Peter Jennings: Dead
As a result of my work in the funeral industry, I tend to view death differently than most people. Part of that perspective leads me, within reason, to ignore the popular notion that you shouldn't speak ill of the dead. I observe it within reason; but I think it's applied with a double standard. It's okay for me to rail against Adolf Hitler, but I can't point out that President Roosevelt left a very questionable legacy? As a historian, I strive to be honest in my analysis of history. Of course, all of this is setup for my real point.
Veteran ABC News anchor Peter Jennings has died, losing a short battle with lung cancer. He'd been a smoker for thirty years, starting when he was thirteen. He'd been the face of ABC News for a very long time.
So, why the introductory paragraph? Well, it's simple: I don't remember Peter Jennings through rose-colored glasses. I'll absolutely give him credit for being a talented journalist. That having been said, I think that anyone who's honest will admit that he was fiercely partisan, and he took that partisan liberalism to work with him every day. The first thing I learned in my first journalism class in my first semester of high school in Autumn of 1996 was that a journalist is supposed to be objective; agendas don't belong at the news desk. (Bloggers can get away with it because they acknowledge their bias, as opposed to portraying themselves as objective reporters.)
Even so, I have to give Jennings credit: he was the face I associated with news for many years. I can remember being in third grade, and seeing an ABC News special that he did where he brought kids into the studio. The floor had been turned into a map of the Middle East, and he explained to children what the situation is. In particular, I remember him being calm and reassuring, explaining to the children in the studio (and the rest of us at home) that we weren't in any danger, because none of Saddam Hussein's SCUD missiles had anywhere near the range needed to get to America.
I also remember another special that Jennings hosted where children came in to learn about why people from different areas of the world were different, and about how we're really all the same. The one question I remember in particular is that someone asked why Asian people have slanted eyes, and he had some expert on to discuss that.
So, in closing, I'll remember Peter Jennings with mixed emotions. I think he did some amazing work as a journalist, and he was responsible for my feeling of safety and security during those months in 1990 and 1991. He was also partly responsible for my comfortable attitude toward people who were ethnically different than me, a feeling that remained almost completely intact until I arrived at that institute of open-mindedness, academic honesty, and tolerance, [Generic University], where I learned to my horror that ethnic minorities, even Asians with slanted eyelids, hated me because I was white. At any rate, I'll remember Peter Jennings for the good things, but those memories will be salted with the knowledge that he was fiercely liberal, and couldn't keep his opinions to himself when he took his seat behind that news desk.
Veteran ABC News anchor Peter Jennings has died, losing a short battle with lung cancer. He'd been a smoker for thirty years, starting when he was thirteen. He'd been the face of ABC News for a very long time.
So, why the introductory paragraph? Well, it's simple: I don't remember Peter Jennings through rose-colored glasses. I'll absolutely give him credit for being a talented journalist. That having been said, I think that anyone who's honest will admit that he was fiercely partisan, and he took that partisan liberalism to work with him every day. The first thing I learned in my first journalism class in my first semester of high school in Autumn of 1996 was that a journalist is supposed to be objective; agendas don't belong at the news desk. (Bloggers can get away with it because they acknowledge their bias, as opposed to portraying themselves as objective reporters.)
Even so, I have to give Jennings credit: he was the face I associated with news for many years. I can remember being in third grade, and seeing an ABC News special that he did where he brought kids into the studio. The floor had been turned into a map of the Middle East, and he explained to children what the situation is. In particular, I remember him being calm and reassuring, explaining to the children in the studio (and the rest of us at home) that we weren't in any danger, because none of Saddam Hussein's SCUD missiles had anywhere near the range needed to get to America.
I also remember another special that Jennings hosted where children came in to learn about why people from different areas of the world were different, and about how we're really all the same. The one question I remember in particular is that someone asked why Asian people have slanted eyes, and he had some expert on to discuss that.
So, in closing, I'll remember Peter Jennings with mixed emotions. I think he did some amazing work as a journalist, and he was responsible for my feeling of safety and security during those months in 1990 and 1991. He was also partly responsible for my comfortable attitude toward people who were ethnically different than me, a feeling that remained almost completely intact until I arrived at that institute of open-mindedness, academic honesty, and tolerance, [Generic University], where I learned to my horror that ethnic minorities, even Asians with slanted eyelids, hated me because I was white. At any rate, I'll remember Peter Jennings for the good things, but those memories will be salted with the knowledge that he was fiercely liberal, and couldn't keep his opinions to himself when he took his seat behind that news desk.
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