I just had the pleasure of listening to and watching the video recommended here. There is so much sincerity and wisdom represented here. I'm not just talking about how may tears we've all shed over his death, I'm talking about good sound advice for our future as a nation and to journalists in general. In a swing toward more corporate ownership of everything his comments ring true; writing to express discontent with news broadcast material or wanting to see "a better story" as his last questioner put it, ring true. How many times do we complain about things and not take the time to try and launch improvement? Many times people have expressed Peter Jennings's interest in becoming a U.S. citizen, or his interest in American history and this may be the reason why, if not one them, he was so comitted to America. We really do have the means in place to change things.
His comments on our national dialog being at times nothing more than a "shouting match" show the frustration and the hope of oen who believes people really can change things. He may have known about a move afoot to engage American communities about the things that affect them both positively and negatively in forming more conversations that can address those issues and find out what is important to people and have others listen and work together to achieve results. There is such a move afoot and I was proud to be part of one of those projects this year. I'm taking those skills I learned and am putting them into action with another organization that I have worked with for many years and now have the possibility to lead in their new direction. I wasn't surprised that Peter noted the "shouting matchign" quality of our dialog" and it was very very refreshing to hear thesxe comments from someone we all respect.
Now I know why I respected him so much. His life was about nforming us not sensationalizing us. Media, owners, boards, etc, should take these things to heart. People really do like inteligent presentations and don't like being sensationalized so much that they're led to believe the sensational presentation is the truth.
Perhaps the most touching part of this video is when he said he lived for his "last day in broadcasting" when he could look at the camera and say he was "mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore" in regard to network sensationalism.
It is ironic that his last broadcast was to announce his illness. However, he has, perhaps unknowingly to himself or us, helped n