Role in 9/11 health bill points to journalism's greats
(NEWSER) - By taking up a cause—the 9/11 health bill—and getting quick results, Jon Stewart is following in the footsteps of news greats and "advocacy journalists" Edward R. Murrow and Walter Cronkite, professor of television Robert Thompson tells the New York Times . Murrow helped shift public opinion on the Sen. Joseph McCarthy hearings; Cronkite’s views on the stalemate in Vietnam influenced Lyndon Johnson's decision not to run for reelection. Though Thompson acknowledges the fact that Stewart's impact doesn't yet measure up to Murrow and Cronkite's, he argues that the comparison is a valid one, because barring Stewart’s help, the bill would likely have floundered. More»
