THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, October 29, 1995 TAG: 9510290061
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A2 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: EDITOR'S NOTEBOOK
SOURCE: Cole C. Campbell, Editor
LENGTH: Medium: 84 lines
On Saturday, Oct. 21, leaders of the Chesapeake City Council of Civic Organizations gathered at the Triple R Ranch near the Northwest River to honor members for their contributions to civic life.
Mike Knepler was there, notebook in hand, catching up on the details of neighborhood initiatives, probing the opinions of community activists, listening to a community talk to itself.
On Wednesday, a couple hundred civic and business leaders met for lunch at the Holiday Inn Executive Center in Virginia Beach. They were the guests of former Norfolk Mayor Joe Leafe and other organizers of CIVIC, a fledgling community leadership training program.
Mike Knepler was there, notebook in hand, capturing the formal speeches, noting the makeup of the crowd, listening to a community exhort itself to attend to its future.
For nearly 17 years - since Feb. 21, 1979 - Mike Knepler has reported local news for The Virginian-Pilot. Most of that time, he has covered local government-related beats in Portsmouth and Norfolk, including housing and redevelopment. Now, as a member of the Public Life Team, he has broadened his geographical bent to all of South Hampton Roads and focused his attention even more on citizens groups, civic leagues and the grassroots tapestry that ties together much of our shared lives.
But this is not a truly new assignment for Mike. Throughout his time here, he has been the epitome of a street reporter, working his beat much the way a neighborhood police officer works a beat - by being out there, by talking to people face to face, by dropping in on community gatherings no matter the time of day or day of week they occur.
Mike always has had faith that people working together to solve common problems make for interesting news stories.
Sometimes Mike had to prove the value of his faith to his bosses, as made clear in this 1983 note to Mike from one senior editor:
``Thanks for your good work on the civic league package Sunday. As someone who has viewed civic leagues with a heavy dose of skepticism, I found your story informative and good reading.''
Now we have come around to Mike's point of view: One of our primary obligations is to see the world from a citizen's perspective and not just from the perspective of professional politicians, professional policy makers or professional pundits.
But even as we begin to catch up with Mike, he moves ahead.
He hasn't honed his journalism simply by ``being there.'' He also has honed it by much thought and reflection.
He believes that journalists must not only see the world from a citizen's perspective, but also see themselves first and foremost as citizens. What we see as our highest professional values - accuracy, fairness, balance, accountability, freedom from self-interest - Mike sees as the values and obligations of all citizens.
``While we cannot ever achieve pure objectivity, it is our obligation - as it is of every citizen - to attempt to stand outside her or his immediate self-interest and consider the self-interest of others and the overall interests of our communities, nation and even the world,'' Mike wrote in a note to me last week. ``Refocusing the journalist as citizen first creates a more powerful interdependent relation with other citizens, helping all of us hold each other and our communities more accountable.''
Do journalists have a special role in a democracy? Yes, Mike says, but it is special only in that we devote more time and attention to tasks every citizen must attend to - ensuring the free flow of accurate, fair and balanced information, which Mike calls a ``rational resource'' essential for a democracy to thrive.
Sadly, reporters are often depicted in television series such as ``NYPD Blue'' and ``New York News'' as scavengers feeding off other people's pain and misfortune. Most reporters are much closer to Mike Knepler than to any of his TV counterparts, committed to making our communities better places by letting people know what's going on - good and bad.
I am delighted that reporters of Mike Knepler's ilk - committed to healthy communities, dedicated to high ethical standards, devoted to rethinking our obligations and tasks - are leading this newspaper in revitalizing its role in Hampton Roads. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Mike Knepler
by CNB