I don't know what I was thinking when I proposed my modest shared apartment in Spenard as the setting, but the Daily News' new Editor-in-Chief said that would be fine. And by the time Kent Pollock arrives, the apartment is clean, if not presentable.Clad in a hippie helmet and untucked shirt, I am diagnosed by Pollock as 'comfortable,' a fine excuse to doff his corporate accessories. Though I haven't known him long, I realize I like this guy, but am terribly intimidated by him. Not his position, but the years of experience under his belt, the amazing stuff he does every day on such a large scale - much larger than we're doing at the Press, larger than I've ever done.
And he sits down and can't stand the cold streaming through the window, attributes it to not being acclimated yet, and when I start to record, he immediately dispenses journalistic wisdom. "I tell all my reporters, recorders are great, but they may be the worst thing that ever happened to reporters," he says, "I mean, I use them all the time, but you get so reliant on the damn things. And it takes so long to transcribe... In the old days - I actually think quotes before recorders were more reliable, more accurate - even if the exact words weren't." Instantly, I'm drawn to thinking about the transcription process that will no doubt ensue, and a small tremor sets in. Pollock is clearly skilled at interviewing, no matter which side of the table he sits on.
The Long Journey
Pollock started working in journalism in 1965, as a sportswriter for his hometown newspaper, the Santa Cruz Sentinel, and began working at The Miami Herald in 1967. From '71-'76, he was a national correspondent and investigative reporter at The Philadelphia Inquirer, where in 1972 he won the Philadelphia Grand Jury Association Award for "contributions toward elimination of official corruption through articles in The Philadelphia Inquirer." The series led to the arrest or dismissal of 34 police officers on corruption charges. Pollock and the staff who served under him have won a plethora of national, state and local awards.
After a long stint as an editor of small publications and owning a few small publishing firms, Pollock got a job as Managing Editor of The Valley Press in Felton and the Scott's Valley Banner, both weekly Scripps papers. From there, he moved to the Sacramento Bee, the flagship paper of the McClatchy chain, in 1985 as Assistant Managing Editor for Metro, Business, Sports and clerks.
A scant decade later landed him in Anchorage, as Editor-in-Chief of the Daily News. "Within McClatchy there were a number of potential opportunities," says Pollock, "but this one was, to me, hands down the best." Pollock put in an application and before he knew it, he was here. His wife, a schoolteacher; his son, a senior in high school; and his daughter, a high school sophomore, are finishing the school year back home. They'll move up to join Pollock and find a house in June. For now, regular commutes to California and an incredible workload keep Pollock's mind off of the family and friends in CA he left behind. "That's the hardest part of this whole proposition," says Pollock, "but it's a matter of months and it'll go by so fast..."
Pollock has big plans ahead, and a strong mission of truth and integrity. "The fact is, the only orders I have are to do really good journalism," says Pollock. Outside of that mission, he intends to repair what he feels is a negative image of the newspaper through quality reporting and tighter editing; and to help his staff work smarter. "Day in and day out, this paper for its size is just a hell of a paper and I feel blessed to have the staff I have," says Pollock.
And being in Alaska, he says, is great. "Everywhere I turn, I get excited here, and that's great for an old dog like me. I've always been interested in adventure, and my wife is a year older than I am, and we kind of feel like this could be our last big adventure. " Pollock says he plans to stay, "as long as they'll have me. I could really see myself retiring here... and I've got no shortage of challenges and improvements that we can make. So I've got plenty of work, it's a great place to live, it's a great staff to work with - it's pretty close to ideal."
A Mission of Journalistic Integrity and Quality Control
"A paper can be a tremendously positive force in helping the community to figure out where it's at so it can determine where it needs to be," says Pollock, who intends to use his power to advance the cause of civilized society.
Among his goals are reducing wire copy and remaking the image of the paper through eliminating bias. "Too often we just take wire copy and roll it in, and over the years, the most intense conversations I've had with critics, advertisers, and others almost always is over a wire piece that didn't really apply locally," he says, "Some editor had a 16 inch hole, saw a 16 inch story and probably read it but not very carefully and plugged it in there. And that's a problem in all newspapers."
And though ADN has a close relationship to the Associated Press, covering their stories when they can't and vice versa, writing articles in-house is a top priority. "[We] certainly [want] less wire copy from this state and about this state, but I'm realistic enough to know that I can't eliminate it entirely," he says, "I do want to eliminate wire copy from the Metro front, and I want there to be enough time so it happens graciously... I believe in evolution, not revolution."
Reducing bias, whether actual or perceived, is one of Pollock's loftiest intentions. He sees ADN as a balanced paper, "with some notable exceptions," he plans to work on. The key to reducing negative impressions and neutralizing bias lies in a return to the purest principles of ethical journalism, a task Pollock seems uniquely suited to. "Sometimes [in ADN], there's an awful strong point of view without the balance I'd like to see," he says. "I don't want to put my finger on any one article, but then I hate to be so generic in my criticism because I don't think it's widespread. " As an example, he cites a recent article that was balanced, but left the 'opposing' side's point of view "until 15 inches into the article," and argues for strict equal time rules. "I believe the harder the story hits," he says, "the higher the voice of the other side has to be. And I don't think that weakens stories, I think it strengthens them greatly."
