Schorr Leave

It was with real regret that I learned of veteran reporter Daniel Schorr's passing today at age 93.

Yes, 93 is a ripe old age and not many people knew who Mr. Schorr was anymore, but I am still saddened by his death. After all, he was a prominent figure in the Watergate drama and its aftermath - arguably the biggest political upheaval of my lifetime.

For those of you too young to remember, or too old to remember for that matter, here's a brief recap: Daniel Schorr was a correspondent for CBS, covering the White House, and subsequently the Watergate Break-In. At one point in the unfolding drama, he came into possession of Nixon's 'Enemies List', which Mr. Schorr read on-air. When he got to number 17 on the list, there was his name.

Whether or not Daniel Schorr posed any real threat to Richard M. Nixon's presidency, the inclusion of his name on that list made him a reportorial superstar, almost as anointed as Woodward and Bernstein.

Sadly, the Schorr reality never quite lived up to that superstardom. Although he was an extremely experienced reporter, especially on foreign affairs, he could never again recover his Watergate limelight. But that didn't make him any different than Woodward and Bernstein, both of whom have done other things of note that I can't for the life of me remember. The same is true of many of the congressional standouts in Watergate - if remembered by general posterity at all they will always be remembered for those hearings, and not much else. So Mr. Schorr was in good company.

If Daniel Schorr's movement into relative PBS and NPR obscurity was inexorable, so was his impact on televised journalism. He remained one of the most admirable yet inscrutable, and somewhat insufferable, reporters of the televised era. A pattern exaggerated with some of today's cable news figures.

Personally, I always stopped what I was doing and listened when he was on, even while disagreeing increasingly with what he said, and understanding increasingly less of it. Come to think of it, that's also a pattern exaggerated with some of today's cable news figures.

One thing's for sure, he was talented and unique (unlike today's cable news figures), and therefore will be missed.