There will always be things about me that you may never know. But, today, I will share with you that, at one time in my life, I was a member of the working press. Don’t judge me.
I was editor of the professional journal of the Air Force, a job I was assigned not because I was a journalism or English major in school, but because I was a subject matter expert in national defense and strategic studies. If I had only paid more attention in English class!
One day early in that assignment, I was just minding my own business, which is what the editor of a quarterly publication can do. (We often said that editors could take as long as they wanted to make a snap decision.) I received a call from a journalist registry service asking me to register with them as the new editor of Airpower Journal. I would be included in the registry of all working journalists. Since we wanted to elevate the stature of our publication, I agreed and gave them information about me and the Journal.
I was really more an editor. And yet, for those years, I explored what it meant to be a journalist. My journalist friends are flinching at this point, but keep in mind these were the days long before Google, Wikipedia, and the internet for that matter. Because I often study subjects from the perspective of my opponents, I went to the library and researched A. J. Liebling, himself a journalist, who popularized the notion of criticism of the free press.
He was a frequent contributor to The New Yorker and was a war hero, a correspondent during D-Day at Omaha Beach, and later followed troops marching into Paris. Upon returning home, he took on the House Un-American Activities Committee, and their pursuit of Alger Hiss. His criticism of newspaper copy of that period was legendary. Liebling accused journalists of being complicit in the government’s business. Where have I heard that recently?
Some of his more famous quotes include, “Freedom of the press is guaranteed only to those who own one.” “People everywhere confuse what they read in newspapers with news.” “The function of the press in society is to inform, but its role in society is to make money.” He was a liberal to be sure, which is how over 80% of journalists self-identify today. But Liebling embraced something that few liberal journalists seem to really care about now over a half century later—the truth.
I wonder what he’d think about the health of the fourth estate in 2017? Is there an A. J. Liebling equivalent, a real character out there making a case for true journalism today? In 2004, when examining Liebling, Slate.Com pointed to Howard Kurtz and the “watchdog groups” that “sniff around the clock for media bias.” No Slate bias there, I guess.
Perhaps someone like Camille Paglia might suffice. Far from being labeled a conservative, here’s what she had to say recently on the Fox News Channel: “There’s no journalism left. It’s obscene. It’s outrageous. Okay? It shows that the Democrats are nothing now but words and fantasy and hallucination and Hollywood. Okay? There’s no journalism left.” And this from a professor of media studies, in addition to a professor of humanities, and a liberal Democrat.
In 1994, I determined that we’d publish the truth in the Journal. That was pretty easy. We published scholarly, academically-styled articles with research to buttress author assertions. These articles were peer-reviewed and I answered to a board of advisors for my editorials and decisions.
But, I tend to a blog and a website now and I suppose I’m more of a journalist than the editor I used to be, though no one has called to ask for registry information. The subject matter I write about these days is still the truth, and we try to document as many assertions as we can. My bride is my board of advisors and I’m a careful steward of the dialogue that appears on my page.
I remain hopeful that the Camille Paglia’s of the world might find common ground with me when it comes to confronting the culture’s great enemy—the father of lies. In writing this post, at least I feel a kinship with both Liebling and Paglia. We have all advocated for what we know to be true and shouted it to power.
So, for a time I was, like them, a member of the working press, at least according to some obscure registry tucked away in the corner of a distant library reference section. We were journalists once. We cared about the truth. When we’re gone, who will shout truth to power then?
And now this from the Associated Press, running just last night:
NEW YORK (AP) — CNN accepted the resignations Monday of three journalists involved in a retracted story about a supposed investigation into a pre-inaugural meeting between an associate of President Donald Trump and the head of a Russian investment fund.
The story was posted on the network’s website on Thursday and was removed, with all links disabled, Friday night. CNN immediately apologized to Anthony Scaramucci, the Trump transition team member who was reported to be involved in the meeting.
The story’s author, Thomas Frank, was among those who resigned, according to a network executive who requested anonymity because the person was not authorized to discuss personnel issues. Also losing their jobs were Eric Lichtblau, an assistant managing editor in CNN’s Washington bureau, and Lex Harris, head of the investigations unit.