Affecting An Eternity

The further along I get in my studies, the closer I come to becoming an active journalist, the more I reflect on the blessings of the craft.

I wrote previously about my family's prediction that I'd somehow end up in the news business.

I've always had an affinity for T.V. news. When it came to local news there was the late Al Sanders who anchored alongside Denise Koch, then Vic Carter and Denise Koch. There was Stan Stovall and MaryBeth Marsden then Stan switched stations, and there was Stan and Donna Hamilton. There was also native Baltimorean Tony Harris, now with CNN. They were those who helped me to make sense of what happened in and around Baltimore.

Outside of Baltimore there was always a much bigger world, and for perspective on that I remember turning to and being comforted by the presence of Bryant Gumbel, Carole Simpson, and Ed Bradley. Make no mistake, being able to turn to people that look like you does put one more at ease.

So today as I sat watching CNN and heard it announced that CBS newsman Ed Bradley had died of leukemia, I was shocked. The consumate professional Ed Bradley had what broadcasters need to have male or female, black, white, or other: he had an ability to talk as well as listen, he had an ability to ask the questions we wanted to have answer, and those questions we didn't know we could ask. Ed Bradley had a quiet confidence, he had dignity, and he had grace, but he was also a tenacious journalist and a thorough interviewer.

Bradley started as a teacher, and as many of us know, teachers it is said "affect an eternity." He went on to be a reporter for radio, and finally a television reporter. As a journalist Ed Bradley most certainly affected an eternity. Many of us who consider journalism our calling, our life's work, and our form of public service, saw him as an able teacher who led by example. Those of us African-American men who want to call ourselves journalists, well we learned from Mr. Bradley that being a gentleman is also key to being a journalist.