Time journalist exposes 'exciting' side of reporting

By Kerri Rebresh

James B. Steele receives a commemorative award from Jack Holden after Steele delivered the annual Holden Lecture in October. Photo by Michael Alosi.

Time was of the essence at the second annual John E. Holden Journalism Lecture. The Oct. 25 event featured investigative reporter James B. Steele, an editor-at-large for Time magazine.

Steele's latest piece, "The Broken Promise," was on the cover of Time during his visit to the University of Colorado. Co-written with longtime colleague Donald L. Barlett, the story was about U.S. corporations that renege on their obligations to provide their retirees with pensions and health care.

"I knew very early on in my life that I wanted to be a journalist," Steele said. He said knew he had chosen the right career when he landed his first reporting job at the Kansas City Star more than 35 years ago.

"The mayhem about the place, the people going every which way – I knew immediately this was for me," he said. "There were small triumphs and also moments of absolute sheer terror."

In 1970, Steele moved to the Philadelphia Inquirer where he teamed up with Barlett. Their partnership has now spanned three decades, and they have been widely acclaimed for their work at the Inquirer and later for Time. They have also written seven books and earned numerous awards, including two Pulitzer Prizes.

"When two people can get along, can work, what you can accomplish is incredible," Steele said.

Steele and Barlett have been at Time since 1997. When asked why they made the move from the Inquirer, Steele drew a laugh from the audience when he replied, "We came to the conclusion that everyone ought to change jobs every 27 years whether you need to or not."

He discussed how some people think investigative journalism is all about clandestine meetings and hidden cameras, but his experience has been different. He said it's not usually about uncovering criminal activity and bringing individuals down.

"Early on, we began to see that some of the ways the public is cheated are perfectly legal," he said. Uncovering those injustices requires wading through stacks of documents and records.

"The exciting life of the investigative reporter: reading tax legislation," he joked.

Steele talked about some of the problems facing journalism today. He said that sometimes in the media, facts and rumors are difficult to distinguish, and the mission of investigative journalists is to "simply get people this information, get them the facts."

He also addressed the cases of ethical lapses among journalists. "Like any field, we've got good apples and bad apples." However, he said problems such as plagiarism are far less common today than they used to be, and the public finds out about them more often only because of the Internet.

"Don't get me wrong; I don't like these things," he said. "I just don't view this as the catastrophe many of my colleagues have painted it to be."

He also had some advice for the journalism students in the audience. "Don't rely too much on experts," he said. "It's amazing how many people have no idea what they're talking about."

Steele said he recognized the uncertainty about the future of print journalism. "I wouldn't in a million years attempt to guess the future, but I'm confident it will be there," he said. Even as electronic journalism becomes more prevalent, "We need someone to connect the dots, and no form of technology will ever be able to that," he said.

"We need this information. This is necessary, this is vital."

Steele's visit was made possible by an endowment from John E. "Jack" Holden ('48). His wife, Marguerite "Peggy" Holden, is a graduate of the CU School of Pharmacy. Both were on hand for Steele's lecture.

SJMC Dean Paul Voakes said the Holdens' endowment is generous enough to "bring great people to meet with bright, eager journalism students" for many years.