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Newsrooms cope with loss of Mike Wallace

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    Cal Thomas on famed interviewer

  • Duration 3:45
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-- joining us now for bias cash cow.

Good morning.

Pleasure great to see you all right so we call it bias fashion generally we bash the media but can you really bash Mike Wallace I want to get your thoughts.

What a great I -- -- people did over the years you know the standing joke.

Was the secretary walked into the CEO's office and so I have good news and bad news Korea.

The good news is you're gonna be -- national television the bad news is.

It's Mike Wallace was sixty minutes -- he was an amazing man -- he did it all in our profession from.

Entertainment channel show called night beat where he preceded Larry King who was -- later as the great interviewer.

Asking really tough questions that people wanted answers to and frankly didn't even know they want the answers until Mike asked the question and then of course -- many years with sixty minutes started it off.

With Harry Reasoner over forty years ago.

It represented and still represents what classic good journalism.

Look like when I was growing up in the business you -- towering figures not only like.

Mike -- Walter Cronkite.

Howard K Smith and ABC and Huntley and Brinkley at NBC.

You had people who came out of newspapers and -- -- wire service back grabs Mike's background was a little different.

But he earned his stripes he was the best at what he did.

And at 93 years old he loved his job and who could say that he did not have a full life.

Absolutely and and the legacy continues with our own Chris Wallace to say release also.

Indeed an incredible story I started tell you about my -- he interviewed me once on sixty minutes in the 1980s.

I think the subject was sex education and I.

Came to the interview and -- New York hotel room and and he -- tape recorder with me and put it under my chair.

He said what's that for I should I do about your reputation this is to keep you honest -- recording everything.

And he laughed and the energy was great he edited it just fine.

Oh well that's good and -- that's good to hear he -- certainly had integrity.

I -- do you think that kind of journalism we've lost several sixteen minutes.

Stars I have to call them in terms of their caliber journalism.

In the last couple of years.

Right well the turning point I count when I was with NBC.

As a copy boy and later as a young reporter.

When the news division.

Was forced to make money prior to that.

Robert gender who was -- the president NBC.

I said look in his division we'll just do news we use the entertainment division to make money.

But then some -- at the top after -- decided wait a minute the news division could make money to do.

And I and it's so it tailored the news more to cultural stories.

Then really important stories I remember I had a former CBS reporter on my old show on fox.

And he said he had sent warning after warning -- about 9/11 and what was coming and potential terrorist attacks as a great foreign correspondent.

For CBS he said he couldn't get those young things that.

In New -- producers to pay attention he said nobody cared about for a news they told him.

We can't even pronounce the names and then 9/11 happened and people said gee why didn't we see it coming.

He didn't see it coming because you're focused on shark attacks off the Florida -- line.

That's why.

So really really good journalism telling us what we really need to know especially in foreign affairs where.

-- that's where -- -- bureaus have been shut down instead of that sustain is what we're missing and I think people like Mike Wallace represented.

Absolutely he went after any story that and and truly.

You could tell he had the enthusiasm and passion to tell those stories like nobody else.

Cal thank you so much for being here.

Thanks -- great Cal Thomas one of the greats as well.

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