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Carl Bernstein, who helped uncover the Watergate scandal during the Nixon presidency, spoke Dec. 3, at the Tate Center on the “Use and Abuse of Media Power.” Some highlights:
“One of the things that bothers me the most is the pretension of omniscience, that [journalists] are all-knowing. . . . We need to find some humility. We are human, we are fallible and we make mistakes. . . .
“The definition of reporting is ‘the best obtainable version of the truth.’ The truth is often complex. . . . Facts by themselves are not necessarily the truth. . . .
“We [as journalists] limit ourselves more than the government limits us because we are not willing to do the hard work. . . . Those of us who are responsible journalists have not resisted.
We teach our readers that the trivial is significant and, sadly, many of them justify our condescension. . . .
“Race is the most important story in America. It is straining the fabric of our existence--and we are unsure how to cover it, so we ignore it.”
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