Ask The Post

Susan Glasser, 37, assumes her new duties Dec. 4. (Lucian Perkins - Twp)

Susan B. Glasser, The Post's new assistant managing editor for National, was online Thursday, Dec. 7, at noon ET to discuss the paper's coverage of politics, Congress and the executive branch, national security and terrorism, science and domestic issues.

Glasser, Post's Outlook Section Editor, to Manage Coverage of National News, ( Post, Nov. 25)

The transcript follows.

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Washington, D.C.: Do you feel the Washington Post has covered Bush as aggressively as you covered Clinton?

Susan B. Glasser: Hi everyone... and thanks for all the questions today. It's only day four of my being over here in the Post's national section, so bear with me in advance here.

As for this first question, it's hard for me to imagine an answer to this one that's anything other than yes. On issues of enormous consequence, President Bush has faced very tough questions from this newspaper and others -- about everything from his sanctioning of secret prisons overseas not covered by American rule of law to the issue of his own candor with the American public in leading it to war.

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College Park, Md.: Science stories are hard to find on The Post's Web site because science is categorized as national news---even if the science being reported on was done outside the U.S.

Science is intrinsically international. Please treat it as such.

Susan B. Glasser: Thanks for this. Science is a very valuable part of what we report in the Post -- and consistently those stories rank very highly among the most viewed and emailed on our web site. Usually, that's because we give them the front page and home page attention such important subjects deserve. But the point is well taken as far as science being international -- it's an organizational setup that works for us here, though.

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Rolla, Mo.: Do you perceive pressure from the White House to cover stories a certain way, and do you perceive pressure from advocates of one position (not hard enough on the administration), and which is greater?

Susan B. Glasser: There is enormous pressure brought to bear on our reporters -- from every side of political questions. It's no surprise to anyone on this chat polarized our political culture -- and how loud the shouting has gotten in this all political talk all the time media/blogosphere culture. And that means even more pressure on our reporters.

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Crofton, Md.: Do you think there is a significant danger to the integrity of news reporting given that some or most news media is owned by organizations that have vested interests in entertainment media (movies, music, etc.) ?

Susan B. Glasser: Well, as far as I know the Washington Post company hasn't opened in Hollywood just yet -- and I haven't seen any movie promos in our front-page stories yet.

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New York, N.Y.: First, congratulations. Second, I speak for a lot of people who greatly value the online chats and opportunity to bond with your reporters. How do you see the chats evolving especially in the lead up to '08?

Susan B. Glasser: Thanks very much for the kind words. I, too, am a big fan of these chats and have done them in my many incarnations at the Post, as reporter and editor. Our political chats in particular seem to have found a big audience -- and I imagine we will try to find a way to make that conversation even more engaging and lively as the elections heat up.

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Thief River Falls, Minn.:

How can you repudiate the fact that MSN was the biggest cheerleader which includes The Post in all the misadventures of this administration in Iraq and particularly The Post and NYT were guilty of promoting this war?

Susan B. Glasser: I guess this questioner means MSM. This is a common point of view we encounter all the time -- but the documentary record that this questioner is writing about comes from reporters in the Post and the New York Times among other news outlets. Without us, Thief River Falls wouldn't have a case...

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Baltimore, Md.: The Pew Research Center has found that only 7 percent of journalists at national news organizations self-describe as "conservative." Do you envision any plans to have a National news operation more reflective politically of our nation?

Susan B. Glasser: These surveys consistently register huge public concern. To me, though, I have never seen much more than the institutional bias of journalists -- in favor of a good story. This simply isn't a partisan place.

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San Francisco, Calif.: Good day, Ms. Glasser, and thanks for chatting today. These chats are an important way for your paper's far-flung readership to stay connected to the business of the paper as well as interact with Post reporters. My question concerns gender bias in the paper's political coverage -- most recently illustrated, I believe, during my Congresswoman's ascension to Speaker and her subsequent selection of someone other than her colleague Jane Harman as Intelligence Chair. Will you make a concerted effort to treat men and women who are public servants the same? Will there be an end to the mysogyny and male chauvinism in The Post's political coverage? Welcome to your new job! Please return for more chats.

Susan B. Glasser: Thanks for the kind words. I'm not sure what the "misogyny" the questioner is referring to -- beyond references in the Post and other national media to the fact that Pelosi will be the first woman speaker.

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Berkeley, Calif.: For people my age and younger, climate change policy is likely to be much more important than pretty much any other policy decision.

Are you going to cover this topic more, chat on it more, etc? There are so many complexities. It will take more background information for us to understand what our legislators are proposing.

