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

[rmreddicks]

A minor difference of opinion. (Perhaps not SO minor) Mr. Moyers states "The slat broke after the invasion..­..," I'd suggest that the slat broke well before the invasion and perhaps a long time ago. I do agree that college students with that desire should become journalists. It there are enough of them we may one day learn some truths.

[julieeiluj]

well there sure are a POWERFUL bunch of half truths around the airwaves

[valleygent]

Now there goes a Journalist. Makes all others pale in comparison, especially against the cable news drivel peddlers.

[BenMurphyNYC]

Such an intelligent man! I have re-used this quote from his piece on HRC's LBJ statement more times than I can remember: "It was an historical fact, an affirmation of the obvious" and I have listened to "Buying the War" more times than a devout parishioner has heard the Sermon on the Mount.

[meneghin]

Bill Moyers is one of the few reasons I haven't lost all my faith in journalists and the media in general. We all need to work harder not to allow reality to become subjective. It's the only anchor we have.

[20thcenturykid]

Bill Moyers is the last best hope to save the face of American democracy (if there's any left) in the eyes of the world.

[Namtillaku]

While I feel very strongly about Moyers, I have to say you're wrong. There are a number of others who can be put on the same pedestal; Glenn Greenwald & the McClatchy reporters to name a couple.

[JacobSinger]

I agree that those guys are indeed true journalists, but they've a long way to go to earn the iconic stature of Moyers.

[lastams]

While they may act sheepish when reminded of the groupthink mentality that lead to the war, little in the world of political punditry has changed.
The Whitehouse still sets the depth and boundaries of discourse, sometimes beyond the limits of reason, and mainstream media tags dutifully along.
Watching the Gridiron dinner with the press and politicos all yucking it up is enough to turn one’s stomach; like it’s all one big joke and only the insiders get it.
Thank God we have shows like Bill Moyer’s Journal, Now, Frontline, and Countdown; without them we’d have all been left in the dark.

[rmreddicks]

Even some of those shows ("Fronline" notably- no cable, so no "Countdown") do more for obfuscation than enlightenment. Watch it. Vet it.

[Wozzeck]

You're quite right about Frontline. If it wasn't for the narrator's very believable voice, more people might notice its neocon slant on matters dealing with Iraq. When it presents Michael Gordon and Philip Zelikow as impartial observers of the Surge's "successes",
it's conning the public (again).

[Aries198]

"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."

Thank you, Mr. Moyers. As a journalism school graduate, I wonder where my profession went. When more truth is told in blogs than in the main-stream media, when "fair and balanced" is a slogan for propaganda, when celebrity gossip equates with news, our nation can only head downward, how can our nation, least of all truth, survive.

Thanks to people like you, Olbermann and very few others...y­ou speak truth to power. And democracy might survive.

[Tumult]

PBS is the only real news on TV. It is sad that you have to go to either a comedy show or PBS to get Truth from the airwaves.

[GoodwithWood]

Indeed

[MysticInd]

Ditto!

[deweshk]

Right on point !!!

[OttoMann]

What a lot of people don't seem to realize, particularly journalists themselves, is that WRITING is the least important aspect of journalism. The most important is REPORTING, which is the least fun, the least sexy, and the most time-consuming. As Moyers points out, they're often trying to uncover truths that the subject is trying to keep hidden. That takes a lot of hard work and perseverance.

Most writers, of all stripes, are inherently lazy. These days so many "reporters" are mere stenographers, enablers of the Press Release Era we're in. Alleged facts go unchallenged, and the ones in power are allowed to frame the issues, and spin everything their way.

These days, we are so much more like the Soviet Union was in the mid 20th century, where the press acts (or does nothing at all) out of fear of the federal government. And a lot it has to do with the monopolization of the media outlets, which are primarily owned by a handful of companies. Generally, the larger the company, the more conservative they are in terms of appeasing the lowest common denominator. Not only is everything dumbed down and oversimplified, but "bad" news is filtered out.

[Strywever]

On what do you base your opinion that "most writers . . . are inherently lazy"? Known a lot of writers personally, have you? I'll let you in on something: you don't get published by being lazy, unless -- perhaps -- you have a corporate "journalism" job. Most writers are freelancers. What they aren't is lazy.

[Durango]

Bill Moyers, along with Jon Stewart, have the best minds in the broadcast media.

he is truely a national treasure. Intelligence in place of spin. Thank You.

[BlueAsh]

Sorry, I have to disagree--For all his mental and intellectual acuity, Jon Stewart had allowed himself to become a political hack. He was tough on Tucker Carlson for all the "crimes" that he himself later committed: He had Lynn Cheney on and he did not ask a single hard question. He had Hillary Clinton on the night before and the night after the Ohio and Texas primaries in an obvious attempt to give her a boost. Given Stewart's seeming interest in justice and equality, you'd think he'd be impressed with Obama's incredible speech on race. Yet, the most credit he gave Obama was a grudging acknowledgment that Obama spoke to us "as if we were adults." When the story came out that Hillary fabricated the whole story about dodging sniper fire in Bosnia--the kind of story perfectly suited for his platform, Steward did not mention it at all. Instead, he made fun of Obama's bowling. Now that Hillary has made a fool of herself bowling (on the Ellen Degeneres Show), having challenged Obama to a bowl duel, is he going to notice it? Most likely not, because he has to surrender his intellectual integrity in order to accommodate his support of Clinton.

Which makes Mr. Moyers all the more admirable.

[GoodwithWood]

John Stewart tells more truth than the MSM, yet in the end it is only a comedy show. Which says something about the MSM.

GWW

[conned]

Moyers is a national treasure! One of the more dispicable things I've witnessed in the media over the past decade (which is saying a lot) was Bill O'Reilly's goon squad of interns ambushing Mr. Moyers while he was trying to catch a cab; stalking him, sticking their mics and cameras in his face, demanding he answer questions regarding his patriotism, or some such depraved nonsense. Moyers, of course, handled it with class, but it made him appear evasive - which was the whole point.

I'm glad he's speaking out. He needs to speak more forcefully and frequently, as he is one of the last of a dying breed, and he has credibility.

[Mojane]

Every day, when turning on cable news, praying I'll get some sign of intelligent life, I'm dashed nearly every time, with the exception of Keith Olbermann. And he's only given a half hour of real news and commentary, the rest being ads nauseum, the celeb and silly he's been told he has to do. There is PBS (thankfully), that dares to cover news of the World-out-There. And there's CSPAN (thankfully) giving us books on the weekend, Senate hearings, some good speeches, some coverage of the campaign. And there's you, Bill Moyer, giving us in-depth discussion with some of the best and brightest, on a range of subjects, many of which are absolutely right now and right on.

[JacobSinger]

Bill Moyers: one of the last true journalists in the US.

If you miss Bill Moyers Journal, you miss one of the few opportunites to view a news/current affairs program that isn't based on SPIN.

[AnninCA]

Well, that was a lot of words to explain why Jesse James is a hero in America. LOL*

I trust you get my message.

[jahzilla]

Just as long as YOU get your message. Ha!
Now, aside from addressing THAT meteoric assault on intellectual comprehension . . .
(I trust you will never get that message.)

Thank you, once again Mr. Moyers, for delineating the difference between those who proffer real journalism in the form of presenting all available data necessary for the reader/viewer to garner truth's highest potential . . . and those who, when receiving information, choose to disregard any painful truth, nuance and historical relevance, in favor of the (much) more lazy approach of garnering opinion through the shallow embrace of adopting whomever (continues to) "polish the bright, shiny object faster, with total disregard for fact(s)". Gotta love America's "fast-food­-fastidiou­sness".