Posted on 02/10/2015 10:08:37 AM PST by Kaslin
Brian Williams’ inability to recall and truthfully report the events concerning his helicopter coming under fire in Iraq single-handedly calls into question the lack of journalistic integrity among today’s American journalists and taints the entire field of journalism.
While numerous instances of reporting fallacies, including the unraveling of the Rolling Stones UVA rape story, have recently flooded social media timelines and dominated newscasts, none delivers a stronger punch to the gut than when the poster boy of American journalism is found to be no more than a highly paid liar.
In 2014, a Gallup poll showed Americans’ trust in mass media and their ability to report accurately and fairly had hit an all-time low of 40 percent. American viewers have clearly grown weary with the sensationalism and gotcha-style of reporting many media outlets have turned to in an attempt to boost ratings and grow their viewership; and with the growing trend of being misled, who can blame them?
Walter Cronkite, long-time anchor of the “CBS Evening News”, became known as ‘the most trusted man in America’ by carefully delivering precise information to his tens of millions of viewers. Whether it was his coverage of World War II or the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, Cronkite’s viewers relied on him to deliver an accurate account of significant events. If alive today, Mr. Cronkite would without a doubt be mortified to see how far American journalism has fallen.
Because of this fall from grace, it is vital to train up a new generation of journalists that will hold themselves to a higher standard. Since 1977, the National Journalism Center has trained responsible journalists and places an emphasis on the importance of balanced and ethical reporting. When polled, its students overwhelmingly said the events surrounding Brian Williams’ inaccurate reporting would make it increasingly difficult for them, and journalists across the board, to be viewed as a credible and reliable source of information.
As the Society of Professional Journalists’ Code of Ethics states: “…public enlightenment is the forerunner of justice and the foundation of democracy. Ethical journalism strives to ensure the free exchange of information that is accurate, fair and thorough. An ethical journalist acts with integrity.”
NBC News now has the obligation to restore hope in the Fourth Estate and to demonstrate to their viewers they care more about the vital pillars of journalism than ratings. The 7.7 million viewers of “NBC Nightly News” deserve to know the network will not stand behind inaccuracies and unethical reporting.
Mr. Williams, great power was placed in your hands and aspiring journalists everywhere looked to you for guidance. You were counted on and trusted to deliver accurate information to the American public. You now have the responsibility to gracefully bow out and protect what small glimmer of journalistic integrity remains.
With great power comes great responsibility.
WE may disagree but he was no early supporter.
IMHO
They want to keep it in this realm,
not in the realm of “yeah, we admit that we leftists are deceitful in the pursuit of our agenda”.
“”Eric Severied or Howard K Smith or even Huntley and Brinkley would be considered righties compared to Cooper, Maddow, Soledad or that buxom Robin Meade”
Not Chet Huntley. He was vicious in his portrayal of Goldwater and conservatives who supported him. Huntley would fit right in with today’s news vermin.
Howard K Smith’s son Jack was a private at the Battle of Ia Drang Valley, one of the more ferocious engagements in the war. His memoir is well worth reading:
http://www.mishalov.com/death_ia_drang_valley.html
Walter Cronkite, long-time anchor of the “CBS Evening News”, became known as ‘the most trusted man in America’ by carefully delivering precise information to his tens of millions of viewers. Whether it was his coverage of World War II or the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, Cronkite’s viewers relied on him to deliver an accurate account of significant events. If alive today, Mr. Cronkite would without a doubt be mortified to see how far American journalism has fallen.
I stopped reading after this, no point to it.
I stopped listening to Walter after Tet.
I submit that Cronkite was American journalism's fall from grace. Something changed for him that took him from a dispassionate reader to an advocate, and it was at that point the the real power of the media was revealed, its ability to demoralize, to recast facts into a false narrative, to move the political class to action. Heady business, crack cocaine to a nascent Fourth Estate, and I entertain a doubt, based on his earlier career, if Cronkite would have been pleased at how it's turned out. But the damage is done, and the composition of the current crop of media celebrities - one hesitates to call them "journalists" - demonstrates just how precipitous, and how low, the fall has come to be.
“The press then was just as biased, maybe more so, back then. The only difference between then and now was that the cosmeticians did such a good job in making it look good.”
I agree. In that era the big three news broadcasts all originated in New York City and they reflected the liberal culture of that city. Only Brinkley was elsewhere, based in Washington DC, but his partner Huntley was in NYC.
I think I would rate Brinkley and Severeid as the best of the bunch. Huntley and Cronkite were on the left. Cronkite was found to have been helping the antiwar left modify their demonstrations for maximum impact on the public. I saw Cronkite at a McGovern rally back in 1972. I figured he was as much a camp follower as a reporter.
They’ve been at it since the Russian Revolution.
World Communism was their goal and it still is. (Communism didn’t die. It feigned death and is coming back with a new camouflage job.
IMHO
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