If you do chat on it more, I hope that the chats ignores the people with the "climate skeptic" talking points. Do you really qualify as a skeptic if you won't listen to experts?

Susan B. Glasser: Short answer: yes.

We, too, think this a very important area to focus even more of our reporting resources.

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Arlington, Va.: How much interaction do you have w/ Ben Bradlee, Len Downie and Donald Graham?

Susan B. Glasser: They are incredibly accessible -- and an overwhelming resource of news judgment and good sense for those of us here at the Post.

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Re: San Francisco: If you go back and review the Post's coverage of Nancy Pelosi, then ask yourself "Have we ever commented on Speaker Hastert's designer suits or choice of tie?"

Susan B. Glasser: I believe the answer is actually yes in the case of Hastert, whose trademark rumpledness has been a subject of some discussion in the Post and other papers.

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Arlington, Va.: I'm finding very stale stories in the Post. The story involving water on Mars on the front page of Thursday's Post was disclosed Tuesday, and the story on the loss of moderates in Congress was fully turfed over during the elections a month ago. Your stories on the Iraqi Study Group also were 24 hours old by the time The Post came to my doorstep. How about finding some news to put in your newspaper?

Susan B. Glasser: Sorry you felt that way. I was particularly proud of our Iraq Study Group coverage because I thought it added some unique analysis, behind the scenes reporting and perspective to the basic news of what was contained in the report. In an Internet era of 24/7 news, that's the role I still see for the morning newspaper. (And our online coverage yesterday also included just for the web analysis as well as the breaking news stories -- a model you're likely to see more of on WashingtonPost.com in the coming weeks.)

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New York, N.Y.: Why does The Post refuse to refer to the situation in Iraq as a "civil war," using instead's the administration preferred term "sectarian violence?"

Susan B. Glasser: We do not have a policy on whether to use the term "civil war," preferring to describe events on the ground with as much precision as possible. (That also means, as far as I know, that we don't have a policy against the phrase "civil war" either.) In my previous incarnation at editor of the Sunday Outlook section, we published an important cover piece this August by Daniel Byman and Kenneth Pollack that started from the premise "the debate is over: Iraq is in the midst of a civil war" and went on to examine possible spillover effects from the conflict.

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Washington DC: Hi Susan and welcome to the chats. They are great!

I only have a comment and hope you will pass it on to all who do the chats.

KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK. I enjoy all who do the chats - it gives the everyday person a look into how a reporter writes and reports on the information we need to know.

They write in such a way that if you think about what they write we can make our own judgment to take away from the article.

I, for one, think The Post if the greatest newspaper both online and in print.

Susan B. Glasser: Thanks for this (and I surely hope you are a regular reader and not just a Washington Post staff writer...)

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Washington, D.C.: What role do editors play in the news process? Obviously, you do a great deal more than spot typos and dangling participles. I've always wondered. . .

Susan B. Glasser: Good question. I wonder, too, at times... Editors at the Post are involved in every level of discussion with reporters about our coverage -- from working with them on story conception, to the actual line-editing of the articles, to deciding how and where in the newspaper they should be published (and most important to reporters: how long they should be).

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Washington, D.C.: I'm a big fan of The Fix and think the Post needs more political features like that. Will that be on your priority list?

Susan B. Glasser: I'm also a big fan of Chris Cillizza's political blog on Washingtonpost.com, The Fix. As for the second part, answer: yes. Politics is a franchise for the Post and we indeed to be very aggressive in covering the 2008 campaign, in adding cutting-edge new web components to our coverage and innovating generally both print and online.

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Bethesda, Md.: Outlook has changed quite a bit since you took over as editor. You made quite a lot of effective changes during your short stint there. Do you plan to implement a similar style in your new position, such as making staff changes and implementing a new look for the A section? Also, who replaced you as editor of Outlook?

Susan B. Glasser: Outlook was a terrific job, in many ways the most fun I've ever had in journalism -- it's the Post's weekly magazine of ideas and commentary, and I found it to be a very creative perch. As I just mentioned in regards to Politics, our plan for the A section generally is to be as innovative and creative as we know how in thinking through what future shape for the newspaper in an age of Internet news. That means visually, it means in terms of what we cover and how we present it, it means in terms of what kind of daily stories belong online and which belong in the newspaper.

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Richmond, Va.: Congratulations on your new position. Now - what can you do to get "fresher" news on The Post's web site. In the afternoon I find breaking news on other sites that doesn't appear on The Post site until the next morning. I'm afraid to us news junkies it appears you have a competitive disadvantage that will only grow in the future. Thanks.

