On Journalism

Bill Moyers' Remarks on the Occasion of the 5th Annual Ron Ridenhour Prizes

Thank you very much, Sissy Farenthold, for those very generous words, spoken like one Texan to another -- extravagantly. Thank you for the spirit of kinship. I could swear that I sensed our good Molly Ivins standing there beside you.

I am as surprised to be here as I am grateful. I never thought of myself as courageous, and still don't. Ron Ridenhour was courageous. To get the story out, he had to defy the whole might and power of the United States government, including its war machine. I was then publisher of Newsday, having left the White House some two years earlier. Our editor Bill McIlwain played the My Lai story big, as he should, much to the chagrin of the owner who couldn't believe Americans were capable of such atrocities. Our readers couldn't believe it either. Some of them picketed outside my office for days, their signs accusing the paper of being anti-American for publishing repugnant news about our troops. Some things never change.

A few years later, I gave the commencement at a nearby university, and when I finished the speech, a woman who had just been graduated came up to me and said, "Mr. Moyers, you've been in both government and journalism; that makes everything you say twice as hard to believe." She was on to something.

After my government experience, it took me a while to get my footing back in journalism. I had to learn all over again that what is important for the journalist is not how close you are to power, but how close you are to reality. Over the last 40 years, I would find that reality in assignment after assignment, from covering famine in Africa and war in Central America to inner-city families trapped in urban ghettos and middle-class families struggling to survive in an era of downsizing across the heartland. I also had to learn one of journalism's basic lessons. The job of trying to tell the truth about people whose job it is to hide the truth is almost as complicated and difficult as trying to hide it in the first place. We journalists are, of course, obliged to cover the news, but our deeper mission is to uncover the news that powerful people would prefer to keep hidden.

Unless you are willing to fight and re-fight the same battles until you go blue in the face, drive the people you work with nuts going over every last detail to make certain you've got it right, and then take all of the slings and arrows directed at you by the powers that be -- corporate and political and sometimes journalistic -- there is no use even trying. You have to love it and I do. I.F. Stone once said, after years of catching the government's lies and contradictions, "I have so much fun, I ought to be arrested." Journalism 101.

So it wasn't courage I counted on; it was exhilaration and good luck. When the road forked, I somehow stumbled into the right path, thanks to mentors like Eric Sevareid, Fred Friendly, Walter Cronkite and scores of producers, researchers and editors who lifted me to see further than one can see unless one is standing on the shoulders of others.

The quintessential lesson of my life came from another Texan named John Henry Faulk. He was a graduate, as am I, of the University of Texas. He served in the Merchant Marines, the American Red Cross, and the U.S. Army during World War II, and came home to become a celebrated raconteur and popular national radio host whose career was shattered when right-wingers inspired by Joseph McCarthy smeared him as a communist. He lost his sponsors and was fired. But he fought back with a lawsuit that lasted five years and cost him every penny he owned. Financial help from Edward R. Murrow and a few others helped him to hang on. In the end, John Henry Faulk won, and his courage helped to end the Hollywood era of blacklisting. You should read his book, Fear on Trial, and see the movie starring George C. Scott. John Henry's courage was contagious.

Before his death I produced a documentary about him, and during our interview he told me the story of how he and his friend, Boots Cooper, were playing in the chicken house there in central Texas when they were about 12 years old. They spotted a chicken snake in the top tier of the nest, so close it looked like a boa constrictor. As John Henry told it, "All of our frontier courage drained out of our heels. Actually, it trickled down our overall legs. And Boots and I made a new door through the hen house." His momma came out to see what all of the fuss was about, and she said to Boots and John Henry, "Don't you know chicken snakes are harmless? They can't hurt you." Rubbing his forehead and his behind at the same time, Boots said, "Yes, Mrs. Faulk, I know, but they can scare you so bad you'll hurt yourself."

John Henry Faulk never forgot that lesson. I'm always ashamed when I do. Temptation to co-option is the original sin of journalism, and we're always finding fig leaves to cover it: economics, ideology, awe of authority, secrecy, the claims of empire. In the buildup to the invasion of Iraq we were reminded of what the late great reporter A.J. Liebling meant when he said the press is "the weak slat under the bed of democracy." The slat broke after the invasion and some strange bedfellows fell to the floor: establishment journalists, neo-con polemicists, beltway pundits, right-wing warmongers flying the skull and bones of the "balanced and fair brigade," administration flacks whose classified leaks were manufactured lies - all romping on the same mattress in the foreplay to disaster.

