Remembering Morley

  Last week Morley Safer, reporter for the show 60 Minutes, passed away at age 84.
  At first, I didn't like 60 Minutes that much. It was the boring show that we had to watch on Sundays before anything good came on. As I got older, it became more interesting. I remember Andy Rooney, Point-Counterpoint and Morley Safer.
   Safer was my favourite. He was the quiet one. He didn't have the hard boiled reputation of Mike Wallace, the folksy demeanor of Harry Reasoner or Andy Rooney or the flair of Ed Bradley. Nevertheless he was there week after week doing an assortment of stories from Vietnam to an interview with Betty Ford to a piece on modern art.
   His even temperament one of the reasons why I liked him. He did interviews like he was talking to the person, not like a bulldog shaking it's prey. It was almost like he was trying to make them feel secure enough to talk. He had a storyteller's delivery.
  I did a little research on him from various sources online. He once did a story about a man wrongly accused and convicted of a crime that got the man released from prison. He produced over 900 stories. He joined the show 60 Minutes in 1970. The last story he produced was aired in March. He typed his stories on a typewriter even when computers became more common. He painted as a hobby and went to the American Academy in Rome regularly to sharpen his skills. From what I've read about him, he seemed to be an ordinary guy. The kind of guy you might have a cup of coffee (or in my case tea) with. The kind of guy you might meet walking around the block that always has an interesting story to tell.
  84 years, a 60 year career in broadcast journalism and 46 years with the same network is a pretty good run. I am still saddened by his passing. The kind of intense research, fact finding and even handedness in reporting practiced by Morley Safer and others from his generation is fading. It is being replaced by 24 hour news cycles and a culture where breaking the story is the most important thing. Getting the facts is secondary. In an article published by the Christian Science Monitor, writer Story Hinckley called news gathering today partisan and vertical.
  It used to be that reporters were trusted and reported on the facts as they were able to gather them. Now it's less about facts and more about slanting the facts to suit the bias of the audience.
  Goodbye, Mr. Safer. You are missed.

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