Thoughts on Journalists
Posted on 18. Jul, 2009 by Deb in In the News, Observations
One of the best pieces I’ve read today is Susan Toepfer’s piece in the Wall Street Journal’s “Speakeasy” blog. My degree is in Broadcast Journalism and the foundation of that education is that the reporter should always stay neutral unless it is an opinion piece. I worked at ABC News while Peter Jennings was still there, and the maintenance of that journalistic integrity was key to how the evening newscast was put together.
We’ve entered a time, of course, when objectivity–whatever that is, exactly–is not a sellable product. What we want instead is opinion. Talking points. Or vulnerability. Certainly, there are some who struggle to keep their tone civil, their reports tethered to truth, not to the political tides that crash through MSNBC and Fox News. Old-line network stars like Brian Williams and Charles Gibson gaze solemnly forward, without pausing for personal asides. CNN, despite the challenges of instant, dubiously reliable Internet news flashes (how could TMZ declare Michael Jackson dead before doctors did?), continues to put on a globally neutral face, even as its anchors’ faces become more glamorous by the day.
But the whole Anchor-as-Immobile-God persona started to crumble back in 2001, when Dan Rather-–always the most volatile of the Big Three evening newscasters—dissolved into tears on David Letterman’s show, talking about the 9/11 attacks. A few years later he was gone, along with Tom Brokaw and Peter Jennings.
In 2005, Anderson Cooper, overwhelmed by the body count of Hurricane Katrina, broke down on the air. Then, in 2008, came the sudden death of Tim Russert. The loss of this admirably affable newsman, who never showed his hand, may well have marked the end of the politically neutral broadcasting for which Cronkite once stood as stolid symbol.
Not that I personally object to the proliferation of blatantly biased news–I’d rather have journalists flaunting their political preferences than sneakily (or subconsciously) slanting their reports. And I do confess a fondness for the overblown Olbermann, with his boorish cries of “Fascist!” “Liar!” “Treason!,” just as O’Reilly and Rush have their supporters. O’Reilly once threatened to “boot right off this set” that mild-mannered talk show host from another era, Phil Donahue.
If that’s not entertainment, I don’t know what is! And just how does a traditional, trained-to-be-objective newsman compete with this newfangled display of passion and bile? It is, after all, impossible to imagine Cronkite going after John Chancellor or David Brinkley.
Uncle Walter did not engage in such antics. Nor did he brandish his political beliefs, or reveal the full extent of his anguish, joy or grief. He was first and foremost a reporter, a stalwart announcer of the day’s events.
via WSJ.
I honestly don’t watch much Network news any longer. I’d love to say that newspapers are more objective, but I can’t honestly say that, either. It’s a matter of digging through the news from different sources and putting things together.