Pictured above: Journalist Mary Mapes.
By Rebecca Gagnon ’23
Staff Writer
Inspired by a viewing of James Vanderbilt’s 2015 film “Truth,” Visiting Senior Lecturer in English Todd Brewster’s Introduction to Journalism class welcomed a surprise guest: American journalist and producer Mary Mapes. The film, set in 2004, follows Mapes, producer of CBS News program “60 minutes,” and its anchor, Dan Rather, as they cover one of their biggest stories: an investigation of then-President George W. Bush’s history of military service and how he avoided being drafted into Vietnam using his father’s connections.
Their story was supported by then-Governor of Texas Ben Barnes, who admitted to playing a part in helping prominent Texans’ children avoid the Vietnam War. One of these children was Bush. There were documents from Bush’s commanding officer, Lieutenant Colonel Jerry B. Killian, that seemed to provide evidence for it as well. However, as soon as the story aired on “60 Minutes,” the Killian documents were criticized, with many people calling them out as forged. Some claimed that both the report and the reporters were biased against Bush. Even though the papers were never declared as forged, Mapes was removed from her job, and Rather stepped down from his position as anchor.
On Jan. 25, the Introduction to Journalism class had a surprising addition to their discussion: Mapes entered the Zoom meeting while the class was discussing “Truth.”
Mapes has been virtually visiting Brewster’s Introduction to Journalism course for about four years, though Brewster purposefully keeps the visit a secret for each class.
“Her story was one that struck people in the journal industry very hard when it happened,” Brewster, also a journalist, said. “I wanted my students to realize the things that they were reading about and working on had relevance to the broader world. … So I reached out to Mary [Mapes], and I said, ‘Would you be willing to come into the class?’ And she was instantly on board and then just terrific with the students.”
“I like talking to young women about [journalism],” Mapes said. “It takes me back to who I used to be when I was making all my big plans. … I talk to other colleges and other groups, but I just think it is really important that we have as many female journalists as we possibly can.”
“I was so shocked and surprised,” Annabelle Mackson ’23, a student in the class, commented. “It was kind of funny because I had the Zoom call in the gallery view, and so I just saw her name pop up. It was right after Professor Brewster asked us, ‘What would you ask her if she were here right now?’ and I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, there is no way,’ but it was her, and it was kind of surreal.”
During the class period, Mapes talked about a variety of topics, such as whether or not she thought the movie “Truth” fairly represented her experience or how well the actor Cate Blanchett portrayed her. Mapes also discussed her career and how it began.
“Well, I’m obviously 3,000 years old,” Mapes started with a laugh, “So when I [broke into journalism] it was 1980, and you still did not see a lot of women in decision-making roles, [such as a] director or even executive producers. You saw women on the air, but more often, they were decorative.”
She continued, “I remember going into that newsroom on my first day and sensing that there were people there, particularly photographers who I would be working with, who viewed me as a token, someone who wasn’t going to be tough enough or smart enough or whatever to actually have a career there.”
Mapes grew up on a farm in Washington state and went to college at the University of Washington. After college, she received her first job at KIRO-TV, a local news station. She was a unit assistant, required to carry lighting equipment around the station and elsewhere. She recalled that she was the first woman to do that job for that particular station.
A few months later, she was moved to editing videos, then to writing scripts, and then producing. She then left the local news side of reporting and was hired for CBS News in New York. They asked her to move to their station in Texas to report on stories there. She was also sent abroad to Iraq.
“Well, I like doing stories where you make a big splash, and you break news,” Mapes said. “Probably my favorite story of all time was Essie Mae Washington-Williams, Strom Thurmond’s secret biracial daughter. That was such a history lesson, and it was about racial separation in this country, specifically the South and the caste system created by that discrimination. She was also a wonderful, wonderful woman.”
Besides just sharing stories, Mapes was able to answer some student questions.
Mackson was wondering how Mapes recovered after losing her job at CBS. “That was actually one of the questions I asked her during the Q&A portion — ‘How do you get over something like that?’ — because the business you have worked so hard to make your way up the ranks for, not only have they let you go but now the public thinks you are untrustworthy,” Mackson asked.
“Once it was over and I lost my job, I was depressed. I was very depressed,” Mapes described. “I went through a stage, and this is really telling about the depth of my self-pity, I went through a stage when I listened to Johnny Cash gospel tunes. Eventually, I just got sick of myself, that version of myself.”
When Mapes picked herself up, she quickly began to write a book about the investigation and the difficulties of the Killian documents. She stated that she recalls the ordeal as a learning experience.
Mapes also discussed “how sexist the newsrooms were,” Brewster said. “I am not surprised, but I am surprised. I mean, she came up a little earlier than I did, but it is shocking some of the things she was put through, so she has opened my eyes to that.”
“Even though it was 2004 when everything happened [with the story], … There [are] still, even today, a lot of issues with women being underrepresented in a lot of different career fields,” Sophia Anderson ’22 said. “It was cool to see someone who has done a good job of representing women and being able to inspire us to pursue what we want to do.”
“If you really want to look at humanity,” Mapes said during the class period, “journalism is just about the best job in the world. If you want to know what makes people tick, why things happen the way they do and when they do, journalism is medicine for those kinds of questions. … That is such a gift, in one lifetime, to get to just skip through the library of life and learn all kinds of things. I think the little girl I used to be reading under the covers would be thrilled. She would be thrilled.”