I have to express something that may be unpopular about journalism. Everyone lauds Woodward and Bernstein for the reporting they did on Watergate. It was profoundly consequential, no doubt. But it is also what any good journalist could and should have done.
For some years now, my exemplar has been John Siegenthaler, the longtime editor of the @Tennessean. I had the chance to meet John while he was still alive, and I’m profoundly grateful that I did.
John put not only his reputation but also his body on the line for one of the most pressing issues of the last century: civil rights. It didn’t just cost him subscribers. It nearly cost him his life.
John was attacked in Alabama in 1961 during a confrontation with opponents of the Freedom Riders. I’ve seen the pipe that knocked him unconscious.
Taking the side John did was a huge risk for any newspaper editor in the South. But it was the right call. It has stood the test of time.
John Siegenthaler left us an example to follow. Sure, we could just do our jobs. Or we could go above and beyond. tennessean.com/story/news/201…
Bringing down a corrupt individual is a valuable public service, we can all agree. Bringing down a corrupt system is far more difficult. We’re still living with the residue of one that was dominant 1865-1965.
