Paul Radu
Special investigative reporter, Evenimentul Zilei
Bucharest, Romania

It all started on the fourth of July. Like other former fellows my first assignment was to cover the fourth of July parades. It was all flowers, colorful floats, children, parents and the American flag. On the fifth of July, the newspaper cover was a joyous explosion of red, white and blue happiness. For a moment, a day, the Chandra Levy-Gary Condit scandal was put aside. The celebration of the American spirit was much more important. Then life took its usual course.

Events of greater or lesser importance were presented in the newspapers' pages. The tabloids continued their rush for sensational stories. One of them discovered vampires working night shifts all over the country. Others found that Hilary Clinton was cheating on her husband. Serious papers dealt with serious subjects. As always, great investigative stories were published alerting people and authorities. In late August the San Antonio Express-News had just started publishing a great series on the "uncertain borders"—the Mexico-U.S. border area.

Then, the "new day of infamy" struck and changed the U.S. media. Grief, anger, stupefaction were on the TV screens and on the journals' pages. With this the angle in which the news was perceived changed, too.

Suddenly, a remote country—Afghanistan—and a religion—Islam—became of great importance for media and the people.

The eleventh of September brought not only sadness on the American soul but a new understanding too. Editors and reporters understood that the media lives in a globalized space. It was understood that events in the Middle East, Europe or other parts of the world influence the daily American life. The times of the Monroe Doctrine are long gone.

What is still here is the great American journalistic skill. In just a couple of days newspapers, radio, TV stations and multimedia stations managed to present and understand a very different way of thinking. The Arab world and its problems were dissected and presented in a very professional manner. With a few exceptions, the media managed the American anger and showed the people that the U.S. is not fighting a war against Islam but a war against terrorism. They showed that the neighbor next door is not an enemy even if he wears a beard and prays five times a day. The openness to new things was admirable. At the Express-News, journalists that never dealt with foreign issues tried and succeeded to learn about the Arab world. They used friends, Internet resources and the international media. They did it while in New York and Washington, firefighters and policemen were fighting hard to save people's lives.

As if all this was not enough a new scare hit America and the newsroom. The Anthrax scare. This time the journalists dealt not with people but with an invisible threat. They managed again. By presenting the real dimension of the Anthrax scare, by not hiding things and by informing always on time about the contaminated letters. This is the way the media won the war on Anthrax too.

It is a patriotic media that supported the Government through hard times but it is an independent media. Newspapers didn't forget to criticize and show to the public the failures. The intelligence failure, the Army failure or the public services' failure. The new powers given to the authorities were scrutinized and raised questions about whether or not constitutional rights and freedom are at risk. The debate is still on and will ever be.

Slowly, non terrorism related issues were back in the papers.

Freedom of Information requests were filed once again. The First Amendment was never questioned. More than ever the public had the right to know what is going on in the country and abroad. Tabloids were back in business too. Entertainment is a part of life.

Recession, layoffs, Anthrax, terrorist attacks couldn't break what was built for two centuries—a strong independent human media.

A media system that always overcame major threats. This is proven by only looking at the covers of The New York Times in the last century. First World War, Second World War, the Cold War, cataclysms, political assassinations, nuclear threats, the Bay of Pigs and much more were dangerous times survived and objectively described by the U.S. media.

Between these dramatic times the media and the public found wonderful things to present. Images like the first man on the Moon, the soldiers coming home from whatever war or the heroism of the firemen at the World Trade Center became symbols of the free spirit. The U.S. media built its own confidence through rough times and found strength in ordinary people stories. A proud mom or a kid fighting drugs, a handicapped person running the New York marathon and a love story are all subjects of the American media and they all preserved the high esteem of it.

These are things I learned about the U.S. media. I admire it and I believe it is one of the greatest media systems in the world. But I believe that the most important thing I understood is that you cannot create such a system overnight. You can't instantly gain hundreds of years of great journalism. It requires a lot of hard work, patience and understanding.

Now, after five months in an American newsroom I am able to bring a little of these to the Romanian media. I go back with a new perspective and new horizons, lots of memories and friends.