CBS’ Steve Hartman tells his story of elephants, dogs, ugly babies and Andy Rooney
The Daily Mail
Feb. 4, 2009
CATSKILL — For years, Steve Hartman has engaged Americans from all corners of the country and from all walks of life, getting them to tell their stories on television. Hartman recently told his own story to members of Rotary clubs across Columbia and Greene counties at a luncheon in Catskill.
He talked about traveling the country and how his stories fit into a regular evening news broadcast. The Rotarians were also treated to a dose of Hartman’s humor.
Hartman’s “Assignment America” segments can be seen every Friday during “The CBS Evening News With Katie Couric.” He was an essayist on “60 Minutes II” and wrote, reported and produced the long-time series “Everybody Has a Story,” for which he won several awards.
Not everybody had kind words for the series.
Hartman said that his subjects did not always believe he was from CBS when he came knocking on their doors.
Co-workers and viewers did not always believe that he chose his locations by throwing a dart over his shoulder toward a map.
And, although he always found interesting people to feature, Hartman said he would not recommend planning a trip by the same method.
“Darts do not make good travel agents,” he said.
Hartman was open about the disagreements he and long-time CBS anchor Dan Rather had over the segments. Hartman said Rather thought the segments were “gimmicky.” Rather, Hartman said, did not feel the biographical series had a place in the evening newscast, and even threatened to quit over one idea for running a string of “best of” segments during his show.
Hartman argued that the segments, as well as his recent stories for the “Assignment America” project, add some positive news to a show otherwise filled with stories about violence or crime.
“News, in general, is not presenting a real picture of what we are about, as Americans,” he said.
He said he likes to produce a story every week that challenges conception propagated by television news that Americans just lie, cheat and steal.
He argued that mainstream media outlets produce the most balanced newscast, saying that Americans can also get a good idea of the truth by watching nightly programs on both Fox News and MSNBC, stations known for their political biases.
“They’re both equally crazy,” he said.
However, he said, television news stories are dictated by a financial agenda, rather that a political one.
Although his “Assignment America” segments have enjoyed a second airing on the Internet and are sent by people to their friends, Hartman said they have not really done much to boost the show’s overall ratings.
“People say they want to see good news, but what gets ratings are the negative stories, he said.
Hartman said the series made him realize that every person has something to contribute and is more than just their job.
He said his pieces sometimes tell a story with a lesson that goes beyond the subject at hand.
For example, a recent story about the unlikely friendship between an elephant and a dog in an elephant sanctuary in Tennessee, could encourage people to put aside their differences and live in harmony.
“It makes you wonder why Catskill and Hudson can’t get along,” he said.
Hartman lives on a farm in Catskill, which he purchased with his former wife about five years ago. He said they drove up to the farm from New York City with two sheep in the back seat of their car.
“They were full-sized sheep. It took years to clean up,” he said.
He said that technological advances over the last few years have allowed him to edit and produce his stories from a studio in his Catskill house. Usually on Monday, Hartman will fly to wherever his subject lives, where he will stay while filming. Then, Hartman will return to Catskill to start working on the footage. On Fridays, Hartman travels down to the studio to finish work and make his air time at the end of the broadcast.
“I sit down next to Katie Couric, she touches my knee, my wife gets mad,” he said, referring to Couric’s habit of touching Hartman on camera, an action that has not gone unnoticed by several Rotarians.
In reality, the two barely have time to interact during the broadcast, he said.
Hartman had kind words for Couric. He said he is happy that ratings for her show are on the rise, and that Couric does not share Rather’s view on Hartman’s work.
“Dan certainly never touched my knee,” he said.
Hartman and his second wife made the news last year when they chose to give birth to their son, whom they named George, at Columbia Memorial Hospital.
He said watching the birthing process was much different from the picture he imagined.
“There’s no white curtain,” he said, adding, “They put you there right at the 50-yard line. You can see the whole thing.”
Even George, who, at 10 months old, has already been the subject of an “Assignment America” segment, was not spared his father’s playful teasing.
“His head was like a traffic cone. I didn’t feel love as much as this irresistible urge to drive around him,” he said, over the laughter of his audience.
But joking aside, Hartman said he has fallen in love with the family’s farm and hopes to stay for a long time.
He said he has considered producing more pieces like the “Everybody Has a Story” series. He has his eye on becoming the essayist on “60 Minutes,” when current essayist Andy Rooney retires. Unfortunately, he said, two things stand in his way.
“First of all, you ask Andy when he’s going to retire, he says ‘never,’ and secondly, when you try to push him down the stairs, he puts up a hell of a fight,” Hartman said.
But in the meantime, Hartman said, he plans to continue working on his news segments, living on his farm and raising his son.
“[I am] going to try to enjoy life here in Catskill, and raise our son and have the childhood that I always fantasized about having as a kid,” he said.