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"Journalism will continue to be history in a hurry.  That is
the major stumbling block in the path of improvement.  Haste
fights reflection, and unreflective journalism drifts into
dependence on standard and fashionable story forms." --
James David Barber in The Pulse of Politics.

Political scientist James David Barber will join the Society
of Professional Journalists' Triangle Pro Chapter for a
discussion of the coverage of political campaigns Monday
evening, Sept. 14 in Durham.  With a focus on the
presidential race, we will examine whether the news media
are providing Americans with the information they need to
make intelligent decisions.

The program begins at 7 p.m. in Room 116 of the Old
Chemistry Building on Duke University's West Campus.  The
program with Barber, like other SPJ programs, will be on the
record.

Barber is James B. Duke professor of political science at
Duke and co-chair of the Duke Center for Journalism and
Communication.  Two of his books on presidential politics,
The Presidential Character: Predicting Performance in the
White House and The Pulse of Politics, were reissued this
year.  He is writing a new book about democracy.

Barber believes in the importance of what journalists do but
is often critical of the way we do it.  "Journalism is
essential for democracy and has been from the start," Barber
says.  "It has to do with the consent of the governed.  How
otherwise are [voters] supposed to know what's happening?"
Unfortunately, Barber says, neither journalism nor democracy
is working very well.

Democracy is threatened, Barber says, by the increasing
fragmentation of society.  "Journalists need to work on how
to make knowledge understandable.  Why isn't there more
research as to what comes across to our reader and viewers?
The vocabulary of journalism should return to what it was in
New York City in the early 1900s when it was written so it
could be understood by immigrants."

Barber has practice in doing just that.  For several months,
he worked with Tom Brokaw at NBC rewriting scripts into
language everyday people could understand.

He also sees as a problem and a puzzle the theatrical nature
of news coverage, especially on television.  "It becomes a
question of what one knows by what one sees," he says.
"Impressionism can be false, as it was for Hitler, as it was
for Harding."

Barber's books include advice to journalists.  He advocates,
for example:

*** Reality over rhetoric.  Journalists, he says, should
continually hold the candidates' visions up against
contemporary reality.

*** The importance of biography.  Through biography, he
says, we can show the patterns set through a candidate's
life and understand how he or she would act in public
office.

*** A holistic approach.  "Government works by an endless
round of negotiation," he writes, so we should press
candidates to state areas where they agree with others
either in office or poised for office at a variety of
levels, and we should focus attention on those individuals
as well.

Barber looks forward to hearing our thoughts on these and
other issues, as well as sharing his own, he says.  Looking
back a few years, he recalls weighing the merits of a career
in journalism versus academia.  "I made a line down the
middle of a legal pad and listed the pluses and minuses of
each," he said.  "Academia won because of one factor --
tenure.  Now I'm not so sure it was a good decision."


Everyone is invited to hear Barber speak.  The meeting is in
Room 116 in the Old Chemistry Building on West Campus, not
far from Duke Chapel.


From Raleigh and points east:

1) Take 1-40 west toward Durham.

2) Take NC 147 north (Durham freeway).  Do not take exit for
Duke University East Campus.  Do take next exit for Elba
St./Trent Dr., bearing left to turn onto Trent Dr.  Go one
block to Erwin Rd., turn left on Erwin, then take the next
right on Flowers Dr.

3) After a short distance, pass the stop-sign intersection,
take next right up hill through gate (gates are always open
after 4 p.m.)  If this lot is full, go to the lot just below
it; no ticketing after 4 p.m.

4) The campus is to your right as you enter the parking lot.
Walk to your right up to the quad, turn right as you reach
the quad and walk up the steps to the upper quad.  The Old
Chemistry Building is across the quad.  To get to room 116,
walk straight across the lobby, to door marked 116, then
down the stairs.


From Durham Freeway:

Proceed from #2 above.


From Chapel Hill:

1) Take US 15-501 bypass north.

2) Exit onto NC 751, turning toward Duke University.  Take
first left on Erwin Rd. (toward Duke Hospital).  Go three
traffic lights until you see Duke Hospital on your right,
then through one more traffic light (Trent Dr.)  After Trent
Dr., take first right (Flowers Dr.)  Then proceed from step
#4 under directions from Raleigh above.