The Anchoress

I just recently wrote:

It’s time for the press to declare themselves either free guardians of the public trust or owned members of a political movement. They can’t be both.

and elsewhere:

my generation [is] preaching to a generation that did not need the conditioning or the indoctrination - they were not being raised with the same reality as my generation’s, or the ones before, of women being held back by gender expectations.

The reason I bring it up is because I just read Tony Snow’s really excellent speech delivered recently to the Media Institute, upon receipt of the Freedom of Speech Award. That Mr. Snow and I seem to be on the same wavelength on some issues is kind of nice, although he says it all much better, natch.

A few choice morsels:

A free press is supposed to relish and weigh ideas, not discard some simply on the basis of polite fashion. It’s a good thing to walk in someone else’s shoes, to try to see the world as they do. The quest permits one to look at issues and events from different angles and perspectives, to encounter new ways of thinking, and to add to one’s mental toolkit. It makes an already interesting job even more stimulating, and can make smart reporters even sharper when it comes to understanding national stories and trends.
[...]
There are questions some media organizations simply don’t ask. For instance, is racism as bad as it was two decades ago? The answer is now. If you doubt it, check out your kids. They’re refreshingly devoid of the bigotry and self-consicousness that characterized our youth. This is an immensely positive development, but nobody dares acknowledge it. It’s forbidden. And so race-baiters generate headlines, while healers and innovators toil unnoticed.
[...]
A vigorous press must be one in which reporters challenge their own sympathies and assumptions as aggressively as they challenge the sympathies and assumptions of others. Unfortunately, that too-seldom happens, with the consequence that opinion-mongering has driven out straight news.

It’s one of those speeches no one gets to hear but lots of people should. H/T Ed Driscoll readers. While you’re here, please look around. Today we’re also talking about an impression I’d like to see Rudy do!