Emotions get in the way but they don't pay me to start crying at the loss of 269 lives. They pay me to put some perspective on the situation.
Ted KoppelRead
My function is, as objectively and accurately as I can, to present reality to people out there, and doing that as quickly as we do is quite difficult enough, thank you.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes the challenge of presenting objective reality to the public in a timely manner.
Ted Koppel reflects on the responsibilities of journalism, highlighting the difficulty in conveying an accurate depiction of reality to the audience quickly. He underscores the importance of objectivity in reporting, illustrating the challenges that journalists face in the fast-paced world of news delivery.
In practice
During a journalism conference, one might use this quote to emphasize the challenges of the profession.
Emotions get in the way but they don't pay me to start crying at the loss of 269 lives. They pay me to put some perspective on the situation.
Our society finds truth too strong a medicine to digest undiluted. In its purest form, truth is not a polite tap on the shoulder; it is a howling reproach.
Set your sights beyond what you can see. There is true majesty in the concept of an unseen power which can neither be measured nor weighed.
You can almost measure where you are in life by the degree to which you have begun looking back rather than ahead.
People shouldn't expect the mass media to do investigative stories. That job belongs to the 'fringe' media.
There's harmony and inner peace to be found in following a moral compass that points in the same direction regardless of fashion or trend.
Journalism, some huge percentage of it, should be devoted to putting pressure on power, on nonsense, on chicanery of all kinds and if that's going to invite a lawsuit, well, bring it on.
We cannot make good news out of bad practice.
In campaign reporting more than any other kind of press coverage, reporters aren't just covering a story, they're a part of it - influencing outcomes, setting expectations, framing candidates - and despite what they tell themselves, it's impossible to both be a part of the action and report on it objectively.
As a journalist, I know what it is like to incur the self-righteous wrath of people who denounce you for things you didn't say or didn't mean.
The really tough thing would have been to decide to take Woodward and Bernstein off the story. They were carrying the coal for us - in that their stories were right.
The most important ethical issues and the most difficult ones are the human ones because a reporter has enormous power to hurt people.
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