David Shuster's take on the partisan worst in news

[helpisontheway]

He had me until he started talking about how fair they are at NBC. He needs to check out Matthews and his conservative panel if he thinks MSNBC is fair...

Best and worst (David Shuster)

I had planned to write a blog today about Bill O'Reilly. I have some very strong feelings about the embarassing hypocrisy of Fox News and O'Reilly. But last night, as I was thinking about the "partisan worst" in broadcast news, I flipped on a program that has always represented journalism at its best— ABC's Nightline. There was Ted Koppel's team, along the most remote stretch of the Bay Hap River in South Vietnam... seeking out witnesses to a firefight from 35 years ago... a fight that has been called into question in our presidential election by a group called "Swift Boat Veterans for Truth."

I'll leave it to ABC's web site for the details on what Nightline found about John Kerry's war record. But I was moved by something Ted Koppel said in his closing thoughts... and I want to repeat them here: "We didn't know what we were going to find when our crew went into Vietnam. You have the right to expect that we would have reported it either way. And we would. Because, not reporting something you know can be just as much of a political statement as reporting it... once we've checked things as thoroughly as we can, we're in the business of reporting what we learn, not concealing it."

"Reporting what we learn, not concealing it." For me, that declaration is the best way to end this week and think about the next two. Because despite the shallow approach in some quarters of the TV news business, there are still organizations that work tirelessly and with complete integrity to dig deep. That integrity, fairness, and dedication to letting the chips fall where they may, is what we strive for here at NBC... and it's something we honor in our colleagues across town.

[Lilli]

1. Well its a start

Maybe it will become "fashionable" again to actually be a REAL journalist.

[tibbiit]

3. Oh they will be "Real" journalists again

when kerry wins. They will dig deep and report on every tiny little speck of BS they can find about Kerry and his family for the next 4 or 6 years.
Every hair cut, new suit, stammer, hiccup.... etc.
They will feel like they have to prove their "Real Journalist Credentials" by never giving the dems one moment of slack. They will say how horrible they have been for 4 years of bush and promise to not let kerry slide for any thing as proof they are sorry for the non-reporting of the bush years... they wont let that happen again!
tib

[Supersedeas]

2. after three years of not reporting 'it,' they are not tooting their horns?