5-21-89 . . . Things are going from bad to worse in China, at least from the government’s point of view. Students are still gathered in Tiananmen Square awaiting structural changes in the government. Chinese troops have moved into the square—though, as yet, there has been no move to harm or remove the students. Meanwhile, news media from all over the world are covering the events in Beijing. Every talk show is about China. Every newscast begins with the story. What bothers me is that the news media are expecting, suggesting, and thereby encouraging a revolt. If you ask them, of course, they’ll deny it. They’ll say that they’re reporting the news, not making it. But you know damn well that if a revolution were to break out in China, it would be one of the top stories of our lifetime. No journalist wants to miss out on such an opportunity. So we have the specter of anchorpersons Bernard Shaw (CNN) and Dan Rather (CBS) acting as reporters in Beijing. Big things have to happen now, in order to justify Bernie’s and Dan’s presence there. Even if nothing newsworthy happens on a given day, Bernie and Dan must lead their respective newscasts with firsthand reports. Otherwise, why are they there? What are they doing? This is how journalists intrude themselves into situations, making themselves the objects of attention, despite their claims to neutrality, objectivity, and lack of bias. The profit motive and self-aggrandizement, not news judgment, drives the news. I don’t blame Chinese officials one bit for shutting down satellite transmission stations, as they just did. American journalists are there to stir up trouble, nothing more.
Twenty Years Ago
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