First up, we talk to the Houston Chronicle's White House Correspondent Julie Mason. She was nice enough to answer my questions over email about her job at the Houston Chronicle Washington Bureau.
mikemcguff: Tell us what your typical day is like covering the White House?
Julie Mason: Every day is different, but most days are pretty busy when Bush is in town. It starts pretty early with an off-camera, on the record morning "gaggle" with the spokesman, then Bush usually has a bunch of events, most are open only to the press pool, but they have been adding more open press events since his poll numbers started going down - to keep him more visible. It makes for busier days, but it helps to see the president as much as possible.
Tony Snow does a mid-day briefing that's on-camera, and the president generally has one or two events in the afternoon. The Chronicle has a seat in the briefing room - fifth row, along with most of the big regional dailies. We also have a workspace at the White House with a desk, phone and desktop computer that I work at most days. The building and grounds are beautiful and it's a pleasure to come to work here. The days tend to fly by.
Every newspaper covering the White House gets pool duty about once a month. The pool is a rotating group of representatives - one each from print, radio, TV and the wires, who travel in the motorcade and cover events in the Oval Office, when Bush goes to church or holds smaller meetings - typically in tight-squeeze situations where the larger press corps can't go. Pool duties include filing pool reports back the rest of the press corps about what happened.
Linda Feldmann from the Christian Science Monitor wrote a great behind-the scenes story about White House pool duty: http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0501/p20s01-uspo.html
Traveling with the president is grueling but also exciting. I have been all around the world with him, and next week we are going to Russia and Germany. Last week we went to Graceland. The press take turns riding on Air Force One, which only has room for about a dozen members of the news media. The rest of the press travels on a charter. The cost of the trips are divided among the news organizations that go - I mention it because a lot of people ask if it's taxpayer money (it's not)
Tony Snow does a mid-day briefing that's on-camera, and the president generally has one or two events in the afternoon. The Chronicle has a seat in the briefing room - fifth row, along with most of the big regional dailies. We also have a workspace at the White House with a desk, phone and desktop computer that I work at most days. The building and grounds are beautiful and it's a pleasure to come to work here. The days tend to fly by.
Every newspaper covering the White House gets pool duty about once a month. The pool is a rotating group of representatives - one each from print, radio, TV and the wires, who travel in the motorcade and cover events in the Oval Office, when Bush goes to church or holds smaller meetings - typically in tight-squeeze situations where the larger press corps can't go. Pool duties include filing pool reports back the rest of the press corps about what happened.
Linda Feldmann from the Christian Science Monitor wrote a great behind-the scenes story about White House pool duty: http://www.csmonitor.com/2006
Traveling with the president is grueling but also exciting. I have been all around the world with him, and next week we are going to Russia and Germany. Last week we went to Graceland. The press take turns riding on Air Force One, which only has room for about a dozen members of the news media. The rest of the press travels on a charter. The cost of the trips are divided among the news organizations that go - I mention it because a lot of people ask if it's taxpayer money (it's not)
MM: When did you decide to go into journalism?
JM: I don't remember wanting to do anything else - although when I was really little I briefly wanted to be an actress. My mother had always wanted to be a journalist and she planted the idea early with me that it would be a fun job and an exciting life.
MM: Where did you get your start?
JM: I was a copy aide in the Dallas Morning News Washington Bureau when I was still in college at American University. That was in 1985 - which feels like five years ago, strangely enough. I moved to Dallas to work on the paper in 1988, and got a job in Houston a year later. I have been with the Chronicle since 1989.
MM: Why newspaper?
JM: We were a newspaper family - everyone read the paper. The Boston Globe is my hometown newspaper, I am still a fan of their layout and style. I also love radio and think I would have been happy doing that,as well. I briefly had a political talk radio show in Houston, with about five listeners, but it was a total blast.
MM: Why newspaper?
JM: We were a newspaper family - everyone read the paper. The Boston Globe is my hometown newspaper, I am still a fan of their layout and style. I also love radio and think I would have been happy doing that,as well. I briefly had a political talk radio show in Houston, with about five listeners, but it was a total blast.
MM: When did you feel you were ready for a major newspaper?
JM: I was lucky to have started at a major newspaper - and it was pure luck. It used to be that young journalists started at a small paper and worked their way up, but I am not sure that model works anymore. My advice to younger reporters now is to aim high and take a job you may not love at the biggest paper you can latch onto, then move up within that paper. With all the problems and cost-cutting in the industry, I think it's much harder to move from a small market to a big one, and being talented isn't enough - you can really get stuck at a small paper.
MM: How did you land the White House gig?
JM: I worked my way up through the governmental and political beats - county government, courts, City Hall, politics, state legislature. Then I filled in on the 2000 presidential campaigns, moved to the Washington bureau and covered national politics, covered the 2004 presidential campaign, filled in for the regular White House correspondent during Bush's first term and took over the beat for Bush's second term. It was really a matter of keeping a goal in mind and working toward it. I wanted a crack at covering the White House since my intern days.
MM: Do you ever feel like pinching yourself?
JM: All the time - I actually punch myself.
MM: You work in a very polarizing area. Is it hard keeping readers of both political sides happy?
JM: I don't try to make any side happy. This country is so politically polarized, and readers who are partisan are not good judges of what is good journalism. Each side wants the newspaper to destroy their political enemies, but that's not part of this job. I think a lot of blogs contribute to the polarization - or maybe they just reflect it.
There are plenty of readers who just want to know what is going on, and how decisions are made in Washington, and I try to keep them in mind when I work. Having spent so many years in Houston helps - I met with a lot of community groups and political clubs when I was there, and I keep in touch with members - it helps to stave off Beltway blinders. I do think discerning readers understand that government reporting includes a watchdog function that is not partisan, and they appreciate that.
There are plenty of readers who just want to know what is going on, and how decisions are made in Washington, and I try to keep them in mind when I work. Having spent so many years in Houston helps - I met with a lot of community groups and political clubs when I was there, and I keep in touch with members - it helps to stave off Beltway blinders. I do think discerning readers understand that government reporting includes a watchdog function that is not partisan, and they appreciate that.
MM: Anything else you want to add?
JM: Young journalists just starting out help themselves by being willing to do any crap assignment cheerfully - one thing editors hate is attitude and hubris. I think j-school should do a better job of managing graduates' expectations - so many I meet think they are going straight from their first internship to the investigative unit at the New York Times. Being ambitious is good, but having a positive attitude gets you far - because a lot of people are talented and a few are very lucky, but being willing to pay your dues is essential. Also: Never be afraid of looking stoopid.
Thanks to Mason for taking the time to answer my questions. Next Monday, advice on breaking into the TV news biz. Tell your friends!
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