The Compleat Journalist

[posted by Callimachus]

Clarence Page, in a tribute to Ed Bradley, describes my ideal of a journalist:

In an age of big-personality journalism and ranting-for-rent demagogues, Bradley never shouted. He didn't have to. He let the story speak for itself. He was a reporter's reporter. He followed his curiosity. He wanted the facts. Even more, he wanted the truth.

Whether he was interviewing Timothy McVeigh, George Burns, Muhammad Ali or the various parties in the incendiary alleged rape case involving some members of Duke University's lacrosse team, he always showed the same unwavering persistence in his questions and a straight-down-the-middle truth-seeking objectivity. He never revealed a hint of his own opinion about the newsmaker, even if you did see something that looked like love in his twinkling eyes during his Lena Horne interview. (Who could blame him? She is amazing.)

And I think Page is pretty close to right in thinking Bradley fit the suit.