Above all, Pollock is hungry for facts that stand up to strict scrutiny - facts that make a point for themselves. "I must have said this a hundred times in the last month ," he says, "If you've got the goods, go with it. But don't replace lack of reporting with snide opinion and commentary, because it's not going to fly"
- "We have incredible responsibility and we have to drive ourselves to maintain the standards and pay tribute to the values that have served us so well over the years, and some of us have forgotten about that."
Pollock identifies specific reasons for this return to purity of form - both his love for the craft, and the desire to strengthen the image of the paper. "I learned a long time ago that if a reporter, if a paper is looking for maximum impact, the best way to do that is in balanced way. There's the ideal and the reality - just keep striving for the ideal and realize you may not always hit it," he says. "I love telling stories and I love reading good stories, so sometimes I just wish that I had a little more time to do it just a little bit better."
Pollock says he feels people are tired of liberal/conservative papers, and are just looking for "good old fashioned good journalism. And that we can do," he says. Pollock is pure reporter, plain and simple, and his favorite part of the job is learning. He says, "you have access to the people who know, and you get to learn. It's almost like a constant education, and that's one of the wonders about it I love so much."
Even more than the personal payoffs in journalism, Pollock is keenly aware and excited by the social significance of his work. "You don't want to freeze anyone's voice out," he says, "We have incredible responsibility and we have to drive ourselves to maintain the standards and pay tribute to the values that have served us so well over the years, and some of us have forgotten about that."
"I think in this era when all this is going on, truth and honesty still counts for most people," says Pollock who is frustrated with recent trends in mass-consumption journalism, shows like Geraldo and Hard Copy. "Go to breaking news events - reporters are on the plane with agents, or looking to buy people's stories - and it's made it really difficult to just do our job," he says, "We've got to turn that around. Responsible journalists need to become advocates for the profession. [We should do] PR, even though it hurts us - we need to sell ourselves."
Better Content with the Same Resources?
Though Pollock seeks to accomplish a difficult task in streamlining the Daily News while improving its quality, he's positive about his chances for success. "It's just a function of space and resources," he says, keenly aware that ADN's finite resources will only go so far, "Each of those things will come at some cost. There's only so many calories to burn in a given week, and at ADN, people are working very hard. There aren't a lot of people laying back and not pulling their weight - people are pulling more than their weight. My role is to help them work a lot smarter so they don't have to work so hard to get the same amount done. And the other part of my job to find a way to get space to do that."
"David Hulen did a wonderful piece on a walrus hunt. But the damn story, which was pretty well written, just went on and on." says Pollock, who feels that editorial tightening is another area the Daily News can improve dramatically, "And I was out of town, which is my excuse. But with a little work, we could have pulled out a couple side bars - it would have been much more presentable... To expect someone to go through 130 inches of story is more than we ought to be asking. Not to say some stories aren't worth 130 inches, and by golly we're gonna publish them, and our best writers are gonna write 'em because it's a real challenge to hold the reader that long."
Alaskan Politics and The Media's Ability to Create Social Change
Pollock is a long-time student of social policy and urban affairs, and feels passionately about the media's ability to influence social change for the better. Though he's new to Alaska, Pollock has clearly researched the state's history and culture, and is learning more every day. "I don't think I came here six weeks ago and that I've got the magic bullet," he says, "but the economics of this city are of great fascination and great concern to me."
Pollock sees in Alaska a golden opportunity to steer a wiser course than many other states in the union, and hopes to help the public take advantage of that opportunity. "This is a wonderful, exciting young state with issues yet to be resolved that have already been screwed up by other states. We're yet to screw 'em up," he says, "I hope what we do instead is learn from other people's mistakes and do it a little better for Alaska. "
A number of factors will be working in his favor, the most significant of which is the small population size, both in Anchorage and in the state in general. "The number of people is so small that if I wanted to get the pulse of AK, I think I could do it. It wouldn't be cheap, but I think I could do it," he says. Whether or not such a project is theoretically possible, Pollock has hit on Alaska's greatest gift to its journalists - people are easy to meet, and generally open. "There are some real interesting characters and politicians in town," says Pollock, "Alaskans clearly (if you can generalize) seem to be very outspoken very independent."
Independence is a trait Pollock shares, and in few places does his passion become as clear as in disclosure of public information. The governor's recent campaign dinner (during which he declined to state his earnings until February, as provided by law) and the status of Drew Pearce's potential conflicts of interest (association with companies doing business with the State) are of key significance to Pollock. He believes the overriding philosophy should be following the spirit of the laws - disclosure.
"I happen to think the Governor is a nice guy on a personal level, but it seems to me the spirit of law is disclosure. And to do as he's doing, and Drew Pearce... to say the law requires it at this time [and we won't provide it until then] violates the spirit of the law. Can they get away with it? Probably. But in the long run, probably not," says Pollock, "We're going to be staunch advocates for open government, and we're resistant to being worn down. We may have to wait 'till February, but in February - by golly those records better be complete."
