Section 1: Q: As for the "Scab School" I wonder did they
ever use that?
A: No, the typographical union settled. They
agreed. So, no.
Q: The idea of being...
A: Well, probably a scare tactic. I was in
Sioux City when we seriously threatened a
strike. We rented an office space downtown,
put up Newspaper Guild Strike Headquarters
with big banners on the windows, and at the
eleventh hour, that was averted. It was a
scare tactic. We knew the business, you know,
and that's part of the negotiations. At that
time when the guild was threatening, I tried
a little hand at selling insurance. I made
some calls and even got a little, made some
money at selling insurance. But this was when
I went out to call on a potential client on
the same night that Martin Luther King was
assassinated. And the man I called on was a
bigot. And I thought, "Uh-uh, this job is not
for me, I can't allude to such a thing." I'll
always remember that night. And then there's
also a case where I went out and the person
who said they would be there skipped town to
avoid me. So I decided, no, I'd rather be in
the newspaper business. Again the strike was
settled, not the strike, they averted the
strike in Sioux City, so I just didn't have
to sell insurance.
Q: But clearly you were concerned they might
have to?
A: Yes, at that time I was concerned that if
we strike, how am I going to feed my five
children at that time.
Q: But selling insurance is one thing, but
you were right in with the newspaper
industry. Had you ever considered selling
newspaper advertisements?
A: No, I had a daughter that did, but no.
Q: You went to the Tribune virtually right
before it closed. I mean, right before they
merged.
A: Right. I did not foresee that merger, I
guess, or the closing of the Tribune. I
didn't foresee that. I know there was talk,
there were rumors. I just didn't feel it
would happen.
Q: Any comments about the closing of the
Tribune? Was it the right thing to do as far
as you're concerned?
A: I didn't have any say in that.
Economically, yes I think it was the thing to
do. But I think the competition between the
two staffs had lessened the hard work of the
journalists because of the merger. Not that
they don't work hard, don't get me wrong
there. But the competition, you strived...
OK, we don't get a story in the paper this
time, we have tomorrow to do it. Whereas that
wouldn't have happened when there were two
papers, you know.
Q: So the existence with the Tribune was a
very positive influence.
A: And vice versa. And vice versa. For
both...there are a lot of people who would
still rather read the paper at night, you
know, but there are more that don't.
Q: What has the Iowa reader, the reader of
Iowa newspapers lost with the elimination of
the Tribune?
A: They've lost the timeliness maybe a
little. Whereas a story that would be news at
four o'clock, now it isn't the news that it
would be at six the next morning. The
competition isn't there between the two
staffs that makes you look for a little bit
better, do a little bit better job, maybe. I
think a lot of people miss picking up the
news when they come home at night.
Q: Of course there are other sources of news.
A: Right, right, right. Internet.
Q: I wonder if that helps. I mean if that has
allowed the Register to continue to feel that
they...
A: A statewide paper. I don't know. I'm sure
there's some pressure, the fact that they
have the Internet, too. The fact that they
are online. --
Section 2: Q: When you talked a little bit about some of
the concerns you had by calling a woman late
at night, you know, to let her know that her
son was alive. Did you ever come across any
ethical dilemmas that you may have
encountered as serving as night editor?
A: Yes, yes. We had a policy, right or
wrong-I can argue the side-on using addresses
in crime stories. A young girl was threatened
by a pedophile. This was a young girl, eight,
nine years old, maybe even younger, who
wasn't snatched, but I think someone
threatened her. We used her address of that
girl. Did we use the address or the name of
the family? The address wouldn't have made
sense because the guy would have known. But
anyway, I thought we shouldn't have used the
name of the victim, boy, I want to say
address, but that wouldn't have made sense
because the guy would have known the address.
No, she wasn't at home, she wasn't at home.
But this happened away from her address. And
we used the address of that girl in the
story. I wasn't involved in it, but I was the
one that took the call the next morning from
the angry parent and I couldn't do anything
but say, you know I think you're right.
Although I didn't, I took the stand of the
paper, but in my own conscience this wasn't
the right thing to do.
Q: But the story was, what was the story?
A: The girl, somebody tried to take this
child and they were down the block or they
were at school or something. I don't remember
where it was.
Q: And they knew who it was that had tried to
take the child?
A: No, they didn't know who it was. But the
child had reported this. And the next day we
said Suzy Brown of 89 6th Street was the
girl. There are other instances like this
that do you or don't you use the address.
