'Sometimes to Tell the Truth, You Have to Take a Stand'

[babylonsister]

https://billmoyers.com/story/sometimes-to-tell-the-truth-you-have-to-take-a-stand/


‘Sometimes to Tell the Truth, You Have to Take a Stand’
These words from legendary CBS producer Fred Friendly are on the mind of a former student.
BY Ti-Hua Chang | January 22, 2021


Journalist Edward R. Murrow (left) and producer Fred Friendly, in their CBS office in New York, Oct. 15, 1954. (Photo by CBS Photo Archive/Getty Images)


I have a story I want to share with my fellow journalists. It’s essence is: sometimes telling the truth requires taking a stand (though it must be done rarely and carefully) and neutrality is not necessarily objectivity.

snip//

What does this have to do with today?

For the past two years under President Trump (and not in his first two years of office), I have referred to him as a racist and a sexist. Now I call him an American fascist, who attempted a coup to stay in power and overthrow democracy. It is our duty as journalists to be honest purveyors of information. There is only one side to the January 6th storming of the US Capitol, only one truth. It was, at the very least, an attempt to subvert democracy and an act of sedition and insurrection. It was not merely a riot or takeover, euphemistic terms used by some news media, though, thankfully, not all.

Of course, we cannot always know or tell the truth, especially when reporting the day of an event. When news is breaking, we may only have enough time and knowledge to report both sides. To take a stand, we must prepare thoroughly and be aware of our own biases, which can cloud our judgment. That’s the reason I did not label Trump in his first two years of office.”

Decades after Murrow’s McCarthy takedown, Friendly admitted that “f Ed were here, he would tell you that we were a year late doing the McCarthy program. It was the only time in his whole life when he preached.”

Our job as journalists is to tell as close to the truth as humanly possible, and when the facts are abundantly clear, there are times we have to take a stand on an issue in order to do that.

January 6th is one of those issues and this is one of those times.

[Wounded Bear]

1. K&R...nt

[Solly Mack]

2. K&R

[ananda]

3. Hear hear!

Thank you!