Following his graduation from Harvard University, Smith went to work in radio news in Washington, D.C. In 1961, Smith joined the
United States Coast Guard, where he served three years as an officer. In 1964, Smith returned to Washington, D.C., where he started an alternative monthly,
The Idler. At the time, there were only a handful of such journals being published. In 1965, Smith, then working in radio, was offered a job as assistant to
James Reston, the Washington correspondent of
The New York Times, and later was offered a position at
The Washington Post, which he turned down because he preferred to pursue alternative journalism. The following year, he took part in a day-long
SNCC boycott of Washington D.C.'s transit buses, giving rides to boycotters with his car. After his article on the action appeared, Smith was visited by the local chair of SNCC who was seeking help with
public relations. Thus began a long relationship with
Marion Barry, who later became
mayor of the city. That same year, in 1966, Smith launched a community newspaper called the
Capitol East Gazette to serve a largely poor, black neighborhood of Washington DC. Aided by a $2,000 grant from a local
Lutheran church, the
Gazette went on to cover such issues as plans to build a huge network of
freeways in the city, the war on poverty, public education, neighborhood battles, and urban planning. Smith also became a vociferous advocate of statehood for the District of Columbia. In 1969, the paper was renamed the
DC Gazette and became a citywide alternative newspaper. In subsequent years, contributors would include
James Ridgeway,
Jim Hightower,
Eugene McCarthy, and
Paul Krassner, and the publication became an articulate voice opposing the
Vietnam War. In 1974,
Indiana University Press published Smith's first book,
Captive Capital: Colonial Life in Modern Washington. In 1980, he became a guest commentator on the local
NPR radio station and Washington correspondent for the
Illustrated London News. In 1984, the
Gazette was renamed
Progressive Review and evolved into a bimonthly format. Smith's articles on the
savings and loan scandal, the problems of urban America, the first
Gulf War, the
Bush family, and scandals surrounding the Clintons were widely cited. == National Green Party ==