A Tribute to Bill Moyers
I was writing up something else to post here this afternoon, when my RSS program put up an article that caught my eye.
Bill Moyers retiring From TV journalism
NEW
YORK (AP) — “I was just in the editing room, working on the last
piece,” Bill Moyers says. “I thought: 'I've done this so many times,
and each one is as difficult as the last one.' Maybe finally I've
broken the habit.”
Moyers,
who has won more than 30 Emmys and 10 Peabody awards, will turn his
focus to writing a book —once he takes a brief break to catch his
breath.
It
hasn't been so much a habit for Moyers as a truth-telling mission
during his three decades as a TV journalist. But come next week, he
will sign off from Now, the weekly PBS newsmagazine he began in 2002,
as, at age 70, he retires from television.
“I'm
going out telling the story that I think is the biggest story of our
time: how the right-wing media has become a partisan propaganda arm of
the Republican National Committee,” says Moyers. “We have an
ideological press that's interested in the election of Republicans, and
a mainstream press that's interested in the bottom line. Therefore, we
don't have a vigilant, independent press whose interest is the American
people.
…
“Judith and I will take several months to catch our breath,” says
Moyers during a recent conversation at the soon-to-be-vacated office he
rents at Thirteen/WNET's Manhattan headquarters. “Then I will think
about the Last Act — capital L, capital A — of my life.”
…
“You
don't get rewarded in commercial broadcasting for trying to tell the
truth about the institutions of power in this country,” he goes on. “I
think my peers in commercial television are talented and devoted
journalists, but they've chosen to work in a corporate mainstream that
trims their talent to fit the corporate nature of American life. And
you do not get rewarded for telling the hard truths about America in a
profit-seeking environment.”
(Click for the rest of the article.)
Moyers
is one of those constant voices that I've always turned to if I wanted
to hear a measured, thoughtful commentary. His voice was one that
could clarify your own thoughts and feelings on a subject – be it
politics, religion or society: even if you disagreed with him.
His is also a voice of responsibility: to ourselves and to
others. He used that voice to highlight our similarities and our
differences in a thoughtful, respectful manner – something that we
should all inspire to.
last show airs on IPTV Friday night (Dec. 17) at 9:00 – it will be
one of the most memorable farewells in broadcast history.
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