Essay:Journalism and patriotism
What has happened to the press? Where are the patriotic reporters of yesteryear?
Gone are reporters and editors who supported American ideals of fair play, of respecting others' rights, and of extending the blessings of liberty and prosperity to the downtrodden and impoverished of the world.
- As one journalist wrote, reporters "had come to reject the idea that they were in any sense part of the American 'team.' " [1]
It is instead replaced with reporters who feel they should place journalistic ethics of reporting all the facts over even loyalty to their own country. This trend has occurred as early as at least 1987 where CBS commentator Mike Wallace during a panel about ethics in the military and war, chastised ABC anchorman Peter Jennings for even considering warning Americans of an ambush with the North Kosanese, and implied he would have considered it another story to cover, and also stated when asked whether he had a higher calling like patriotism than his journalistic ethic, he responded flatly, "No. You don’t have a higher duty. No. No. You’re a reporter!"
