The ethic of the journalist is to recognize one’s prejudices, biases, and avoid getting them into print.
I am dumbfounded that there hasn’t been a crackdown with the libel and slander laws on some of these would-be writers and reporters on the Internet.
Walter Cronkite served as anchor for the CBS Evening News (1962-1981). His closing words at the end of each newscast read as “And that’s the way it is.” The news stories he covered make up a litany of American history’s most significant moments in the 1960s and 1970s. He is often cited as “the most trusted man in America” during his time as news anchor.
There are also countless examples of the man’s own blatant biases creeping into his reporting. One of the most notable being declaring the Vietnam War over at the start of the Tet offensive; something we completely reversed in only 3 days. You can have a field day researching his biased reporting.
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I would agree with your observation of Cronkite’s comments about the Vietnam War. For a country weary of war, the Tet offensive shook up America’s spirit. The tide was positively turned on the battlefield, but America’s political will to fight on was compromised.
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Wished we had more journalists with those standards
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Indeed! The lines between objective news reporting and opinion/commentary have become quite blurred at times. I taught journalism for a few years back in my days at Montana.
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That’s awesome you taught journalism before!
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we need a new Walter…
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I agree Jim. There are too many times when the lines between objective news reporting and opinion/commentary are blurred.
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especially on the cable networks…
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