IS DAYS' JACK A SNOOP?
Matthew Ashford reveals why Jack is a good reporter

"I t's great to have Jack back at The Spectator. Of course, the biggest surprise is that Jennifer got the nod as editor-in-cheif. It was a big adjustment for Jack, but a piece of something is better than no piece at all.

I enjoy the newspaper as a backdrop because it gives Jack a reason to satisfy his basic curiosity. At the same time, he can be real nosy and snoopy. As a reporter, there's a specific inquisitiveness about people and curiosity about things. It also gives Jack a chance to fit into Salem, where there's always something going on. Jack's not exactly social with a lot of these people in Salem, but he definitely has something he wants from them. He has specific goals, such as looking for information, whether it's police or business people. How that information is used could be detrimental t that person, or it could be something good. So, Jack could be very helpful to them, or a threat.

When in doubt, it's always best to go to what you're good at. In the case of Jack, he was not successful in love, politics or any number of things, until he bough this newspaper from Diana Colville, got control of it and started to make things happen. In his own mind, those were the glory years. It's also where he met Jennifer. . . and things started coming together.

Jack seems to thrive in crisis. I think the Chinese symbol for chaos breaks down into dangerous opportunity. Underneath his layer of cynicism is a natural optimism. There's always that possibility for Jack that something good is going to come out of the crisis. It keeps him on his toes."