palo Alto Times in sports, then to the Sentinel in l972, to the cops and courts beat to reporter for eight years, to assistant city editor and then to city editor, copy desk chief, managing editor in l99l, and then editor in l992.
He left the Sentinel on the last day of November, 2007. His exit was illustrative: His Singleton/Media News publisher had told him he would have to lay off at least three more editorial staffers from the newsroom, after previous cuts had reduced the newsroom from a high of 43 in 2005 to 30 last year. The Sentinel's accountant pointedly told Honig that if he left, that would save three positions. So Honig made the ultimate sacrifice and laid himself off. (He is now in a new career, as an account executive in Armanasco Public Relations in Monterey.)
"The people that run newspapers today--describe them how you will--might understand finance and they understand budgets," Honig said. "They do, after all, understand that news organizations are in trouble. What they don't understand is that the indiscriminate budget cuts are only hastening their own demise. You know what? You need good reporters and editors. You just do...
"It's us-- the journalists--who carry with us the knowledge and integrity that money simply cannot buy. We carry on because we know the power of questioning authority, questioning those even that we agree with --and giving those we disagree with a fair airing of their views. The talking heads on television and radio can't do that."
Here are Honig's complete remarks:
by Tom Honig
I'm accepting this award on behalf of the hundreds – thousands – of veteran reporters, photographers and editors that have helped and inspired me over the years. We're honoring the vanishing journalist tonight, and I do want to say a few words on his and her behalf.
I'd have to say that the most noteworthy thing about my career is how unnoteworthy it really has been. Some reporters go to war zones. Others call the White House their beat. But for most of us – it's the school board. The library board. The fire that leaves a family homeless. We are the people who get it done, day in and day out – giving people the opportunity to understand their own community.
I'm truly honored that I would be asked to accept this award on behalf of all those who have come and gone before me. I once looked at my decision to spend my career in a small town – Santa Cruz, California – as something to be slightly embarrassed about. I now think of it only with pride.
I think of the writing advice I got from editors older than I who taught me strategies to get out of my own way and let the story tell itself.
When you work at a community paper, you don't need focus groups and readership studies. People talk to you in the super market. Actually, they bitch at you in the super market. Or at the gym. Or when you're out grabbing a sandwich at the deli. You do an investigation into misspent funds in a small town and you get a good story, but you also get a tearful phone call from a city manager who' a really nice guy but who knows he fouled up. You do the story anyway, but you feel bad and later you keep running into him and you hope he's doing OK.
But you do your job, and some days you don't think much about it. But when it's all over, you take some time, look back and realize that you've been part of something very special. You did good journalism. You did what the best investigative journalism does – reveal the truth to those who may or may not want to hear it.
The public doesn't often understand the value of their local newspaper – even as they rely upon what's there. I'm partial to local newspapers. The kind of journalism we achieved over the years in Santa Cruz I would stack up against any of the big boys. And being right there as part of the community … we knew about credibility long before the think tanks started doing their studies.
The people that run newspapers today – describe them how you will -- might understand finance and they understand budgets. They do, after all, understand that news organizations are in financial trouble. What they don't understand is that the indiscriminate budget cuts are only hastening their own demise. You know what? You need good reporters and editors. You just do.
Many of you are embarking on new ventures, on new forms of digital and online journalism as traditional outlets start to disappear. Some of you are launching these ventures on your own. We have Knight News Challenges and we have startups and we have incredible energy from those just embarking on their careers. That's all to the good. It's us – the journalists – who carry with us the knowledge and the integrity that money simply cannot buy. We carry on because we know the power of questioning authority, questioning those even that we agree with – and giving those with whom we disagree a fair airing of their views. The talking heads on television and radio don't and can't do that.
It's the story – in whatever form it takes – that's king. It's the truth that we seek. As we move forward, we won't have the old support system around us, the older, wiser editors who have seen 'em come and seen 'em go. We won't have the structure that has carried us forward all these years. It's breaking down, and it's not our fault.
I couldn't be more encouraged by the energy and the values of young journalists. But I'm also encouraged by others – those, like me, who are certified vanishing journalists who are still around, still available to help, still thinking that there's good work to be done.
We still know a few things. We know about comforting the afflicted and afflicting the comfortable. We know the value of explaining a society to itself without fear or favor. Those are values we can't afford to lose. Dean Singleton can try to take it all away so he can make up for his poor business decisions and cover his huge debt. We can't let him.
Again. I accept this award on behalf of all the great journalists I've known and learned from. It's truly an honor to be the one accepting on their behalf, and I thank you very much.
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