60-minutes

I watched with admiration and pleasure the tribute 60-minutes did for correspondent Bob Simon last night.

Simon’s ethics, courage, and intrepid curiosity are once again an inspiration for getting back to the basics of broadcast journalism.

To me the medium is no longer just the message as Marshall McLuhan suggested over a half century ago, today the medium is all pervasive and it's most visual element, television, is the tribal fire of humankind.

We can be either warmed by it or burned by it.

I know my business, my profession, my media, but sometimes I don't love it.

When its responsibility is less than it should be, I don't love it.

When brevity is more important than understanding, I don't love it.

When ratings are more important than content, I don't love it.

When violence is more important than beauty, I don't love it.

When profit is more important that service, I don’t love it.

There are so few stories in my profession of elegance; no one talks of grace.

Where are the stories and programs that feature the tales of gentleness, kindness, positive acts of service, miracles, selfless acts and unconditional love, courage, spirit and things artistic, as expressed through form and language and music.

Gentility is a facet of everyday life worthy of talking about. It has a value far beyond the degenerating voyeurism into other people’s pain and problems solely for the purpose of ratings.

The sad truth is not that television continues to exploit the sordid stories and the banal characteristics of life; it is that there are few offerings of an elegant alternative.

We deserve better, we can demand better.