The DC/SLA 2008 Annual Banquet was held at the Woman’s National Democratic Club in Washington, DC on December 4, 2008. Fortunately for those of us that attended this year’s banquet, Mr. Robert Dubill was the guest speaker. Mr. Dubill had three things to say to the librarians and information professionals that attended the banquet: 1) stay hungry 2) keep a journal 3) try to walk in another’s shoes. Dubill chronicled his journey as a reporter and the founder and retired executive editor of USA Today around these words of wisdom with an insightful, entertaining and inspirational narrative.Mr. Dubill embarked on the evening’s narrative by reminiscing about his first newspaper job, that of a paperboy in small-town America. He described how he loved delivering the newspaper because before he set out each day to deliver the newspaper, he would read the paper from cover to cover. As one might imagine, this didn't lead to his becoming known for "early delivery" skills! But this still worked well for Dubill, because while making his way along his route to deliver the newspaper, people would comment about how long it took him to get the paper to them, and for Dubill, this was his opportunity to reply with a noteworthy response about a news article in the day’s paper that they ought to read and engage them in a conversation about the article. Dubill explained that for him, the news was fascinating – he loved the news; simply loved reading the stories. He also poignantly mentioned that when he visits his hometown today, many people still remember him simply as “the boy who used to deliver the newspaper.”
Mr. Dubill went on to describe how his career as an official journalist began in Hudson, New Jersey where he worked for the Associated Press, which he described as a membership co-op paradise. One of his first assignments was to report about an execution at a New Jersey State prison. He noted how this assignment gave him insight about the nature of journalism because he it led him to realize that although he was there to record and report the facts, the facts weren’t going to necessarily be easy to gather or possible to record in light of the emotion and unforgettable vision of witnessing someone being strapped into an electric chair and watching his or her final moments of life.
Another story Dubill shared with us about his experience as a journalist with the Associated Press while in New Jersey was the excitement and accolade of his work during the Nixon Humphrey Presidential campaign in 1970. He told his story about how during this campaign New Jersey just happened to be the swing state in the Presidential race, much like Florida was in the 2000 Presidential race. He said the Associated Press had placed a reporter in each one of the twenty-one New Jersey precincts, which gave the Associated Press an advantage that propelled the AP's accolade of being the first news association to report the outcome of the election. Dubill said that as soon as he received a telephone call from the each of the reporters in the twenty-one precincts, he realized that there were enough votes tallied to declare Nixon the winner. Recognizing this, Dubill phoned the Associated Press headquarters in New York to relay the results to the head honcho there, who then immediately asked Dubill if he was certain that Nixon had won the presidential race? Dubill told him that yes, he was sure. He went on to explain that the Associate Press had reporters in each precinct, and based on the information relayed from the those twenty-one reporters in those precincts, the information was reliable: Nixon was the winner. So the AP HQ head honcho told him that he would make the official call reporting Nixon as the declared winner of the Presidential election. Dubill also mentioned that the AP HQ head honcho quickly follow-up by telling Dubill that if this information turned out to be incorrect, Dubill didn’t need to bother coming to work the next day! Needless to say, Dubill came to work the next day!
And for the record, Dubill brought along a record. And this wasn’t just any record! Dubill wove his earlier words of wisdom to “stay hungry” by daringly casting on a pair of sunglasses and touting Twisted Sister’s “Stay Hungry” record album. Dubill’s ballyhoo referenced one particular song from the album called “We’re Not Going To Take it Anymore” as he danced around the stage while singing the words "We're not going to take it! No, we ain't going to take it!" When the show was over, so-to-speak, Dubill talked about how the song had served as a motivational tune for him and his staff at the often perceived “underdog newspaper,” USA Today. Let me mention here, that USA Today has the widest circulation of any paper in the United States; and, that under Dubill’s direction, Gannet News Service, the publisher of USA Today, won the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service in 1980.
On a more somber note, Dubill continued by sharing his experience as a journalist at USA Today here in Washington, D.C. on September 11, 2001, more commonly know to us today as 9-11. Dubill made it unmistakably clear that for him 9-11 has been the most important story for him in his lifetime. He portrayed the event for him that day by telling us that as soon as he heard the news about the two commercial passenger jet airliners crashing into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York, he jumped in his car and headed to work at the USA Today headquarters in Rosslyn, VA and witnessed first-hand the high-jacked American Airlines Flight 77 crash in to the Pentagon. He noted that although it was a blue-sky, sunshine day, at that moment - the moment when the airplane crashed into the Pentagon, the day seemed to turn to complete darkness. After he gained composure, he continued the drive into work where he managed to talk his way past the security guards, who weren’t letting anyone in the completely evacuated building, to find himself in the USA Today newsroom surrounded by fellow journalists and librarians. Dubill described his feelings of exhilaration, pride and fear as he took notice of himself, his fellow journalists and the librarians working in the newsroom that afternoon. "Keepers of the flame" he professed - providing information, no matter what, no matter where, was his heart-felt observation that afternoon; and, a view that he genuinely embraces about journalists and librarians everyday.
Dubill went on to discuss the elements of a newspaper and the decisions of the editorial staff in regard to publishing the events of 9-11 in USA Today for that day; decisions such as choosing not to advertise, and the carefully selected images that reflected a conveyance of the loss of life, as well as the resilience of America. He brought along several copies of the published paper from that day and shared them with the audience.
Dubill then described the work of USA Today journalists, editors and librarians in regard to the editorial decision to write an obituary for every single person that lost their life that day. He touched on his theme of putting yourself in another’s shoes as he went went on to say that “Obits are tough to write.” He continued, “You try to tell the story or stories about the person.” And he applauded the work of the reporters and librarians compiling these obituaries as he talked about their quest to find information about each of these people, about how tough it was emotionally, and about how in spite of the challenges of the work, there was joy in the discovery of each of the facts because it all came together as the information that made the stories about the people who died that day. Dubill also wove the concept of keeping a journal as he described this obituary work, which sounded more like a labor of love, by noting that we all have a story to tell, a song to sing, and snapshots of our lives to portray.
Dubill described the attributes of librarians as evaluators, story tellers, compilers, teachers and educators. And he harked, "Librarians need to sing their story!" Finally, and in most earnest, he talked about the critical importance of free press in times of crisis and how journalists and librarians share the responsibility to uncover and discover facts and information; and, attribute the credit as deemed appropriate.
So there you have it! A news icon and Twisted Sister most certainly have something in common: they both stayed hungry!
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