Bob Novak vs. The TV 'Genius'
By Brent Bozell
August 27, 2009
Page 2 of 2
Of course, CBS was the worst. They led the entire "CBS Evening News" with this story, like it was the death of a pope, and substitute anchor Maggie Rodriguez laid on the praise, super-thick:
"When the telephone rings, chances are you don't automatically think of Alexander Graham Bell, and when the television news comes on, you don't think of Don Hewitt. But maybe, at least tonight, you should."
NBC substitute anchor Lester Holt celebrated the longevity of "60 Minutes" as an "unmatched achievement" that assembled "one of the best teams in the business," and quoted Tom Brokaw saying, "We were all students of his genius." The story reran in the morning on "Today," with Matt Lauer saluting Hewitt as a "a giant, I mean, no question about it, and a good guy."
ABC's Charlie Gibson offered Hewitt only tributes: "He died holding the highest respect of all of us in this business he loved. He was an extraordinary broadcaster."
It didn't occur to anyone inside the liberal TV news bubble that to half the country, "60 Minutes" is often synonymous with cheap liberal attack journalism. Even the resident "comedian" Andy Rooney trashed Mel Gibson as someone God regretted creating. None of the networks could locate a single story of Hewitt's that was controversial, divisive, or inaccurate. No one could recall the shady "unintended acceleration" story on Audi in 1986 that almost bankrupted them, or the shoddy Alar-on-apples scare of 1989.
Bob Novak was controversial, and the stories marking his death were correct to say so. But so, too, was Hewitt, and the deliberate effort to ignore the controversies he created ultimately did him a disservice. As a newsman, he'd want a fuller story told.
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Brent Bozell III is the president of the Media Research Center.
COPYRIGHT 2009 CREATORS.COM
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Note -- The opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions, views, and/or philosophy of GOPUSA. >> Back -- Page 1 2
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