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Writing for Lou Grant and Those Dark Suits
By Kristine Meldrum Denholm
Back in journalism school, I pictured myself in a press
office someday, phone ringing, pencil over my ear, typing
with two fingers, with my editor, Lou Grant, grunting, “Give
me fresh copy! Now!”
I didn’t think the pencil, phone, computer and boss would be
in a press office for the federal government. In my wildest
Mary Tyler Moore fantasies, I never thought I’d be writing
for an agency of the (then) Treasury Department.
When I first arrived in Washington DC to work for the tiny
public affairs office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and
Firearms (ATF), I thought I’d be bored and last a week.
Wrong. I stayed 10 years.
At first, they tested me with entry-level stuff: oh, we didn’t
tell you you’d have to do time-cards, answer phones, and sit
on the employee picnic committee? (Was this what Mary did?)
They’d throw me a bone once a week. Write a story touting
Savings Bonds. Write a memo to employees about the law
enforcement torch run for Special Olympics.
I obeyed, dutifully like a good government worker, while
answering phones: CBS/ABC/ NBC, AP, Washington Post called
daily about gun control. My first year was the Lockerbie
bombing and a school shooting in California. Network reporters
raced to us to set them up with explosives and firearms
experts and give them the lowdown about the laws.
As this girl from suburban northeast Ohio-- who had never
seen a gun in her life-- got thrown into a world of AK-47’s,
I had to learn quickly. My boss wasn’t Lou, but he was a
knowledgeable, professional spokesman, which let me learn
even quicker.
I graduated to writing executive bios and letters to the
editor when our agency was misrepresented. I tackled
writing press releases about confusing alcohol and explosives
regulations. Soon I was writing articles for national law
enforcement magazines.
Then Waco happened, the same weekend as the first World
Trade Center bombing. Our explosive experts were deployed
in New York as four of our agents were killed serving
warrants on a compound. There was deep sadness in the
agency. The hierarchy was shattered. Employee morale was
strained. Two years later, Oklahoma City happened. Those
events thrust our agency into worldwide media attention.
We were busy…and tense.
I wrote more than ever before. I wrote remarks for our
new director for ceremonies and employee town-hall meetings.
I penned speeches for him at national law enforcement
conferences. I wrote Q & A’s –sound bite suggestions for
when executives were drilled on CNN about White House
initiatives. I created and developed Inside ATF, an
employee publication that aimed to understand employees,
not give them a management line. I believed in our agents
and sought to showcase their expertise. These were
incredibly brave men and women.
My husband’s job transfer moved us to another city. It
broke my heart to leave ATF, but I started a new life as
a freelance writer. I cringe if an editor calls me a new
writer. Since I’ve been in the background, editors don’t
know my name. But I’ve written in a real press office.
It was buzzing with camera crews and deadlines. I’ve
crafted my words carefully, with clearance, during national
crises. I’ve had to be aware of the views of media,
management, employees, the White House, and Congress.
A career as a government wordsmith can be intense and
invigorating. If it’s the act of writing that you’re after,
not the byline, the government could use you. As an author
or journalist, your skills translate: you see needs and
fill them. You balance competing interests. You meet deadlines.
That’s really all Lou ever wanted out of Mary.
###
Kristine Meldrum Denholm has published essays in Chocolate
for a Teen’s Soul, the upcoming book Unsent Letters to our
Fathers, the Potomac News, and the Cleveland Plain Dealer.
Visit Kristine at
www.kristinemeldrumdenholm.com
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