By Rafal Geremek
Reporter, Zycie
Warsaw, Poland

I can't say if the press is too free in America. Certainly it should be more responsible, and it sometimes is. Condoleeza Rice had no big problems convincing the press and TV and radio networks that Osama Bin Laden shouldn't be shown in the media on the same level as other political opponents. Rice was successful, because Bin Laden is "public enemy no. 1," and in the United States it is easier to speak to patriotic feelings than to a sense of fairness. The hunting for Rep. Gary Condit, lasting almost the entire summer was pathetic, and it was inappropriate for even respectable newspapers like The Washington Post to participate in that frenzy.

Before September 11, in an era of unconcern, the media acted irrationally. But even then I found American newspapers very interesting, and I benefited a lot from my fellowship.

I was in the U.S. for the first time three years ago, and I visited several newspapers here. I thought I had some ideas about the press, but this year I learned how wrong I was. Being inside as complicated of an organism as a newspaper gives a completely different view.

First of all, there is a myth that American journalists write their articles in a very concrete way, that their texts consist of only dry facts. Stories of the "common man" find a place in such articles along with statistics and official quotes.

I found the majority of news articles are written like feature stories. Very often they contain more emotions than pure facts. The writers use very sophisticated English to show the events to the readers.

I was stunned at the beginning of my visit when one of the journalists introduced me to another man saying: "He's a writer from Poland." I thought that he was making fun of me, because I thought it implied that I am a novelist. Luckily I didn't respond, because it is normal for reporters at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette to refer to themselves as "writers." I know that may be an abbreviation for "staff writer," but some journalists really deserve to be called "writers." In my country, journalists in the dailies are often divided into news people and feature writers. The news articles are strictly to the point, while the features are long stories, and they are written very well in a very distinctive manner. Feature writers are like the nobles of journalism.

The American media found out that newspapers can't compete with the electronic media, so they write many of their stories like features. I like that style. The only bad thing I see is that some editors try to change the style of their writers to a uniform one. They call it "An American Style." I especially like to read longer articles, where a personal mark is visible.

The second thing important in American media is its accuracy. At the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, a story wouldn't be complete without real people with their first and last names. Sometimes it is hard to convince people to give their names, but it strengthens the story when they do. And of course it can't be somebody from the newspaper or their spouse, but somebody from the outside world. In the Polish media, often examples for problems have only first names or even nicknames ("Marek, an old postman with a prominent mane of hair said: It's unbelievable! It's a scandal, that....").

I will have to really convince some of the editors in Warsaw that several corrections published in the paper might be a reflection of strength, not a failure of the firm. I was convinced about that every time I saw corrections in The Washington Post or the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. I learned that especially those which were completely futile were even more important than those correcting significant mistakes. It is a message for the readers: "We care about the truth." The correction is an instrument in building the newspaper's trust. Sometimes the newspapers in America distort the history or manipulate the facts, but their readers often know enough not to believe it.

The role of readers is relatively big. For readers in Europe, especially in post-communist countries, the newspapers are inaccessible towers. This is rooted in Communism. The newspapers were like manors, and editors-in-chief (appointed most often by the Communist Party) were like princes who ruled until they fell into disfavor. It's not possible to act like that in a market economy, but the editors are still too much barred from the readers. First of all, in American newspapers there is more space for letters from the readers. What is very strange for me, the column for "letters to the editor" is kind of a Hyde Park where readers can say anything and the assaulted author can not even reply. It was strange that readers in America are always right, even if they write something completely stupid. But on the other hand the editors in my country who respond to the letters from the people act as pundits and lynch them using words. The journalists win this battle, but newspapers lose, because they lose readers.

The subjects of feature writing are treated very seriously. The people are not disregarded by the style of writing. For instance in my country, very often journalists embrace the stylistics of environment: they use highlanders dialect when writing about plain people living in the mountains. Sometimes writers do it in good faith, but some try to enter the described world only to ridicule the people.

American writers try not to cross this line which divides the described world and those whom they are describing it. That's good for both sides. But the interviewees should do more "speaking in the stories," speaking in their own language.

Here in the U.S. they quote very thriftily. People should speak more in the language they use, unless their English is incomprehensible. The thing I want to bring immediately to the newspapers and weeklies I will (hopefully) work for in Poland is the idea of special editions. The paper must mark its own opinion not only by commentaries, but also by the amount of coverage they give certain topics. At the Chicago Tribune I had the opportunity to see their theme editions, richly illustrated with the good pictures. Such special editions were dedicated to problems with air travel (it was before September 11) and capital punishment.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette recently gained respect by featuring the victims of Flight 93 airplane which crashed near Pittsburgh. The heroes (those passengers who fought with the terrorists) deserved far more than good word. And the readers appreciated that. They sent tons of praising letters.