I've learned over time it's best, it's safer,
to go with the publication than without, but
it bothers you every time you do it.
Q: The position of the Register being that
you...?
A: That you use the name, because it
identifies this John Brown from the John
Brown down the street or across town.
Sometimes you have to make a decision whether
it's the right thing or whether it is
pertinent to the news story or not.
Q: Any other issues like that come up as to
the sources you used or in choosing a story,
what kind of story?
A: Well, one thing that, kind of along the
same line, is in our obituaries, or the
Register's obituaries. We require a cause of
death, and lots of times the family does not
want a cause of death used. And I think I can
safely argue-and I take the stand of the
Register on this-use the cause of death
because if you see an old high school
classmate that died, the first thing you want
to know, "I wonder how he died or she died."
And I say, it's a news story, so that is why
we use it. If you don't want to use it, you
can purchase a classified ad, but if we put
the obituary in with no charge to the family-
because we see it as a news story-we require
the cause of death. And then when we get
someone that is 95 years old and they really
don't know what the cause of death was, then
you run into the problem, you kind of lie.
You fib. You say they died of a heart
aliment, you know. So that bothers me...and
you rely usually on the funeral directors to
give you the cause of death. And sometimes
they [funeral directors] have lied to us and
it comes back whether it was a suicide and
they'll lie to you. And we run the correction
the next day and it makes you look foolish.
But still I do feel the cause of death in the
obituaries is part of the story.
Q: But the lie is there because they just
need the cause?
A: They [funeral directors] are satisfying
their customers, the families that they're
dealing with. And I can understand the family
does not want to say that their daughter or
son committed suicide. Understandable. --
Section 3: Q: Back to personalities here, I was
wondering did you ever work with Frank
Eyerle?
A: No, unfortunately. I've heard many stories
about him, but no. I was hired by Ed Hines
who...I missed that [working for Eyerle] just
a matter of months.
Q: He must have retired?
A: Right, right before. But he was a great
newsman, from all the stories I've heard.
Q: You also mentioned in your biography that
you were taking calls from readers, too. What
kind of feedback were you getting there?
Sometimes, people obviously disappointed
about not getting on time or something? Or
some of the stuff...?
A: This wouldn't be the late calls, the late
ones we got the drunks. I'll tell this
story...one of our other personalities, a
great news man was Gene Raffensperger. He
tells this story. Late at night one guy,
obviously from a bar, [called and] said, "Who
won the fight?" They were trying to settle a
bet in a bar. Who won a fight, or who won a
baseball batting title, or whatever. And he
[Raffensperger] gave him a name. And then, he
[the caller] said "OK, will you tell Joe
that." And when he told him, somebody said
"But, yes, if the reporter goes to that bar,
you'll see the biggest fight you've ever
seen." And that's the story.
What was the question, I forgot.
Q: It was about some of the calls you were
taking at the desk?
A: Oh, in the...
Q: The drunks (laughs)
A: That was at night. The calls more
than...the morning shift was worse for
getting calls where you'd misspelled Aunt
Anne's name or the father who had the address
of his daughter published, or during the
political campaigns, you know, you said this
about Senator So-and-So, why didn't you say
it about so-and-so, and those type things.
And I would be the only person there that
early in the morning, and they'd just picked
up the paper and read it.
Q: How did you like getting those calls?
A: I didn't like those.
Q: Had to deal with the public.
A: Right, right. And well, there are two
reasons. First of all, you're sorry the paper
made the mistake on the spelling of the name,
or whatever, and you apologize. The spelling
of the names aren't as bad as some of the
other facts, you know, that are wrong. And
then there are the times you get calls where
the police report said this. Well they're
sure their son or daughter didn't do it. But
you're using the police report, and that's
what it said.
Q: Any positive feedback?
A: Yes, I'd say there was a lot more negative
because the positives don't call back. Yes,
occasionally you'd get some positive
feedback. We would have correspondents, and
this deteriorated as the Register pulled in
its coverage, but we had a lot of
correspondents out there that were very
faithful that would call. We had one; his
name was Paul Hunt. He was an invalid of some
sort, but he had a police scanner and his
radio in Fort Madison, and he would always
call us with big tips. If there was an
uprising in the prison, he would hear about
it, you know, and call. And there was a lot
of...there was one; he name was Warland. R.J.
I can't remember his, excuse me if anybody's
researching this. His last name was Warland.
