Journalistic Efforts Worth Saluting

As one who has enjoyed a lifelong love affair with journalism, I find great pleasure in the journalistic accomplishments of others.

In recent days, I have found myself in awe of several members of the media whose work has been especialy noteworthy. And yes, I admit to being more than a little envious of their skills and achievements.

David Gregory of NBC turned in a brilliant performance last Sunday morning as the moderator for the Republican Presidential debate in New Hampshire. Evidence of a job well done is the praise he has received from his peers.

I've been watching Presidential TV debates since the first one in 1960. And since the second one was aired in 1976, I've missed very few. Never has a moderator seemed better prepared, or more in tune with what was pertinent, than David Gregory last Sunday.

But it is what was achieved as a result of that preparation and the pertinent questions that elevates David Gregory to a place head and shoulders above the rest of the moderators this election cycle.

He followed a boring Saturday night debate with an obvious plan to enliven the proceedings, and more important, to get beyond the sound bite replies, so as to get real answers. David Gregory succeeded, and gave us the best debate of the 15 to date.

Soledad O'Brien is the host of a new and different kind of early morning program on CNN--"Starting Point". The difference is in the varied venue--a diner, a restaurant, or other AM gathering place.

Her guests share a breakfast table, and the barely audible background noise adds an excitement and authenticity to the telecast that is not possible in a studio.

Two weeks into the new show, Soledad has aired from Iowa, New Hampshire, and this morning, from a diner in lower Manhattan. This election year will find her breaking bread with guests and viewers in towns and cities throughout the country.

Although the setting is informal, and much of the conversation is casual, Soledad injects a seriousness into every telecast with hard-hitting, incisive interviews. No softball questions from Soledad.

"Starting Point" is something new that I dont think will soon grow old.

And then there's Dr. Sanjay Gupta. He's been around for a while, but some of his varied, recent work makes him worthy of mention as a unique, and very good journalist. What is unique is his resume.

Sanjay is best known for his role as chief medical correspondent for CNN. What makes him know of what he speaks is his background as a neurosurgeon, and as a professor of neurosurgery.

Dr. Gupta is a best-selling author, and a columnist for Time Magazine, and a special correspondent for CBS' "60 Minutes". He has been a White House advisor--to Hillary Clinton in the 90s; and he was offered the position of Surgeon General of the United States by the Obama administration.

He has spent considerable time abroad in war zones, and in disaster areas--after Hurricane Katrina, and after the earthquake in Haiti, and following the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. His work on these occasions was as both journalist and doctor.

In 2011, Dr. Sanjay Gupta was named as one of the ten most influential celebrities in America by Forbes Magazine.

There has always been, and there always will be, a lot of criticism directed at the media, and some of it is justified.

But there have always been, and there always will be, exceptional journalists to be admired, and to be appreciated for the outstanding work that they do--journalists such as those above.