....April 14, 1:05 PM
 
 
   
The Trib’s Mitch Albom Continues To Learn

Now embroiled in journalistic controversy, Mitch Albom, the best-selling author of “Tuesdays With Morrie” got his start at the Tribune.
By MICHAEL SCHENKLER

It was just a week earlier.

We celebrated our 35th Anniversary with a glossy covered, stitched and trimmed special edition. Thirty-five of our former writers – one for each year – contributed their memories of covering Queens for the Trib.

I had the enviable task of rounding them up – an impressive group of talent, many of whom have gone on to stellar careers as writers for the nation’s most impressive publications. I always take pride when one of those who earlier plied their trade at the Trib receives recognition for doing what writers do best. I am grateful to know that we have contributed to helping them learn and making our industry and your news a bit better.

And over the past five years the Trib alumnus who has brought us the most attention and pride has been Mitch Albom, author of the best-selling phenomenon, “Tuesdays With Morrie.” The book, which was number one on the NY Times bestseller list for longer than any book I remember, was made into a movie – starring Hank Azaria and Jack Lemmon, and a Broadway Show which Lil and I enjoyed immensely. And then Mitch followed with “The Five People You Meet In Heaven,” a novel which still scores weekly on the Times bestseller list, on top of a TV show, celebrity status and a 20-plus year run as the sports columnist for the Detroit Free Press – one of this nation’s most respected dailies.

Mitch was and still is our star – the one that shone the brightest. And when I reached out for him to contribute to our 35th Anniversary Special, Mitch didn’t let the fact that he was touring Australia and New Zealand at the time interfere. He arrived home, continued his incredibly busy schedule and wrote for the paper that gave him his start.
Yes, Mitch Albom, who later became our Managing Editor, in writing about his introduction to journalism at the Queens Tribune, said in part:

“ . . . And they gave me my first journalistic assignment, a council meeting of some kind, in which parking meters were discussed. I didn’t know a thing about reporting – unless you count having read “All The President’s Men” – so I mimicked what I saw in newspapers, the who, what, when, where and why of, well, parking meters.

And when the next edition of the Queens Tribune came out, there was my story, on the bottom of the front page.
OK. So it was a slow news week. . . Seeing that article, with my byline, knocked me over the waterfall and down into the rivers of writing, the simple, earnest joy of moving what you see through your brain and onto paper. I have been here ever since. . .”

We published Mitch’s words, along with the words of some other very talented Trib alum on March 31, 2005 – just two weeks ago. We were proud of Mitch; we took pride in the edition and celebrated our Anniversary by recognizing one of our greatest assets – our writing. Congratulation e-mails started flowing in.

And then just about a week later, several e-mails changed.
Mitch Albom was again making news and this time it was not good. In a Free Press column filed Friday the week after our Anniversary Issue, for publication on Sunday, Mitch wrote in the past tense about something he thought would happen at Saturday’s NCAA basketball game between Michigan State and North Carolina. Mitch had interviewed two NBA players who had attended Michigan State about their plans to get together at the game, but wrote, in the past tense, about their experience at the game. Scheduling conflicts caused the two players to miss the game.

The industry was shocked, Mitch wrote an apology, and the Free Press launched an investigation -- during which Mitch’s column would not run. Criticism of Mitch and the editors came from everywhere.

“In this one particular incident, which I have never done before, I made a dumb mistake of sort of assuming something would be true . . . and that was a dumb thing to do,” Mitch said in a published report. “I’ll take the criticism that comes with it, responsibility for it,” he said.

“Oh believe me, I have learned from it,” Mitch commented saying you assume “Oh well, of course it will be true. And BOOM!” You find out, “that there is no such thing as knowing. Great lesson learned,” concluded Mitch.

Mitch first learned his trade at the Queens Tribune. People have asked me what was the single most outstanding attribute of Mitch Albom back in the early 80’s. “He was focused; he was the most dedicated worker I remember at the Trib,” is always my answer.

I’ve only been in touch with a couple of times in the past 20 years. But I’ve read his book and seen his show and movie and I watch this talented musician become a superstar writer. And I can tell you that Mitch has learned and grown. He knows right from wrong and is focused enough for us all. He’ll be back as strong as ever. He’ll likely write a book about this unfortunate episode in his stellar career.

