Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/121369
Sarasota News Leader April 12, 2013 Martin Luther King Jr. had a dream and promoted it to reality in a non-violent manner. The '60s, Brokaw noted, was a decade of bringing about equality, both racial and gender. Page 45 of NBC News. From that perspective he readily answered questions related to the changes on the news/information front. He identified "access" as the greatest improvement. However, he cautioned the consumer Other big ideas included the Marshall Plan, must personally be more diligent about gathdevised to aid in the rebuilding of European ering news with so many sources available. countries devastated by World War II; Richard M. Nixon opening relations with China; and He noted "the world is much smaller and more Ronald Reagan's formation of a "partnership connected." As a result there is no longer a with Gorbachev" that brought the Cold War blockbuster item on the 6 p.m. news. By that time everyone already knows the story; view"to an end without a shot being fired." ers "want to know what it means." The focus The mantra, he said, is to "be disruptive [and] shifts to interpretation. challenge convention" to find better ways to connect us. His idea is to form a new model Brokaw expects "print [journalism] will go for private/public service through the estab- away;" online is already in play. Personally, lishment of academies at six land-grant col- he hopes print survives in some form; he likes leges. He envisions, for example, a section for the feel of holding a newspaper in his hands. agriculture that, with support from the busi- He does think broadcast journalism, including ness community, would offer "public service cable and news channels, will be around for fellowships" in the search for new ideas. some time. Brokaw commented that community colleges Watergate was his toughest assignment in are currently filling the need for the "real de- terms of getting it right. "At the end of the day finable skill set" required in today's workplace. … you've got to get it right." Several times he commented on the changing role of women, noting that when he began his career only white male reporters would be present at a press conference. At a media briefing prior to the lecture, female reporters far outnumbered their male counterparts. He also noted "a lot of key players" around the world are women, including many U.S. military and civilian personnel serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. Brokaw's long, distinguished journalism career began in 1966 at the Los Angeles bureau Although retired from NBC Nightly News, Brokaw remains active in the journalistic world. Currently he is working on a documentary about Kennedy. His essays are published in The New York Times, Rolling Stone and other periodicals and newspapers. He has written six books, including 1998's The Greatest Generation, wherein he describes Americans who grew up during the Depression, fought in war because "it was the right thing to do" and built America into a superpower. %