Five years, thousands of casualties, and hundreds of billion dollars later, most of the media co-conspirators caught in flagrante delicto are still prominent, still celebrated, and still holding forth with no more contrition than a weathercaster who made a wrong prediction as to the next day's temperature. The biblical injunction, "Go and sin no more," is the one we most frequently forget in the press. Collectively, we don't seem to learn that all it takes to transform an ordinary politician and a braying ass into the modern incarnation of Zeus and the oracle of Delphi is an oath on the Bible, a flag in the lapel, and the invocation of national security.

There are, fortunately, always exceptions to whatever our latest dismal collective performance yields. America produces some world-class journalism, including coverage of the Iraq War by men and women as brave as Ernie Pyle. But I still wish we had a professional Hippocratic Oath of our own that might stir us in the night when we stray from our mission. And yes, I believe journalism has a mission.

Walter Lippman was prescient on this long before most of you were born. Lippman, who became the ultimate Washington insider - someone to whom I regularly leaked - acknowledged that while the press may be a weak reed to lean on, it is the indispensable support for freedom. He wrote, "The present crisis of Western democracy is a crisis of journalism. Everywhere men and women are conscious that somehow they must deal with questions more intricate than any that church or school had prepared them to understand. Increasingly, they know that they cannot understand them if the facts are not quickly and steadily available. All the sharpest critics of democracy have alleged is true if there is no steady supply of trustworthy and relevant news. Incompetence and aimlessness, corruption and disloyalty, panic and ultimate disaster must come to any people denied an assured access to the facts."

So for all the blunders for which we are culpable; for all the disillusionment that has set in among journalists with every fresh report of job cuts and disappearing news space; for all the barons and buccaneers turning the press into a karaoke of power; for all the desecration visited on broadcast journalism by the corporate networks; for all the nonsense to which so many aspiring young journalists are consigned; and for all the fears about the eroding quality of the craft, I still answer emphatically when young people ask me, Should I go into journalism today? Sometimes it is difficult to urge them on, especially when serious questions are being asked about how loyal our society is to the reality as well as to the idea of an independent and free press. But I almost always answer, "Yes, if you have a fire in your belly, you can still make a difference."

I remind them of how often investigative reporting has played a crucial role in making the crooked straight. I remind them how news bureaus abroad are a form of national security that can tell us what our government won't. I remind them that as America grows more diverse, it's essential to have reporters, editors, producers and writers who reflect these new rising voices and concerns. And I remind them that facts can still drive the argument and tug us in the direction of greater equality and a more democratic society. Journalism still matters.

But I also tell them there is something more important than journalism, and that is the truth. They aren't necessarily one and the same because the truth is often obscured in the news. In his new novel The Appeal, John Grisham tells us more about corporate, political and legal jihads than most newspapers or network news ever will; more about Wall Street shenanigans than all the cable business channels combined; more about Manchurian candidates than you will ever hear on the Sunday morning talk shows.

For that matter, you will learn more about who wins and who loses in the real business of politics, which is governance, from the public interest truth-tellers of Washington than you will from an established press tethered to official sources. The Government Accountability Project, POGO, the Sunlight Foundation, Citizens Against Government Waste, Taxpayers for Common Sense, the Center for Responsible Politics, the National Security Archive, CREW, the Center for Public Integrity, just to name a few - and from whistleblowers of all sorts who never went to journalism school, never flashed a press pass, and never attended a gridiron dinner.

Ron Ridenhour was not a journalist when he came upon the truth of My Lai. He was in the Army. He later became a pioneering investigative reporter and - this is the irony - had trouble making a living in a calling where truth-telling can be a liability to the bottom line. Matthew Diaz and James Scurlock, whom you honored today, are truth-tellers without a license, reminding us that the most important credential of all is a conscience that cannot be purchased or silenced.

So I tell inquisitive and inquiring young people: Journalism still makes a difference, but the truth matters more. And if you can't get to the truth through journalism, there are other ways to go.

To The Nation Institute and The Fertel Foundation, to the Ridenhour judges and to all of you, thank you again for this moment and, above all, for the courage of your own convictions.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

The 5th Annual Ridenhour Prizes, sponsored by The Nation Institute and the Fertel Foundation, were awarded at a luncheon ceremony on April 3, 2008 at the Press Club in Washington, D.C. The 2008 Ridenhour Prizes were given to veteran journalist Bill Moyers (Courage Prize), author James D. Scurlock (Book Prize) and former Navy JAG officer Matthew Diaz (Prize for Truth-Telling). Named for the Vietnam era whistleblower Ron Ridenhour who exposed the truth of the My Lai massacre, the Ridenhour Prizes recognize those who have spoken out on behalf of the public interest, promoted social justice or illuminated a more just vision of society. For more complete information about The Ridenhour Prizes, as well as past and current winners, please visit nationinstitute.org and ridenhour.org.

