"The idea that somewhere before it is a big story that there is some young person... putting themselves on the line morally, ethically, journalistically, that is a great thing," Halberstam told the AP. "I mean, that is what a free society is about."
Our country and our ever shrinking world lost a giant yesterday. Critical of the mainstream press which he loved so much, I believe Halberstam looked to the Blogosphere to collectively carry the torch of original,true, unsensational journalism.
His call to arms was to pick up the pen or the keypad and report, but report with integrity and an intrepid dedication to uncovering the truth. This requires sourcing; a challenge for the average blogger whose access is limited to the craft of Internet research. Fortunately, there are professional journalists among our colleagues, so we can look to them for that. It also requires, critical thinking and the willingness to always question, especially ones own hypotheses.
This is where the average blogger can excel. Ask questions that challenge the sources and sourcing of mainstream journalism. Challenge your own position so as not to become entrenched. Never stop asking questions.
And always, seek Truth and speak it to power -- that is transformational communication.
REQUIRED READING
Defining A Nation -- Essays compiled by David Halberstam
The Powers That Be -- At once a reverent revisiting of the heyday of Post WWII journalism and a lamentation of the corporate media we have today. A challenge to editors, professional press and bloggers alike.
The Best and Brightest -- An expansion on his earlier work "The Making of a Quagmire". A condemnation of the ivory tower leadership (McNamara, Westmoreland, Rusk, Kennedy, et.al.) who engineered the Vietnam War. Who will write the definitive piece on the eerie coda that is Iraq?
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