He was a magistrate in Webster City [IA]. He
would always have a good tip for us when he
would call.
Q: You said Warland?
A: Warland.
Q: Warland.
A: Yes. And his wife, I think, was on the
council so he was a good tipster in Webster
City.
Q: None of these people were ever paid.
A: Oh yes, they would be paid for calling in
tips. I don't know what, I don't know what,
that was handled by the state editor, and
depending on what kind of story came out of
it, you know. Some of them would be on a
monthly [payroll]. They would usually pay
them by the month. They would add up all the
tips they called.
Q: So they weren't asked to write anything.
A: No. Just calling in with the tips. Some of
them would send in obituaries and death
notices and write that out.
Q: At any given time, how many correspondents
would you have out there that were being
paid, giving those tips?
A: At least one in every county. And every
major town, I'd say. I bet there was 200
hundred correspondents out there. Some of
them would be paid more than others.
Q: In the '70s?
A: No, even today they still have them, not
as many, but...
Q: You can take a guess at how much they
would have gotten, a wild estimate?
A: Anywhere's from $10.00 for those that just
called in one a week to maybe $200.00 a
month. I don't know. And again, that is a
guess. I don't know. I would guess there were
some that were the better ones that would get
$100.00 or $200.00.
Q: So you would get a call maybe from a
correspondent...?
A: Yes, then you'd write down their name and
town and what tip they called in. Then the
state editor or the assistant state editor
would compile those at the end of the month
and they'd send them a check.
Q: As for the story itself, how would it be
followed up?
A: Call that bureau or send a reporter out
from the office or just have a reporter make
a phone call, depending on the story.
Probably like Jodie Huisentruit, the Mason
City anchor woman. [NOTE: Some years ago,
Huisentruit was kidnapped on her way to work
and, despite an intensive investigation, has
not been found.] Someone would have called
that in and I remember sending Jack Hovelson,
who was in our bureau, up there for the
particular case. There were lots of incidents
where he was...we had a lot of radio news
people who would serve as correspondents for
us. A lot of people that worked in radio. In
Creston and Oelwein, particularly, they would
call us with tips. Then you would decide
well, "Is that a situation that there needs
someone on the scene?" and then send a
reporter, or just a reporter here in the
office can call in the day and get it. --
Section 4: Q: Tell us about the change of hands when
Cowles sold the paper to Gannett. I think
that was about 1985. You were there and how
did that impact you and your job?
A: I was scared that first year, or that
summer, whether I was going to have a job or
not. I cried. It was a Sunday, whether I was
going to have a job or not.
Q: What was your concern?
A: I had six kids.
Q: Had you heard something Gannett that was
going to be?
A: Oh no. This was a closing of the Tribune.
I'm sorry, I misunderstood your question.
Q: You were stunned in '82.
A: Yes, when the Tribune closed. It was a
very emotional summer until I found out I had
a job, and then, of course, I felt sorry for
those that didn't. It was an emotional
summer. In fact, I had the whole family
de-tassle corn that summer. Including myself.
We took a week vacation and de-tasseled corn
because...I think we had a check for
$1,000.00. We ended up using it to go on
vacation, but I didn't...
Q: What was the amount of time you were in
limbo where you didn't know if you had a job?
A: A couple of months. Two, three months. I
don't remember the exact time, but I think it
was a couple of months.
Q: Were you getting any clues from people
that perhaps you did or you might not have a
job?
A: Not really, I didn't. I was told later I
shouldn't even have worried about it, but I
did. I just thought that they going to cut
where they thought would save the most money.
Q: And as for the change in ownership, this
would have been pre-85, when the Cowles sold
off to Gannett, you were...
A: I was not too apprehensive, I guess.
Whether I should have been, I don't know.
But, they kept the family name at the top,
you know. Charlie [Edwards] was the
publisher. I guess I wasn't all that
concerned about the, I guess I didn't know a
whole lot about USA Today and I heard other
rumors you know, that it had been purchased
by the Washington Post or whatever. There was
talk in the office. I guess I felt as long as
we were doing our job, the change in
ownership was that, it was going to be OK.
Q: Was there any change after the fact as to
what you were doing?
A: I didn't see it. I didn't see it. I really
didn't see a great change at that time in the
goals, and I didn't see it in, or feel it in
any of the news judgments or the newsmaking
or the staff.
