All you really need to know about journalism is that its practitioners are - under the terms of the First Amendment - not to be held responsible by the government. And that simply means that they can be irresponsible - and that inevitably means that they will be irresponsible.There is a saying that "the pen is mightier than the sword;" there is no gainsaying that an irresponsible press is a danger to ourselves. And that is where we must leave it, as far as the literal press is concerned.
But of course the portion of "the press" in which Ted Koppel works is not the literal press but broadcast journalism. And since broadcasting is allowed only to the licensed few in order that the unlicensed many may have a "right to hear" the licensees, broadcasting is not the mere exercise of a right of citizenship but an act of priviledge. As a group those who are certified by the government (i.e., by FCC license) as speaking in the public interest are the closest thing America has to a class of nobility.
The claim of objectivity is self righteousness, and it is folly to accept such a claim from anyone. I fondly hope to see the day when broadcast journalists, and the FCC which is their enabler, get their socks sued off.
Why Broadcast Journalism is
Unnecessary and Illegitimate