INDIANA BOY MAKES GOOD:

Media Mensch of Year: Who is the 2003 Media Man of the Year? (NY Observer)

This year, in an era devoted to idea distortion and digital degradation, we cite the exception: a 55-year-old comedian cross-referenced in the Indiana Biography Index under "wise guy," and they weren't wrong; whose idea was that TV should be better; who, fueled by a driven work ethic, implanted his own determined responsibility into his product; who succeeded with no apology for, but rather exaltation of, human flaws; a broadcaster-the inheritor of the industry built by William Paley, Dr. Frank Stanton, Edward Murrow, David Sarnoff, Pat Weaver, Roone Arledge, Jack Paar-who is faithful to the idea that New York broadcasts to the U.S.; who hates crap, cant, condescension; who came out of the box first after 9/11, showing leadership and intelligence; who opened his heart after his heart was opened; who flew to Kandahar for Christmas Eve with cigars, 5,000 T-shirts, Paul Schaffer and Biff Henderson (and no video cameras!); who refused to suck up around George W. Bush or Bill Clinton; who grew on the air from boyhood to A-1 manliness without the least sacrifice of his particular hard edge; who redefined American humor on the level of Mark Twain, Booth Tarkington, Fred Allen; who stepped into the smooth loafers of his own personal hero, Johnny Carson, not by emulating the older comedian's mentholated humor, but by sharing his stance of personal integrity; who has aged into the crazy uncle you'd most want to be like, a pioneer without platitude; who has become the gold standard for TV in our age.

I'd not even heard about him going to Afghanistan. Posted by Orrin Judd at January 3, 2003 9:11 PM