Changing Lanes on the Inside Track: The Career Shuttle Between Journalism, Politics and Government

Abstract

The results of this inquiry reveal that the volume of traffic between journalism and government, or politics, is heavy throughout the country. The dilemmas facing such career changers, and the clear pattern which describes the journey from journalism into politics and back, raise several issues that the professionals and ideologues may not have considered. Changing careers is an educational experience. Reporters who spend a season or more in public life and then return to journalism acquire a more profound understanding of both professions. These revolvers can articulate precisely where politics and journalism meet, and where they diverge. The evidence in this study, gathered from around the country, suggests that reporters who get their education about politics from the inside are better equipped than those who have not had that inside experience to deliver realistic descriptions of the political process to the rest of us. But before we turn to this evidence, and the issues it raises, it is useful to take a brief historical look at the revolving door phenomenon.