When A Journalist Editorialized On A War
Watching Meet the Press and the ridiculous talking heads, this time Meacham, Kearns Goodwin and Gregory, say nothing about nothing, I was thinking if that was preferable to what Kyra Phillips did. Of course, Meet the Press is, in theory an opinion show so the issue is should reporters by doing opinion segments. I am pretty strongly in favor reporters and Editors saying NO to that. So Gregory, Meacham, Citizen Stengel and the like should not be doing opinion segments. But that does remind of the one time a reporter did opine on a war:
[Walter Cronkite] was not punished in the ratings when he went to Vietnam and reported that he had seen the lies, corruption, and stalemate in that war and that it was time for us to go. LBJ watching Cronkite's Vietnam report. President Lyndon Johnson listened to Cronkite's verdict with dismay and real sadness. As he famously remarked to an aide, "If I've lost Cronkite, I've lost America." After all, this was not one of the young, brash reporters like Morley Safer or Jack Laurence pricking the president's power. It was Cronkite, veteran of World War II, a man of unimpeachable patriotism. When he stated the obvious -- that the Viet Cong had no intention of giving up, and we had no intention of remaining in Vietnam for another generation -- the common sense of it stuck with the public.
Can you imagine NASCAR Brian Williams, Katie Couric or ABC's generic anchor (I know his name, but he has no persona) doing that? Of course not. Heck, the Media does not give opinions on issues, it makes fun of politicians. Our political journalism is as pathetic as the President it covers.
We are in an Era of Incompetence, from our President to our Media.
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