Who Will Be Enshrined in the Newseum?

When I attended journalism school, certain reporters and broadcasters were lionized by my professors as the icons of journalism. Their fairness, credibility and (sometimes) bravery were set up as examples for me and my classmates to follow.

Here are some of the icons who deserve to be in the Newseum, which will open its doors on April 11 in Washington, D.C. at the corner of Pennsylvania Ave. and Sixth Street Northwest.

Edward R. Murrow - No reporter was held in higher esteem than Murrow. He reported live on the radio from the rooftops of London during World War II (while they were being bombed by the Germans. He also went against his own network's wishes by reporting on Sen. Joseph McCarthy's Communist witch hunts. This story was told in the movie "Good Night and Good Luck," which was Murrow's catchphrase.

Walter Cronkite - When I was a kid, Cronkite was the anchor of the CBS Evening News. Although he was in the twilight of his career, his delivery and credibility are unmatched. Today, we talk about how certain reporters and networks lean to the right or the left. We watch as reporters blurt out misinformation and then backtrack when it proves incorrect. They can all still learn from Walter Cronkite.

Joseph Medill - The manager of the Chicago Tribune stood up from for the abolitionist movement and strongly supported the nomination of Abraham Lincoln as president. My journalism school at Northwestern University is named after Medill.

Robert Woodward and Carl Bernstein - Their tireless reporting uncovered the Watergate break-in and led to the resignation of President Richard Nixon. Their work changed American history in that way, but also in the way Americans have a deep-seated mistrust of politicians and their motives. Think about how journalists ignored politicians' womanizing back then (Kennedy) and today (Clinton). The same goes for baseball players' drinking then (Ruth, Mantle) and alleged drug use today (Bonds, Clemens).

Katherine Graham - We would be remiss if we didn't include the boss of Woodward and Bernstein at the Washington Post. She showed guts in supporting her reporters' work, and she was a trailblazer as the first woman to run a major newspaper.

Lance Williams and Mark Fainaru-Wada - After reading Game of Shadows, I have to nominate these two San Francisco Chronicle reporters for inclusion in the Newseum. Their book revealed the wide use of performance-enhancing drugs in baseball and in track and field. I will enjoy the Olympics this year, but by no means will I believe that the athletes are not using Human Growth Hormone or other undetectable drugs.

Thanks to journalists like these, nobody in the public eye can sweep anything under the rug any more. While it gets out of control with the excessive tabloid coverage of celebrities, I would like to think that journalists are still trying to hold public figures to some type of acceptable standard.

You can get all of the details of the Newseum here.