How and why is journalism failing us? It’s something I think a lot about these days, driving through the now-blooming hills of Central Texas. The forecast calls for 90 degrees tomorrow in Austin, so before we’re forced to retreat to refrigeration until the fall, I have a thought — take a drive and roll down your windows. Now, I realize that may not be the best idea in parts of the country where winter still lingers, but if the temperature allows it, you’ll be amazed at the health effects of some fresh air. Such a ride helps clear my head. More so than the vigorous head-shaking I do while watching or reading the news. It’s confounding and frustrating to watch political coverage these days. One Sunday talk show host on NBC News said former President Trump “allegedly” tried to overturn the 2020 election. With all due respect, please eliminate that word from any future reference to that terrible day in January 2021. There is nothing “allegedly” about it. In fairness, we all make mistakes we later regret. But still…. Then there’s the coverage, or lack of it, of Trump himself. Over the weekend, the former president said that he would eliminate federal funding for any school with a vaccine mandate. That includes vaccines against chickenpox, polio, and measles. The audience shouted its approval of this dangerous, if not outright terrifying, promise. Can you imagine the consequences of that? The children who would die? Where’s the coverage and the outrage? Then Trump confused two Democratic presidents — not for the first time — saying, “Putin has so little respect for Obama …. ” Imagine the airtime that remark would get if it came from President Biden? As I have said before, I believe the former president’s record demonstrates that he is a danger to the fundamental idea and ideal of the United States as a constitutional republic based on the principles of freedom and democracy. As noted here in a reminder last week, an informed and determined electorate can stop him at the ballot box. Which brings us to the media’s role. I have been here before — when covering President Richard Nixon and the Watergate scandal. That was a case of a widespread criminal conspiracy led by the president. Two reporters, Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward of The Washington Post, led coverage that eventually proved that Nixon was illegally attempting to rig his reelection. This was a constitutional crisis for the nation. Woodward, Bernstein, and the Post led all the way. Nixon was indeed a crook. But there were others in the media who kept investigative heat on Nixon. Some reporters and their news organizations pulled no punches, played no favorites, and repeatedly asked tough questions of those who needed to be held accountable. Too much was at stake. And it is again now, even more so. Forgive the personal reference, but this reporter was deeply involved in that coverage as Chief White House Correspondent for CBS News. These days, as a now completely independent newsman, I regularly remind myself of important lessons learned during that historic time. And perhaps other journalists, especially those in mainstream media, may find them worth remembering.
This writing is not to offer any claim of knowing it all. Your correspondent has made his share of mistakes, but after more than seven decades I believe I have picked up a few useful guideposts. Politicians won’t like this list. Nixon certainly didn’t like me. I wear that fact as a badge of honor. On my office wall was a White House transcript of an Oval Office conversation in which President Nixon tells his FBI director, “Dan Rather is a son of a bitch. He is a smart rat. He’s clever. Have nothing to do with CBS, Rather, and that bunch. No. No CBS.” That was in 1972. Nixon would resign two years later. Our current era is different and in some ways more difficult, but the key to survival and thriving is to never lose hope. Listening and reading about the country, you’d think hope was on life support. Good journalism helps us remember these six truths and have hope for the future.
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