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Remembering Katharine Graham
With Howard Kurtz
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, July 17, 2001; 3:30 p.m. EDT
Katharine Graham, 84, chairman of the executive committee of The Washington Post Co., died today at St. Alphonsus Regional Medical Center in Boise, Idaho, after suffering head injuries in a fall Saturday.
Join Washington Post media reporter Howard Kurtz on Tuesday, July 17, at 3:30 p.m. EDT to talk about Graham's influence on The Washington Post, journalism and history. Kurtz has been The Post's media reporter since 1990. He is also the host of CNN's "Reliable Sources" and the author of "Media Circus," "Hot Air" and "Spin Cycle: Inside the Clinton Propaganda Machine."
The transcript follows.
Editor's Note: Washingtonpost.com moderators retain editorial control
over Live Online discussions and choose the most relevant questions for guests and hosts; guests and hosts can decline to answer questions.
Arlington, Va.:
Thank you for doing this discussion. I'm sure there are many people who will log-on to pay homage to Mrs. Graham. I am too young to remember Watergate and the Pentagon Papers but last year I read her stunning book, "Personal History." Heroic is a perfect way to describe her. When I checked the headlines after lunch and read that she had died, I felt a real sense of loss. I grew up reading the Post -- and this activity, (especially on a Sunday morning) has significance for me. I have fond memories of reading the headlines to my parents while we ate breakfast, and then taking my Mini Page so I could let my parents enjoy the paper in relative silence. I know Mrs. Graham is to thank for creating such a wonderful paper -- one that I still read and love today.
Howard Kurtz: Not sure I can top that.
Washington, D.C.:
If you had to pick three of Katharine Graham's most important contributions to the field of journalism what would those be?
Howard Kurtz: The first two are easy: Refusing to back down during the Pentagon Papers and Watergate battles, and turning The Washington Post from a second-tier paper into a nationally recognized media powerhouse.
More important, I think, is the personal example she set by transforming herself from the "doormat wife" (her phrase) of Phil Graham after his 1963 suicide to a successful publisher and CEO. She made mistakes, she was no saint, but her odyssey - particularly at a time when the CEO world was so male-dominated - is what made Mrs. Graham an inspiring, rather than just an important, figure.
Silver Spring, Md.:
I just want to extend my gratitude to Katherine Graham for all she has done to make the Washington Post the incredible newspaper it is today. I can only imagine the shock flowing through the newsroom today. She will be sorely missed.
Howard Kurtz: There is a pall over the newsroom, as you might imagine, especially because of the suddenness of her passing. But I also sense a feeling of wanting to celebrate her life, both on a personal and journalistic level, as well as mourn her death.
Omaha, Neb.:
Mr. Kurtz, how long did you know Ms. Graham and what was it like to work for such a strong and wonderful person? Also, how much day to day involvement did she have with the reports and writers of the newspaper?
Howard Kurtz: I've known Kay Graham for about 20 years and got to know her somewhat better, though I was hardly a close friend, during my decade as the media reporter. One of the most important things she did was to stay out of the newsroom's business, as a publisher and CEO should. She hired strong editors, beginning with Ben Bradlee, and let them do their job. Even when I was writing about some of her powerful friends, I never heard a word, even indirectly, that she was unhappy with anything I had done. Some publishers are not so hands-off, but that was part of her legacy: Protecting the journalistic independence of The Post.
Arlington, Va.:
Wasn't Mrs. Graham instrumental in broadening The Post Company beyond just the newspaper?
A month ago, Mrs. Graham was honored at a Washington Mystics game and received an impressive ovation. It is clear that people in this area, even parochial sports fans, respected her as one of a kind.
Howard Kurtz: Sure. It was her late husband Phil Graham who bought Newsweek, but it Katharine Graham made difficult decisions, not just about the Post and Newsweek but about the company's television stations and other properties, that allowed it to thrive as a Fortune 500 company. Some say she and her son, Don Graham, have been overly cautious in not acquiring other newspapers that became available, but their financial caution has been fairly good for the bottom line. Don Graham probably deserves most of the credit for spending big bucks on building up The Post's Web site.
Sparks, Md.:
Does the enormity of the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. give a clue to the expected turnout for Katharine Graham's funeral?
Howard Kurtz: I would be surprised if there weren't a whole lot of members of Congress, CEOs, dignitaries, media moguls and others paying their respects. In addition to her journalistic accomplishments, Katharine Graham was also a major-league Washington hostess (Post reporters often had to wait on the sidewalk to interview the presidents and other luminaries who would come out). So I'm sure it will be a major event.
