Good day, Paul Harvey

Then there’s that other debt that I owe him – as an American and a conservative. A lot of the articles written about him in the last few days quote something he said to the American Journalism Review in 1998. “I have never pretended to objectivity,” he said. “I have a strong point of view, and I share it with my listeners.”

I get the feeling, reading some of those articles, that the writers were using that quote against Mr. Harvey, trying to play one final game of “gotcha” with him. But, as usual, they missed his point. Unlike most journalists who “pretend” not to have a point of view, Mr. Harvey had enough respect for his listeners – and his profession – to play it straight. You took him at his word, or not. His 20 million regular listeners – and those sinking circulations numbers at papers like the New York Times, Los Angeles Time and The Washington Post – pretty much confirm who got it right.