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Tracking the
Every cub reporter dreams of getting that one big front-page story that exposes injustice, uncovers a secret past, or in my case, one that dramatically improves the lives of the downtrodden. The dream is of a story so big that it could earn you a Pulitzer Prize.
Yet some of us received an even better reward – the opportunity to cover Marion S. Barry, Washington D.C.’s “Mayor for Life.”
For those of us in the local press corps who spent decades chasing him, Barry was, radio talk-show host Kojo Nnamdi once said, “The gift that keeps on giving.” We never had to wait long before the bodacious Barry would provide cannon fodder for a front page story, or trigger a “breaking news” live shot, or even, in my case, the once-in-a-lifetime “extra” edition.”
Many of us met our final deadline for a breaking dispatch about Barry when he died on Nov. 23, shortly after being released from the hospital. He was 78. His “homegoing” stretched over three days.
Most budding journalists can’t wait to get off the local beat, but D.C. reporters coveted a spot on the Barry beat.
To chronicle Barry, whose influence over the District of Columbia spanned several decades, you didn’t have to like him but you had to respect him as a politician. His career as a political figure was marked by a trajectory that soared from a school board post to D.C. Council member to mayor then back to the council in a colorful, sometimes profane, arc of foibles, scandals, muddied reputation and improbable successes.
And while affection is not exactly the word to label how I and scores of other seemingly hostile local reporters embraced him, there certainly was respect for someone who was an in-your-face news figure whose antics helped make several successful journalism careers, including mine.
“... so I’m glad I got my chance to cover such a charismatic larger-than-life figure who provided the kind of career about which a local reporter can rarely dream of. ”
By Adrienne T. Washington