by Tracy Picha, graduate student

You might think that a journalist who has spent nine years reporting on commercial-aerospace-industry business and safety would be afraid of flying. But Byron Acohido, who received a Pulitzer Prize this year for his aerospace reporting, is more angry than fearful. "I feel outraged at our federal regulators who are supposed to regulate but are co-opted by industry -- I've seen how that translates into production design problems.

"We're paying their [the Federal Aviation Administration's] salaries, and much of the time they're more concerned with politics and careerism," he says.

Acohido, 42, who spent a week in May meeting with students and faculty at the School as a Ruhl Fellow, embarked on a career in business reporting after graduating from the UO's School of Journalism in 1977. He joined the Seattle Times' business desk in 1987 but in 1988 focused on a specific aspect of the business scene in Seattle: aerospace. Consequently, he has learned more about airplanes with weak cargo-door locks, corroded engine mounts, and faulty rudder systems than any traveler would be comfortable knowing. And he has learned more about how federal bureaucracy and industry concerns affect aviation safety than the public is generally made aware of. But that's his job.

"You need to take an attitude that you'll become an authority on the issue [you're reporting]," Acohido says. "By default I've become a leading expert in aviation safety."

But it is not by default that Acohido won a total of nine awards and prizes this year for his reporting on the rudder system problems in the Boeing 737. In a five-part series called "Safety at issue: the 737," which ran in October, 1996 in the Seattle Times, Acohido made a connection between rudder system problems and two plane crashes: one in Colorado Springs in 1991 and one in Pittsburgh in 1994. For that series Acohido was recognized not only for his thorough and clear reporting, but also as a journalist who has made a difference.

The series brought Acohido a Pulitzer Prize for reporting, the Edgar A. Poe award for national reporting, an Investigative Reporters and Editors award, a National Headliners Award, a George Polk Award, a Selden Ring Award, and a Society of Professional Journalists Bosch Award for public service, to name a few.

After the series was published, Boeing and the FAA acknowledged that the Boeing 737 rudder system is in need of modifications. But with 3,000 737s in service worldwide, completing those modifications will be no small task. Boeing announced that the planned changes will cost the company over $140-million, and Acohido is currently tracking how quickly Boeing is implementing the changes they've promised to make.

Acohido's relationship with Boeing has not been a comfortable one. Boeing refused the Seattle Times' repeated requests to speak with those in the company who were knowledgeable of the technical and legal issues related to the 737 rudder investigation. And at one point Boeing made a decision not to grant any access as long as Acohido was the reporter involved.

"I hesitate to speculate about Boeing's motivations. However, my sense is that senior executives don't understand the public service role of the media," Acohido says. "They assume that if they tightly control the outflow of information, then their spin on issues should appear verbatim in the medium. Unfortunately, this belief is reinforced by reporters and editors who fall into the trap of feeding at the Boeing PR trough, if you will."

Acohido stresses that uncooperative sources are no excuse for weak reporting.

"I'm used to Boeing not cooperating," he says. "But the reporting is still possible to do. It's important to understand small bits of [the story] to get it in the paper and advance it. When you bring the story into the light -- even in small steps -- other things will open up." And it's that kind of reporting wisdom Acohido will no doubt pass on to students as he tries his hand at teaching this fall.

Beginning this August, Acohido, who was offered the Atwood Chair at the University of Alaska at Anchorage, will teach two semesters at UAA's School of Journalism and Communication.

"It will definitely be a new challenge," Acohido says. "I hope I can inspire the next generation of journalists to seek truth and serve the public."

Until then Acohido will continue to strive to achieve such goals in his own reporting. "Even without the prizes and the Boeing admission [of needed repairs], I know I'm helping the public understand this issue."

Acohido's Ruhl Fellowship was made possible by the Ruhl Endowment. As a complement to the Ruhl Symposium (see story on opposite page), the fellowship program brings to the School each year a journalist from the Northwest who spends several days or more as part of the campus community. The Ruhl Fellow is chosen each year with the goal of "restoring in this field of journalism a greater sense of ethics, responsibility and dedication."