When I was growing up, I remember feeling a bit intimidated by the news. It seemed that intelligent people (mostly men, it seemed) in very expensive suits would discuss things in very serious tones. They would rarely ever betray too much emotion, and the way that they would discuss things actually now, in retrospect, reminds me of a chess game. It is mostly quiet, and if you are not paying attention to the maneuvers, it seems like not much is going on.
Again, as a kid, I found this quite intimidating. There were reporters and news programs that were entirely no-nonsense, with hard-hitting and well-respected journalism. There were programs like Nightline and 60 Minutes and Sunday morning political shows, where serious issues were indeed addressed. It was not for entertainment, and as a kid, of course, I found all of this boring and, frankly, unapproachable. I figured that, sooner or later, I might reach an age when indeed, I too could understand and appreciate the informative nature of such programs.
Unfortunately, though, this kind of journalism largely has gone away, with the exceptions, like 60 Minutes, almost proving the overall rule.
Indeed, somehow, it seems that FOX News (which I often refer to by what feels like it's more rightful name of FAUX News) came on the scene and completely altered the landscape of journalism in this country. Not surprisingly, this coincided with the growing irrelevance of informed journalism and, in time, the complete irrelevance of facts themselves.
Now, finally at an age when I could truly appreciate the informed kind of serious news shows like those shows mentioned before, it seems instead that I, and millions of Americans like me, are starving for real, hard-hitting journalism like this, proving the rule that you often do not know the value of what you have until it's gone.
But in fact, this was some journalism at it's best. And it seemed to me that the ABC network had the two best individual reporters at the time working for them. There was Sam Donaldson, and there was Ted Koppel. These were serious guys, and they did not simply back off when they were reporting on the news, even with (perhaps especially with) the President. In fact, that was when they really went after their stories. They were not too worried about seeming to be rude or anything, because they understood that their job was to inform the American public.
They would not get angry, but they would get serious. Very serious. And they were relentless, not allowing people in power to give simple or evasive answers, or to simply dodge the issue altogether. In other words, these leaders had to make real arguments defending what they were doing, and this, of course, was not always a comfortable position to be in.
This is part of what I found a bit intimidating at the time, and I was just an outside observer!
Unfortunately, it took me years - until at least well into my teens, to even begin to see the real value in this kind of journalism. And when I fully understood the value of it, it was largely because it was already gone. Ted Koppel and Sam Donaldson are no longer faces and voices that you see or hear often on ABC, or any other news network. And no journalist who is anywhere near as serious has replaced them, either.
So, it is refreshing when one of them does an interview, as Ted Koppel did a few years back on FAUX News. He confronted both Bill O'Reilly and Sean Hannity, and frankly, he put them to shame. Just absolutely tore into them, and exposed exactly what they are doing, and what this has done to contribute to the sorry state of American journalism today.
Yes!
Ted Koppel is a throwback to a time when we had real journalists, and not merely fluff, feel good stories on both sides. Remember Koppel and Sam Donaldson, and how politicians like George H.W. Bush were uncomfortable and nervous to be interviewed by him? This is what we need, and I am glad that he has angered (and hopefully awakened) a few fans of FAUX News. Indeed, as Koppel rightly points out here, news is no longer objective and dull, but subjective and entertaining. And this new version of "the news" is a huge part of what is wrong with this country. I don't think that pathetic Donald Trump would have lasted five minutes if real reporting like Koppel's or Donaldson's still truly existed, or if, indeed as Koppel points out here, facts still mattered. But these days, only opinions matter, it seems. It started with FAUX News and the Republicans, most likely, but it quickly spread to the Democrats, as well, with Hillary trying to sell us on her version of "What Happened." A sign of just how far, and how badly, this country has declined!
So, I placed these videos of Ted Koppel, to illustrate how a real journalist can mercillesly diagnose and dissect serious topics in an effort to keep the American people informed, even after all of these years of active misinformation, in this era when real journalism is constantly under attack, as are facts themselves.
This is how it's done!
Again, as a kid, I found this quite intimidating. There were reporters and news programs that were entirely no-nonsense, with hard-hitting and well-respected journalism. There were programs like Nightline and 60 Minutes and Sunday morning political shows, where serious issues were indeed addressed. It was not for entertainment, and as a kid, of course, I found all of this boring and, frankly, unapproachable. I figured that, sooner or later, I might reach an age when indeed, I too could understand and appreciate the informative nature of such programs.
Unfortunately, though, this kind of journalism largely has gone away, with the exceptions, like 60 Minutes, almost proving the overall rule.
Indeed, somehow, it seems that FOX News (which I often refer to by what feels like it's more rightful name of FAUX News) came on the scene and completely altered the landscape of journalism in this country. Not surprisingly, this coincided with the growing irrelevance of informed journalism and, in time, the complete irrelevance of facts themselves.
Now, finally at an age when I could truly appreciate the informed kind of serious news shows like those shows mentioned before, it seems instead that I, and millions of Americans like me, are starving for real, hard-hitting journalism like this, proving the rule that you often do not know the value of what you have until it's gone.
But in fact, this was some journalism at it's best. And it seemed to me that the ABC network had the two best individual reporters at the time working for them. There was Sam Donaldson, and there was Ted Koppel. These were serious guys, and they did not simply back off when they were reporting on the news, even with (perhaps especially with) the President. In fact, that was when they really went after their stories. They were not too worried about seeming to be rude or anything, because they understood that their job was to inform the American public.
They would not get angry, but they would get serious. Very serious. And they were relentless, not allowing people in power to give simple or evasive answers, or to simply dodge the issue altogether. In other words, these leaders had to make real arguments defending what they were doing, and this, of course, was not always a comfortable position to be in.
This is part of what I found a bit intimidating at the time, and I was just an outside observer!
Unfortunately, it took me years - until at least well into my teens, to even begin to see the real value in this kind of journalism. And when I fully understood the value of it, it was largely because it was already gone. Ted Koppel and Sam Donaldson are no longer faces and voices that you see or hear often on ABC, or any other news network. And no journalist who is anywhere near as serious has replaced them, either.
So, it is refreshing when one of them does an interview, as Ted Koppel did a few years back on FAUX News. He confronted both Bill O'Reilly and Sean Hannity, and frankly, he put them to shame. Just absolutely tore into them, and exposed exactly what they are doing, and what this has done to contribute to the sorry state of American journalism today.
Yes!
Ted Koppel is a throwback to a time when we had real journalists, and not merely fluff, feel good stories on both sides. Remember Koppel and Sam Donaldson, and how politicians like George H.W. Bush were uncomfortable and nervous to be interviewed by him? This is what we need, and I am glad that he has angered (and hopefully awakened) a few fans of FAUX News. Indeed, as Koppel rightly points out here, news is no longer objective and dull, but subjective and entertaining. And this new version of "the news" is a huge part of what is wrong with this country. I don't think that pathetic Donald Trump would have lasted five minutes if real reporting like Koppel's or Donaldson's still truly existed, or if, indeed as Koppel points out here, facts still mattered. But these days, only opinions matter, it seems. It started with FAUX News and the Republicans, most likely, but it quickly spread to the Democrats, as well, with Hillary trying to sell us on her version of "What Happened." A sign of just how far, and how badly, this country has declined!
So, I placed these videos of Ted Koppel, to illustrate how a real journalist can mercillesly diagnose and dissect serious topics in an effort to keep the American people informed, even after all of these years of active misinformation, in this era when real journalism is constantly under attack, as are facts themselves.
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