VOA White House chief reflects on changes on his beat

Veteran broadcaster Steve Herman spent a quarter century covering Asia and faced "reverse culture shock," when he returned to the U.S. to continue his career, he told the National Press Club Broadcast & Podcast Team meeting March 4.

Herman was "unhappy with the lack of news literacy" among Americans, different from when he left for his foreign postings, he said. 

"If I had been here, I might not have noticed," Herman said, comparing that thought to the fable of the frog in a pot of water having the temperature creep up and not know he was being boiled to death. Teaching news literacy "is something I want to do in the future," he said.

Herman, who returned to the U.S. in 2016 is now White House bureau chief for the Voice of America.

In response to a question, he compared the operations of the Trump White House to the Biden White House, joking that for reporters, "the hours are shorter," which, he said, is important because "most of us don't get paid overtime."

Herman finds the relationship between administration officials and the journalists covering them to be "less combative" under the current regime, he said. The Biden administration appears to be casting a wider net in outreach to reporters. On the other hand, "pool sprays," where media representatives are invited into a presidential meeting or bill signing to get a few quick photos and maybe a sound bite, don't turn into "basically a news conference" as they did when Trump was setting the rules, he said.

For the VOA audience in many nations, its broadcasts are their only source of of reliable news and information, Herman said. In other nations, the BBC transmissions are also available. As technology has changed, more listeners and viewers can get satellite feeds or view VOA TV feeds on the internet, he pointed out.  But, he noted, shortwave radio is still in use to reach audiences, for example in North Korea and parts of Africa. 

Asked about the most stressful part of his job as rotating broadcast pool reporter on presidential trips, Herman was quick to reply: "travelling in motorcades at high speeds" with local drivers not used to the way a parade of vehicles zip through the route at high speed.

The NPC Broadcast and Podcast Team meets monthly, usually on the first Thursday. All Club members are welcome at the meetings which are currently virtual via Zoom. On April 1, retired WUSA9 anchor/reporter Bruce Johnson plans to join the noon meeting for a chat. On May 6, Jim Bohannon, host of Westwood One's late night "Jim Bohannon Show" is slated to be with the group for a noon meeting. For an invitation and Zoom link, or to join the team, contact chairman Mark Hamrick at [email protected].