20 Years Ago: An Embrace

I see a jacket. CBS News on the back. „Hi, I‘m John Magee. I know Berlin. Both sides. Also know German history and politics. My German is fluent. I can help out.“ From the next day until December 23, from early in the morning til past midnight, we covered events. Steigenberger Hotel around the corner from the Kurfuerstendamm or KuDamm. Hotel. Bunch of stars. Half of an entire floor rented out. People all about. Producers, journalists, cutters, technicians, socalled fixers. Me fixer. Several rooms with wall-to-wall television technology.

The chief producer doesn‘t know how to use me. I don‘t wait. I translate. Ferry journalists and camera teams from interview to interview. Make runs for food. Whatever in a given moment is needed. It becomes clear, though, that these folks haven‘t a clue of the historical-political context. I begin to explain, to analyze, to communicate the basic parameters of events. So that they can orient themselves. I follow carefully German news reports. Radio, print, television, make phone calls to government offices, organize interviews for the journalists.

Day in, day out on both sides of Berlin. Producers from New York. Journalists from there and London. Camera teams from Germany, U.S., UK and Israel. The sound guy from Israel says to me during a brief break in the action: „You know what, John? I hate the Germans. I wish I could dig a big hole and throw all of them into it.“ Can‘t remember how I reacted. I, a Catholic, American of German, Irish and Scottish heritage. There is no such thing as collective guilt. Nor in the Jewish faith. Revenge. The desire for blood. All too human. Have we made progress? We human beings?

I see firsthand how television news is produced. Impressive. Technically. But in terms of content, understanding? Thin, shallow, disappointing. These are intelligent, capable people. They want to understand and report on, to explain. But, the business parameters. News is business. The reports need to be short, fast, easily understood. By the masses. The masses watch advertising, buy Coke, Crest, cars. Who wants to pay for education, understanding, the stuff needed to understand the world, needed to make decisions? Images. TV is an eye medium. Remote control. Zap from one station to the other, perhaps back again. Hold those eyeballs! I asked Tom Fenton, senior correspondent for CBS News, a person I came to admire very much during those hectic days: „Don‘t you get frustrated with the limits of television reporting?“ He hesitates, thoughtful. „Well, yes. It‘s a challenge. Matching words with pictures.“

The atmosphere was tense. The entire time. No letup. So much to do. The substance of events. Was enormously exciting. I. An American. Grad student in History. Focus on post-War Germany. In West Berlin. Right place at the right time. A small miracle. The weather in Berlin? Cold, clear, fresh, raw, invigorating. But human, warm. Not a paradox. The people wanted freedom. A regime, a system, an era was coming to an end. Rapidly. Before our eyes.

Every day til just before Christmas. Not one day did I make it to the university, was thinking of bagging the M.A. program and jumping into journalism. How could I sit in the library during those days? History of the Middle Ages was my minor. I was fascinated. Could read myself into the past, lose myself, escape from myself and petty worries. 12th Century. Pope Innocence III is battling with competing German royal families vying for power. Who should have the say? How to make that decision? Precendents. Theology, politics, power. The stuff of human interaction. Then as now, and into the future, most likely, sadly.

Events pull me away from those thoughts. I step into the elevator in the hotel. A short ride down. A rapid interaction with a friendly couple. Mid-70s. Elegant. Intelligent. Open, friendly, inquisitive. Jewish. Clearly. By name, appearance, interaction. I mention my plans. Calm his question: „Have you ever written anything as a journalist? High school or college newspaper?“ His message, a warning, deftly, respectfully placed. „No“, sheepishly. Later Ingrid says the same. Stay calm. Get that degree. We chat further, the older gentleman, his wife and I. They flew to Berlin immediately. To experience the transition to freedom. In his very younger years he was an assistant to Dean Acheson, Truman‘s Secretary of State. Cold War. He was deeply happy for the Germans. Separation was destructive, bitter, mean, inhuman. A united Germany, a united people. Er hat sich gefreut. Happy for the Germans. No hole in the ground. An embrace.