John Stossel on Wheels!

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John Stossel on Wheels!

John Stossel

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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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Quote

"I am a libertarian in that I believe in limited government and as much individual freedom as possible." -- John Stossel on WashingtonPost.com (April 9, 2004)

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