"We're going to be staunch advocates for open government, and we're resistant to being worn down. We may have to wait 'till February, but in February - by golly those records better be complete."
"It's so typical of obstructionist bureaucracy," he says, "It's important for a paper with the resources of ADN to hold government accountable, certainly in the context of laws which aren't good enough." Full disclosure, says Pollock, is the answer to campaign finance problems, "because we can make up our minds, and if we're truly upset about it, we can do something about it. But when you don't know, it's tough not to think the worst," says Pollock, and that destroys credibility in government.
Though he seemed committed to providing as much information as possible in deference to his respect for disclosure, when I asked him the contents of a public document (a voter registration card) on file for a public person (him), he respectfully declined to answer, instead presenting me with a challenge. "I'm not yet registered in AK yet," he said, "I was registered in CA, but I'm going to make you look it up."
Pollock has another great idea for how the Daily News can take advantage of public information - crunching police data to learn more about criminal justice issues in Alaska. "I'd like to get, presuming they're on computer, tapes of the court system and jail tapes," he says, "find out who we're arresting and to what extent we're successful in those arrests - bring to this community some information about its criminal justice system that I don't think we've really done."
This idea doesn't come out of left field for him - recently at the Bee, he participated in a lawsuit stemming from an investigation of medical complaints, in cooperation with the LA Times and the San Jose Mercury News. Not only were they allowed full access to the tapes by the courts, but it cost far less to retrieve the data than had been estimated once an impartial party examined their computers.
Above all, Pollock's mission right now is to integrate himself into this community, learn all he can, and meet all the people he can. Not lost on him is the calling to remake the image of the paper into one that even its fiercest critics will accept, if not embrace. "I've sought out some of our critics thinking they had valuable information," he says, "And it's blown some of their minds that I've even called, let alone [that I'd] sit down and talk with them."
People really do love and really do hate this newspaper," he says, "I want to transform some of those people who really hate us into readers if I can. Try and do journalism well enough so people who disagree at least have some modicum of respect because they know we're fair and balanced. "
Kent Pollock on...
Best Man For The Job?
As careful Daily News readers may recall, Howard Weaver recommended Managing Editor Pat Dougherty for the Editor-in-Chief position. Weaver and Dougherty had been together from the start, both Alaskan sourdoughs. The announcement appeared in the paper, which was somewhat uncharacteristic and caused problems for both Dougherty and Pollock when the hiring decision was made.
"I think Pat and I both knew that it was one of us," says Pollock, "and we both wanted the best person to win, and we both thought we were the best people. But when I read that, I was just shocked. I've never seen something quite like that in a story."
"I have an awful lot of respect for Howard for a lot of reasons - among them his loyalty to his staff. But I think it was inappropriate for Howard to publicly do that," he adds, "It made it a lot harder on Pat if he didn't get the job. And on some level it made it a little more difficult for me, because [Weaver] raised some expectations that weren't necessarily going to come about."
"Pat is a very talented, good journalist and my full partner in this endeavor. And I felt badly for him, it sort of highlighted the fact that he didn't get he job," he says, "The bottom line is, I think it's unfortunate it came down that way - sort of unnecessary emotion that resulted. "
ANWR
"As regards ANWR, I'm in sync with the paper's position," says Pollock, "ANWR can be developed in an environmentally sound way... the exploration area is sufficiently small in terms of overall refuge that a careful development there would be possible."
But Pollock would also like to see an accounting of how much oil is up there, though given the history of secrecy he says, "I'm not sure how many people know [how much oil is in ANWR], but it's been a while and it hasn't leaked. Surely not only members of the press, but an awful lot of environmentalists and other people that have interest... have tried - I think it's pretty well under wraps."
Since it'll be ten years before the area is under development, Pollock says there's plenty of time to iron these issues out. The persistent, unresolveable issue, though, remains - Alaska's dependence on natural resources. "You can argue how long it'll last, but the oil sooner or later will be sucked up and used. And this state has to find a way to become less dependent," he says.
McClatchy
"I'm a very strident supporter of McClatchy newspapers, having worked for other chains," says Pollock, "and I can tell you this place is truly unbelievable. Our new editor in Fresno came from Rochester. And shortly after he'd got there, he felt like he'd died and gone to heaven because corporate wasn't on the phone with him every day telling him what to do and asking him what he's done about this and what he's done about that."
"This is a chain that really values independence in each of its properties. And fact is, the only orders I have are to do really good journalism, and there aren't many chains who turn editors loose like that... It's a very open kind of environment."
Proper care and handling of the news
As an example, Pollock brings to mind the article on Alaskan gifts which were actually made in Bali, which ran last week. "The presentation, the way we layed that story out - it drives me nuts. We spent months to get the content right, and in the last hours or even minutes, we just sort of vomit it onto the page," he says, "And it's just too bad, We don't do that in our features sections. I'm going to work on that. It's just a disappointment when good work doesn't get the kind of care and handling it needs when it comes time to