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end of July 2002. Al-Kahtani’s research
is a comparative analysis of the rules of
poets in the old Arabic tribes and the
current process of journalism in the
Arab world. The major question in his
research is “Have the Arab journalists
replaced the poets of the old Arabic
tribes?”
Sunday Dare has a new position: “I
am currently the service chief of the
Hausa service under the Africa division
at the Voice of America in Washington,
Letter to the Editor
November 2001
In Nieman Reports/Fall 2001, Jim
Naughton writes that The Philadelphia
Inquirer, formerly “one of
journalism’s top destinations, has
become a departure lounge.”
That’s a cute, clever turn of phrase,
but it’s also cruel and cynical, coming
from an editor who abandoned
ship with a generous buyout six years
ago.
Moreover, in my opinion,
Naughton tells just one side of the
story, the downside. It’s certainly
true that Knight Ridder’s belt-tightening
has cast a pall over the
Inquirer’s newsroom. Many talented
journalists have left the paper, and
these losses are tough to take.
But Naughton ignores what I see
as the upside. For, despite the grievous
blows it has sustained, I believe
the Inquirer remains one of the
nation’s finest newspapers.
I’ve spent nearly 55 years in this
lunatic business, including more than
three decades competing fiercely
against the Inky as a reporter and
editor for the Philadelphia Bulletin.
After we lost the newspaper war in
1982, I joined the Inquirer staff and
have toiled here as a reporter, business
columnist, and freelance contributor
ever since.
That background gives me perspective
that I think Jim Naughton
D.C. I took the job in early August. As
chief, I decide the editorial direction
and the generation of news materials
for broadcast to our service areas. This
also includes providing news information
about the United States and seeking
local content and resonance for
Africa in major U.S. policies. The Hausa
language is a major trade language in
most parts of West Africa spoken by
millions of people. Target areas are
Nigeria, Ghana, Niger, Cameroon and
Chad.” ■
lacks. And I’m full of admiration for
the reporters, editors and photographers
who fill the Inquirer’s pages
every day, people whom Naughton
dismisses.
I’d like to name some of the outstanding
performers, but there are
too many of them. Suffice to say that
I’d stack the Inquirer’s current staff
against that of just about any newspaper
of comparable size in this
country.
Never was I prouder of this staff
than in its superlative coverage of
the World Trade Center catastrophe.
The paper’s comprehensive
work on this big story was truly
stunning, and I say that as one who
was totally out of the loop.
As the Inquirer’s executive editor
in its glory years, Gene Roberts attracted
brilliant editors and reporters
from all over the country, many
of whom have followed him out the
door.
They were totally committed to
Roberts, my highly esteemed
Nieman classmate, but not to the
Inquirer, and certainly not to the
quirky city where it is published.
More’s the pity.
Peter Binzen
Nieman ’62
U.S. Postal Service
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Nieman Reports / Winter 2001 117