Miscellany from Diane Sawyer

The May, 2007, issues of Reader’s Digest included an excellent interview with Diane Sawyer. Other than knowing she had something to do with television news, I wasn’t very familiar with her, but found a few of her comments quite noteworthy.

Quotations are from “News Flash: In the sound bite world of TV news, Diane Sawyer brings substance to the story,” by Sara Davidson, in Reader’s Digest, May 2007.

Regarding her marriage at age 42 (they have been married about 20 years now) to director Mike Nichols:

The first year, I thought surely we would fight. I would take a stand, and he’d say, Well, you’re always fair, and I know you love me, so I have to consider the possibility that you’re right.

That was actually my favorite quotation. Isn’t it wonderful?

Q: Are you concerned about the direction that broadcast news is going?

A: I think we all are. But I don’t feel that we have a responsibility to scold everybody for what they watch. We want to pretend we only watch the grass growing on the global warming channel, but a car chase comes up and I’m right there with the next person.”

Q: Do you ever feel guilty that you can fly in an out of bad situations, leaving behind people stuck struggling with so little?

A: Of course. Every single time. When you get on a plane and have clean water, it’s already a privilege, considering what a lot of the rest of the world is dealing with.

Q: Did North Korea feel like the nightmare that George Orwell wrote about in 1984, with Big Brother controlling everything?

A: It’s hard to believe that in this day of Internet access, there is a country in which kids studying to be scientists have no idea what Google is. You have passionate students of culture and politics who have no prospect of leaving the country.

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