Susan B. Glasser: Thanks to the reader. As for "fresher" news, that's a big challenge we're all thinking through -- what information belongs where and when. But our goal is certainly to give you the most up to date news possible -- combined with distinctive analysis and expertise you would expect from the Washington Post.

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Reston, Va.: Welcome to the new job. What kind of experience do you have beyond being Outlook editor?

Susan B. Glasser: Thanks very much. I've been lucky to have a number of interesting jobs at the Post, as an editor and reporter. I came here as deputy national editor for investigations, and helped supervise our coverage of President Clinton's impeachment. As a reporter, I have been co-bureau chief in Moscow, writing about the former Soviet Union, as well as covering the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. On National, I have also written about money and politics, terrorism and homeland security.

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Arlington, Va.: Do you remember The Post supported the President's call for war in Iraq? When was it The Post realized the war was a mistake? Can you tell us about any conversations that went on during those couple of weeks when this realization came to light?

Susan B. Glasser: The reader is referring to the Post's editorial support for the decision to go to war in Iraq. There is complete separation between the editorial side of this newspaper, and the news side where I work. It is run completely separately by Fred Hiatt, who reports to Chairman Don Graham, while the newsroom works for executive editor Len Downie. There really is a wall, dear reader, and it really is impenetrable.

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Washington, D.C.: Congratulations on your new position! What is a typical day like for you, meeting wise, and how are the decisions made about what will appear in The Post?

Susan B. Glasser: Thanks. Not sure there is anything typical so far, at least on day four. But yes, there seem to be a lot of meetings -- the most important of which is the nightly 6 pm story conference (usually held closer to 7 pm) at which the front page for the next day's paper is decided on.

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Red-State America: I don't know where Thief River Falls and these other readers get their ideas from. The Post's coverage of the White House seems downright anti-Bush and anti-American to me, and has been for a long time.

Susan B. Glasser: Thanks for this. Both sides, as you can see, our convinced of our bias; as a reporter, I often received emails from both sides of a political issue, each certain that his or her side had been unfairly characterized. In my experience, people who read the newspaper through a partisan lens tend to come away with their partisan point of view confirmed.

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Bowie, Md.: In a time when the media - print and non-print - are making acceptable to report or invite individuals with negative views of Islam based on the actions of a handful of people who hijack the religion, what will you do to support position papers or articles submitted to you by your readers and subscribers - like me?

Susan B. Glasser: Submissions from outside contributors are best directed to the editorial side of the paper, which handles letters to the editor and thoughts from readers published each Sunday on our "Close to Home" page.

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Falls Church, Va.: Not to make your job any harder than it already is, lol, but I have to contradict the previous posters looking for more "up-to-the-minute" breaking news from The Post. Please don't try to get into that business. It's overpopulated and not what you do well. The only way newspapers are going to survive in the Web world is to become sources of analysis and in-depth background reporting -- a transformation that I think the Post has been handling better than most.

Susan B. Glasser: I very much agree. I believe our web site does a great job with presenting important news developments -- and it's important for us to continue that. But the attributes you mentioned -- analysis and in-depth background reporting -- are what the Post does best, and I see both as key areas to focus on during my time here in National.

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Philadelphia, Pa.: Thanks for taking the time for this. I was wondering why, with all the attention on the war in Iraq, there hasn't been more media coverage of the poor equipment, etc. our troops have been forced to make due with? Or of the failures of the VA to provide adequately for returning troops?

Susan B. Glasser: Those are important subjects. Just the other day, Ann Scott Tyson had a fascinating piece on our front page about the poor state of much military equipment -- with stores depleted, and troops forced to make do without.

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Miami, Fla.: I loved your book on Russia, Kremlin Rising. What do you make of this Litvinenko case in London? Is it the Cold War redux?

Susan B. Glasser: Thanks much for the book plug. The Litvinenko affair certainly seems to be playing out like a Bond movie. And it's clear the British investigators will not find much official help in Moscow as they try to sort out the case.

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Bethesda, Md.: Your previous questioner is way off base. I thought the Mars story this morning was the most interesting story in the paper. Most of us don't spend our lives trolling space.com or whatever. We count on The Post to step back, tell us what's going on and help us understand what it means. Just a comment.

Susan B. Glasser: Thanks.

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Detroit, Mich.: Whenever I look at the Post site, I almost never see much news from around the country outside Washington. Do you plan to do more outside the Beltway?

Susan B. Glasser: We maintain an excellent set of reporters in our national bureaus around the country -- in Seattle and Los Angeles, Chicago and Miami, New York, Austin and Denver. They will continue to do first rate reporting from places far outside the Beltway.

Thanks to all the questioners today. I'm signing off...

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