IOP Fellow Considers the Ethics of Journalism

Although the Kennedy School is far away from the Middle East, UPI correspondent Wesley Pippert seems to have adjusted to the change in climate and political atmosphere.

One of seven fellows at the Kennedy School's Institute of Politics (IOP), Pippert has returned from a two-year assignment in Israel to join a mixed group of real world political activists in venturing for a semester into the rarefied world of academia.

The 1955 graduate of the University of Iowa is taking full advantage of Harvard's academic offerings. "It's like a smorgasbord of desserts a mile long," says Pippert of his program this spring. He is auditing courses by three big-name professors--John Rawls, Robert Coles and Nadav Safran--as well as a Business School course on "Power and Influence."

In addition to the courses, Pippert is also invited to numerous luncheons and dinners. But the role or an IOP fellow goes beyond auditing classes and copping free meals.

Past fellows have rowed house crew, lived in dorms, attended classes at the College and various graduate schools and worked out with varsity sports teams, says Theresa A. Donovan, who coordinated the IOP program until her departure this February. She describes the fellows as an eclectic bunch, contributing to Harvard in a variety of ways.

They come to the Institute with one common characteristic--broad experience in public affairs. "The Institute of Politics aims to promote a bridge between the real world and the academic community at Harvard, and the fellows program helps promote that mission," says Donovan.

In addition to Pippert, this term's fellows include another journalist, New York's first Congresswoman, two unsuccessful Republican gubernatorial candidates, a public opinion expert and a media consultant.

In their professional incarnations, the spring IOP fellows have written nationally acclaimed books, lobbied for the Equal Rights Amendment, produced television commercials and reported on presidential elections. One of the fellows even switched his party affiliation--from Democrat to Republican--in the course of a long career.

Pippert, who recalls that, "In about the sixth grade, for reasons now dim in my memory, I decided to be a reporter," has covered two state capitals, three presidential campaigns, two White House administrations, Watergate, Congress and the Middle East.

Trinkets and Ethics

As a political correspondent for United Press International (UPI), Pippert has carried professional and personal baggage from a long career covering politics with him to the IOP.

Studded with maps and cultural reminders of the Middle East, the spring-term headquarters of UPI's recently-returned Middle East bureau chief bombards the visitor with visual images of a long and varied career.

Pointing to one print on his wall, Pippert explains, "David Roberts [the picture's artist] is to the Middle East what Andrew Wyeth is to this country." In the midst of rare maps from the 1800s and bookshelves filled with volumes on Israeli politics, Pippert says that absorbing the culture of the Middle East was one of the perks of his two-year foreign assignment.

But the role of ethics and their impact on mass media, not trinkets of his journalistic past, are what Pippert concerns himself with most at the Kennedy School.

In addition to offering an Institute of Politics study group on "The Ethics of the News Story" this semester, Pippert is revising the manuscript of his upcoming book, The Ethics of News.

"I have a long, long interest in this burning issue of justice," says Pippert about his research for the book. Although he finished writing the first draft before his sojourn in the Middle East, Pippert, who has written four previous books, says he held up publication to include "the whole new set of issues which a foreign assignment presented."

Pippert says that the goal of his work at the Kennedy School this semester is "to fuse my background as a journalist with values in a complex age that go far beyond journalism."

Pippert's background includes extensive assignments covering both domestic and foreign politics, including what he suggests is an inordinate number of sensitive stories. He cites his coverage of the plight of the Sioux Indians in South Dakota and the last two executions at Chicago's Cook County jail as formative experiences.

Confronting issues such as these has helped Pippert arrive at a definition of ethical reporting: "I think the job of the journalist is to pursue truth. It is simply the heart and core of the matter. The ethical journalist is a journalist committed to truth, who will be almost compelled to deal with issues of justice and peace."

Pippert has approached journalistic truth in ways he says were criticized as unconventional. As UPI's Middle East bureau chief, he beefed up coverage of the West Bank, filling the wire with short, three-to-four paragraph dispatches about conditions in the controversial Israeli territory.

"The mere publication of these stories, I feel, helped build a mosaic that, when taken together, communicated truth about life on the West Bank," Pippert writes in his IOP study group proposal.

Beating the Deadline Mentality

Pippert further argues that the political process stands to gain from ethical journalism. A firm believer in sabbaticals, he says that commonly accepted standards of his profession often damage the credibility of political reporting.

He argues that, "Reporters are a notoriously unreflective lot. They don't meditate or contemplate, they just have to get out, get the story. Most working reporters would like to take the time to consider ethics. It's not that they're amoral or immoral, it's just that they don't have time."

Over the years Pippert has taken time out from the daily reporting game he received a Master's degree in Old Testament studies on one sabbatical, garnered a Congressional fellowship during another and produced a book on "The Spiritual Journey of Jimmy Carter" in the course of a third leave of absence.

He says he decided to apply for the IOP fellowship during his last year in Israel, after Washington Post columnist David Broder, a former fellow, recommended the program.

"I've always known [the IOP fellows program] was just about the most prestigious fellowship, and I began inquiries last year because I thought it would provide the perfect opportunity to evaluate the journalistic challenges of the past couple of years," he says.

Pippert, who is living in Arlington for the semester, says the IOP fellows program is an intense experience. "We eat lunch together every week. I probably eat more meals with [the other fellows] than with my wife," he says.

After his stay at the Kennedy School, Pippert says he plans to jump back on to the bandwagon of political journalism. "I'm a bit out of touch with the American political scene," he acknowledges, "The last election I covered was the general election in Israel two years ago."

A Pundit Reborn

Nonetheless, the veteran campaign reporter is willing to venture some predictions on the 1988 American presidential race, suggesting that it could turn into a hotly contested fight. He especially singles out Rep. Richard Gephardt (D-Mo.), one of three Democrats to have officially declared his candidacy, as "really appealing," saying that Congressmen have both tremendous mastery of issues and leadership abilities.

He further predicts that Massachusetts Governor Michael S. Dukakis, a former lecturer at the School where Pippert is spending spring semester, "serves to be the heir to much of the initial support for Cuomo. Dukakis will make a strong showing in the race."

Already reaccustomed to the American practice of predicting presidential politics far in advance, Pippert is sure to spend the rest of the term fine-tuning his U.S. political insight with the help of the six other IOP fellows. And, all the free lunches aren't that bad either.