Face the press, but keep your thought in still waters

Robin Read

Between a White House briefing on United States trade promotion authority, an interview at The Washington Times for National Parents' Day, and a board of directors meeting of the Museum of the Americas, Robin Read squeezed the Sentinel in for a phone interview about how she deals with the media spiritually. She is president and chief executive officer of the National Foundation for Women Legislators. She works daily with Washington newsmakers—and sometimes is one herself.

Are there adjustments in perspective that newsmakers have to make in filtering the news that typical news readers or viewers don't?

Research tells us the average person doesn't read the newspaper, and may only watch the 6 o'clock news. But in Washington, The Wall Street Journal is bumping against your door at 4:30 or 5:00 in the morning, and you go through all the other newspapers before work, and then arrive early at the office to finish reading before your day begins. The TV news is on all day. The news—national or international—is all local news to us in Washington. That's because it's usually about us or people with whom we're working. The news is our way of life.

Send a comment to the editors

NEXT IN THIS ISSUE

Article

Could an earthquake ever be good?