Washington, D.C.:
Not to go on too long, but I was stunned by the all-too-sudden and all-too-soon news of the death of Katharine Graham. To me, she typifies all the best of the American ideal, a person who was given no easy breaks in life but rose to achieve so many different things.
From a reader's perspective, what we've gotten from her is a great newspaper for longer than I've been alive. What do you think Ms. Graham brought to the Washington Post from a reporter's perspective? What mark did she leave on the journalists who worked for her?
Howard Kurtz: In a word, guts. When Mrs. Graham decided to publish the Pentagon Papers in 1971 at a time when the company was preparing to go public and also needed Nixon administration approval for its television licenses, she was literally betting the farm on that decision. The pressure was just as intense during Watergate, when former attorney general John Mitchell famously said that Mrs. Graham would "get her tit caught in a wringer" if she didn't call off Woodward and Bernstein on a story that much of the media world was then ignoring. The Post has grown and evolved since then, but that willingness to take risks, I hope, is still part of our journalitic identity.
Alexandria, Va.:
I feel a real loss even though I never knew Ms. Graham. I read her book last summer and it made a deep impact on me. As a young women of the 90's, her story seemed so different than the opportunities afforded me today.
My sympathies go to her family, although from reading Ms. Graham's book I think she would want everyone to do just what we're doing right now: telling stories about her days at The Post, laughing at her great quotes and smiling.
Howard Kurtz: That's probably right. Her autobiography, "Personal History," which won a Pulitzer, was remarkably candid about her family, particularly her late husband's mental illness and philandering, and her own struggle to grow into a job for which she had absolutely no training. She could have hired a ghostwriter to churn out one of these glowing bios, but instead she interviewed many of her longtime friends and chose to tell her story with great candor at the age of 81.
Arlington, Va.:
Howard,
Truly a sad day. I'm sure this is very hard for anyone who works, or has worked for the Post. To anyone who has not yet read her autobiography, "Personal History," please do so. It is a treasure.
Did Mrs. Graham have an opinion about the washingtonpost.com? Was she skeptical, or did she accept that this was the wave of the future?
Thanks.
Howard Kurtz: She once asked me about the future of the Internet as a medium for news delivery. She was somewhat wary, I think, but at the same time recognized, as her son Don did, that cyberspace was the new frontier and that the Post, whatever its accomplishments back in the Redford-and-Hoffman days of the 1970s, had to play in this new and so-far-unprofitable arena.
Tallahassee, Fla.:
First, heartfelt condolences to all the staff of the Post. This loss is great, but her influence goes on. Did Mrs. Graham ever share any thoughts about the current stewardship of The Post?
Howard Kurtz: It won't surprise you, since her son is running the show, that she was VERY supportive of the current regime. But Katharine Graham remained chairman of the Post Company's executive committee and still came to work every day at the age of 84. At a time when most people in her situation would be enjoying an easy retirement, she still showed some of her famous spunk.
Former Washington, D.C. resident:
Howard,
Like the first poster to this discussion, reading the Post en famille was a Sunday AM tradition. Even though I no longer live in Washington, D.C., The Post is my hometown paper -- nothing could possibly replace it. My mother called me a few days ago to let me know of Mrs. Graham's fall and when I logged on today and saw that she had died I felt tremendous sadness. The fact that my mother called me to let me know of Mrs. Graham's accident says a lot about her importance in the lives of Metro residents. She made the Post into what it is today and I'm sure many people are thankful for her and her efforts.
Howard Kurtz: I've been surprised to learn, in conversations and interviews this afternoon, how many people felt personally touched by Kay Graham. This goes beyond her many accomplishments as a publisher and chief executive (and she was the first to say she made mistakes just like the rest of us). I think a lot of it has to do with the unvarnished portrait she shared in "Personal History," a book that revealed much about the adversity she had to overcome in her life.
Foggy Bottom:
I imagine this must be a rough and very sad day this must be for the staff at The Post, especially the paper's many senior editors.
At the risk of sounding insensitive, what is the mood at the paper?
I know I had tears in my eyes reading Ms. Graham's old articles and looking at the online picture gallery. She was (and still is!) an inspiration to so many.
Howard Kurtz: Still a sense of disbelief, I guess. In so many ways, Katharine Graham *was* The Washington Post. Of course, she was no longer running things in a daily sense, and the place has grown and evolved since her days as publisher. But just about everyone here feels they know her, having seen her so often walking haltingly out of her car and toward her 8th-floor office. She will be sorely missed.
Thanks for the chat.
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