In A Few Good Men, Jack Nicholson famously said, “You can’t handle the truth.”
This line has stuck with me since the 1992 legal drama directed by Rob Reiner was released.
Two hard-to-handle truth moments arose last week, in an article in The Atlantic magazine, and with the release of Bob Woodward’s new book Rage about President Trump.
The first question is whether or not we were told the truth?
The second question is what are we going to do about it when we vote in the upcoming election?
The Atlantic magazine has been published for 163 years. Early writers included Ralph Waldo Emerson, Herman Melville, Harriet Beecher Stowe and Nathaniel Hawthorne. The publication’s editor-in-chief is Jeffrey Goldberg, who has won many journalism awards and is viewed by his peers as having impeccable credentials.
The Sept. 3, 2020 edition carried an article about the President’s disrespect for the military. The President was quoted describing military personnel as “losers” and “suckers.” Earlier statements disparaging Gold Star parents and describing Senator John McCain in the context of “I like people who weren’t captured” were used to show a pattern of disrespect.
Response to the article was strong. The Biden campaign jumped on it to their advantage. The Trump campaign said comments were taken out of context and it was fake news. If there was a weakness in the article, it was that the people who spoke to Mr. Goldberg were not named. This was not about distorting the truth; it was fear of retaliation from the White House.
Rage is the summation of 18 face-to-face interviews with the President. Woodward is a modern-day reincarnation of Edward R. Murrow. Woodward has covered presidents since Nixon. Along with his Washington Post colleague Carl Bernstein, their book All the President’s Men exposed the Watergate scandal and eventually led to Nixon’s resignation. One thing is certain, Woodward is an impeccable researcher and may be my generation’s most famous journalist.
If there is a weakness in Woodward’s Rage, it is regarding a journalist/author’s responsibility to release news that has a critical impact, rather than wait until the book is released.
Woodward’s response that he is an author and not a reporter seems weak. His stronger response is that many other reporters were covering the White House’s denial of the severity of the crisis.
So, what are the ethics that both The Atlantic article author and Woodward should be guided by?
The Society of Professional Journalists has a Code of Ethics. This guidance says “Journalists should take responsibility for their work. Verify information before releasing it.” The Code also says “Consider sources’ motives before promising anonymity.” One final piece of advice is “Journalists should balance the public’s need for information against potential harm or discomfort. Pursuit of the news is not a license for arrogance or undue intrusiveness.”
It seems to me that both bombshell revelations last week met the test of journalistic ethics. The air is escaping from the Washington balloon at a faster pace due to these extraordinary journalistic works.
The question is whether or not anyone has changed their mind enough to change their vote? That is something to think about.
Roger Carlton is a columnist for The Graham Star. He is a council member for the Town of Lake Santeetlah.