I started working at radio stations in high school. Pouring coffee for news radio anchors in 1972. As a kid, I watched the CBS Evening News every night. I watched as Watergate unfolded and inspired an entire generation of wannabe journalists.
My dream came true, and after my first on-air job at KCBS Radio, I moved to local TV in San Francisco, Chicago, and Los Angeles. A total of 15 years at KPIX, WBBM, and KNBC, before moving to network news, where I was a National Correspondent for Tom Brokaw’s Nightly News on NBC.
8 years later, I moved to ABC News where I worked for 18 years as Senior Law and Justice Correspondent, 20/20 and Primetime magazine correspondent, Senior National Correspondent, and then White House Correspondent.
Nearly 40 years of covering politics in Chicago and then on the national stage without opinion or judgment prepared me to finally bring some analysis and informed criticism to the junction of journalism and media.
Having practiced the “both sides” protocols of journalism in my entire career, I now see that in this world of “alternate facts”, “I do my own research” on the internet, and polarized cable outlets who narrowcast to audiences who want to hear their own views echoed back to them, the rules of journalism must change.
It’s no longer ok to give climate scientists and climate deniers equal space or time. Climate change deniers are wrong, and the preponderance of scientists agree the planet is in danger from human pollutants.
It is no longer ok to allow election deniers equal time or space with the courts, private investigations, and congressional hearings that prove Joe Biden was fairly elected President.
It is no longer OK to allow Donald Trump an open, unfiltered microphone to spew a firehose of lies and disinformation…Too rapid to fact-check on the fly. His rallies should not be broadcast live, either.
Instead, his interviews should be one-on-one, on tape, so his lies can be exposed one by one. His rallies should be covered, taped, and played on air with context from journalists who can decipher what is news and what is political propaganda or lies.
My belief is that Trump should be covered and his views publicized as warranted, both as a warning to the public of his dangerous policies, rhetoric — including separation of families, reckless treatment of classified documents, and racial tropes. Secondly, because he is a leading figure in the Republican Party who should be, but cannot be ignored.
Lots of good questions are being asked out there by solid journalists. Such as “Where are the whistleblowers you promised?” and “Where is the direct connection between Hunter Biden’s missteps and the President?”
Most of my tenure at the White House involved covering President Barack Obama. “No drama” Obama had a few scandals. Yes, I was there the day he wore the tan suit. Along with others in the White House press corp, I challenged him in press conferences. As in the time I confronted him about not following through when Syria barreled through his “red line” of using chemical weapons. He answered, was annoyed, but did not attack or lie.
During a one-on-one in the Rose Garden, I asked him how he felt about Latino immigration groups who largely voted for him, labeling him “the deporter in chief” because of the large number of deportations underway. Those days of civil back and forth between reporters and politicians seem far away. Obama would get angry with us, but respected the profession and knew it was our job.
Being a political reporter in today’s world is more than stenography, it’s challenging power, refuting disinformation, and fact-checking.
Truth is a real thing, and today’s journalists should not shy away from finding and publishing it.
