Legendary journalist Mort Crim on media evolution, authenticity, and truth

On Top of PR with Jason Mudd

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In this episode, Mort Crim joins On Top of PR host Jason Mudd to discuss his career highlights, truth in journalism, and his newest memoir, “Anchored: A Journalist’s Search for Truth.
Tune in to learn more!

Our Guest:

Our episode guest is Mort Crim, a retired journalist, author, lecturer, and motivational speaker. He inspired the Anchorman character Ron Burgundy.

Five things you’ll learn from this episode:

1. The inspiration behind Anchorman’s Ron Burgundy
2. Mort’s journalism career highlights and pivotal moments
3. Maintaining a trusted image in journalism and PR
4. How the media has changed and ways to adapt
5. Mort’s book, “Anchored: A Journalist’s Search for Truth”
Quotables

“I have a philosophy that if you run fast enough, old age can’t catch you.” — @Mort Crim
“Never have an ego or have arrogance about yourself because you never know when you're going to need help or the support of others in your community.” — @JasonMudd9
“It's all about the story. History is made up of stories. We call journalists the people who write the first draft of history. But that hasn't changed — for all of the technological change, for all the proliferation of media — it's still about content.” — @Mort Crim
“Become a good writer, and if you're a good writer, I can teach you how to stand in front of a camera. I can teach you how to hold the microphone. I can teach you how to be a broadcaster. But I can't teach you how to think, and I can't teach you how to write.” — @Mort Crim
“Journalism is a profession that requires, first of all, a commitment to honesty and truth. But secondly, you need training. You need to have some understanding and experience in how to recognize a story, how to organize a story, how to tell a story in a way that is meaningful to the audience.” — @Mort Crim
“PR needs to be all about the audience of the news outlet when you're pitching media.” — @JasonMudd9

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About Mort Crim

Mort Crim is a journalist, author, lecturer, and motivational speaker. He is the main inspiration for the character Ron Burgundy, a news anchor in the Anchorman movie series. His network and local broadcast experience in radio and TV includes five years as a correspondent for ABC in New York City and two decades as a senior editor and anchor for WDIV-TV, an NBC affiliate station in Detroit. He was backup for Paul Harvey’s “The Rest of the Story” radio program for five years. He is the author of eight books, including his most recent memoir, “Anchored: A Journalist's Search for Truth.”

Guest’s contact info and resources:

Mort Crim on X
Mort Crim on LinkedIn
Mort Crim on Facebook
Mort Crim’s website
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