SAN DIEGO – The dustup over an offensive rant by a comedian at the annual White House Correspondents’ Association dinner should prompt journalists to take a hard look at themselves and their profession, and ask what has become of both in the era of Donald Trump.
For one thing, members of the media should investigate whether some of them have picked up bad habits from the people they cover.
Like how to lie. Enduring falsehoods is something that I have in common with my dad, a retired cop: People lied to us all the time, usually to get out of a scrape. It makes you cynical and distrustful – especially of the powerful, who sometimes have a lot to lose from telling the whole truth.
Yet what happens when the “lied to” become the liars? It has been my experience – over three decades of working in the media – that reporters, producers and anchors can fib with the best of them.
Legendary newsman Walter Cronkite – once regarded as “the most trusted man in America” – couldn’t get a job today. The idea that the public could put even an ounce of trust in the media seems quaint. Cable hosts have gone from covering the story to becoming the story.