What is something others do that sparks your admiration?
By now it is pretty obvious that I am a long-standing journalist and have a big thing with music.
Back in 1991 I was glued to the television frequently, not because I was writing about the war in the Middle East, but because I had a very personal attachment to one of the people who was stationed over there – my brother was in the army and somewhere in that desert.
One night, while watching, Peter Jennings, he was interviewing a correspondent in Israel. The air siren went off, and the correspondent continued to report on the events. As people scurried to get to the bomb shelters, the correspondent continued to talk. Peter Jennings finally said to the reporter get to safety don’t worry about us. It was at that point that I had a newfound admiration and respect for this man.
I refuse to do hard news and breaking events, because they are all too often thrown together with less than accurate facts, and I like to make sure what I say is the truth. That night I saw a man who was concerned for his fellow reporters, and not just throwing something out there.
Years laterI again saw some of that compassion from Jennings when he was interviewing children who were survivors and witnesses of the events that took down the World Trade Center in 2001.
Peter Jennings reported the news each night on ABC as their lead anchor but today it seems as though anchors today are more concerned with twisting the stories to fit someone’s agenda, and could care less what happens to others or what they’re so called news does to people.
Doing anything to “get the story“ does not impress me in the least; however, showing a little compassion and safety, when reporting the event does.