Veteran foreign policy and national security reporter Bill Gertz warns that a culture of “trivialization” about foreign policy and national security is growing in the U.S. — and it’s leading to an ignorant complacency about America’s precarious position in the world.
“There’s been somewhat of a kind of trivialization in Americans especially among younger people who seem less interested in world affairs and national security affairs,” Gertz said in an exclusive interview with The Daily Caller. “I think that changed back in 2001, with the 9/11 attacks, but it’s been 13 years since then… and because the media is not really focused on the threats facing the country, I think a lot of people are really unaware of what’s going on. ”
Gertz criticized his peers in the media for focusing on celebrity culture at the expense of educating Americans about the world and bringing attention to the threats — and for meekly reprinting talking points rather than holding government officials accountable.
“There really needs to be a much better education system on the part of the media to really bring greater attention to these threats,” Gertz said. “It seems that the further to the left that an administration goes — and certainly the Obama administration is the most left wing administration in recent history — I think there has been a reluctance on the part of the media to aggressively hold them accountable. I’ve learned through my 30 years in the news business that one of the most important jobs of the news media is to hold government accountable, and unless that’s done, I don’t think that the press is fulfilling its job.”
Catch part two of the interview with Bill Gertz tomorrow on The Daily Caller.
