Earlier today I ran across a NY Times article by Frank Rich bemoaning the state of our national news in light of Walter Cronkite's death. As Frank outlines:
"The real test is how a journalist responds when people in high places are doing low deeds out of camera view and getting away with it. Vietnam and Watergate, not Kennedy and Neil Armstrong, are what made Cronkite Cronkite .....what matters is content, not style. The real question is this: How many of those with similarly exalted perches in the news media today — and those perches, however diminished, still do exist in the multichannel digital age — will speak truth to power when the country is on the line? This journalistic responsibility cannot be outsourced to Comedy Central and Jon Stewart."
Ok, fair enough Frank. I am there with you. Much of today's news is garbage. I really don't need to hear nightly coverage of wacko's who think Obama is a Kenyan citizen or MJ's latest legal twist. At the same time the larger news organizations failed, as Rich points out to push Bush on the "administration’s silver linings in Iraq". And similarly they should be pushing Obama on his failure to move forward on his campaign pledges. Of course, I do recognize what we are watching is seldom news, and more often entertainment.
So it comes as no surprise that Americans believe, based on a Time.com poll, that Jon Stewart is our most trustworthy newscaster (sorry Frank). I personally find Jon a funny, intelligent and interesting guy. And maybe it shouldn't be such a shock. He lives outside the traditional "news" standard. He can take more chances. He can ask questions without repercussions. It just might be nice if we could get the same level of trust outside of "Comedy Central".
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