Ben Smidt

After Sept. 11, everything changed between the government and the news media, said Karen DeYoung, associate editor of the Washington Post.

DeYoung was on campus Monday as the featured speaker in honor of the 5th Annual Ann Devroy Forum.

DeYoung was joined by Milton Coleman, deputy managing editor of the Washington Post and Mark Matthews, Devroy’s widower and diplomatic correspondent for the Baltimore Sun.

DeYoung spoke about changes in government and the news media since Sept. 11. In addition to her job at the Washington Post, DeYoung also was part of a team of seven journalists to win a Pulitzer Prize for national reporting on the war on terrorism.

“What changed after 9-11? Everything,” DeYoung said. “We’ve seen the return of deficit spending and a major increase in defense budget spending.”

The Bush White House is the ultimate message White House, she said. They are not particularly interested in explaining themselves. DeYoung said this is not particular to the George W. Bush administration, but it is a massive change from the Clinton administration, which was very open.

“Last summer they began to loosen up,” DeYoung said. “Then, after Sept. 11. they struck back with a vengeance.”

Very few journalists thought it appropriate to ask the tough questions, she said. But, if the information is out there, even if people don’t want to know it, information should be available to them.

More recently, journalists have gone back to asking the tough questions, Devroy said.

“I think we’re very far from undercutting the war effort. If anything, I think we’re strengthening it.”

The Ann Devroy forum and scholarship were established by friends of Devroy at the Washington Post and UW-Eau Claire to recognize the outstanding journalistic work of Devroy.

Devroy, a 1970 UW-Eau Claire journalism graduate, covered the White House for a total of 15 years, during which she covered Carter, Reagan, Bush and Clinton administrations. She reported for the Post for nearly nine years. Devroy, at the age of 49, died in 1997 of cancer.

Devroy was known for asking the tough questions and was described as relentless, persistent, conscientious and honest. “She was one hell of a reporter,” DeYoung said. “She was known for her great persistence. She made public officials fulfill their obligation and responsibility to cough it up and tell the truth.”

When he heard of Devroy’s death, President Clinton issued this statement, “For more than a decade, no journalist dominated and defined the White House beat with the kind of skill, shrewd analysis and gruff grace that Ann brought to her reporting.”

Junior Tim Ruzek, news writer at The Spectator, is this year’s recipient of the Ann Devroy scholarship and fellowship, which includes a $1,400 scholarship, a three-week internship at the Washington Post and an internship at the Wisconsin State Journal.