alty old reporters and editors like to quote the line that the mission of journa

lism is to "comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable." While that captu
res the spirit of a lot of great journalism, you can t escape the irony that at th
is moment, the TV news media in America itself is looking quite afflicted and un
comfortable. Nor can you ignore that TV news organizations themselves have infli
cted a lot of their wounds. Let's examine this wheezing patient and suggest some
remedies for what ails him, because it s more important than ever that he s able to
perform at his highest potential.
First, though, let s be clear that the only thing this TV journalism guy has going
for him in this day and age is his credibility. It s his lifeblood, his beating h
eart, his essence. That s because he no longer speaks with the "Voice of God" like
Walter Cronkite once did. He s no longer the only advertising game in town like l
ocal TV stations or newspapers were before the Internet. And he no longer attrac
ts anywhere near the number of viewers or readers he did before hundreds of cabl
e channels and websites diluted his audience and drove millions of younger eyeba
lls to mobile screens. All he s got now is the value of his good name.
The first thing mainstream TV journalism needs to do is stop shooting itself in
the foot. Because the last thing my industry can afford in these troubled times
is a high-profile news anchor like NBC s Brian Williams exaggerating what happened
while he was reporting stories. Or ABC s George Stephanopoulos giving money to or
ganizations run by his former employer, Bill Clinton, while he reports on Hillar
y Clinton. Or Rolling Stone magazine publishing a spurious story on campus rape
that it later retracted. These transgressions only serve to erode the public s tru
st in the product that thousands of ethical journalists are working tirelessly t
o report, write, produce and sell: stories that bear witness and tell the truth.
The recent ethical lapses I mentioned are even more worrisome given that the pub
lic s trust in the media was already languishing before NBC told Williams to stay
home without pay for six months. Gallup says the percentage of people placing a
"great deal" or a "fair" amount of trust in mass media fell to 40 percent in 201
4, down from 55 percent in 1999. Even worse, faith in the media among 18-to-29 y
ear olds
millennials
is a dismal 12 percent, according to a recent survey by the
Harvard Institute of Politics. These numbers are a reminder that journalists ca
n t afford to take anything for granted. Many people don t trust us and we have to d
o everything possible to retain the trust of the minority while doing our damned
est to convince the majority to give us another chance.
I m hoping this latest crisis of confidence has the effect that a mild heart attac
k often has on a man in middle age: it forces him to take stock and re-evaluate
the way he s been living and take steps to make himself healthy again. Like eating
better and exercising more. For TV journalists, the first step is to remember t
hat verifying the facts is the single most important part of what we do. Don t say
it, report it or write it unless you ve confirmed it. Question everything and eve
ryone; especially your sources. That sounds obvious, but the failure to do it ca
n jeopardize your reputation and sully the news organization that employs you. J
ust ask Lara Logan and CBS about Benghazi.
Restoring the TV journalist s reputational health also requires a renewed commitme
nt to doing everything possible to avoid the appearance of conflicts of interest
and bias. If you re covering politicians, then you don t contribute money to politi
cal campaigns. If you re covering General Electric, you shouldn t be in a position t
o benefit directly from movement in the company s stock price. If you work for a n
ews organization owned by a Middle Eastern country and decide to report on that
country, you better have all sides of the story, regardless of how that makes th
e country look. It s how you look to your audience that matters. The point is to r
espect the ethical lines and let your audience know you take their trust in your
objectivity as seriously as you take your commitment to telling stories that ar
e based on confirmed facts.

These are things we TV journalists can actively do to get back in shape and shap
e the future. We can t turn back the clock to a time when everyone watched the eve
ning news at 6:30 p.m. And we can t pretend the Internet and mobile devices haven t
upended the economic model upon which mainstream TV media depended for decades.
It s a brave new world where only the nimble survive and where we have to adapt to
changing technology, shrinking attention spans and innumerable new ways that au
diences can choose to spend time and money.
The good news, in my view, is that there s never been a better time for good TV jo
urnalism. The need for credible, intelligent news and analysis has only increase
d with the number of new threats to our prosperity, safety and security. Viewers
and readers need reliable news and information more than ever as they face a wo
rld where Wall Street bankers can destroy the economy with arcane financial prod
ucts, where global warming threatens our environment and where ISIL brings new l
evels of instability to the Middle East. The public needs a vigorous adult in th
e room to curate what people need to know about these and other important subjec
ts, even if they d rather watch cat videos, read celebrity gossip or play video ga
mes. Serious news organizations have the potential to be that adult. But only if
we take the steps to get ethically healthy, earn the public s trust and really ac
t like adults