Musing on Peter Jennings' death

[gratuitous]

I wonder if there's any stories he sat on that he wished he'd done after all. You know, a story that was just too hot to broadcast, would have hurt too many people's careers, would have, I dunno, caused a constitutional crisis or destroyed a corrupt administration?

[SteppingRazor]

1. Of course.

Anyone who has been in the business at that level for that long has a couple of'em.

[gratuitous]

2. And I wonder if anyone now offering such nice encomiums

Is thinking that maybe it's time to pull that story out of the desk drawer. Because you never know which broadcast, which edition, will be your last. Mrs. gratuitous remembered Jennings' last broadcast, when he announced that he had lung cancer, and she thought for sure that he'd get treatment and be back. Or that he'd be back at least once. It never happened.

[SteppingRazor]

3. Eh, none of that will ever see the light of day.

You may have all sorts of notes on stories that have been spiked, but (generally speaking) no one but the reporter himself/herself is going to make heads or tails of notes after 30 years of reporting. Heck, I'm still toward the beginning of my career and if I died tomorrow, I doubt anyone would be able to make sense of all my tape recordings and notebooks. If a reporter dies, the truths he/she may know but never utter die with them. Unless special pains are taken to leave certain writings behind, as in a will or what have you.

[gratuitous]

4. Not Jennings' stories

But other reporters, as you said, may be sitting on a story, thinking that it's the wrong time, or it will never get aired, or too many people could be hurt, or (my personal favorite) that it would mean the "end" of their career -- Daniel Schorr style.

Anyone out there thinking that it's time to get a little bolder? Life is indeed short.

[SteppingRazor]

5. Stray too far from the ranch, and it DOES mean the end...

of your career, your life, or even both -- Gary Webb style.

[pretzel4gore]

6. $28 thousand dollars a day....

that's $10 million/year. what did he do to earn that kind of money? even if he provided the corporate pigs with daily bj's, he still not worth $28 thousand dollars every day, sunday and holidays included! so what did he do?
well, he helped cover up the jfk murder as recently as just a few years ago...
moral sodomite....