We Are Living In The Bad Old Days

Remember the days when politicians could strike fear in the hearts of the citizenry just by suggesting the citizen had a Communist suggestion? No real evidence was needed. Only innuendo. Sounds almost like today’s politics. If you believe a Muslim or person of Middle Eastern descent deserves protection under the Geneva convention or if you believe that America is not safer today because of our “War on Terror,” you are considered unpatriotic. Some people have gone so far as to kick Democrats out of there church. Others have been cowed into not voting for others with the threat of being denied Communion at their church. Yep. The scary old days are still here.

Republican Joe McCarthy was a politician who could dismantle a life by mere innuendo. For years he struck fear in the heart of those who didn’t share his political views using his position on the House Un-American Activities Committee. To some, Ann Coulter, at least, he was made a scapegoat by Liberals. His reign of terror ended but not due to the actions of the President, or a judge, or another politician. It ended because one newscaster stood up and called it the way he saw it.

Edward R. Murrow was THE broadcast journalist. He stood up to Joe McCarthy and his witchunt by producing a series of reports exposing the danger of McCarthy’s activities. Murrow showed that this governments needed the fourth branch to actively push the government to be candid and responsible to the American public. Ted Koppel is such a newsman. He stood his ground when those on the extreme right tried to paint him as unpatriotic when he decided to read the names of our dead on his show. More newsmen should be asking why the American public is not allowed to see our dead coming home. Why aren’t the news programs telling us the number of dead as they did in Vietnam or during WWII? The press is an agent of the people and should serve their interest and not those of a political viewpoint.

People say we no longer have the same type of people in government today that we had in the past. And this has made us worse off. However, crooked politicians have been around since Pompey and Caesar. What Rome didn’t have and what we are lacking today is an independent and aggressive press. We should demand that our journalists stop cowering in front of politicians that are openly lying or are transparently inept. I am not saying they shouldn’t be nice. But if it comes down to either letting a person feed untruths to the American public or looking bad for a newscycle, the choice should be a no-brainer: Stop the spread of lies, deception, and obfuscation.

The State of . . . News Journalism is suffering. Ted Koppel has decided to retire this fall and the news world will surely miss him. We need more newspeople of his ilk and like Murrow. Today’s cookie cutter news reader is unacceptable and we should demand more.