The late broadcast journalist David Brinkley once observed: “Objectivity is impossible to normal human behavior. Rather, we should strive for fairness.”
Fairness is at the heart of the ongoing shakeup at CBS News and especially at the legendary “60 Minutes.” Since television is a business that requires high ratings and credibility to attract advertisers and make money, it is more important what viewers think about a program than what those producing it think about themselves.
Correspondent Scott Pelley violated a cardinal principle, not just in journalism, but in any job. He bit the hand that had been feeding him. In a staff meeting, Pelley reportedly excoriated management for having the temerity to shake up the news division, which Bari Weiss, the new editor, was hired to do.
Reading an interview Pelley did for The New York Times after his firing reveals the attitude of many journalists at the top of the profession. Pelley thinks it’s all about him, not the audience. It appears he believes his decades at the network entitle him to stay on until he expires or resigns. I have been fired — or my shows canceled — from NBC, CNBC and Fox News. I didn’t complain. In fact, on my final Fox show I said: “It’s their network; they can do as they please.”
What has become collectively known as “the media” is selling what much of the public isn’t buying. Public trust and confidence in the mass media to report the news fully, accurately and fairly is at a record low. Gallup polling reveals Americans’ trust in the media has fallen from a relatively high of 68% in 1972 to today’s record low of 28%, its first time below 30%. Until Bari Weiss was hired, networks ignored this trend.