G-Man: What was your very first assignment as a reporter?
Osborne: I started working as an assignment desk reporter covering the northeast U.S., so I was pretty much on every and any story that might be a story and many that turned out to be great stories. There are a couple that stand out. I would have to say covering Nelson Mandela when he came to the United Nations after his release from two decades of political imprisonment was one of them. Out of hundreds of journalists, I was called on for a question for ABC. I can’t remember what I asked, but the network sent me back to the UN the next time there was a story and I never left for the next decade. That story turned out to be the first Gulf War; Desert Storm launched by the Bush I administration.
G-Man: What three essential traits should every reporter possess?
Osborne: I think it is essential that a reporter be as aggressively honest as possible. Remember to maintain objectivity at all times, yet be able to truly feel what is going on. This applies to all manner of stories from politics to murder trials. It’s also very important to be someone whom others feel they can trust. Sources can dry up pretty quick if they think they cannot trust you. If they know you are honest and trustworthy, they know they will get a fair airing of their side of the story—and what’s more important they will seek you out.
Also, I think a reporter must be a good writer—a journalist after all is keeping the public journal, so to speak. I began keeping a daily journal in my teens and have never stopped. I must write something to know what I think. Peter Jennings told me that a good reporter always writes his questions down before an interview. I know he did. I think this is especially important in broadcast journalism, because often times reporters on live television seem not to know what they think, nor can they think on their feet.
It is also essential to be a good listener and to hear what the person you are interviewing is saying, rather than thinking about the next question you think you need to ask. Have the ability to be flexible and to follow up if you don’t hear an answer.
G-Man: Was there a story that proved to be particularly challenging, personally or professionally, over the course of your career?
Osborne: Definitely the first Gulf War, Desert Storm. It was historic in the international coalition that was formed by President H.W. Bush. It was immensely complicated, involving international politics as well as domestic. The job fell to me to revive the ABC UN bureau that had fallen on quiet times for a decade.
This war and its reach into making the UN really work as a tool of enforcing international peace and security was totally unprecedented and riveted every resource that the network could provide. It cost millions to cover. This translated into a steady stream of reporters, correspondents, interviews with legions of diplomats and international experts on weapons, disarmament, war crimes, human rights violations and on and on, on a daily basis, literally for years from the outbreak of the war in 1991.
The endless controversies over weapons of mass destruction through the year 2000 stretched the UN system to limits it had never reached. It has ended up with the overhaul of the entire UN Secretariat and countless agencies which are to this day still working to keep up.
G-Man: Thus far, what has been your proudest moment in journalism?
Osborne: My proudest moment—and saddest—as a journalist would have to be the success of UN weapons investigations in Iraq. I persisted for years on this story until it was finally and sadly made clear, following the U.S. invasion in 2003, that Saddam Hussein’s Iraq had been disarmed, had disarmed himself, under UN supervision and persistence.
According to all relevant UN Security Council resolutions his weapons had been accounted for or destroyed. I never wavered on this story, never stopped speaking about it. This I knew to be true by all accounts, from every expert, every political source on the subject that I knew and trusted—despite the repeated misrepresentations by the the U.S. and its allies.
I reported and wrote this consistently even as the first bombs fell in 2003 in the invasion of Iraq and the U.S. occupation. It is a very sad chapter in American history for me to have covered.
G-Man: What is your fondest memory of your former colleague, Peter Jennings?
Osborne: I was given the opportunity of a lifetime to be able to work with Peter Jennings. I had the privilege of knowing him not only as a journalist, but also personally, getting the chance to glance at where he came by his unique, world-renown skills as a journalist. I saw up close the exacting care he took not only as anchor, but as editor of World News Tonight. As the daily news of the world was gathered from our far-flung bureaus and finally filtered down to the five or six writers who discussed it around the World News desk, it was Peter who ultimately decided what was to be told, and how it was to be told to the world-wide audience.
Having seen some of his mail, I was amazed how closely they listened to him, and often commented on the way he delivered what he said. He innately understood this and he knew the responsibility of what such power bears. He was constantly editing the text and the show down to the last second, and then in between commercials. He not infrequently corrected himself and others on the air. He knew the news of the world quite often before most people.
I will always fondly remember his telephone calls to me at the UN in the midst of a crisis, particularly in the first Gulf War. His call would often be minutes before the start of the broadcast, and sometimes when my story was the lead of the evening. Whatever it was he needed, I knew I better know it, be able to find out about it, and in the end I better be right. When I saw his extension 4025 I always took a deep breath. My proudest moments were when he went with what I said, and I was right.
Peter Jennings (left) taking notes about the security situation in Iraq shortly before the January 2005 elections.
G-Man: What do you think his reaction would be to the current state of journalism in America?
Osborne: I think he would be very concerned about the near seamless relationship between journalism and commercialism. Early on at ABC News, while working directly with Peter on a daily basis, I saw him in action with his boss, Roone Arlege, and the other executives at ABC/Capital Cities, and I can tell you he rarely gave ground on this.
Also, he would be the first to condemn the contemporary confusion of ideology with news coverage and professional journalistic reporting. He would be very concerned about the proliferation of “news” broadcasts that border on state propaganda, certainly the current brand of news reporting that is simply political ideology and partisanship.
As a journalist, I think he would find this direction misguided and a threat to the credibility of every journalist. I think he would be delighted at the way the creativity inspired by new technology is bringing news to the smallest corner of the earth. He would be doing much to promote those who are using it to tell the truth as honestly as possible. In the wake of this he would be particularly amazed at the transformation of the Middle East in the last several months of the so-called Arab Spring.
