 "Photo: Nancy Rosenthal")
David Simon talked about how his experiences as a cops reporter at the Baltimore Sun became the basis for his HBO television show, "The Wire" at a discussion, where he also addressed his current world views, Tuesday night.
The College of Communication presented the 2008 William Randolph Hearst Fellow Award to Simon at the Austin City Limits studio, putting him in a group alongside Spike Lee and Liz Carpenter. In a question-and-answer session, Simon expanded on what he says he hopes will change on the streets of Baltimore, in the government and in newsrooms across the country.
Journalism school director Lorraine Branham, who worked as the nighttime city editor at the Baltimore Sun the same time Simon was there, introduced the award-winning writer and producer as a fearless reporter that always got the story. Simon said it was during his time there that his view of journalism changed, which led to his leaving the paper in 1995.
"Everything seemed incredibly rational and sensible," Simon said, referring to what he said was an initial hopefulness with the paper.
Simon said he left the Sun after working under an editor-in-chief that he said would frame news stories in order to win Pulitzer Prizes. He said he thinks that that is a problem in many newsrooms and that he feels no media organization completely and comprehensively covers its region. He added that most newsrooms now have more reporters doing less outstanding work.
"The 'whys' are the interesting thing to me," Simon said, adding that he reads many newspapers every day and is almost never impressed by the material.
Simon said the No Child Left Behind Act would not have been implemented had it not been for bad education reporting. He said the war in Iraq could have also been avoided with good reporting.
"It's amazing how many reporters are uncurious," he said.
In "The Wire," Simon said his favorite character is the city itself, which embodies several viewpoints that became themes for each season. He said he hoped to bring to light the problems he witnessed in Baltimore and the culture that surrounded those issues.
"I would say he's one of the few people out there that speaks truth to power," video producer for e2e Creative Marc Faletti said.
"The Wire" ended March 9 after five seasons. Simon said he is now completing post-production on his new HBO miniseries, "Generation Kill."
"'The Wire' was probably his opus," Faletti said. "It would be hard for any artist to top that."
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