Jewish World Review June 9, 2003 / 9 Sivan, 5763

Bill O'Reilly

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Cronkite comes out of the closet



http://www.NewsAndOpinion.com | A few weeks ago in this space, I criticized Walter Cronkite for attacking the Bush administration over the war in Iraq. My analysis was that the former CBS News anchorman was coming at it from an internationalist point of view, putting the objectives and policies of foreign countries on the same level as those of the USA. In this age of terror, when we are under attack, that attitude just doesn't cut it. The government of the United States must be proactive in protecting its citizens, and if the French don't like it, they can go eat snails.

Well, guess what? Walter Cronkite has finally come clean. He's not simply an internationalist, he's a liberal internationalist!

Speaking to The Washington Post last week, Cronkite said: "I would call myself a liberal, but I hope I don't lose my ability to be dispassionate."

Uncle Walter has just signed a deal to write a syndicated newspaper column and his first piece, this coming August, will explain why he thinks most news reporters are liberals. Wow!

At age 86, Mr. Cronkite is finally laying it on the line. But now, I have a few more problems with him. First of all, it is not a stretch to think that Walter's political ideology influenced the story selection on the CBS Evening News. I worked there and can tell you that the competition to get on the air is intense. For every story that you see, 10 others don't make the lineup. And Walter was a huge part of the selection process.

Secondly, I think journalists should strive to be independent thinkers and reject ideological labels. The truth is that complicated problems sometimes require solutions from the Right and sometimes from the Left. Let the best solution win!

But if a powerful journalist sees the world through a liberal prism, then he or she may be tempted to favor leftist positions. That's when things go awry.

The editor of The Los Angeles Times, John S. Carroll, wrote an interoffice memo to his subordinates last week ordering them to stop putting a liberal spin on hard news stories. Carroll cited a front-page report on alleged cancer dangers to women who undergo abortions. The story was skewed left, and Carroll called his sub-editors on it.

We all know the terrible problems The New York Times is having because it's editors imposed a politically correct atmosphere at the paper that allowed a minority reporter, Jayson Blair, special treatment. That biased philosophy led to the resignation of the two top editors of the Times and is one of the biggest scandals in newspaper history.

In the face of those and other controversies, one wonders why Walter Cronkite is defining himself as a liberal. He's experienced enough to make judgments based on facts, logic and fairness, rather than a philosophical outlook that is sometimes effective and sometimes not.

But the good news is that Cronkite, the poster boy for the elite media, has finally come out of the closet so we can all get a clear look at him. Gosh, Walter, it must have been really stuffy in there.

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JWR contributor Bill O'Reilly is host of the Fox News show, "The O'Reilly Factor," and author of the new book, "The No-Spin Zone: Confrontations with the Powerful and Famous in America" Comments by clicking here.

Up


06/02/03: Teed off
05/27/03: The lynching of Bill Bennett
05/19/03: Get back home, Madonna
05/12/03: Prom night -- all white
05/05/03: Let's misbehave
04/28/03: No pain, no gain?
04/21/03: We stand of guard for thee
04/14/03: The spoils of war
04/07/03: When the truth is a casualty
03/31/03: Yes, you're entitled to your uninformed opinion
03/24/03: That's the way it isn't, Walter
03/17/03: This loyal Catholic believes that, humanistically, the Pope is one of the many Saddam enablers
03/10/03: The new Nazis
03/03/03: Hey, it's personal
02/24/03: A peace of the action
02/18/03: Cash for what?
02/10/03: Runaway train
02/03/03: Dissenting dishonest dissent
01/27/03: The Clooney Factor
01/21/03: Poverty-inducing entertainment
01/13/03: To protect and serve
12/30/02: Global double Crossing
12/30/02: The villains of 2002
12/23/02: Finding offense where none is intended is a form of selfishness
12/16/02: The Houston lesson
12/09/02: Somewhere Santa is weeping
12/02/02: A taxing situation
11/26/02: Talk is expensive when it comes to Bill Moyers
11/18/02: Sanity has left the building
11/11/02: The right stuff
11/04/02: The Attorney General blues
10/28/02: This ain't no game
10/21/02: It's only rock and roll, but it's brutal
10/14/02: The root of all evil
10/07/02: When children murder
09/30/02: THE TRUTH BE TOLD
09/23/02: The death of outrage
09/17/02: Singing a different tune
09/09/02: Answering my critics about the Roush case
09/03/02: Let's misbehave
08/26/02: Money makes the world go 'round
08/19/02: Long live the King
08/12/02: A friendly reminder
08/05/02: Heaven only knows
07/29/02: Blood money
07/22/02: Suffer the children
07/15/02: Reaching critical mass
07/08/02: Believe it or not
07/01/02: Charity begins at home
06/24/02: Spinning a tale and the case for "Stupid White Men"
06/17/02: Blank those Europeans!
06/10/02: What does Bono want from us?
06/03/02: On fighting evil
05/28/02: A Tale of Two Churches
05/20/02: Crimes against humanity
05/13/02: Silence of the lambs
05/06/02: Hide the children
04/29/02: 'Paul, Paul, Paul!'
04/22/02: Barbarians in the Church
04/15/02: Pray for peace, polish the weapons
03/11/02: Do no harm? Time to spank "Dr. Phil"
03/04/02: Promoting the general welfare
02/25/02: Who's responsible?
02/19/02: Lay it on them
02/11/02: Buy dope, fund terror
02/04/02: Back room deals
01/28/02: From boom to bust
01/21/02: The Fairness Doctrine
01/14/02: Hey, Paula, take it to the bank and hush up
01/07/02: And justice for none
12/31/01: All that's left
12/24/01: Santa is appalled
12/17/01: Fight the power
12/10/01: The black challenge
12/03/01: How things have changed
11/26/01: Waiting in the Bushes
11/19/01: The sign of the Cross
11/09/01: Hollyweird strikes back
11/06/01: The fear factor
10/26/01: Show me the money
10/22/01: See no evil
10/15/01: Peace, but no quiet
10/08/01: The air war
10/01/01: I don't understand
09/24/01: We are all soldiers, and we have a job to do
09/14/01: Evil on display
09/11/01: Family matters!
09/04/01: End of summer blues
08/27/01: Summertime -- and the livin' ain't easy
08/20/01: The rap on rap
08/13/01: The truth hurts
08/06/01: Amnesty for illegals: Bush's political investment
07/30/01: The big picture on Condit-Levy
07/24/01: Silence of the Shams
07/16/01: Condit, Kennedy and cable news
07/09/01: Heather needs a childhood: The unnecessary loss of innocence
07/02/01: What would have happened if Steven Spielberg had recut "Schindler's List" for German audiences so they wouldn't be confronted with "emotional issues"?
06/25/01: Freak dancing
06/18/01: Work or die
06/11/01: Soundbite nation
06/04/01: Paying through the nose
05/29/01: Graduation Day 2001
05/21/01: Accepting the unacceptable
05/14/01: The Clinton legacy
05/07/01: Kerrey's ordeal
04/27/01: Is the party over?
04/20/01: Racism in public education
04/16/01: The fleecing of America
04/10/01: People who need perspective
04/03/01: Dubya's bottom line --- and ours
03/27/01: Don't tell, don't ask
03/20/01: Greenspan with envy
03/13/01: Clinton and Jackson
03/07/01: All that's left in America
02/27/01: The Letterman experience
02/20/01: Bread and circuses
02/06/01: How the Clintons do it
01/30/01: The Bush dilemma
01/24/01: I have been investigating Jackson's finances for the past two years
01/17/01: Sifting Ashcroft's record

© 2001 Creators Syndicate