As taken from the January 30 e-mail newsletter (emphasis mine; h/t Carter Wood):
Dan Schorr has published COME TO THINK OF IT, a book of his commentaries from his years at NPR, and last week he spoke about his life and work to 300 people who assembled to pay tribute to the newsman. Explaining how he came to NPR, Schorr said that he left CBS two decades ago, "not on good terms with William Paley," and later he left CNN after several years, "not on good terms with Ted Turner." He observed that the media is slipping, offering less and less news because of an unwillingness to devote time and money to journalism. Investigative stories are more expensive to produce than simply following the headlines. NPR asked him to do commentary that gets behind the news.
Dan said he thinks the duty of journalists is to find out what they need to know and what "they" don't want you to know. Asked about the meaning of this year's primaries, he said that covering the election has become the great spectator sport. For him, it's a matter of balancing his admiration for Hillary Clinton with his respect for an inspirational leader. All that America needs cannot be wrapped into one person. Either of the two leading Democratic candidates will be good. Underneath the political campaign, Dan believes a realignment is going on-just as there was in 1980. He said that there is a tremendous resiliency in our country. One member of the audience said to Dan, "I have admired you for years; you have to live forever." Dan responded, "I'm working on it."
Photo of Schorr via NPR.org
