Acclaimed journalist Dan Rather has a sharp message for President Donald Trump, but also for fellow members of the media. In an appearance on CNN, Rather said that the praise for Trump’s actions in Syria are receiving unwarranted applause:
“Dropping bombs, having missile strikes, doesn’t make one presidential.”
Instead, Rather argued that Trump’s ability to create and keep peace should be the marker for success. And in the powder keg that is the Middle East, that may prove to be no easy task. Rather warns that North Korea, Yemen, and Syria are especially troubled places in the world that will take a professional touch to get right.
But the famed newsman’s criticism wasn’t aimed solely at the current President. In an age where the news channels’ goal is to get you to the next commercial, Rather urged his colleagues to focus on more pertinent, serious issues. He said that the military action in Syria took the media’s attention away from the Russian story, which should be pressed further. Rather said:
“Journalists have a tendency to rally around powder kegs. What’s best for the country is for journalists to be skeptical. Not cynical, but skeptical.”
He wasn’t afraid to acknowledge his own failures to adhere to this policy, either. By his own admission Rather failed to ask the right questions of the Bush administration before their 2003 invasion of Iraq.
Despite his longer career and storied resume, Rather remains a sharp mind with his ear to the ground of modern society.
Who could forget his biting Facebook post on fake journalism:
“A lie, is a lie, is a lie. Journalism, as I was taught it, is a process of getting as close to some valid version of the truth as is humanly possible. And one of my definitions of news is information that the powerful don’t want you to know.”
Keep taking them to task, Dan. We need you more than ever.
Watch Rather’s full CNN interview here:
Featured Image Via YouTube Video.
