Journalists have been a vital part of American society for quite some time. They have outed government corruption and exposed Americans to stories that would have otherwise gone unknown. Some of the journalists I admire most include Daniel Schorr, Edward R. Murrow, Bob Woodward, Carl Bernstein, and Walter Cronkite.

There are some interesting patterns in this list. Most of these people challenged prevailing “common knowledge” about the way things were in the world. Murrow, for instance, helped defeat McCarthyism. They all took risks, often risking their own lives to get vital, real stories out. Also, not one of them is under 60 years old, and in fact, most are either dead or in the 80+ range. They all had their moments of widest fame before I was born.

Today I am reflecting on the American media after watching the special on Peter Jennings last night. I am not usually very positive about the American media. I don’t think (in general) that the mainstream media is biased, but rather that it is stupid and useless. Seeing headlines about rescued cats, celebrity trials, and which celebrity is hawking which religion tends to make a person dismiss the media outlets that run these headlines.

Where do I get most of my news? NPR, Google, and BBC. Occasionally from the New York Times, Washington Post, Deutsche Welle, CSPAN, and various British newspapers. I find these sources actually provide, well, news. Sometimes even a useful investigation, and I don’t mean the “on your side” investigations about the mechanic that ripped someone off for $20.

Seeing clips of Peter Jennings’ reports showed me something. This was a person, working for a mainstream news organization (owned by Disney, no less) that actually did get real, relevant news out there. He covered the genocide in Bosnia to an impressive degree.

I guess sometimes I forget that the mainstream media occasionally does get it right. I must remember that there are good people out there, even working for TV news organizations, that are dedicated in the same way that Daniel Schorr was.

Though it will be really hard to keep this in mind when watching Fox News.

I’m a little confused.

I watched the first half of ABC’s 2-hour special about Peter Jennings tonight. It was an incredible program. Among other things, I saw how Jennings exposed the US State Department ordering its employees to lie by claiming there were not concentration camps in Bosnia, helped expose how the United States government was illegally arming the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia, and how he made sure to show the Arab/Palestinian viewpoint (contrary to US wishes) in his reporting from the middle east. He had other run-ins with official corruption or, at the very least, misleading actions.

Jennings lived and worked in the United States for years — decades, even — as a Canadian citizen. Just a few years ago (2003, I think), he became an American citizen.

What was it that he saw in the United States and its government that made him change his mind? And why did it take him so long?

I’m often cynical about our government. Just this week we learn how the federal government is squandering our tax money with pork-barrel spending in the highway bill. The number of times that government officials have lied and misled the American people and the world, and even violated American law, is staggering. And it has happened with people from both parties.

I believe that this country has never really lived up to the great dream embodied in the Declaration of Independence. We have, over the course of our history, systematically and intentionally deprived entire groups of the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness: Native Americans, blacks, poor people, Japanese, women, conscientious objectors to war, Germans, and the list goes on. When I hear our presidents talking about how the United States has always been a land of freedom, I cringe.

What is it that made Peter Jennings want to be a part of it? What is it that I’m missing? And why did it take him so long to arrive at the conclusion he eventually did?

We can, of course, look to a great many people across the globe that have less freedom than we do, and be grateful for the rights and privileges we enjoy. But Canadians don’t likely rank among those that are stifled by authoritarian regimes.

Well, The Habenero Cheesecake turned out to actually be quite good, and not all that hot. We could certainly taste the habenero in it, but it wasn’t nearly as hot as we were expecting. So not all that dangerous after all.

A little while back, I saw Mako’s Habanero Lime Cheesecake That Can Kill White People post on Planet Debian. I mentioned to Terah that we should try it sometime.

Well, apparently that sometime is today. She wrote about it in her blog. The results have been quite unusual. A grand adventure involving grocery store employees, difficulty breathing, lack of masks, and, yes… gloves. It sounds like these Habeneros could power small reactors.

And we haven’t even tasted it yet. I’ll make sure to post about it once we have, in a few hours.

If I survive, that is.