I always thought writing was the foundation and the basis for journalism in the same way being able to draw is the foundation for art.
BOB SCHAFFERA great deal of our ratings on the morning news are people who died during the night with their TV on.
More Bob Schaffer Quotes
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I think journalism is a great way to do public service, to have an impact on your community.
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My bladder cancer was related to smoking, and I think smoking kills people.
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A police reporter walks into the worst moment in someone’s life on every single story that he covers. It’s not like being a sports reporter. That’s a great job and all that and takes certain skills.
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There’s fierce competition between all the networks to get the guest who can bring the most pertinent information about whatever the story of the moment happens to be.
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The revolution has been dubbed “The Orange Revolution,” orange being the campaign color of Viktor Yushchenko. The demonstrators say they are tired of living under a corrupt government…
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Though there is growing division among the Ukrainian military ranks as to loyalty in this revolution, the possibility of violence looms over the entire situation.
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It’s no longer just reporting the headlines of the day, but trying to put the headlines into some context and to add some perspective into what they mean.
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We now assume that when people turn on the evening news, they basically already know what the news is. They’ve heard it on the radio. They’ve seen it on the Internet. They’ve seen it on one of the cable companies. So that makes our job a bit different.
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Mitt Romney is betting big on himself and left no doubt about it.
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The recent history of Ukraine is replete with dead journalists, beaten journalists, news agencies being shut down, and politicians being injured or killed. Most are killed in mysterious auto accidents.
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But with 9/11, we found that people tended to come back to the networks and the people who had been our core viewers in the past came back and they have stayed with us.
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And as a result, I guess I’m just kind of a rubberneck. I’m kind of a – someone who likes to see things and likes to see these events and talk to the people who make them happen. But I don’t think journalists are as important as the people they cover.
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Vote counting and ballot collecting does not occur in the light of day. There are too many occasions when observers and opposing parties lose contact with the ballots.
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The first thing the federal government can do to help is get out of the way.
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The Russians have a lot at stake, and the power of Moscow pride should never be underestimated.
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When Sam Snead was asked how to putt, he said, ‘Putt for one hundred dollars’.
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The truth is the Super Bowl long ago became more than just a football game. It’s part of our culture, like turkey at Thanksgiving and lights at Christmas, and like those holidays – beyond their meaning – a factor in our economy.
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Good policy always trumps bad public relations and the best PR can’t trump bad policy.
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Once we get them in the studio, you interview a person the same way you would interview another. You ask them a question. You let them answer. You try to listen closely and then ask a follow-up.
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But here’s the deal: If I were smart, I could figure out curling. If I were even smarter, I could figure out why people would actually watch other people doing it. I have tried. I can’t. I can’t even figure out the object of the game. Is it like darts? I just don’t get it.
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And after about two years, I realized that creative writing was not going to help you ace those biological tests. So I switched over to journalism. I didn’t graduate with honors, but I did graduate on time and with some doing.
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There are many hands touching ballots after a voter drops his ballot into the ballot box. There is no guarantee of ballot secrecy for anyone, which makes the whole system vulnerable to intimidation and bribery.
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I had the chance to make every possible mistake and figure out a way to recover from it.
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Obviously, if the commander makes certain decisions that the reporter thinks is inhibiting his right to report a legitimate story, he has to appeal to the commander’s boss to get that changed.
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The government’s view is that the best time to announce bad news, news that it doesn’t want the public to dwell on is late on a Friday, when it will wind up in the Saturday papers, which if you were readers, then the week day editions. A holiday weekend is even better.
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A great deal of our ratings on the morning news are people who died during the night with their TV on.
BOB SCHAFFER