|  When
20/20 co-host John Stossel utters his signature catch-phrase
-- "Give me a break!" -- there's a good chance
he's talking about some government program, regulation, or policy.
That's not surprising, since Stossel is a libertarian. However, for
years he hesitated to use the "L-word" to describe his political
beliefs.
For example, in a talk at the Heartland Institute in Chicago, Illinois,
Stossel said, "I'm a libertarian. But I don't often say that
except to an audience like this because the term libertarian is confused
with libertine or even worse, liberal."
(Chicago Sun Times, February 15, 2004.) And in a speech at
the Independent Institute in Oakland, California, he said, "Libertarian?
I'm reluctant to identify myself that way because people don't know
what it means... I wish we had a better name." (January 30, 2004)
But with his position as co-anchor of ABC's popular news magazine
20/20 secure, and with his 2004 book, Give Me a Break,
a solid bestseller, Stossel seems far more willing to publicly embrace
the libertarian label. In fact, in his speech to the Independent Institute,
the first three words out of Stossel's mouth were, "I'm a libertarian..."
On WashingtonPost.com (April 9, 2004), Stossel said, "I am a
libertarian in that I believe in limited government and as much individual
freedom as possible." And if there was still any doubt, when
Stossel was asked by Health Care News (June 1, 2001) to describe
his politics, he replied, "Jeffersonian. Government that governs
least, governs best."
Stossel isn't just calling himself a libertarian because it's trendy.
He takes libertarian positions on just about every issue. Some examples:
• On why government doesn't work: "Government
almost never polices itself. When government agencies lose money,
or fail at their missions, they ask Congress for more money. They
usually get it, citing their failure to achieve their goals as proof
that they need more funds." (Chicago Sun Times, February
15, 2004)
• On the War on Drugs: "It's not like
the drug laws are keeping the stuff out of the country. We can't
even keep it out of prisons. How do we think we're keeping it out
of the country?" (Independent Institute, January 30, 2004)
• On the proper role of government: "We
need government to do a few things like keep the peace, enforce
contracts, create pollution laws. But government can never do anything
as well as the private sector, so anything the market can provide
effectively the government should stay out." (WashingtonPost.com,
April 9, 2004)
• On freedom versus safety: "Isn't leaving
us a choice what America's supposed to be about? Patrick Henry didn't
say, 'Give me absolute safety or give me death.' It's supposed
to be about freedom." (Independent Institute, January
30, 2004)
• On how his politics influence his reporting:
"I look at the world with the awareness of the benefits of
limited government and individual freedom in the back of my mind."
(WashingtonPost.com, April 9, 2004)
Stossel's increasing willingness to promote his pro-liberty beliefs
-- in speeches and on his TV specials -- has won him praise from the
libertarian movement. Anthony Gregor, writing on LewRockwell.com (January
11, 2005) described Stossel as a "heroic rogue... a media maverick
and proponent of freedom in an otherwise statist, conformist mass
media." The Republican Liberty Caucus hailed him for his "concise
libertarian messages." And investment analyst Mark Skousen said
Stossel is "a true libertarian hero."
But Stossel's pro-liberty viewpoint has won him few friends among
the elite. In fact, Ralph Nader called Stossel "the most dishonest
journalist I've ever encountered." Stossel takes such comments
in stride. In Give Me a Break, he wryly wrote: "I was
once a heroic consumer reporter. Now I'm a threat to journalism...
I did a terrible thing. Instead of just applying my skepticism to
business, I applied it to government."
Stossel did get his start in TV journalism as a pro-consumer muckraker.
As consumer editor for WCBS-TV in New York City -- and later on ABC's
Good Morning America -- he did exposés on the "dangers"
of exploding coffee pots, Alar-tainted apples, and secondhand smoke.
However, Stossel said, "The more reporting I did, the more it
dawned on me that government is often the problem rather than the
solution. Free markets, not coercive governments, are the consumer's
best friend." (Chicago Sun Times, February 15, 2004)
When Stossel joined the 20/20 team in 1981 -- first as a
correspondent, later as co-anchor -- he brought his libertarian perspective
with him. In his popular "Give me A Break!" segments, he
took a sardonic look at everything from corporate welfare to $300,000
government-funded outhouses. In 1994, Stossel began doing a series
of libertarian-themed prime-time specials for ABC, including Are
We Scaring Ourselves To Death? (about American's exaggerated
fears); Junk Science: What You Know That May Not Be So (about
misleading scientific claims); and Sex, Drugs, and Consenting
Adults (about victimless crimes).
Stossel's 2004 book, Give Me a Break... How I Exposed Hucksters,
Cheats, and Scam Artists and Became the Scourge of the Liberal Media,
continued his libertarian streak. Part autobiography, part discussion
of the major media's anti-capitalism mindset, and part reiteration
of his belief that free minds and free markets "make good things
happen," it reached #3 on the New York Times bestseller
list. Stossel told the Washington Times (May 5, 2004) that
he wrote Give Me a Break because "I want people to learn
that freedom works, that limited government works... Let's celebrate
it rather than sneering at it the way intellectual elites of America
do."
Despite the controversy he engendered, Stossel has won 19 Emmy Awards,
the George Foster Peabody Award, and the George Polk Award over the
course of his career. He was also sued a half-dozen times and attacked
on camera by a professional wrestler. He has a B.A. from Princeton
University.
For libertarian fans of Stossel's work, here's some good news: Expect
him to keep promoting the pro-freedom message on 20/20 and
in his prime-time
specials. In Reason
magazine (April 1997), Stossel said about
his journalistic goals,
"The stories I most want to do are stories that show how freedom
works..."
--
Bill Winter
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