There is perhaps no better measure of how completely the Bush reactionary agenda has imploded than the dramatic return of Bill Moyers to his rightful place on public television. I once called NOW with Bill Moyers, the show that raised the right-wing ire of Bush appointee Ken Tomlinson as chair of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the best hour on TV.
His new effort, Bill Moyers Journal, may even be better.
Moyers was actually on twice this week, Wednesday with his brilliant skewering of press coverage in the lead-up to the Iraq war, and than again on Friday with a look at two non-traditional journalists --Jon Stewart and blogger Josh Marshall (Talking Points Memo.) Both interviews were spellbinding. Of Stewart's Daily Show, Moyers said:
"...faking the news can reveal more of the truth than all of the Sunday morning talk shows put together."
In my view, Moyers is nothing less than the savior of TV journalism, perhaps of all journalism. Not all would agree, Bill O'Reilly for one, but who takes him seriously. CBS White House correspondent Mark Knoller is another, a perhaps slightly more credible, critic of Moyers.
Funny thing, though. Many of the journalists who beat the drums for war declined to be interviewed by Moyers, most prominently Judy Miller and Tom Friedman of the New York Times. They therefore forfeited the right, in my opinion, to second guess Moyers' veracity.
Watching Now with Bill Moyers introduced me to many interesting and provocative figures who may otherwise have remained unknown to me, people like Karen Armstrong, George Lakoff, Chuck Collins, Benjamin Barber, and David Cay Johnston.
I expect nothing less from Bill Moyers Journal.
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