It's hard to believe that in his 40+ years as a broadcast journalist, KPRC-TV Anchor, Bill Balleza, had never sat for an extended interview -- until now. As his former co-anchor, I thought I knew Bill pretty well, but our in-depth conversation revealed themes and emotions that even he didn't know were there, especially regarding his military service.
From covering countless, seminal stories across the globe to his pre-journalism days as a Marine sniper in Viet Nam, we covered a lot of ground. This first part of our conversation is all about the media and our divided nation. Bill doesn't pull any punches and offers his unvarnished perspective. What are your thoughts? Does the media share any responsibility in the deterioration of our civil discourse? How do we pull out of this spiral? What are the long-term repercussions for the media as an industry, and even more important, for our democracy? Join our conversation in the comments section below.