Senate Historian writes book on the Washington Press Corps

Donald Ritchie is the Senate Historian. His upcoming book will be a history of the Washington Press Corps from FDR to 9/11.

Ritchie, a prolific author who specializes in oral history [he's the author of Doing Oral History: A Practical Guide], has just put the finishing touches on his latest book, a look at how the press has covered Congress and the federal government in the last 70 years.

The book, High Level Sources: The Making of the Washington Press Corps, will be published early next year by Oxford University Press. It is a sequel to his earlier one that examined press coverage of Congress before Franklin D. Roosevelt became president.

Ritchie's new book begins with Roosevelt's inauguration and ends on Sept. 11, 2001.

[...] "Until FDR became president, Congress was the center of attention of news coverage of the nation's capital," Ritchie said last week in his book-lined office in the Hart Senate Office Building. "Then, because of FDR's personality and his mastery of the new technology of radio, the center of attention shifted to the White House."

Note to self: what category to file this under? Storytelling? Democracy? Current Events?

Comments

[Donald W. Larson]

Here's my idea of a changed Presidential News Conference and how to fund it.

I have an intense dislike of the Washington Press. They remind me of elitists, special-interest folks and they don't represent my views.

I would like to see a pool of journalists, civilians, including bloggers that would cover the news event. That pool would be randomly selected by a lottery for each Presidential Press Conference. No representative could be selected twice during a Presidential term and no more than one person from the same organization or parent organization would be represented at each Press Conference. That would spread the spectrum of people asking the questions.

To pay for this, I suggest an option on our IRS tax forms to allow $1.00 to go towards the funding of that pool. It would be much like the way citizens can donate a $1.00 of their taxes to fund Presidential Campaigns.

America will be better off when we get cross-sectional questions from the pool. As it stands, most questions under the current format are predictable and often insulting as the last batch of questions were for the President.

Don

[Susan Kitchens]

Have you been reading Jeff Jarvis on this? I think he's mentioned stuff about citizen reporters.

Also, the Democratic National Convention is issuing press creds to bloggers, which is a good step in the direction of giving bloggers access. (Jarvis has covered that)

I find your idea of rotating people interesting. Keeps things fresh, keeps 'em new. The thing about one-time-only doesn't allow for any learning curve whatsoever for first-timers. I'd imagine that the first one you go to gives you a feel for the lay of the land, what goes on. From that you get a better idea what to do next time. Maybe not so strict a limitation as one-time-only (per presidential admin), but make it allow for learning curve to take place, but not so many times as to make one too cushy.

On another note, I *am* interested in Ritchie's observations about how things have changed over time.. with the invention/inclusion of certain media. Wonder why the cutoff date for 9/11 ..or is it 9/10 (is this the rise of internet reporting? a third book in the series?)

[Donald W. Larson]

I'll check out Jeff Jarvis based upon your recommendation.

Okay, maybe one trip per year per selected journalist/blogger would be allowed. I don't want to inhibit a learning curve. :-)

In fact, I'm encouraging the opportunity that more people would participate if repeat appearances were reduced. I guess a balance is in there somewhere.

p.s. Great reporting on JPL!

Don

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