Comments

[moderationsmuse]

I am not familiar with your earlier career. In recent years you have certainly not shown yourself to be interested in reporting news. Your appearance at Huff Po seems apropos. It's your natural home.
Alas, though, the country has a distinct need for people who are willing to research events without "spinning" the events. The goal of objective reporting seems to be slipping away. Jim Lehrer is a lonely voice out there.
Well, at least when you pontificate, you have lately gone so over the top that there's no question of your even seeking a larger perspective other than your own frank opinions. Would that you could realize: the readers don't need your opinions. They are quite capable of forming their own.

[peonyharp]

You, Mr. Moyers, are an inspiration, and indeed courageous.

Congratulations!

You are my hero, and I love spending Fridays with you. :)
~Kristine

[lisakaz]

Thank you! I was trained by ppl like Richard Hainey and Frank Maier at Northwestern. I am disgustusted with what passes for "news" (infotainment if not outright distortion and lies) today. I'm so glad they did not witness these things. I don't understand how it happened. The kind of truth telling in the 70s had not been forgotten in the 80s. Where did it go and how can we bring it back?

Telling the truth should not be so difficulty. I was kinda dismayed with a young journalism student was telling me (in classic excuse-o-rama fashion, no doubt borrowed from his instructors) why the press found it so hard to tell they truth re: Bu$hco. Are you kidding? You mean it was easy in the late 60s-early 70s? I am frankly glad I don't work in the media with my minted BSJ -- and my soul -- intact.

Is this a permanent failure or what?

[jones]

I really love your show. My Mom does too. Keep it coming.

[MizJ]

Bill Moyers and Frontline are the two primary reasons I contribute to PBS. They make fact finding the theme of their reporting. And alongside the chuckleheads who dominate network and cable news shows there is no comparison.

[AreYouFibbing]

Mr. Moyers.....you are one of the few journalists I trust. You are objective, even when I wish you would sway over to my side, but your honesty is what always keeps me coming back to hear what you have to say. Too bad you can't bottle what you have and sell it to the hacks that have taken over the media.

[TwoCentsWorth]

Bill Moyers: Thank you. You are truly a "Man for all Seasons!"

[bogananda666]

Journalists telling the truth even if they recognized it is a theoretical postulation. The MSM are infomercial journalists, a line borrowed from Mad TV.

[pennylane216]

FANTASTIC! As a young journalist who worked hard at "getting right," which is sometimes seeing the good beyond the jaundiced eye, I was once attacked by an alder reporter at a panel in New York. He cried compromised-by-proximity -- and because he took something local to a national forum, no one knew it was me he was gunning for.

Greg Sandow, then the music editor of the recently launched ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY, looked at him, and shook his head. "How can you write about something effectively if you don't KNOW it? KNOW where it COMES FROM? Understand what DRIVES it? And what COMPROMISES it has to make?"

It's not about how close, but how clear... and I've never seen it articulated so beautifully since. Thank you for giving the people the way to deflect one of the fastest indicters I've witnessed in the arrogance of sourcing and proximity. Because, as I was taught, your name on a story is a sacred trust: compromise it, you destroy the faith people put in you.

I for one believe there is power in the truth. It is the only way to move towards a better place....
Your courage, your comments, your willingness to stay the course and have fun doinf it are inspiring.

[RuleofLawNow]

Mr. Moyers please follow your instincts and keep pushing journalism towards the next level. There are so few with the respect, track record, insight, and clout that you possess. When you talk about your wish for an"oath", I truly believe you are touching upon the key to this needed evolution. With your leadership, journalists could get together and form a real professional association with content. Ethical and reporting standards could be set. Enforcement machinery could be put in place to empower journalists to self-police their brethren in a transparent and fair manner that would enhance quality in the production of information in the public sphere. People could more easily see the difference in those who will not hold themselves to standards, and those who seek the truth in a principled manner could be more often recognized and rewarded. The band-aid approach of the MSM, e.g., USA Today, NYT, etc. let's appoint an ombudsperson once we get caught allowing our reporters to make things up, is destroying the credibility of this crucial check on power in our democracy.

[Rarignac]

Very nicely written piece, filled with admirable sentiment and noble aspiration. A man whose words are in the right place. Congratulations!

