Panels, Festivities Mark Crimson's 125th Anniversary

The participants spanned a 32-year age difference, they had been seasoned by years at prestigious publications and government agencies and they no longer sat according to their politics.

Otherwise, the panel discussion that took place Saturday morning could just as easily have been one of The Crimson's editorial meetings.

The panel--which featured former editors including New York Times columnist J. Anthony Lewis '48, former Defense Department official Daniel Ellsberg '52 and U.S. News & World Report Editor James M. Fallows '70--was one of many weekend events celebrating The Crimson's 125th anniversary.

About 450 alumni returned to Harvard for the festivities, which culminated in a gala dinner Saturday night at the presidential library of John F. Kennedy '40, also a former Crimson editor.

At the center of much of the morning debate was the coverage of the alleged affair between President Clinton and former White House intern Monica S. Lewinsky. While most panelists found the coverage irresponsible, they cited different reasons.

James K. Glassman '69, a columnist for The Washington Post and a scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, pointed to a lack of major world news as a reason for the Lewinsky coverage.

"There's no Cold War and no real hot wars, and the economy's doing well," Glassman said. "That leaves journalists with a lot less to talk about...and into this void comes Monica Lewinsky."

But Carol R. Sternhell '71 said there were still more important issues that needed to be covered by the press.

"The issues are just as pressing as they used to be," said Sternhell, who is a professor of journalism and women's studies at New York University. "The press just isn't putting them on the table and the people aren't talking about them."

Fallows, the author of many books including Breaking the News: How the Media Undermine American Democracy, agreed with Sternhell.

"This is a time to use the great skill of the business, which is making things that should be important to the people interesting," he said.

The panelists discussed the role of the national press and news networks as technology makes it easier for people to publish news, both in print and on the Internet.

Lewis, who is also a two-time Pulitzer Prize winner, said Americans were increasingly turning to local news stations rather than the three major news networks for information. He also noted that "local news television is increasingly covering crime."

Despite the proliferation of alternative forms of media, Jonathan H. Alter '79, an editor and columnist for Newsweek, said there was still a major role for the print press to play.

"The national news is still driven by the print press," he said. "We now have a narrative function to pull together some of the many strands out there."

Panelists also debated the role corporate leaders should play in determining what appears in their newspapers and television broadcasts.

Robert W. Decherd '73, president and CEO of A.H. Belo Corporation, one of the nation's largest media companies, said he believed corporate leaders had a responsibility to monitor the content of their programs.

"We need to take this seriously among our peer group," Decherd said. "We can't just say, 'It doesn't matter because this is what the public wants to hear.'"

Other weekend events included panel discussions about Wall Street, "Publicity vs. Privacy in Law," "New Media" and a discussion led by David Halberstam '55, a Pulitzer Prize-winning author.