Night Rider: How a mediocre journalist with a checkered employment record ended up in Baghdad

McClatchy reporter Bobby Calvan created an internet firestorm within days of arriving in Iraq for his new assignment at McClatchy's Baghdad bureau. He was rude and condescending to a US soldier at a security checkpoint, then bragged about the confrontation on his blog (Doc Weasel reproduced the post here). Reaction to the checkpoint incident swept across the internet within hours of the blog post. Most people felt Calvan's behavior was bizarre and unprofessional for a journalist. Others said their assumptions about anti-military elitist reporters had been proven correct. (See the now-famous 197 comments left on Calvan's blog here, after scrolling.) The incident raised questions about Calvan's background, his judgment, and how he got his assignment in Baghdad.

A few days have passed since the incident hit the internet, and details about Calvan's career are slowly emerging.

Bloggers quickly discovered incidents in Calvan's past reporting where he seemed to have the narrative already written and then went in search of people to say what he already had in mind. (See here and here.) But these examples seem like standard fare with today's feature reporting. Others looked at his writing ability and concluded Calvan writes "like a high school journalism student." See Calvan's blog here, and judge for yourself his writing ability. You can see other examples of Calvan's work on his online resume, under "portfolio."

But if his writing ability is average, what about his work record? Look at Calvan's online resume and you see his work history is spotty: since 1990 he has held numerous jobs, only once staying as long as 4 years. In 4 postitions he didn't last a year before moving on. At the Seattle Times in 1997 Calvan lasted 6 months. At the Detroit Free Press in 1996 and 1997 he lasted 8 months. He didn't hold any employment from late 1999 to 2003.

Despite Calvan's lackluster career, his average writing talent and the gaps in his employment record, he was hired by Rick Rodriguez at The Sacramento Bee in 2005 "almost on the spot," according to Calvan. (Really? The former executive editor of The Sacramento Bee is this fast with hiring decisions? If I had an applicant with a work history like Calvan's, I'd be sure to check everything out first.) Calvan also credits Rodriguez with "securing" his Baghdad assignment a few weeks before Calvan left for Iraq October 2007. (Interesting that Rodriguez resigned from the Bee 10/18/07, evidently a few weeks after securing Bobby Calvan's assignment to Baghdad.)

In a related twist, McClatchy's Baghdad bureau chief, Leila Fadel, was not in Iraq during October. Was she in on the decision to hire Calvan? If not, why not?

Earlier this year, Calvan joined the Sacramento chapter of the Asian American Journalists Association. He was a "copy editor" at the time but was later promoted to reporter. He joined the AAJA board and immediately got in the middle of the action. Minutes from the 8/17/07 board meeting are here. Calvan is almost manic: making motions, volunteering to help with picnics and fund-raisers, asking to become a national delegate to AAJA. His enthusiasm and ambition at the 8/17/07 board meeting seem out of character, given the lack of ambition demonstrated by his employment history.

Calvan's assignment in Baghdad is not long-term, as he told colleagues in Sacramento he would only be in Iraq 6 weeks. I don't think that is enough time for Calvan to undo the damage he inflicted.

The Bobby Calvan saga has been a black mark on McClatchy in particular, and journalists in general. People wonder, how can we trust the news if journalists like Bobby Calvan are reporting it? Bottom line: there are rubes and flakes in every profession, and McClatchy should have known better than to promote a question mark like Bobby Calvan to their Baghdad bureau.

(Photo above is credited to Riehl World View.)