Q: Fifteen years down the road, you are
looking to see where they really come back to
serve Des Moines. The staff had been cut,
news bureaus had been closed, many of the
policies and procedures I guess had changed,
too. You had been out of the paper but, I
wonder, that kind of thing would have been
happening even under Cowles just because it's
the nature of how the business has changed.
A: Right.
Q: I don't mean to put words in your mouth...
A: No, you're right and I...would it or
wouldn't it have. Eventually, it probably
would have changed down the road. This soon,
if fifteen years is soon, maybe not. Maybe it
would have been twenty, twenty-five. Probably
it [circulation] would have pulled in, but
then again, once the Internet gets going,
maybe they'll go back to more statewide
coverage. I don't know. I know it hurt, it
hurt immensely when they pulled the state
coverage and the editors didn't want to pull
it.
Q: It hurt what?
A: It hurt your pride. It hurt your pride.
You want to be a statewide newspaper, and
they still are to a certain extent. But you
can't expect to sell a lot of papers with
yesterday's baseball scores or yesterday's
basketball scores from the university or what
have you. I really don't know if you can buy
a paper, a Register, in Sioux City at a
newsstand. I'm not even sure you can buy one
at a newsstand anymore, a Register, in Sioux
City.
Q: What do you think of the paper today as
compared to what it was?
A: I worked on the metro Iowa staff and I
always read it. You know, I turn now first to
the editorial page and read it. I don't think
it's as current a news as it used to be. You
don't strive to get that late breaking story.
I think that newspapers back in yesterdays
did a tremendous job on the airline crash,
the Pope visit, the flood. Any spot news.
They always have and will continue to get on
that hard-breaking news. They will always do
good on the political front, the campaigns,
as long as they have the Iowa caucuses. The
whole thing. They did a super job, too much
on the [U.S. Senior Golf] Open. I thought the
coverage on the Open was...I guess I read it
all. On the Senior Open Golf Tournament.
Q: I'm sorry...(MH talks over question.)
A: Right, right. And may be completely off
base, I shouldn't say this, but I suspect
there was that much coverage because the
Gannett [bosses] were in town. That may be or
that may not be. But they were in town, and
they had an awful lot of coverage on it.
Q: Of course the banner up there, used to
read, I don't know if it still does, "The
Register is the paper that Iowa depends on."
Is that still the case, do you think?
A: Yes. Yes. Today, I think it still is. I
think if you went to LeMars or to Oelwein or
that, people know who the Register is, they
know what they'd said on something. Don't
you?
Q: I have that feeling.
A: It is not depended on for your car
accidents or your murders even, maybe. It is
not depending on that. You are going to have
to go to your home newspaper. You are going
to have to start buying your hometown
newspaper. Or your area newspaper where your
hometown is. Because the Register isn't going
to cover the robberies or the thefts or the
... whereas we used to cover some of that.
Q: Your forte' was copy editing. What does it
look like to you today? You remember those
stories.
A: Things have changed along that way, too.
You have a computer. And before, when I broke
into this industry, you would have a reporter
read his copy and then you have a copy editor
read his [reporter's] copy. You have a slot
person read the copy. It would go through a
linotype operator who would read the copy.
You would have a proofreader who read the
final type sample. And then it would come
back in a page proof, and a copy editor would
read it again. It would be read six or seven
times by different people. Now, there are
probably two or three people that are there.
And, more mistakes are going to slip through.
And more errors in copy are going to slip
through. Because you have got fewer people
reading. What was the question?
Q: It shows.
A: Yes. You have spell check now, but you
might have a "bare"and a "bear," you know,
and it wouldn't catch it sometimes. I think
you have lost some accuracy with the
technology today. But it shouldn't be.
Q: Those are pretty tough questions. You want
to wrap up by talking about what your
strength at the Register was.
A: It was a great experience. And they
treated me fairly. I complained, yes. I
complained about different things. There were
a few years that I was unhappy and I really
don't want to get into the personalities
involved there. But, I think that was about
two years there. I was a little unhappy with
my personal review, you know. But, overall,
it was a great newspaper to work for. And I
think the institution will continue to
survive as a great institution. While
newspapers going down the roads, I think they
will be in it. It is kind of scary at times,
you know. But, I really did enjoy the
Register. I never regret that I made the
move.
Q: Some say we will be reading at our
laptops. We will be paging down. We won't
have the newspaper to hold. What do you see
in the future about how we will be getting
our news?
A: I don't know. I really don't know. That
could come. I don't see it in my lifetime or
your lifetime. But, someday, probably so. I
don't know.