[ChimpmasterDJ]

Here we have the dilemma,perfectly illustrated. Everything Moyers says in this speech is obviously and undeniably true, yet very little of it is ever reflected in his news program. It is routine to see Moyers simply "reporting" statements from the Administration or some prominent politician, with a straight face, offering absolutely no corrective facts to allow viewers to fully comprehend the mendacity of what has just been "read to them". Of course, Moyers is not to be singled out for this, as he is far from alone. But in view of this elevating rhetoric with regard to the noble duty of journalism in a democracy, one would wish it were on display in application more than occasionally.

[AreYouFibbing]

chimpmasterdj.....anyone who has read some of your anti-Hillary bashing posts, would know better than to even consider what you have to say on Bill Moyers. He has more integrity in his little finger, than you have in your entire body.

[Danny]

You forget, Chimpmaster, that Bill Moyers was censured from the media, as many other worthy journalists were, from the scene, for several years after the Iraq invasion. Bill Moyers has been allowed to have a voice again by submitting to PBS/Others' requirements for "proper journalism". What we get on the airwaves is not the truly genuine Bill Moyers. But it's better than no Bill Moyers. And this address offered by HuffPo is a gem, one that those of us lucky enough to have access to HuffPo will appreciate. Truth may be coming back on soft, little feet, one tiny step at a time.

[Arielman]

A cousin a Korean War Army Captain worked for US Army Signal Corps making training films after his service in Korea and became a film editor at NBC, back when TV news was 15 minutes, the station promised "film at eleven" sent on motorcycle, rush delivered, developed and edited. One day at "Huntley and Brinkley" the news director was sick and they asked the film editor George Murray to be the director. They liked him and he went on to later produce NBC News. We heard he was in Houston and Saigon covering the Gemini program that led up to Apollo and the "police action" in Vietnam that turned into a war.

Noted television journalist Edwin Newman read a letter at his eulogy in the UN Chapel, he had died in Mexico City, where his wife, an Avon executive was introducing that product there I was told. I heard that the letter Mr. Newman read, a letter George Murray had to send to his crew in Vietnam spending months of investigation there at risk to life and limb to present the "soldiers point of view" in the Vietnam Conflict (never a Congressional declared war, referred to as "Madison Avenue's War") had to stop as it was canceled by "higher-ups" at NBC. ? General Westmoreland later sued the network for millions over alleged "body count" manipulation when NBC did a retrospective report on the Vietnam debacle, settled, for an undisclosed, unpublished amount. Does the military-industrial complex now own NBC?

[Arielman]

Sorry that was Westmeorelan vs. CBS (1982) on the cover of "TV Guide"

[Arielman]

George Murray was an award winning news producer (pers. comm.Edwin Newman) and won an award for a production called "Vanishing Americans" about native Americans in the US and the terrible conditions on some of the reservations. A similar sentiment I saw in the old photo album the grand-daughter of one of the founders of the American Civik Liberties Union (ACLU) showed me, a photo journal album of her grandfather's, at Harvard University, while we dug many test holes a stones throw from Princeton University, NJ, from travels out in the American southwest while undergrads I think she said, where the current "presumptive" Republican candidate for US President is from. I wonder what his record on those issues are?

Woops...that was Westmoreland vs. CBS (1982) as shown on the cover of "TV Guide" (Forbes)

"Depositions made by Rusk during the trial of William C. Westmoreland vs. CBS Inc., etal., in 1984 may also prove engaging. Rusk was a prolific writer, and many of the articles and book reviews he penned on international issues and foreign policy are included in these files."

Dean Rusk Articles and Speeches, 1951-1994 at Richard B. Russell Library archives.

[Teritt]

I'll take Bill Moyers and Dan Rather over anyone at Fox, CNN or MSNBC anyday. You can actually learn something by watching the Journal on CBS or Dan Rather Reports on HDNET.

[steamboat]

Mr. Moyers, the best way for you to practice reality is by giving your employees something they haven't been given yet: health insurance............remember, when you preach it, practice it yourself

[GrainOSand]

Does it always come down to corruption by greed. You are saying Mr. Moyers is a cheapskate. Any supporting doc? I am interested.

[jdm58]

Bill Moyers is the main reason I still send money to PBS. Don't know if he'll read this, but if so, a big THANKS! from a fan in Texas. Don't know what we'll do when he decides to retire, truthtelling and muckraking are dying qualities in todays "journalists", unless it comes to chasing down Spears, Hilton, and even Diana 10 years after her death.

[ro-z]

that's funny. he is one of the reasons that I don't send money to PBS.

[JacobSinger]

Care to elaborate on that?