Law Grad Makes Living Reading News

Some make the news, some write the news and some read the news.

And some read the news for the people who make the news.

In the last several years, Keith O. Boykin, Harvard Law School class of 1992, has done all of the above. He was editor-in-chief of The Dartmouth while he was an undergraduate at Dartmouth University. He was active in the Coalition for Civil Rights, a student activist group, while at Harvard.

Now, he serves as the director of news analysis for President Clinton, studying and reporting on the media for the leader of the free world.

In a phone interview this week, Boykin said that while he is dealing with some of the same issues he observed at Harvard, his perspective has changed.

"I learned a lot from Harvard Law School... about power and politics and law and the interaction of the three, about how difficult it is to change even an enlightened, well-intentioned institution for the better," Boykin said. "Now I can see the perspective of the institution."

He originally became involved with the Clinton administration when he was hired as Midwest press manager for the Clinton/Gore election campaign last August. He had previously worked on the presidential campaign of former Massachusetts Gov. Michael S. Dukakis in 1988.

Despite his undergraduate journalism experience, Boykin said that he did not participate in journalism while at Harvard. "The problem I have with journalism is the same problem I have with law--I couldn't articulate my own ideas and political agenda," he said. "I felt like I had to be someone else's person all of the time."

In the Clinton administration, though, he has been asked for his opinion on several issues--especially the issue of the ban on gays in the military. Boykin, who is gay, said he was at Clinton's Kennedy School speech during the presidential campaign last year when the candidate first raised the issue.

"I sat in at a meeting when he met with gay and lesbian leaders," Boykin said. "It's difficult turning any sort of campaign promise into workable legislation...but for me, it's been a fascinating experience watching the development of an idea."

He did not say whether he thought Clinton's compromise policy, dubbed "don't ask, don't tell," went far enough, a point of criticism for leaders of the gay, lesbian and bisexual community in the nation and at Harvard. But Boykin said he enjoyed the lack of discrimination based on sexual orientation he has experienced while working for Clinton--an attitude he said he believes "starts from the top down."

He said that he first came out as a gay man while at Harvard. "For me, it wasn't an issue. After I decided to come out, I never faced any open homophobia," Boykin said. "But others at Harvard Law hoped to go on to have important careers in the future as judges, lawyers, elected officials and people understandably had some concerns about... having it come back to haunt them."

Boykin said, though, that he is watchful of public opinion--but in terms of understanding it, not courting it. "There's a high level of suspicion out there about government in general," he said. "Every issue, no matter how minuscule, has the tendency to take on larger proportions than necessary if a reporter senses some hidden controversy."

Boykin's job has been made somewhat harder by staff cuts implemented as part of cost-cutting measures by Clinton.

While the office of news analysis under Bush had eight people, under Clinton it has only four. Boykin said that although his workload varies depending on the President's activities, he frequently works 12 hours per day.

One change instigated by Boykin has helped the office run more efficiently, however. "When I first came, I found out the campaign technology was superior to the technology in the White House," he said. "We've had a new computer system installed.

"I sat in at a meeting when he met with gay and lesbian leaders," Boykin said. "It's difficult turning any sort of campaign promise into workable legislation...but for me, it's been a fascinating experience watching the development of an idea."

He did not say whether he thought Clinton's compromise policy, dubbed "don't ask, don't tell," went far enough, a point of criticism for leaders of the gay, lesbian and bisexual community in the nation and at Harvard. But Boykin said he enjoyed the lack of discrimination based on sexual orientation he has experienced while working for Clinton--an attitude he said he believes "starts from the top down."

He said that he first came out as a gay man while at Harvard. "For me, it wasn't an issue. After I decided to come out, I never faced any open homophobia," Boykin said. "But others at Harvard Law hoped to go on to have important careers in the future as judges, lawyers, elected officials and people understandably had some concerns about... having it come back to haunt them."

Boykin said, though, that he is watchful of public opinion--but in terms of understanding it, not courting it. "There's a high level of suspicion out there about government in general," he said. "Every issue, no matter how minuscule, has the tendency to take on larger proportions than necessary if a reporter senses some hidden controversy."

Boykin's job has been made somewhat harder by staff cuts implemented as part of cost-cutting measures by Clinton.

While the office of news analysis under Bush had eight people, under Clinton it has only four. Boykin said that although his workload varies depending on the President's activities, he frequently works 12 hours per day.

One change instigated by Boykin has helped the office run more efficiently, however. "When I first came, I found out the campaign technology was superior to the technology in the White House," he said. "We've had a new computer system installed.