Title: The Truth: Real Stories and the Risk of Losing a Free Press in America
Author: Bob Gabordi
Publisher: AuthorHouse
ISBN: 978-1728366043
Genre: Non-Fiction / Memoir
Pages: 244
Reviewed by: Barbara Bamberger Scott
Pacific Book Review
Retired journalist and news executive Bob Gabordi shares his memories, philosophy and wisdom in this lively memoir.
Gabordi believes he was born to be a journalist, though he can’t swear to the precise facts of his birth. This humorous observation provides insight into the character of someone who would become an honest, determined career newsman with an innate reluctance to put into print that which he does not know to be fact. As his narrative develops, it’s clear that he has a nose for news and the guts to follow the scent of a worthy story wherever it leads.
Gabordi recalls that in every community he worked in, “race was a factor.” He’s been threatened, harassed, and endangered as he produced articles about overt or subtle racism. In Asheville, North Carolina, he stonewalled customer complaints about the newspaper featuring too many photos of black faces. Working for Tallahassee’s newspaper, the Democrat, he attempted to right old wrongs by publishing an apology for the paper’s having sided with segregationists fifty years before.
One of Gabordi’s high profile journalistic battles occurred when he was executive editor of the Huntington, WV, Herald-Dispatch. Two West Virginians were incarcerated on the small island nation of St. Vincent and the Grenadines. The couple, Jim and Penny Fletcher, living in cells akin to “medieval dungeons,” were accused of a shooting and possibly facing hanging, life in their horrible cells, or, as seemed more likely, extortion of their considerable fortune by a corrupt government. Reporter Mark Truby was emboldened by Gabordi’s dynamic and open-minded editorial stance to approach him about the Fletchers’ plight. Encouraged by Fletcher relatives back home, the two men worked together against unscrupulous opposition at the highest levels. The result was freedom for the Fletchers, a step up the professional ladder for Truby, who wrote the introduction to The Truth, and continued success as a high-profile journalist for Gabordi.
The author was forced finally to retire because of health issues. In these vibrant professional and personal reminiscences, he includes some of his outstanding articles, a brief list of famous people he has met in his work such as Robert Redford, Buzz Aldrin, and Rosalynn Carter, and a salutary essay on press freedom: the First Amendment affects all Americans and hard-working, dedicated journalists should be understood and respected, not denigrated and dismissed. Gabordi’s ideas and opinions span political divides and should be appreciated by any thoughtful reader.
