Perhaps if we still had the draft, professors would understand the difference between soldiers who put their lives at risk every day and reporters who don’t.
Yet and still, they might never realize that the amount of effort the media makes in plying its trade is largely overrated, mostly by the media. As it happens, Joseph Holt, an ethics professor at Notre Dame, did make this claim and he picked the perfect place to do it in–the CNN website:
“Journalists are uniquely qualified to perform that vital role of discovering truth and combating falsehood. They have the unique skills, training and resources required; the courage and commitment needed; and an obligation under a demanding code of journalistic ethics to be responsible for the accuracy and fairness of their statements in a way that other sources of news and opinions not bound by the code — including a President who impressively averages 7.6 mistruths a day — are not.” (He’s not talking about Obama, who might have met this average.)
“We thank soldiers for their service because they devote themselves to protecting our freedoms, and we should. But we should also thank the media for the same reason — especially when the stakes have never been higher.”
