In February of 1968, CBS Evening News anchorman, Walter Cronkite denounced the Vietnam War, on air. Legend has it, that President Lyndon B. Johnson was quoted as saying after hearing of Cronkite’s view, “if I’ve loss Cronkite, I’ve lost the American people.” That simple act of defiance in what was once an honored and revered profession is precisely what’s missing and why the political mess we are experiencing today is allowed to exist, No Walter Cronkite(s). Whether President Johnson actually uttered those words is not the issue, the fact that a journalist was brave enough to buck the Military-Industrial complex is a lesson to be remembered.
We have a press corps now, consisting of go along to get along types like Chuck Todd and Wolf Blitzer, to name a few, who think the job is access not information. I grew up with journalist not afraid to confront politicians with the facts as well as the truth or lies of their own words. I may not have agreed with their politics but I believed in their integrity. Sam Donaldson, Dan Rather and Tim Russert, had legendary battles with Presidents, Cabinet members and foreign Heads of State and made me proud to want to write someday.
The goal was to be the unofficial fourth branch of government not a shill for selling more cars or dishwashing liquid. Melissa Harris-Perry, recently had a parting of the ways with MSNBC Cable infotainment, not over the content of her programming but because she refused to be the mouthpiece for MSNBC’s Trump coverage marathon. How often do we need to hear about a wall with a big beautiful door? When is some proud member of Cronkite’s fraternity going to stand up and say enough is enough? Climate change does exist, the economy is not teetering on the edge of disaster, we don’t have a weak military and racism is the backdrop of the Trump phenomena.
Instead we go on with the nightly farce of analytical pablum, from the Matthews and O’Reilly contingent, giving us sound and fury, signifying nothing. To all the aspiring journalist and those plying their trade on air today, ‘the truth is an easy master to serve’ give it a try.