Dumb like a Pulitzer Prize winner

I'm an avid viewer of C-Span, which tells you something about the humdrum life I lead. But it has its advantages.

Last week I caught a speech given at the National Press Club by David Simon, who created The Wire, an extremely popular HBO show on the drug world in Baltimore. He had been a police beat reporter for 12 years at the Baltimore Sun and talked about what he had learned there.

"Journalists are supposed to be innately curious. I can't tell you the number of people I knew who didn't want to be seen asking the stupid question, or asking any question at all, or didn't want to ask a question where it wasn't clear they already knew the answer and were just trying to catch you.

"The idea of journalism is walking into a room and saying, 'Gee, I don't know about any of this. Help me.'"

In this regard Simon's role model was Homer Bigart (at left in PBS pic) who became a legendary reporter in New York City, although he didn't start out that way.

"Homer Bigart's great gift was he didn't mind being a goof. He had a speech impediment and they didn't even let him be a reporter until his 30s. When the plane hit the Empire State Bldg he was the only one to go up in the elevator with NYC Mayor LaGuardia. He was such a nondescript character no one paid any attention to him.

"Once a captain of industry said to Bigart's editor, 'I can't believe the reporter you sent to interview me. The guy was a complete idiot. I had to explain everything to him."

Bigart went on to win a Pulitzer for international reporting in 1951.

Simon spoke of a drug dealer he'd worked with in researching material for The Wire. Talking to him years later the dealer told him why he'd agreed to help him. "Man, you just looked like you didn't know anything. I felt sorry for you. I figured I had to help you."

"That's my skill set: I have an ear for dialogue - and I'm willing to admit I don't know anything."

Words of wisdom if I ever heard them.

More from the You Can't Make This Up department

An animal rights organization criticized Barack Obama for swatting a fly during a White House interview and vowed to send the president a humane trap.

Once again, reality trumps fantasy

Sometimes it's not fair. A guy tries to write a simple blog in which, among other musings, he looks for news stories that lend themselves to irony, mild ridicule or the odd pun. Then along comes the report from an Arizona town where they settled an election tie by drawing from a deck of playing cards, the king of hearts winning over the eight of hearts.

Now I ask you, how does one improve on that?

More Headlines I would have written if I'd had the chance ...

Sale of Chrysler is 'Fiat accompli'

Tube strike gives London commuters the shaft

Feds let 10 banks out from under TARP

Trump to Miss California: 'You're fired!'

Headlines revisited

Do you know how when commenting on a blog posting we're required to copy a word to verify we're human? They're supposed to be "nonsense" words, a random series of consonants and vowels. But lately they've started to take on meanings for me. For example --

gortso (gore-tso)

What you call someone who has an insatiable appetite for gory movies, as in, "You're a real gortso, aren't you?"

feinstr (fane-ster)

Someone who is always pretending to be angry, happy, etc. "Here comes the feinstr."

fulnelne (full-kneel-knee)

A medical condition resulting from excessive kneeling: "I'm afraid you have all of the symptoms of fulnelne."

In these bleak economic times ...

... It's all the more important to celebrate the good news, such as -

The possibility that the Cavaliers will lose one or two games in their NBA playoff series with the Orlando Magic, thus creating one or two more home dates - all to the good for the restaurant employees and others who depend on downtown activity.

The recommendation of a $3.2 million state loan to repair a huge press in Alcoa's Flats plant where 1,000 workers produce complex parts for industrial, aerospace and automotive customers. It'll be even better if those customers recover enough to actually buy the parts.

The resumption of operations at Ford's Cleveland Engine Plant No. 1 - meaning employment for 250 people - and for a lot of robots, too!

Headlines I'd written if I'd had the chance`...

Hubble on the Bubble

On how the famous space telescope's future depends on the success of NASA astronauts' repairs.

Guards' use of stun guns on children
shocks Florida corrections official

On how some prison employees took part in "take a child to work" day - and went a little overboard.

A waist is a terrible thing to mine

On how dieters should be skeptical of weight loss plans that let you eat whatever you want, don’t include exercise, or focus on one kind of food.