Recently, I asked AOC Executive Director Mike McArthur to review something I had written, and he responded: “You still have the newshound reporter skills honed over the years plus a talent for succinct writing.”
I appreciated the compliment, and it made me think of one of my role models, Governor Tom McCall. Like McCall, I made the move from print and broadcast journalism to public office. (Although Tom spent several years in front of the TV cameras, no one ever gave me a shot at television. They kept telling me I had a face for radio.)
In an interview long after Tom McCall’s passing, his widow Audrey said he always thought of himself as “a reporter on assignment” during his decade in public office. I think of myself in the same way.
It’s interesting that Oregon has had a long tradition of people moving from journalism to public office, something you don’t see as often in other places. U.S. Senator Richard Neuberger was an accomplished journalist at an early age, publishing regularly in the New York Times, The Nation, and many other papers and magazines. Then came McCall.
More recent years have seen Bill Bradbury, Susan Castillo, Phil Keisling, Rick Metsger, Lew Frederick and Mark Haas, among others, set down their pens and microphones and take up the challenges of public office.
Of course, there are many paths to public office, but I think a lot of skills transfer well between journalism and public office. To do either job well, you need to be a good generalist, able to grasp a number of issues. You should be able to ask intelligent questions and evaluate information.
Being an effective communicator is also important in either setting. Whether a reporter or office holder, you have to tell the story with simplicity, clarity, and in a way that engages the listener or reader. Edward R. Murrow summed up the challenge when he said you need to be understandable to the man with a sixth-grade education while not oversimplifying things for the college graduate. That’s not an easy task, but no one ever said this work would be easy—just challenging, and often, very satisfying. Making a difference for the better is always worthwhile.
Contributed by: Bill Hall | AOC President, Lincoln County Commissioner