By JESSICA C. WEBER
A public information officer for the state education office, she is a free-lance writer, and a sometime graduate student. She was a reporter for the now-merged Illinois Slate Journal in Springfield for five years

State House reporters: Their unofficial role in the governmental process

A look at the development of the news corps, the reporters' perception of their role in state government and how they view the legislators

MEMBERS of the State House news corps describe the role of the state government reporter in various ways:

"[You're] sort of like the judge when you're writing. It's up to you to decide which facts you want to put in and to try to approach the truth" (H.F. Wollenberg, Associated Press).

"Do I feel it's my role to be influential'? No, I don't, but a lot of times I'm sure that's what happens, intentionally or not. and you can't really help it" (Randy TrK^mas, State Journal Register').

"'[The reporter is a] substitute for the milkman and the steel worker and the postman who can't be here . . . and I think it's more than just to inform them, i think it's to protect them" (Tom Laue, United Press International).

"To help the reader better understand what's going on—that's the whole purpose of us being here" (Charles N. Wheeler III, The Sun-Times}.

The reporter holds a position described in no part of the Illinois Constitution or Illinois Revised Statutes, and is neither elected nor appointed by any official. Nonetheless, he (very rarely she) occupies state-provided, rent-free office space, in many cases has a broader and deeper knowledge of state government than many of his sources, and in general enjoys a more ready access to officials than'his fellow citizens.

Nomadic band; more personal
Twenty years ago, the news corps was a small nomadic band. There was no press room; there was barely a place for a reporter to hang his hat. State government was smaller in those days, and life at the State House was less structured. Reporter-official relationships were perhaps a little more personal and a little easier.

Robert P- Howard, a veteran reporter who has worked for the Associated Press and the Chicago Tribune, remembers how it was when he first arrived at the State House in 1933: "Here and there, there'd be a table with some typewriters. A man would just go off to a little niche there in the rotunda or the second floor behind some hallway or something of that kind — and you'd just stop, find an empty typewriter and do you writing there. No such thing as your typewriter. What papers you had, you had to carry around with you. You were always on the go, there was no place to relax." The Tribune, he recalled, would rent a room in the old Leland Hotel, a few blocks from the State House, for its correspondents' use during the legislative session.

More reporters; better accommodations
Now the news corps normally numbers about 30 reporters on any given day when the legislature is not in session; but it swells to several times that number during sessions. Accommodations have improved somewhat; the corps now occupies a large, crowded area in the west wing of the third floor of the State House. The press room is behind heavy, ornate doors with faded lettering warning, "For Members Only." The door once led to a private lounge for legislators. The room is approached through an alley of vending machines. Now, the huge, magnificently proportioned room is subdivided into many small cubicles. The dividing partitions reach only partway to the ceiling, and over them one can glimpse the tops of 20-foot high windows embellished with intricate decorations. The cubicles are filled to overflowing with a motley assortment of leftover furniture: scarred wooden desks, battered steel file cabinets, dilapidated office chairs, here and there a decrepit armchair. And, of course, dozens of typewriters and telephones, the tools of the reporter's trade.

118/Illinois Issues/April 1975

The overall effect is one of decaying opulence. The rich blue velvet curtains seen behind the governor on televised news conferences are grimy and worn around the edges.

The, news corps will be moving into new quarters soon on the mezzanine between the second and third doors of the State House. The entire mezzanine, now mostly meeting rooms, will be given over to the news corps. A $300,000 appropriation was passed last year for the necessary remodeling, and the newsmen are scheduled to move in by July.

During a busy period, when news is breaking and deadlines are approaching, the typewriters clatter, the telephones ring continuously and reporters yell to each other across the room. Deadlines tyrannize all reporters: radio and television newscasts are set for certain hours, and newspapers must go to press at certain times. News events, more often than not. do not follow the same timetable.

The result is that the reporter must drop everything as a deadline approaches, often leaving in the midst of a fierce legislative floor fight or important committee meeting to write his story. This is far more than a minor annoyance to the reporter; it is a very serious problem in the news business. The deadline often forces a reporter to write an incomplete story, or one which is outdated by the time the paper reaches its readers. The deadline problem for broadcast reporters is not quite so severe because breaking news can be phoned in right up to air time.

Time and temptation
An even more serious consequence of deadline pressure is that a reporter may be tempted to turn in a story he isn't certain is accurate because there is no time to double-check the facts. Faced with a choice between turning in a story he is almost sure is accurate and turning in no story at ail, many reporters succumb to the temptation and take a chance.

The outsider who ventures into the press room around deadline time is bound to be ignored and likely lo be actively snubbed in the prevailing tension and excitement.

