CNN’s media critic Brian Stelter cried this weekend. I know this because he told us:

We've gone from "Let's Roll" to "Let's Roll Up in a Ball and Have a Good Cry." https://t.co/re2XbbZROH — Tom Bevan (@TomBevanRCP) April 20, 2020

There have been numerous spontaneous moments of emotional expression by journalists and leaders in American history. Many brave men and women have broken down in the face of mass death, personal tragedy, and national calamity. But never in history, as far as I can tell, has a highly paid journalist informed his audience that he’d crawled under his sheets and sobbed the night before over the news — and then run a pre-planned segment to talk more about his crying while lecturing the rest of the country on how they should feel.


I’m certainly not a champion of machismo, but panicky emotionalism is contagious. I’m sure most Americans are overwhelmed by the coronavirus crisis — certainly the thousands who are dying in hospitals and thousands who are fighting to save them. Many doubtlessly feel like crying but don’t do so in public for the sake of their families, communities, employees, and congregations. This is a ghastly event, but like every other generation that’s experienced horrible things — and every one of them has — we’re going to survive. Pull it together.