Chuck Todd: Transparency is The New Objectivity

Journalists gathered in Washington March 8 to honor their own and call for solidarity--and solid reporting rather than snarky reporting--in the face of attacks from the President.  That was one of the takeaways from Chuck Todd, moderator of NBC's Meet the Press at the Radio-Television Digital News Association (RTDNA) First Amendment awards. 

Todd, who was receiving the First Amendment Award, said that the media had rightly been criticized for its coverage of the Iraq War (the mission that was not quite accomplished), and that the current battle against the Trump Administration's brand of fake news was this news generation's Iraq war. "What we're doing now, this is our Iraq war," he said. "And if we blow this, if the public loses more faith in us because we don't cover this moment correctly, then we will have a problem when it comes to our own credibility." Todd said that when there is the temptation to be "a little snarky," remember others will be judged by that snarky comment. He said there are plenty of people motivated to undermine the news media for their own political gain. "Just keep that in mind. We just need to be fair, credible, honest and most of all transparency, the last which he called "the new objectivity," adding: "Show your work."