Len Downie spent 17 years as the executive editor for the Washington Post. During that time, the paper won 25 Pulitzer prizes. And before that, he helped supervise the Post’s coverage of Watergate as deputy metro editor. Now, Len is a professor of journalism for the Cronkite School at Arizona State University. He was recently in Reno, visiting the Reynolds School of Journalism here at UNR and stopped by our studios.
Downie talked to Michelle Bliss, reflecting on the decades of experience he has in supervising coverage for national elections, which he did for the Washington Post from 1984 to 2008. Over that time, he saw coverage strategies and priorities for elections shift quite a bit. Reporting on presidential candidates, he says, now involves delving deeply into their personal lives, information that's critical since the president has so much power.
Downie also points to social media and how it has transformed election reporting. Media outlets used to only cover the candidates and their platforms. Now, reporters are sharing the thoughts and feelings of the voters, as well as any issues that are trending on Facebook and Twitter.
Even though he can't pinpoint what the media industry may look like just five years from now, Downie says that digital and social media are a huge plus in a rapidly changing field as they bring more voices to the table along with more opportunities for collaboration.