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but i do want to talk about something that's been on my mind and something
that i think would have been on freds mind as well
Our house
is on fire
we didn't build this house it was build by
fred friendly
alias sulzberger in harrison salisbury and all the people who
came
before us
who built this magnificent mentioned that we call
american journalism. But today, right now as we occupy this house that was built
FOR US!
Our houses on fire...
...these have been a bad few months for journalism
we're getting the big stories wrong
over
and over...
Let me take
the first error
during our coverage of -Newtown-
I扉e said on my set and i reported that
Nancy Lands it was a teacher at the school
and that her son had attacked her classroom
A hell of a story
but it was dead wrong.
Now as the managing editor i made the decision to go ahead with that and i did
and that's what i said and i was absolutely wrong so let me just take
the first error here
i'd like to talk to you about today
Let me explain why that is happening there often right now than
perhaps it has in the past
Never before in human history
has more information been available to more people
but at the same time
never before in human history has more bad information
been available
to more people
Boston was a Low Point
for many people
our nation was attacked by terrorists
i can not think of the time
when the public that we serve needs
accurate timely information more
than in those moments when our country is under attack
so we were attacked by current we were attacked by terrorists on that day and
amateur journalists
became digital vigilantes
innocent people
were marked as suspects
their pictures and their names
went all over twitter facebook ....
that fire
that started on the internet
spread
to or more established news rooms as well
in a world where
everyone is a "Publisher"
no one is an "Editor"
and that is the danger that we face today
we have entered a time when a writer's first idea is his best idea
when the first thing a reporter is
her first thing that she reports
we've lived
in a time now when we have seen major television networks
take video off of youtube
and broadcasted to millions of americans with out verrifying
whatever the video had been fabricated or not
twitter
facebook
that's not journalism
that's gossip
journalism was invented
as an antidote to gossip
in Boston
the FBI issued a press release
begging us
to confirm the information before we put it on the air
the FBI !
Here's what the president said
In boston
in this age of instant reporting
tweets and bloggs
there's a temptation to latch onto any bit of information
sometimes jump to conclusions
but when a tragedy like this happens
with public safety at risk and the stakes so high
it's important that we do this right
the President of the United States and the FBI ... telling us
what are bedrock principles should be
aren't we supposed to be watching them?
in my own words
let me tell you
but fred friendly would have thought
about being first
if your first
no one will ever remember
if you're wrong
no one will pepper forget
how does it serve the public
to be first
in this frantic effort
that we so often see that we see all
succumbed to
how does it serve the public
if we're first
you know it first is all about
it's benedi
itself concedes
we do it to make ourselves feel better
no one sitting at home watching five television monitors going ot they were
first
that's his name that we play in our control rooms
nobody does that
maybe attach of humility
which service best
and serve the public better
as well
we speak today fred friendly scurried shoe in defense of the first amendment
so what does that mean exactly
correction defense of the first amendment
it's the courage of a high school journalism teacher
or the courage of the university
journalism professor
to teach young americans the
that brought principles of what week too
it is the courage
of a small town editor
who holds his young reporters to those standards that they weren't
in our great career was in schools
and he is the courage
that all of us need to show
to be white
when others
would rather be first
democracies succeed or fail based on their journalism
america is strong because it's journalism is strong
that's how democracies work their only as good as the quality of the
information that the public possesses
and back
is where we come back
america has the best
journalism
in the world
and why is that
well it's partly because of our tradition of journalism
and it's largely because of the great journalism schools in this country
people come from all around the world to attend j school
in the united states
because we produce the best journalism
in the world
this is true because men and women of character
the fred friendlies world set the standards for assault
and that's why this luncheon is so important because it gives us all a
chance to stop
take a breath
and remember
those things that we have always been talked
the methods of distribution are changing all around us disruptive technologies
they called
but our principles and our standards have changed our principles or not
disrupted
the principles by which we gather the news and write the news haven't changed
it house and years
no matter if you're tablet is made of stone org last year he used the words
that matter
are they right
are they fare
are they honest
are they trim
when i think about
i think that he speaks to us
everyday
if we will only
and i'm for one
would do very well
to listen more closely
everyday
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