Feast or famine
But at other times — and feast or famine ss the general rule in the news business — the room is so quiet one might think a!! the reporters were on vacation. That probably is not the case. More likely. most of them are in a little back room. playing card games and conducting post-mortems on recent events. When working hours end, a good portion of the corps may adjourn to a nearby bar.

The news corps is very loosely bound by an organization called the Illinois Legislative Correspondents Association (SLC'A). whicch elects officers but does not hold regular meetings. Member news organizations pay a small dues to the ILCA. and their correspondents automatically are members. With few exceptions, however, the reporters are much more closely bound by an unspoken esprit de corps than by membership in any professional organization.

There is one thing that has not changed since Bob Howard's early days on the beat: the corps still is remarkably homogeneous in sex and race. It its members had been appointed by an official. the outraged cries from feminists and minority group members would shake the press room walls. The racial and sexual integration of the news media, only recently begun, has had, so far. little impact on the State House news corps. The only full-time woman legislative reporter is Susan Sachs of the Springfield State Journal-Register. Two women feature writers work part time in the press room for Copley News Service. Joan Muraro and Mary Lou Manning, and the Chicago media and wire services sometimes send female reinforcements during busy periods. One black reporter, Simeon Osby of the Chicago Defender, works part time at the State House.

The growth of the press corps has paralleled, and is partly a result of, the growth in size and complexity of state government. Since the days when Bob Howard was part of a news corps consisting of "Three wire services, two Springfield papers off and on. four or five Chicago papers for the session, and Sam Tucker from Decatur," the news corps has tripled at least. Each of the major media now send several reporters to the State House, and in the 1950's, the broadcast media further swelled the size of the news corps.

More people; more hostility
The very size of the corps has changed the newsman's relationship to the government, according to William O'Connell, Jr., of the Peoria Journal Star. There is "increased hostility, there are so many more press people. In the last few years, young guys coming in to cover state government come in fresh; they think things are their right that are more privilege than right." As president of the ILCA, O'Connetl or his delegate works with legislators, negotiating matters ranging from press room space to ground rules for covering sessions. "Negotiating" is the operative word in the ILCA, he said. "The more formal the organization gets. the more they should change the title [from president] to chaplain,"

The relationship of the reporter to the reported-upon may be more format than in years past. but it still is a peculiar one, largely undefined and constantly shifting. Not surprisingly, no

April 1975 /Illinois Issues/119

Press Secretary/Shelby J. Vasconcelles
Staff/Les B. Pauly, Tom Massey

two reporters see it in exactly the same way. Any attempt to define this relationship is complicated by the fact that both the news corps and state government are composed of many individuals who react to each other in individual, and often inconsistent, ways. The same reporter may find himself courted, feared, avoided, reviled, and denounced from the floor of the state Senate, by the same legislator, all within a few days.

"It's sort of a game. On the one hand, a lot of them hate reporters, and most of them don't think they get a fair shake. But on the other hand, they couldn't get along without (reporters) because if we weren't there, no one would ever know what these guys do. They would prefer it if the press would not criticize them," said Randy Thomas.

Wollenberg put it this way: "We know what they're doing. We know they're working to cut up the pie so that they can get the largest piece possible for themselves, and they know what we're doing, and I don't think it's something to sit at home and worry about. Toward the end of the session, you begin to feel hostile."

Cynicism and respect
Most reporters are suspicious of the officials they cover, but for some the shock of seeing how government really operates produces outright cynicism. Young reporters seem particularly prone to be cynical about state government, perhaps because they have been schooled in Watergate politics.

Susan Sachs, in an interview after her first legislative session, said, "My general impression is that I would never work for state government ... I couldn't see — now — working for any candidate. I used to think, maybe I'll take a year off some time and work for a candidate, but I couldn't believe in any of them now, after what I've seen."

Laue, a veteran of five years in the State House, still retains a sense of outrage: "I think it's clear what officials here in Illinois — they have demonstrated time and again — think of the public. If they don't consciously go to bed thinking, 'Well, how can I screw John Q. Taxpayer,' they certainly don't go to bed thinking, 'Will this illegal act screw John Q. Taxpayer?' " But all eight reporters interviewed, while suspicious of the legislature and government as a whole, said they had a

The reporter may find himself courted, feared, avoided, reviled, and denounced from the floor of the state Senate, by the same legislator, all within a few days

great deal of respect for many individuals within government. One change in recent years in the reporter-official relationship is the decline of the "freebie" and the Christmas gift. The State Mouse reporter once enjoyed a wide variety, of entertainments and treats at the expense of officials and lobbyists, including a free lunch on most days. At Christmas, he received enough liquor to stock his home bar for the coming year. Now, the freebies have dwindled in number and quality, and most reporters netted at most one bottle last Christmas. Most attribute the decline to the new consciousness of ethics among reporters and officials alike, but some feel it may just be the result of inflation and the huge size of the press corps. Without exception, the reporters interviewed thought the passing of the Christmas present was a healthy development, but in the case of lesser treats, many agreed with Howard: "If you aren't big enough to accept a little hospitality, there's something wrong there."