Mitch, let me write the intro. The place where you started will always remember you and the fine writers who have come through our doors. But like the lesson you are now learning, there is nothing more important to our trade than being true to our readers and letting them know it every single day.

We try to do it at the Trib.

We know Mitch will remember the lesson and wish him well.

Michael Schenkler can be reached via this contact form.

 
 
For Politicians, It Ain’t Easy Being Truthful
By HENRY STERN

We have long been intrigued by the difference between what public officials say publicly and what they privately believe to be true. In some instances, the discrepancy is due to fear of reprisals — what will happen to them if they tell the truth? Will they lose their jobs, or their chance to be re-elected? Will they incur the enmity of substantial contributors, or factions upon whose support they rely? Will they disappoint people they know or who are important to them?

In most cases, however, what keeps these people from speaking the truth is not primarily fear. In part, it is the fact that, in public, certain norms are maintained which are privately known to be false. There is a social consensus that certain matters are not to be discussed.
They include personal and public issues like sexual orientation, adultery, children out of wedlock, personal illnesses and medical history which are usually considered off-limits, except for high elected officials, where anything goes. In general, the lower the office, the wider the arc of privacy that can be expected.

Another obstacle to truth is the long time it takes between the conception of a project and the time one must decide whether to go forward and build it. This applies to public works and to military weapons. A spending program may be initiated which, in the opinion of experts, has only a remote possibility of succeeding. But to oppose it would be to throw one’s self in the face of the aspirations of those people who the program is intended to benefit.

There was a maxim used in President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s campaigns for re-election in 1940 and 1944: “Don’t change horses in midstream.” There is skepticism directed at those who change their positions on an issue. Candidates who change positions are subject to assault. They risk being known as a flip-flopper, an epithet that will long be associated with Senator John Kerry.

One wonders why developers build apartments that do not rent, and sometimes lose their entire investment. The usual reason is that when they decided to assemble the plot to build, three or more years ago, market conditions were different. Similarly, a public official who endorses a project may find that in the years it takes to begin construction, underlying factors may have changed. The politician-supporter of a project may be embarrassed by changes in circumstances, or shifts in public opinion, which may depend on the skill and industry of those who support or oppose the project.

With today’s widespread low opinion of public officials in general, but not in particular cases, any change in course, whatever the reason, is likely to be viewed as the result of a corrupt transaction, in which the politician is either bought off or frightened off an issue.

In addition to fear of reprisal, or of disappointing one’s supporters, the complexity of some issues and real changes in a fact situation are very difficult to explain. The press takes special pleasure in reporting the vicissitudes of elected officials’ positions, with the inference that sinister forces have come together and had their impact on the poor devil who once stuck his neck out, or else kept it in.

In many cases, silence on an issue is preferable to taking a position. A legislator may never know to what extent he will be pressured by the leadership of his body to see things differently. He may trade his support for a bill in an exchange for the approval of public works in his district. He can justify, or excuse, almost anything if he can point out that it was that vote that secured the passage of a bill authorizing tangible benefits for his constituents.

Today, elected officials live in fear of deep-pocket opponents, or the entry of a celebrity candidate. Even if they are good, honest and decent, they may be thrown out if someone much richer or more famous seeks their office. When today’s public officials speak, the issues are often pre-selected and packaged as part of their business plan, which is to promote themselves to the maximum while keeping offense to others to a minimum.

The reader should not, however, be too upset over any of this. It is just the way it is, and probably always was. We recall the motto of politics and crime, Rule 29-B: “This is the business we have chosen.” Nobody has to go into politics, and those who compete can expect sharp elbows in their sides, if not punches to their stomach or knives in their back. Nonetheless, if one’s ideal is to make a better world for everyone, and one route to doing that is definitely through public office, it is not really satisfying to have to thread one’s way through a minefield, while fearing to speak out about many things you believe.

As mere mortals, politicians are often inclined to stray from the straight and narrow, and follow the long and winding yellow brick road from which they may or may not reach Emerald City. We should be aware that if some of these characters are fortunate enough to find the truth, they are quite likely to fail to recognize it.

Henry Stern: Starquest@nycivic.org

Not4Publication.com by Dom Nunziato
Michael Schenkler can be reached via this contact form.