Legendary newsman Tom Brokaw is worried about his business.
Sitting in his office at NBC’s headquarters, 30 Rockefeller Plaza, he sees once profitable and respected media crumbling into a divisive catfight.
“I think the most extraordinarily powerful tool and the most destructive development in modern life is the current media,” said the author and TV Hall of Famer.
In an interview with Artful Living shared with Secrets, he criticized the dividing nature of media and questioned if it can change.
“Everybody has a voice — and I think it’s great for people to have a voice — but there’s no way to verify what’s true and what’s not. It has no context; it’s just a 24/7 rage about what’s pissing people off across the board from the left to the right,” he told the Minneapolis-based lifestyle magazine.
In the ever-evolving world of media, Tom Brokaw remains a symbol of journalism in America. Read our exclusive interview with the legendary NBC newsman today. #LiveArtfully https://t.co/2ADs2oR59h
— Artful Living (@ArtfulLivingMag) January 7, 2020
“It could be a unifying factor, but it’s a dividing factor, frankly. And that really troubles me as much as anything. I don’t know how we get beyond that. I don’t know what leader can come along and say, ‘Look, we’re all in this together. We’ve got to find a way to work together,’” he added.
A noted liberal, he said the current Washington politics are disturbing for both sides.
“This is obviously the most unsettling time I’ve ever experienced in national politics, and I’m not saying that just from an ideological point of view. I’m not saying that as a Democrat or a Republican. I’m saying that as a journalist and as a citizen and as a grandfather,” he said.
Interviewed about his life, experiences, and influence, Brokaw pointed out how former President Ronald Reagan was able to unify the nation after the tumultuous Vietnam War and Iran hostage crisis.
He said: “Ronald Reagan was the best example of that in my lifetime. I was not a huge fan when he first started running, not for president but for governor of California. Then I saw how skilled he was as governor at putting together that big, big state. When he ran for president, I said, ‘Watch; he knows how to put people together.’ He had a really core set of beliefs, but he also had an engaging way about him. He had been a movie star. He knew how you had to win people with your personality and how you went about your life. They would be for you or against you, and he had people for him. He also had the courage to have a really good staff. My friend Jim Baker was his chief of staff.
“We don’t have a Reagan out there now who can pull it together. Bill Clinton also had that capability, by the way, but then he got tangled up with Monica [Lewinsky], which took a fair amount out of his résumé. We need people who see the presidency as a coveted prize but who understand that the objective is to bring the country together for common goals and to outline those goals in a way so people can see why it’s important that we do this. And when we do it, everybody gets credit; everybody gets a part of it.”
