Dan Rather and Tucker Carlson on the world of journalism
March 8, 2011
“American journalism needs a spine transplant,” stressed Dan Rather, famous American journalist, in a CSPAN video conference on February 24, 2011. Students from George Mason University, Pace University, and University of Denver all participated in the conference, provided by C-SPAN’s distance learning program.
Joining Rather was Tucker Carlson, a political news correspondent and editor-in chief of The Daily Caller. He explained, “the best journalism is tough and doesn’t suck up to power.”
Both journalists seemed to agree that the transition period we are in as journalists has led to the downfall in our credibility. “The old order is gone and the new one is not in place yet,” said Rather.
Online journalism offers writers all the tools they need to get their stories out to their readers, but without a business model they are having trouble doing so. Even more detrimental to their work, according to Rather, is the fact that “conglomerates control 80 percent of major news distribution.”
Rather and Carlson believe that the new world of online journalism will have tremendous payoffs. The only issue, however, is staying true to the iron core of journalism: investigative journalism.
According to Rather, we need to “get the truth and lay it out there, no chaser.” We must continue to be “honest brokers of information” to help our readers make sense of this age of information overload.
To watch Dan Rather and Tucker Carlson’s videoconference at length, click here.
Entry Filed under: Video Conference Blogs. Posted in Video Conference Blogs Tags: CSPAN, Dan Rather, Distance learning, Tucker Carlson.
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