Reporting and public relations
Despite the chary, sometimes bitter, relations between the press and officials, the cream of the news corps is constantly recruited for government public relations work. Nearly all top state government public relations persons once served in the news corps. To name only a few: Gov. Dan Walker's top press aide Norton Kay is a former Chicago Today correspondent. Richard Adorjan, public affairs chief for the Department of Transportation, was recruited from United Press International. Jerry Owens and Gene Callahan, both formerly of the Illinois State Register, now work for Senate President Cecil A. Partee and State Treasurer Alan J.'Dixon, respectively.

One reason experienced reporters are offered public relations posts is because

120/Illinois Issues/April 1975

of their formidable knowledge of the springs and levers of government, as well as the needs of the news media. It is assumed that the appointee's fellow reporters will remain his friends, and so will be disposed to be friendly toward the official in question. These friends become known as "contacts."

Idealism or better salary
Many factors motivate reporters to leave the news business for public relations. Scratch a cynical reporter and you may find a political idealist. Like many of us, reporters can become fired up with enthusiasm for some official, and some see new fields to be conquered. It should also be noted that salaries for top state public information positions start about where reporters' salaries (except for the Chicago dailies) leave off. Except for a few reporters. salaries are low.

However cynical or idealistic reporters may be, "objectivity" is still the professional totem revered by the majority. "Objectivity is the magic word — it's a goal we all strive for," O'Connell explained. According to Tom Laue, "The truth is all you "ever need, and I think that as outmoded as objectivity in a vacuum is. it's still the only admirable goal. I think there's a form [of advocacy reporting] that can be pursued, if you have the love, the necessary love, for facts."

The "New Journalism," a movement which espouses a subjective approach to reportmg the news, has few disciples among the State House news corps facts, and the diligence employed in obtaining them, are still the measure of profesional regard for Springfield base reporters. Opinions differ, however, on just how diligent the news corps is in its pursuit of facts.

Bill Miller, a formaer State House reporter for ther Capitol Information Bureau radio news service, who now heads the Sangamon State University Public Affairs Reporting Program, thinks the quality of reporting has improved since he began at the State House in the early 1950's. "I think, progressively, the reporters over there are getting better at pointing out to the reader things that are just not on the up and up .... I think professionalism has really gone forward over the years, until, I am told. the Illinois press corps, if not the best, is as respected as any in the nation."

'The truth is all ever need, and I think as outmoded as objectivity in a vacuum Is, It's still the only admirable goal'

O'Connell disagrees. "I think professionalism is going down. We're getting a lot of iazy people who would rather play rummy." But O'Connell noted he does have a high respect for the professional integrity of the corps, if not for its collective energy.

Overall picture; segmented news
Wheeler sees a gap between the reporter's ideal and the reality of day- to-day reporting. "The reporter should observe, analyze, and report actions of the state government so individual citizens reading the stories will be informed of what goes on in state government and how it affects their lives . . . so thev will be able to make intelligent choices." But in the day-to-day rush of reporting the news, he said, the overall picture often gets lost and "we cover things in a segmented manner that might confuse the reader."

Reporters on the whole are a philosophical, thoughtful group when they sit down to discuss their craft, but they seldom get a chance to do that. When news is breaking, they are on the run, becoming instant experts in a variety of subjects ranging from no-fault auto insurance to school finance. There is little time to think about philosophy of news. As O'Conneli wryly noted. "Reflection comes on Saturday." Unless, of course, the legislature meets that day. 

State Week in Review
Ed Armstrong, editor of the State Journal-Register, Burnell Heinecke, legislative correspondent for the Chicago Sim-Times. Bill Miller, director of public affairs reporting at Sangamon State University, and William L. Day, publisher/editor of Illinois Issues, are regular members of a panel, "State Week in Review," aired at 7:30 p.m. every Friday by WSSR, FM 91.9, Sangamon State University's public affairs radio station.

Rich Bradley of WSSR acts as moderator for the program which has included as guests Leon Cohen, director of the Legislative Studies Center, SSU, Tom Laue of the Springfield Bureau, UPI, and John Camper, of the Springfield Bureau, Chicago Daily News.

April 1975/Illinois Issues/121