If you watch a news video today, listen to a newscast or download a podcast, then you are benefiting from the work of Lowell Thomas. As Tom Brokaw, Dan Rather, Dalai Lama and many others explain in this lively film about a dynamo of a man, Lowell Thomas invented what is now often celebrated or disparaged as “traditional journalism.” And Lowell was a great adventurer. In a primetime special after his death, Walter Cronkite concluded that Lowell Thomas had “crammed a couple of centuries worth of living into” his 89 years. Lowell returned from Arabia in 1919 with film of “Lawrence of Arabia,” a legend he also invented through a multi-media show he presented to millions. After riding a mule caravan up into forbidden Tibet in 1949, just before the Chinese invaded, Lowell returned with his leg broken in eight places but also with film of the young Dalai Lama.  Today as truthful journalists are accused of fake news, the life of Lowell Thomas reminds us why a ‘free press’ is important to Democracy and shared faith in factual reporting is a cornerstone of a civil society.