G-Man: If you had to choose a current broadcast journalist as a shining example of what journalism excellence is all about, whom would it be?
Osborne: Without a doubt, Charlie Rose is one of the best journalists on the air today. He is an artist at drawing his audience into an intimate conversation with his guest, no matter who they are. He can do this one-on-one or with four or five around his oak table. He is clearly the most informed and articulate, and this is evident in his ability to converse and shift gears with the most important decision makers, whether they be artists, authors, scientists, or terrorists, he does it with complete ease. He is a very well-informed interviewer and a keen listener who is not the least bit reluctant to pursue what he has heard, no matter how delicate or provocative. He does all this with integrity and grace, and when he has an ax to grind he tells his audience so.
G-Man: Is there a vital issue or story that you feel isn’t receiving the coverage it deserves from mainstream or international media sources?
Osborne: I think there are two or three issues, each of which is related to accountability in news coverage and specifically coverage of American politics. There is a trending danger in some of the extreme politics of our era and the U.S. is no exception. There is a prevalent demand for simple solutions to complex problems. This is a world-wide neurosis which presents itself in the face of an increasingly complex world in which there are no simple solutions.
Clearly, this is not without precedent given the financial meltdown, worldwide. And we know what happened when that was combined with witch hunts and political purity tests. It is all the more critical that mainstream media confront the simplistic with detailed follow up and this is too often not the case.
Fact-check pieces are becoming more common, but given the new generation of politicians who--and I quote from a recent very important opinion piece by Jeffery Sachs in the New York Times—are “proving that they can win on YouTube, Twitter, Facebook and blog sites, rather than with corporate-financed TV ads,” it is all the more important that we be vigilant.
The new social media as Jeffrey points out can “liberate Washington” from “current state corruption,” but it may not save objective journalism. In the rush of demagoguery that comes with the ever-increasing proliferation of new media there must be discernment and a knowledge of fact and history. In this sense our profession really needs to accept its vital responsibility in protecting civil discourse.
G-Man: On a scale of one to ten, how would you rate ABC, CBS, CNN, FOX News, MSNBC, NBC and PBS, in terms of adhering to journalism ethics and/or standards?
Osborne: I don’t want to side-step the challenge, but I don’t think there is one of these that are completely innocent of my critical comments, aforesaid. I have worked for a network that was at its prime when guided by the likes of Peter Jennings, but there were terrible budget cuts in the news department that gutted serious specialties, including careers and people with critical experience and historical reference on the assignment desk.
All of the above news operations have experienced the same. I think there are many in the profession who come and go when they feel their ethics as a journalist personally are being compromised, but they usually go quietly without blowing whistles. I would reiterate that commercialism is paying for the major networks. And one must admit that foundational support is not without compromise. Clearly it is up to the individual these days. PBS is clearly heading in the right direction, however.
G-Man: Connie Chung and Katie Couric were unsuccessful in their efforts to make the CBS Evening News a ratings juggernaut, whereas Christiane Amanpour and Soledad O’Brien received critical acclaim for their roles at CNN. As host of ABC’s “This Week with Christiane Amanpour”, Amanpour has struggled to gain decent ratings. Having said that, I have two questions: Why didn’t the Chung-Couric experiment work at CBS and why do women seem to obtain a greater level of success at cable news networks?
Osborne: There has definitely been a male anchor bias and tradition which reflects our society. It hasn’t been that long since women began to shatter that tradition. A huge demographic of the evening news has been raised on the male authoritative delivery, but as I said earlier, the media -- and the new social media, specifically -- is in a state of revolution and it is very doubtful that anchors will ever have the same position and importance.
I think Connie Chung and Katie Couric, have been pioneers and paid the price. Christiane Amanpour is an excellent reporter, and I first became familiar with her while covering the UN during the first Gulf War, and then on other diplomatic news coverage following. She is very much in control and very well-informed, particularly with regard to the Middle East.
She is also very connected in Washington, and in particular the diplomatic corps. She will be around for a long time and beyond, long after the standard network news formula has finally faded. I think the Charlie Rose formula will never fade, and Amanpour would be wise to go there and do her own thing, one-on-one.
G-Man: Do you have any current news projects in development?
Osborne: I am launching a new broadcast called US-UN Report, which will be a weekly half-hour show focusing on U.S. foreign policy in the United Nations. It will be in the pilot stage shortly and offered hopefully by next fall. We are pursuing various avenues for broadcast and hoping that PBS will take a close look at it. The show will focus on the top breaking international news of the week and feature in-depth interviews with three newsmakers.
US-UN Report Promo Video
G-Man: Finally, what advice would you offer to young people that are currently pursuing careers in journalism?
Osborne: I think the sky is the limit when it comes to opportunity. Find a special interest and stick to it. Make it your own, but when starting out be flexible and take any assignment that comes your way and follow where it leads. After all, that was what Watergate was all about to Woodward and Bernstein. In this business opportunity is made not found. Basically if you are a good writer and a sensitive listener the way you cover news will reflect this.
I really believe honesty in relationships works both ways, especially in journalism, gaining and maintaining important sources. I think it really is most about whom you trust and whom you don’t. It takes special skills, certainly in the diplomatic world, to be able to discern who to get to know, who to talk to. If you really care about people, care about their story you will go far.
Having good intuition and follow your intuition is very important. Often times, I ended up somewhere on a story and found out much later why it was so important for me to have ended up there. There is really a sixth sense about covering a story, especially if you’re really into it.
Tom Osborne photo, US-UN Report logo and video copyright owned by Tom Osborne.
Peter Jennings photo source:
Author: Sgt. John Queen
Permission: Public Domain
