WASHINGTON, D.C. Oct. 22 (DPI) – The obituaries of Ben Bradlee today portray a giant of a man – a brave and charismatic newspaper leader, a charming and profane personality, a big-picture editor who left the details to others. He died peacefully Tuesday at the age of 93, having lived about as interesting and influential a life as any American could.
But reading Bob Kaiser’s affectionate and sweeping obituary of Bradlee in The Post, and Marylin Berger’s in The Times, I could only allow a shrug: Guys like Bradlee can no longer run news outfits these days.
For one thing, the digital age has end-run all of America’s newsrooms, once the home of serious people who reported on important news – a quaint notion nowadays.
And times have changed: There are simply too many people now with agendas masquerading as journalism, too many people refusing to challenge power because of a paycheck or a benefit or their own privileged access, and too many determined to attack those who don’t share their views or background.
Even The NYT’s David Carr, in his tribute today, couldn’t resist conveying some resentment of Bradlee’s privilege in the backhanded headline “Ben Bradlee’s Charmed, Charming Life.”
Berger quotes one contemporary editor, who called Bradlee “this last of the lion-king newspaper editors.”
Comment boards across the internet seemed to confirm a widely felt wistfulness and nostalgia for Bradlee and his easy-going leadership. One popular comment on NYTimes.com today:
Another great American gone. As they go, there are none left to replace them. Just endless mediocrity.