Jack Anderson Hires New Muckraking Partner   

After four years of sharing a byline on Jack Anderson 's muckraking column, Dale Van Atta has left to freelance and write books. Mike Binstein , an Anderson staffer who began as an unpaid intern in 1982, replaces him.

The 35-year-old Binstein couldn't be happier. Jack has been my principal mentor, he says, although for almost a year, he couldn't get my name straight. He kept calling me Bernstein.

As an intern for the D.C.-based column, Binstein was once sent by another staffer to retrieve a reporter who was taking a long break at a nearby bar. Binstein skipped out of the building but froze when he spotted Anderson at the curb, hailing a cab.

Fearing he would give the wrong impression if he walked into the bar, Binstein ducked over to a row of newspaper boxes.

"I figured by the time I bought three papers, Jack would get a cab, he says. He was wrong. When Anderson finally got a ride, Binstein had worked his way through the row twice and had 25 pounds of dailies in his arms.

Anderson insists he didn't notice Binstein that day. But he paid attention five years later when his seasoned staffer helped break the savings and loan scandal. Binstein's experience covering domestic affairs makes him highly qualified for the column in the '90s, Anderson says.

Despite his years of experience, Binstein is still reverent. If I were a baseball player, this would be like working with Ty Cobb .