As some of my friends know and as I like to say, I came to local journalism in an unorthodox manner, by way of politics and radio. I didn’t go to j-school … I won’t win a Pulitzer … but I’ve won a lot of awards and I’m pretty good at what I do.
My love of the news business came from two inspirations.
The first was peddling the Concord Monitor as a boy, my first job. I learned – painfully, in some cases – a lot of life lessons delivering the afternoon newspaper in the late 1970s and early 1980s, something my children will never experience in the same way: There is no afternoon newspaper, there are barely any newspapers, and adults deliver the newspapers as a second or third job, as contractors, with no benefits, healthcare, or full-time job security despite the same newspapers often editorializing the need for this. But I digress …
My second inspiration for news came from Dan Rather and his work on CBS News and “60 Minutes,” something that was always on (when I lived in the parental household that had a television set).
Up until the Bush National Guard story scandal – and even he stands by that story – Rather was the gold standard in American broadcast journalism.
Last week, while searching YouTube for a video, an ad popped up promoting Rather’s online udemy.com course, “Journalism & Finding the Truth in News.” The ad was a tad slanted … “in the wake of the 2016 election …” But I was intrigued – what is this? Why is Rather hosting an online course? I needed to know more. So when the ad ended and I saw that the price of the course – actually, a four-hour lecture – was $19 instead of the normal $150 – I purchased it.
During the last week, I took the course – it runs like a multi-hour lecture – taking breaks here and there to deal with work, family, etc., and, frankly, it was money – and time – well spent.
While some of the information was more geared toward younger reporters and news consumers, these aspects of the lecture were a good refresher for someone of my experience level.
Rather also tells a lot of stories. I didn’t actually know that he started his career in East Texas in the middle of nowhere and his big break came covering a hurricane in the nation’s first radar weather station – something that is standard today. The civil rights movement, the JFK assassination, Saddam, he got to see it all and it’s all covered in a poignant, reflective manner. Listening to him talk about his storied career, from his first big story to all of the leaders he has met, was worth the price of admission, again, like a lecture you would never otherwise get to see. There were a lot of good tips, too.
I don’t know how much money he is making doing this or if this was just an opportunity to share some thoughts about his career and tips to journalists. But it was something I never would have experienced otherwise had I not seen that ad.
He does speak a little bit about the National Guard story. I would add that regardless of what you think of that story, watching the film “Truth” is also not a waste of your time.
Rather also has a pretty cool news website here: News and Guts.