A Mourning with Haynes Johnson

NOTE: This blog originally appeared on November 20, 2006

Back on October 12, 2006, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Haynes Johnson stopped by the Journalism and Mass Communications lounge at San Jose State.

Johnson sipped some orange juice, nibbled at a blueberry muffin, then sat cross-legged as he talked to SJSU journalism students and faculty about politics and journalism. Two realms he is very familiar with. I can't say I admire his demeanor, but he is obviously a respected figure in the field.

He talked about his book Age of Anxiety: McCarthyism to Terrorism and how the government uses fear to exploit their enemies for poltical purposes. Johnson claimed that his book shows "what fear can do to American life."

I don't know if I agree with him 100%, but I do like the fact that he is not a September 11 conspiracy theorist (I tend to have little respect for those who do).

"9/11 was real. Sure it was," he said, as several faculty members nodded in agreement.

Johnson also had some advice for the student journalists in the room.

"Ask tough questions," he said. "Examine it over and over again."

"The role of journalism is to shine a light on soceity."

Johnson said that journalist should be accurate and just give their opinion on topics or events. There must be context and perspective, according to Johnson. Numnber one, it happened. Number two, why did it happen?

George W. Bush was also a topic of interest during Johnson's visit. He compared the younger Geroge to his father, whom Johnson referred to as "sophisticated" and "versatile," and rehased on his CIA involvement.

"George Jr. never left the U.S. before his presidency," Johnson said. "Except going to China."

I thought that was a little bit funny, though I may be miscontruing what he said. Stupid pen and paper notes.

During the Q&A, I was able to get a question out, asking Johnson if he thought newspapers would one day fade away.

Johnson said that newspapers will continue to exist in the online realm, "as long as the standards are there."

He didn't seem to adress the possibility of the death of the hard copy newspaper.


QUOTE OF THE MORNING: "This is the most important time to be in journalism." - Haynes Johnson