Rest in Peace, Morley Safer
From 60 Minutes' Morley Safer dies at 84
Morley Safer, the CBS newsman who changed war reporting forever when he showed U.S. Marines burning the huts of Vietnamese villagers and went on to become the iconic 60 Minutes correspondent whose stylish stories on America's most-watched news program made him one of television's most enduring stars, died today in Manhattan. He was 84.
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Safer was a familiar reporter to millions when he replaced Harry Reasoner on 60 Minutes in 1970. A much-honored foreign correspondent, Safer was the first U.S. network newsman to film a report inside Communist China. He appeared regularly on the CBS Evening News from all over the world, especially Vietnam, where his controversial reporting earned him peer praise and government condemnation.
He had just announced his retirement. It is an excellent story, and if you only know what are called "journalists" today, you will be shocked by what the true meaning is exemplified by Safer.
On a side note, I have not watched broadcast news--other than the local channel maybe about one a month or so--in a very long time, so I do not know how broadcast news programs measure up to cable news which I know is trash. 60 Minutes used to be a must watch program with quality investigations and reporting. I hope that it hasn't strayed as far off the integrity path as cable programming has.
There is a hell of a lot of integrity gone from the world tonight, and nothing on the horizon to replace him.
Comments
Oh, my. this is new!
A Tip Jar by another name. What is the name of this thing? Tip Jar is too reminiscent of yucky poo.
We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.--Aristotle
If there is no struggle there is no progress.--Frederick Douglass
Vote for her, more troops. Vote for him: more truth. Our choice
Morley Safer: The Burning of Cam Ne
This says a lot and
really is not understood by a lot of people. The US government and the media while showing us war are not being transparent and minimize the deaths and atrocities that we commit and we accept it. From your link:
And the rules have changed again and again so we accept more and more.
We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.--Aristotle
If there is no struggle there is no progress.--Frederick Douglass
Not a word
about his passing on CNN's website or that of my dominant in-state daily newspaper. It's like they don't even want to acknowledge that journalism ever existed.
"The real power is in the hands of small groups of people and I don't think they have titles. -- Bob Dylan"
They do not want to admit
that journalists with integrity exist. We are being trained to accept lesser beings.
It is an abuse of language that we see over and over. Pundits are called journalists. A criminal investigation is called a security review. An imperialist invasion is called a war on terror.
And the people allow and accept these changes and fall in line behind leaders who once would have been denounced.
We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.--Aristotle
If there is no struggle there is no progress.--Frederick Douglass