Globe’s Robinson of Spotlight Team to Speak for Literacy Group
By Nancy Burns-Fusaro
Walter “Robby” Robinson was in Idaho, taking a quick break between interviews with the local Public Radio affiliate and his talk at The Sun Valley Writers’ Conference. For a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter, Robinson, who led the Boston Globe’s Spotlight Team in uncovering the Catholic Church sexual abuse scandal, is extraordinarily modest. “I don’t think of myself as a writer,” said Robinson, whose character was played by Michael Keaton in the movie “Spotlight,” the film that depicted the investigation and won Best Picture at the 88th annual Academy Awards in February. Robinson will be the guest speaker Wednesday at Watch Hill Chapel in a benefit appearance for the Literacy Volunteers of Washington County. The organization selected Robinson as its Joyce S. Ahern Summer Speaker. During a phone interview, Robinson seemed more comfortable talking about the conference, the other speakers at Sun Valley, the state of newspapers today, and the importance of investigative journalism than about himself — or the fact that he was present at the Oscars ceremony when “Spotlight” won the award. “We were in the second to last row,” he said with a chuckle, before turning the conversation back to Idaho. “There are almost 2,000 people here for a four-day conference,” said Robinson. “There are people here from all around the country. “Justice Stephen Breyer is here, and Salman Rushdie,” continued Robinson in his distinctive just-north-of-Boston accent. “And David Miliband, from the International Rescue Committee ... he spoke about the refugee crisis around the world.” Miliband, he explained, is the former British foreign secretary and a member of the Labour Party in Paliament. Milibrand spoke about the parallels between the present political situation in the United States and the anger of the British electorate, as expressed in Brexit. “He made that comment about populism,” Robinson said, “Populism is popular until it gets elected ... then it has to make decisions.” Robinson grew up in Melrose, Mass., attended Boston College High School, and graduated from Northeastern University. “My first job was an intern at the Globe,” he said. “I turned it into a full time job when I finished in 1973 and I’ve been there ever since.” In Robinson’s 34 years at the Globe, he has been city editor, metro editor, White House correspondent, and foreign correspondent, and has reported from 48 states and more than 30 countries. A distinguished professor of journalism at Northeastern University from 2007 to 2014, Robinson began the school’s Initiative for Investigation Reporting, which resulted in 26 student-reported investigative stories being published by the Globe. Now back at the paper, he currently holds the title editor-at-large. Robinson, who lives in Plymouth, Mass., with his wife, Barbara Wojtkiewicz, said he’s looking forward to his upcoming visit to Westerly. “I expect I’ll speak about reporting and why we did what we did, why it had to be done and the hurdles we had to go through,” he said. “And about the importance of investigative journalism in a democratic society.” “And I’ll talk about the film,” he added. “I wouldn’t be doing any of this if not for the film.” Robinson and his Globe colleagues, Michael Rezendes (played by Mark Ruffalo in the movie) and Sacha Pfeiffer (played by Rachel McAdams) spent a lot of time with the “Spotlight” director, screenwriter and actors, he said. “They really wanted to get the story right,” said Robinson. “We spent a lot of time with our doppelgangers.” “When I first met Michael, he’d already spent hours watching videos of me and he already had my voice and mannerisms,” he added. Robin E. Springborn of Westerly, a member of the Literacy Volunteers of Washington County’s board of directors, said the idea to invite Robinson to be the summer speaker came about after a discussion she had with the late Robert W. Richins, a longtime fellow board member. “We had been talking about expanding the concept of literacy,” Springborn recalled earlier this week. “We were talking about how literacy comes in many forms ... in movies, TV and newspapers.” As soon as she heard the word newspaper, she said, “a light went on” and she remembered that a colleague of her husband, Gregory Ahern (the son of the woman for whom the series is named), once worked with Robinson at the Globe. “It all came together from there,” she said. Jennifer Coduri Ross, executive director of the literacy volunteers, said ticket sales are “going very well,” and urged those interested in attending to call soon, as there are limited tickets available. Tickets for the talk only, which will take place at the Watch Hill Chapel, are $50 per person, and for the talk and reception at the Ocean House, $80 per person. “This is the largest fundraiser event for literacy volunteers and we couldn’t be more excited to be hosting Walter Robinson,” said Coduri Ross. “The movie is now streaming through Netflix if anyone is interested in viewing it before the event.” Tickets can be purchased directly through the literacy volunteers’ website at LiteracyWashingtonCounty.org. Contact: nbfusaro@thewesterlysun.com
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