EDINBURGH -- Sir Trevor McDonald, recently voted "the most trusted man in Britain", appeared at the EITF to give his opinions on the importance and responsibilities of journalists.

He spoke eloquently about the complex relationship between journalism and politics, the need for level-headed war reporting and the media’s role in keeping the government accountable for its actions.

Some of his wise words:

  • "I feel more passionately than I've ever done before about the crucial importance of good, solidly-based robust, enquiring, informative journalism."

  • "My view is where there is no information, where there is no knowledge, no communication or understanding of what goes on in our local communities and in our broader societies, where there's no appreciation of how and when things happen, where there's no understanding about why they happen, then our society is at a grave disadvantage, and we're all poorer for it."

  • "Journalists and journalism are not infallible. We frequently get things wrong," he said, citing The Daily Mail's 1912 headline, 'Titanic goes down, everyone safe'.

  • "Whatever our political leaders say, the role of good journalism is still crucial to the way our society functions, and the way we perceive ourselves…Those in positions of power and influence must be held accountable for what they do in our name…In democracy people need to be informed and as knowledgeable as possible to make that consent meaningful."

  • "Over many years I’ve covered presidential campaigns and they were a study in what I can call the art of the photo opportunity. Presidential debates are elaborately constructed to make sure you never got a chance to ask a direct question and get a direct answer of a presidential candidate."

  • "It did amuse me somewhat after September 11 to observe that the Chechens, who had been fighting a long war against the Russians for many years and who until then were waging what was described as a nationalist struggle were all suddenly, after the war on terror, all suddenly became 'terrorists'…Can we really, as thinking journalists, simplify the world into good and evil?"