In an era when the news media have seen fit to function more as the lapdogs to power than the fierce guardians of democracy, we need to recognize those who will stand in the proud tradition of Murrow. I propose that we establish a Golden Spine award that recognizes those in the media who will strive to elevate the public discourse, who will call out the powerful when they attempt to deceive and manipulate the public, who will defend a truly "free" press. I humbly submit that Keith Olbermann be the first recipient of the Golden Spine Award for his tireless efforts to secure and exercise the rights and responsibilities of the "fourth estate" as the founders intended and for which the defenders of liberty have sacrificed so much.
We don't need to call the roll of dishonorable journalists who over the past 20 years have spent our rights on bended knee, currying favor of the elite and powerful whose instincts are always selfish and suspect. Somewhere after the tumultuous 60s and 70s, our free press became the status quo press; and in the 80s every "voice" was given a seat at the microphone to counter a manufactured perception that the press was biased, so that by the 90s "fair and balanced" meant anything but. Increasingly, journalists became transcribers, and challenging even the most ridiculous of claims required the label "analysis." And so our country became intractably locked into discourse that featured "us vs. them." It made for great copy and entertaining TV as the common bonds that held us together for over 200 years were snipped away in faux debates by TV personalities whose professional allegiance is closer to circus clown (no offense to circus clowns)than journalist. As my old friend and office-mate Henry Fairlie often said, it's important for journalists to occasionally bite the hand that feeds them. It maintains the balance of power. The truth is unpredictable, and our press should be as well. It takes spine to open the jaws of truth and bring them down. Well done, Keith Olbermann; may you not be the last.