Where Have You Gone, Peter Jennings?

A Canadian guided me through September 11th.

Only one week into my junior year at George Washington University, the 9/11 attacks took place. I don’t need to go into great detail about what Washington, D.C was like that day or the weeks after. I’ve thought about those moments far too much over the past nearly two decades.

However, I have found my mind drifting back to that time for different reasons, as I’ve watched the constant devolution of TV news.

On that fateful day, Peter Jennings was our rock. My apartment, shared with 2 roommates, was the furthest away from GW’s campus, and thus the furthest away from the Capitol, which we now know was the target of the ill-fated Flight 93. We congregated there for the bulk of the day, with the rest of my fraternity brothers, and we watched ABC.

For hours, Peter Jennings manned the anchor desk and provided us the calming, soothing voice of reassurance that we desperately needed. He never speculated on the motives on terrorists or how the United States would fight back. His focus was on presenting updates about what had happened and the rescue scenes unfolding in Washington, D.C., and New York City.

When Jennings passed away in 2005, I was sad that I never got to meet him. I would’ve liked to have shook his hand and said, “Thank you” for his efforts that day and that week. It felt like he was on the air non-stop for 100 hours in a row. Every second he was on the air, he was doing his duty as a journalist and making me proud to be an American.

I’ve been thinking about Peter a lot lately because today’s TV journalists are sending America off a cliff.

Who Do You Trust?

As much as we dislike Trump for his nonsensical “fake news” rants about articles that he doesn’t like, there is no denying that our current state of TV journalism is providing him ample opportunity to encourage people to side with him.

Frankly, it’s impossible to get real news from cable “news” stations. Every time news breaks, there is no rational discussion of the facts. It’s immediately turned over to a panel discussion with “experts” providing their opinions about breaking news that just happened.

Instead of focusing on the facts, it becomes a race to be the most sensational guest with the most outlandish opinion. It’s mind-boggling that this is how news is presented in 2019.

Even the “hosts” of these cable shows seem more content with making a name for themselves instead of providing the viewer with any type of information. There is not a Peter Jennings or Walker Cronkite out there to trust. There’s just a bunch of rich folks -- usually, a rich white man -- telling us what to think.

Chuck Todd: Everything That’s Wrong with TV News

No single person encapsulates how far news on TV has fallen in the past two decades than Chuck Todd. If this were 20 years ago, Chuck Todd would not be a TV host. I’d be shocked if any network would even consider hiring a man who has been so wrong, so completely, so often.

During the 2016 election, Chuck spent day after day hammering Hillary Clinton for her unlikability. After one debate, Chuck had the audacity to say that she was “over prepared” and that wasn’t a good quality for a President. I thought he should’ve been fired on the spot. He wasn’t.

On Election Night 2016, about 30 minutes before the results would come in, Chuck said the most important thing of the night would be “Trump’s concession speech.” This blew my brain away on two levels. First, he summed up the attitude of the national media, who never treated Trump as a serious contender.

Still, it was the second reason that made me want to punch Chuck in the face -- he assumed the United States was about to elect the first woman President in history and he was more interested in what the defeated white man was going to do. An absolute disgrace on every level.

Chuck’s terribleness has continued over the past two years. He spent the early part of 2017 constantly grilling Democrat guests about Russia, implying it was a hoax, just like Trump was saying. Most aggravating, he views Trump’s behavior as something to laugh about, not worry about.

It continued this past Friday, when Trump went on his insane “I didn’t need to do this” speech about declaring a National Emergency. Instead of taking this seriously, Chuck chuckled through his show, thinking everything Trump said was funny, and not terrifying.

If he’s the political director of NBC News, how am I supposed to trust NBC News about politics?

Is There a Solution?

What are we supposed to do about the Chuck Todd’s of the world? There’s literally no incentive for television news -- broadcast or cable -- to change what they’re doing. The election of Trump has brought them an unprecedented wave of interest, so they’re enjoying increased revenue and attention.

At the same time, journalism dies a little more every day. The Friday press conference in the Rose Garden was a sad reminder.

With the exception of the always combative Brian Karem, the White House press corps weakly asked Trump questions and provided no pushback when he, you know, didn’t answer the questions at all.

It’s another reminder that having a bunch of rich folks covering the White House isn’t working.

So, it turns out I do have a solution. When I was a daily newspaper reporter making such little money I needed to live with my parents for four years, I didn’t care about my reputation. I was there to get answers. Sure, John Rowland didn’t like. Neither did the entire town of Willington. But they knew I was printing the truth.

Maybe instead of paying ineffective and incorrect “pundits” like Chuck Todd 6- and 7-figures to spew garbage, news organizations should instead fund an army of reporters to get the news.

Imagine if instead of one Chuck Todd, NBC News got several talented reporters in search of the truth? That’s what America needs.

Peter Jennings was a reporter. Chuck Todd is a talking head. We need more of the former, and just about none of the latter.

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