Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, March 17, 1992 TAG: 9203170302
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: MADELYN ROSENBERG HIGHER EDUCATION WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Medium
The event is planned for Wednesday at 8 p.m. in Burruss Hall and is free and open to the public.
The panel will include syndicated columnists Robert Novak and Jack Germond, and Al Hunt, Washington bureau chief for The Wall Street Journal.
Shows like "The Capital Gang," where political pundits analyze the goings on in Washington, have become increasingly popular in recent years. That's both good and bad, said Robert Denton, head of Tech's communications department.
"Some would say it's another way of television making us politically lazy," Denton said Monday. "It's another layer between the candidates and the public. These pundits tell us, not what to think, but certainly what to think about in terms of issues, and of candidates' strengths and weaknesses."
Shows like "Crossfire" and "The Capital Gang" reinterpret events for the public, Denton said. "They reinterpret reality. And that's another step removed from the electoral process."
The pundits' opinions may be more informed than those of people who live outside of the Beltway, Denton said, but they are still just opinions.
Still, people love listening to the analysts argue back and forth, Denton said. The analysts become personalities in their own right - not just observers.
"People are willing to come out and watch these people spar, Denton said. "It's entertainment, hopefully a step above championship wrestling . . . Someone like Novak may pull in as big of a crowd as the candidates themselves."
Novak co-hosts CNN's "Evans & Novak." He was a reporter with The Associated Press for four years, covering state politics and Congress. He joined the Washington bureau of the Wall Street Journal in 1958 and became chief congressional correspondent in 1961. He joined Rowland Evans in 1963 to write "Inside Report," which is published four times a week and one of the longest- running syndicated columns in the nation. Novak is the executive producer "Capital Gang," and frequently appears on CNN's "Crossfire" and NBC's "Meet the Press."
Germond, a newspaperman for 35 years, has been covering national politics since the election of John F. Kennedy. He is a frequent guest panelist on PBS's "The McLaughlin Group."
Germond spent 20 years with Gannett Company, Inc., the last four as Washington bureau chief, before joining the now-defunct Washington Star in 1974 as senior political writer. He later served as the Star's political editor.
He is based in the Washington bureau of the Baltimore Evening Sun, where he writes "Politics Today," a syndicated column with Jules Witcover.
Hunt has been on the staff of The Wall Street Journal since 1965. In 1976 he received the Raymond Clapper award for Washington reporting and in 1983, he became Washington bureau chief for the Journal. He was a panelist on PBS's "Washington Week in Review" from 1976 to 1983.
by CNB