soapbox

And that’s why it’s such a shame that we must add Ed Bradley to the list of those who will be missed.

Maybe I’m just too much of an old fuddy-duddy, but I kind of enjoyed the objectivity and guaranteed pace usually associated with the folks at 60 Minutes., the whole Dan Rather mess aside.

In particular, Ed Bradley was a big favorite of mine. He always seemed to a develop a real rapport with his interview subjects; I think they sensed that he wasn’t out to “get” them in the way that somebody like Barbara Walters usually would. He never really coddled people, but by not necessarily going for the throat, he was often able to elicit a far deeper and more candid conversation. Too bad TV journalism continues to drift away from this model towards far less-favorable ones like the talking head (your standard CNN Headline News), the overly-impassioned sympathizer (Anderson Cooper, Geraldo), and the complete blowhard (Bill O’Reilly and dozens of imitators).

For some better perspective on the Ed Bradley, you can read more about the man in his own words here, here, and here.

So what’s the weather like up there? Coat weather? Sweatshirt weather?

See y’all for lunchies tomorrow. I’m voting for Bagel Basement.