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: Lawbeat

Liptak interview on "American Exception" series

By Mark Obbie

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NPR's "Fresh Air" features Adam Liptak in a discussion about his "American Exception" series, which I've raved about here and here. Mostly it's a stroll through the many topics Liptak explored in the series, starting with his latest installment, on imprisonment rates. But in the final two minutes of a 25-minute interview, guest host David Davies of the Philadelphia Daily News talks to Liptak about his transition six years ago from in-house lawyer at the Times to reporter:

Davies: Were there things about reporting that surprised you, misconceptions about how journalism works or new skills you had to develop? What was it like to leap into this business that you knew so well but hadn't practiced?Liptak: It was terrifying. My first six months were sheer terror. I really didn't have the background to be any kind of newspaper reporter, much less one starting on the national desk of The New York Times. I didn't have any sources, I had not really conducted telephone interviews. There's a skill set involved in journalism that's not the hardest thing in the world to master, but really you want to do it on your college paper, and maybe at some regional paper, and not in the big time.

Liptak goes on to tell a funny story about his panic over not knowing how much work he should do to produce a 700-word story. Oddly, Davies barely mentions the latest big-time move by Liptak, to the Supreme Court beat replacing Linda Greenhouse. And the two don't discuss whether Liptak's national legal affairs beat will be filled, as I urged that it be (and I'm sure the Times hierarchy hangs on my every command). Could the news that the Boston Globe's Charlie Savage is jumping to the Times be related? I'm trying to find out and will post if I do.Update: A memo from Dean Baquet (which is too long to post here in its entirety) says that Savage's new D.C.-based position is investigative. Perhaps that's why Eric Lichtblau recently was told he is returning to the DOJ beat from an investigative slot, but that's only conjecture with opaque sourcing, so forget I said it!

Full post as published by Lawbeat on May 08, 2008 (boomark / email).