GIOVANINA VANCHERI
Special to The Leader
ANALYSIS
Fredonia’s chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists hosted their annual conference this weekend.
As usual, the event was composed of three special topic speakers and a keynote speaker.
For the first time ever, the keynote speaker was a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist: David Cay Johnston.
Now, it is important to the story that I explain this to you.
David Cay Johnston is what I would describe as “decidedly unattractive.”
I say this not in the context of physical appearance, but of his nature.
I went in to the event hopeful and enthusiastic about having access to such a prolific and timely figure in Fredonia.
Right when I met him though, I was completely put off.
He showed very quickly that he is brash, arrogant and a little too comfortable with making others uncomfortable.
He never missed an opportunity to brag about his achievements or abilities.
One of the first things he said in his speech is, “I have never applied for a job in my life. I’ve always been recruited.”
He talked about having a starting salary of $5,000 a month at the age of 19, then told the audience this was something they could never dream of reaching.
He boasted stories of having, at the LA Times, an expense account “bigger than his salary” that allowed him to fly first class and live in hotels for a year.
All of this was said in the first 10 minutes.
Right away, he let us know that he is on a pedestal we could never reach.
With everything he has accomplished in more than 50 years of work in journalism, he has the right to be a little arrogant.
However, in a lecture to a room full of bright-eyed students aspiring to follow in his footsteps, this quality was just distasteful.
After the conference, the group hosted a potluck upstairs in The Leader office.
One of the students in attendance lingered downstairs long after the talk had ended.
“I want to go upstairs and get a donut, but I’m scared of him,” he said in reference to Johnston.
Early on, it became evident that he enjoys putting people on the spot.
At one point he asked everyone who had a coffee cup to raise it in the air.
He then went on to say that all of those people are contributing to “child labor and slavery,” since that is how coffee is produced.
When a student raised her hand to ask a question, he made her repeat her name three times, “loud and clear,” even though she was clearly sick and losing her voice.
Additionally, it became clear throughout the talk that Johnston possesses some deep-rooted misogyny that he just could not keep hidden.
His reference to an eyewitness he once interviewed as “decidedly unattractive” was completely offensive, even with his caveat that “it is important to the story.”
It wasn’t.
For some reason, a good chunk of his talk turned into dating advice that was geared toward the men in the room, like, “make sure you’re actually listening to what she says, guys.”
In another troublesome moment, he compared interviewing to dating, that interviewing a source is just like “getting someone to sleep with you.”
He also felt the need to tell the audience that “everyone” in the entertainment journalism industry is “gay.”
At this point, it felt like he was just indulging in cheap gossip.
His penchant for storytelling at the expense of others left a bad taste in my mouth that nothing useful he said could fix.
It seems a lot of his storytelling relies on shock value, which, for an award-winning journalist, is disturbing.
Many of his anecdotes included bits of information that had nothing to do with the story.
One of the most startling instances of this when he was telling a story about having to train the son of the LA Times’ publisher, Norman, who was set to inherit his father’s position.
The entire time, Johnston spoke of him as ignorant and a burden that he had to bear.
At the very end, he said, “Unfortunately, Norman got brain cancer and died.”
The delivery was sharp and lacked any hint of sympathy.
What was the moral of the story? Rich people deserve brain cancer?
The work Johnston has done in his lifetime is important and should be celebrated.
He talked about important issues such as climate change and gave the audience some career advice, like being skeptical of everything and constantly cross-checking their facts.
But his pompousness and dated views about gender cannot be ignored.
The other three speakers, Andy Meyer, Jeff Russo and Sean Kirst, gave uplifting speeches and seemed genuine about wanting these students to succeed.
Russo said he spent hours pouring over old tapes of his time at WNYF and other stations to prepare for the conference and that it warmed his heart to be able to share his experience.
Meyer and Russo each talked with students aspiring to go into their respective fields for most of an hour after the conference ended.
None of them were paid to attend, but they came, inspired students and remained humble and grateful that we wanted to share our time with them.
As a member of the SPJ executive board, I know firsthand the amount of time and effort the board and advisors put in to make this event happen.
To be able to bring a Pulitzer Prize winner to Fredonia is an enormous feat, and something of which the group should be proud.
However, it is immensely disappointing that the writer who was paid hundreds of dollars to speak at the conference was so pretentious and intimidating toward the people who looked up to him.
Maybe tracking down Donald Trump’s every move for 31 years has worn him out.
Maybe he is jaded from all of the crime and tragedy he has had to report on in his life.
Maybe, at 70 years old, he has a lack of faith in the new generation of journalists.
But hey, like Johnston said, “Progress is not a straight line.”
Maybe he’s still just on his way.