Class of 2005 Lecture Series Guest:
Reporter Carl Bernstein Raps Celebrity News By Chris Antonacci ’08 and Michael Marx ’10 World-renowned reporter Carl Bernstein, who appeared as guest of the Class of 2005 Lecture Series, addressed Brunswick Upper School students at an assembly about the intricacies of the news media and its pivotal role in shaping today’s society. Famous for his extraordinary reporting that unveiled the Watergate scandal during Richard Nixon’s presidency, Bernstein brought a message of warning to students and faculty: The dysfunction in m Michael Marx ’10, Chris Antonacci ’08 and Carl Bernstein simply can’t all be put at the feet of those who present news.” modern media and politics is rampant and hard to beat.
Bernstein urges students to look to established media (e.g., The New York Times and The Washington Post), rather than quick news updates from blogs. He cited that century-old traditional media have developed, for the most part, into sources of truth rather than quick sensationalist storytellers. He briefly commented on the Watergate scandal of 1972 for which he is most famous. Carl Bernstein and his colleague Bob Woodward are acclaimed for their investigative reporting that eventually drove President Richard Nixon from power. The writing team also wrote All the President’s Men, which was adapted into a film starring Dustin Hoffman and Robert Redford. In his new biography, A Woman in Charge: The Life of Hillary Rodham Clinton, Bernstein writes about the Democratic senator for New York, and the Democrats’ leading candidate for the 2008 presidential election. In a final note, Bernstein warned students and faculty that unless there is going to be outrage about the media coverage we receive, then we are going to deserve the kind of system failure that we are currently looking at in politics and the press. He emphasized to the Upper School students that we are the ones capable of reestablishing the news-media system as trustworthy and truthful. At the same time, he worries about the “money mentality” of today’s youth—a “disturbing and potentially disruptive” mindset that pushes students to work at well-paying jobs that they dislike, rather then following their passions. Bernstein hopes that young people will take advantage of the fact that they are young, as he did when he broke the Watergate story. We are grateful to the parents of Class of 2005 for continuing to bring such prestigious speakers to the Upper School students. Stories about Carl Bernstein’s appearance at Brunswick were featured in many local newspapers. It was also picked up by The Associated Press news wire, which spun off nationwide coverage in such dailies as the New York Times, Boston Globe, and Kentucky Herald-Leader. r
Winter 2008
“Not enough people demand the truth of our country,” he said. “As a former writer for The New York Times put it, ‘Truth has become the acceptance of untruths.’ ” “This national problem starts locally,” said Bernstein, who sported a bright purple tie and grey sweater. “The problems we have in news and journalism are about us not doing our job well enough. The ideal of providing the best obtainable version of the truth is being affected by the dominance of a journalistic culture that has less and less to do with reality and context.” Bernstein, who addressed students in the old wrestling room (our temporary “meeting hall” until the new arts center is completed), made note that much of the public’s attention shifts too easily from important news to entertainment news. Documentation of the daily lives of tabloid figures like Paris Hilton, Britney Spears, Michael Jackson, and Donald Trump—lives “disconnected from the true concept of our lives”—are partly to blame. When Bernstein started in journalism, the bottom line was finding the truth. Now, for journalists, “the bottom line is the bottom line.” “This disconnect from important truth should be blamed partly upon those who report news, and partly on those who accept it,” said Bernstein. “The triumph of ‘idiot culture,’ which has particularly evolved over the past 30 years, is something to fight against.” Mr. Bernstein recalled a day in the 1990s when three out of the four major New York City newspapers put news of Donald Trump’s divorce on the front page instead of Nelson Mandela’s release from prison after 27 years, and of the agreement of the Allied powers to reunify Germany. All three events happened on the same day, but Trump triumphed first page news. “When we give more attention and resources to the divorce of Donald Trump and the trial of Michael Jackson,” said Bernstein, “that is idiot culture.” “You can’t separate the appetites and demands of the people themselves and what they are given,” he continued. “The blame
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