This morning, true to form, Katie Couric called him a stud.
I’m wondering if Wallace’s net effect on society was a positive one. On one hand, he was a skilled and savvy journalist who was able to put out some great stories. On the other hand, he has done more than probably anyother person to foster a news culture that has focused on con men, swindles and other umbrages to personal morality, over questions of policy and public decision. Wallace’s rise strikes me as very much tied into petit bourgeois ("silent majority") social anxiety and political rage of the late 1960s and 1970s. In comparison to the network news anthology programs of the 60s (NBC White Paper, for instance), 60 Minutes was a retreat into social conflict-as-personal morality play. The irony is that now, in comparison to what Les Moonves wants, Wallace represents Old Quality Journalism.
Disclosure: My hometown was profiled on 60 Minutes as capital of a national odometer rollback scam for used cars.
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