In a viral commencement speech, the ‘60 Minutes’ correspondent warned that power is distorting truth and democracy is at risk
CBS News’ Scott Pelley, a correspondent on the legendary “60 Minutes,” gave the commencement address at Wake Forest University last week. In fact, it was last Monday (May 19). But it wasn’t until the past day that some of his comments went viral.
During his address, Pelley spoke about what is happening in this country with Donald Trump as president.
“In this moment — this moment, this morning — our sacred rule of law is under attack,” Pelley said. “Journalism is under attack. Universities are under attack. Freedom of speech is under attack.”
Hard to argue.
Pelley continued by saying, “The fear to speak … in America. Power can rewrite history, with grotesque, false narratives. They can make criminals heroes, and heroes criminals. Power can change the definition of the words we use to describe reality. Diversity is now described as illegal. Equity is to be shunned. Inclusion is a dirty word. This is an old playbook, my friends. There is nothing new in this.”
Powerful. And, again, based in fact.
But that didn’t stop many conservatives from losing their minds over Pelley’s speech. Some tried to argue that Pelley was complaining about free speech being under attack while freely giving a speech.
Surely, though, you get Pelley’s point.
Trump sued ABC. He is suing CBS. He has barred The Associated Press from certain access. He is seeking to cut funding for places such as Voice of America, NPR and PBS. On a nearly daily basis, Trump insults reporters if he doesn’t like their legitimate questions and rails against them on social media.
That’s not an attack on journalism?
Pelley also told the Wake Forest students, “Your country needs you. America works well when we listen to those with whom we disagree and when we listen and when we have common ground, and when we compromise. And one thing we can all agree on — one thing at least — is that America is at her best when everyone is included.”
National story, local impact
I live in St. Petersburg, Florida, and I am a subscriber to the local paper here: The Tampa Bay Times. I feel obligated to say that Poynter owns the Times and I worked at the Times as a sportswriter and sports columnist for most of my journalism career before joining Poynter in 2019.
But what I’m about to write isn’t because of the ties to the Times, but as a reader, a consumer of news, a citizen who is trying to stay informed.
Here is a really useful story that the Times ran over the weekend. Teghan Simonton, a data reporter on the business and health team, wrote, “Here’s how Florida is already feeling the effect of Trump’s tariffs.”
We’ve seen plenty of national stories about how Trump’s tariffs might, in a general sort of way, impact Americans. But this takes a massive national story and boils it down to how it impacts people on a local level.
It’s detailed with charts, zeroing in on specific ways Floridians have been and might be impacted. And it’s the kind of story that other local news organizations throughout the country can do as a way to inform their specific audiences.
Let me know if you have seen these kinds of stories in your coverage areas.