Dan's Papers - April 11, 2008 - Troy Roberts

"I spend so much time speaking to psychopaths and sociopaths. I've learned I have to watch myself to not get too emotionally invested. As a parent, I find it messes with your head a little bit."

After 10 years as a news correspondent for the popular CBS show "48 Hours" - the third longest running show on television - Troy Roberts has had many opportunities to hone the reporter's skill of getting a story without having the story get him. Roberts, an Emmy Award winner, has had exclusive interviews with some of the most notorious newsmakers - people who could really get under your skin - like Robert Chambers, dubbed the New York "preppy killer," and Andrew Luster, Max Factor heir and convicted felon. Although Roberts has also gotten up close and personal with luminaries from the entertainment and culture scene - like Lauren Hutton, Annie Liebowitz and Maya Angelou - much of his work has been focused on the crime scene and that's where he has had to keep on guard.

"When I didn't put up a psychological wall, it hurt me," said Roberts, recounting a challenging assignment earlier in his career. "I was in Russia doing a story on a pedophile ring and I interviewed the ring leader. I wanted to strangle him. He could tell he was getting under my skin and it ended up not being one of my better interviews. You don't want your emotions to take over - don't want it to be about your fury."

Ironically, for as long as Roberts has worked at "48 Hours" he's been coming to East Hampton. One might think it's here where he can let it all go, in the serenity of the East End. "You want to see a furious reporter?" he asked. "Put me in Hamptons traffic in August."

But this was an interview during the quietude of March, with Roberts in New York City. He had just returned from hearing Barack Obama speak at Cooper Union. And while he wasn't covering the event for the show, he felt it couldn't be missed. "I wanted to go to take a measure of the man. It was a terrific opportunity," he said. "He's undeniably impressive, charismatic. Who knows what may happen. I may be called to do coverage later."

No stranger to the political campaign trail, Roberts reported on 1996 presidential campaigns of Bill Clinton and Bob Dole as a correspondent for the "CBS Evening News with Dan Rather." As a result, he has already had firsthand exposure to the other Democratic contender, Hillary Clinton. "I have a good sense of who she is," he said.

Roberts began his career in 1985 as anchor and producer of a weekly 30-minute news magazine at a CBS station in San Francisco, then became a reporter for a Portland station. A graduate of the University of California at Berkeley with a bachelors in political science, he joined WCBS-TV in New York in 1990 as a reporter. After three years he became co-anchor of CBS's "Up to the Minute," then co-anchor of the CBS Morning News and later, a correspondent for the CBS Evening News. For the "Eye On America" series, Roberts won an Emmy for his coverage of the 1996 Olympic Summer Games in Atlanta and the infamous bombing. He provided live coverage on events ranging from the 1994 Olympic Winter Games in Lillehammer to monumental international events such as the signing of a Middle East peace agreement and the inauguration of South African President Nelson Mandela.

But it was at "48 Hours" that Roberts became involved with investigative reporting of notorious crime makers and victims: skinheads, rapists, murderers, kidnappers. Just before this interview he had completed further research on the kidnapping of Shawn Hornbeck, the 15-year-old held for four years by Michael Devlin, and Ben Ownby, the 11-year-old discovered after just four days. Roberts has been working on the story since last August, and his exclusive hour-long report on "48 Hours" will air in the fall. What interests him are the more universal issues. "This isn't just abduction," he said. "It's about rebuilding a family."

While this type of story is a departure from the more frequent murder mysteries covered on "48 Hours," there's certainly no lack of interest on the part of the viewing public for programming built around crimes and misdemeanors, whether reality based or fictitious. From the days of "Magnum, P.I." to "Hill Street Blues" to the ludicrous "Cops," shows about bad guys have lured viewers for decades. "There seems to be a hunger for criminal procedural kinds of shows," Roberts said. "I see a relationship between '48 Hours' and 'CSI' or 'Law & Order' - we're a real, live CSI."

Investigative reporting opens the door for great, albeit sometimes difficult, stories. Reporters may start with a few facts, delve deeper, make discoveries, and if they're lucky and attentive, come upon a surprise that turns the story on its head. "I did a story on a spiritual group that believed miracles can be created. It was based on teachings from The Course of Miracles, which is legit," said Roberts. "Something told me this was a cult that had bastardized the Course. Their master teacher was a classic charismatic cult leader. I learned he dictated marriages, controlled finances of his followers, isolated them from their families. We found out there were suicides of members - people were on the brink of madness."

Some stories Roberts reported on changed the lives of the people involved. But at least one changed the life of the reporter himself. "I was doing a story about a couple from Atlanta who adopted a 7-year-old from Russia. The child had emotional problems that required treatment, and they claimed their insurance was running out and they couldn't afford her care," he recalled. "The adoption agency wasn't forthcoming with information, and it started to look like a fraud story. The couple decided to return the girl to Russia after 5 years and we followed them. They bribed their way in to a hospital and left her there. A Russian producer got me into a locked children's ward with a hidden camera. I gave the little girl money and my phone number. It tore me up to have to leave her there. I actually thought, 'Could I adopt this child?'"

The story had a powerful ending for both the child and Roberts. After it aired, a couple in Virginia adopted the girl. Two months later she called Roberts, asking if he could visit, and while he couldn't (at the advice of the adoption agency) the idea of rescuing a forsaken child stuck with him. Reporting on an unrelated topic in South Africa, Roberts spent the day at an orphanage. "It was there that I made the decision to pursue the adoption of an older child," he said. Four months after returning from South Africa, Roberts began the adoption process. Through a family contact, he learned about a 6-year-old boy in Djibouti. Roberts traveled to the East African country four times to meet with officials and "to spend time with Jonah." Within eight months the adoption was complete. "We've been a family for three years," said Roberts.

Clearly, Roberts' invisible wall had a chink, and it wasn't the first time he let his guard down. "I did a profile on Lauren Hutton - she is the epitome of fun," he said. "We decided to go with her on spring break. Her idea of it was dog sledding in Alaska, followed by cage diving with white sharks in Central America," he said. "It was a blast."

Roberts had other assignments that were more enjoyable than trying, including a piece on photographer Annie Liebowitz and another on poet Maya Angelou. "She's not fun in the Lauren Hutton sense," he said, "but you walk away from her with a warm feeling in your heart, with ideas on how to change the world."