Posted on 09/12/2008 1:03:36 PM PDT by MindBender26
The Rumblings In The Jungle – Journalists Turn On Charlie Gibson.
The phone lines are again rumbling in New York and Washington. The overriding question: Et Tu, Charlie?
I have spoken with a number of old TV journalist friends in last 12 hours. The haze of amazement hanging over the network newsroom is palatable. It’s as if old truths have been proven wrong, old friends abandoned their dearest comrades, and we all awakened up to find out that 2 + 2 really does equals 7.
Charlie Gibson’s (well, he has been “Charlie” for years, but since he apparently is not the man we all thought we knew, perhaps we should drop the familiarity.)
Let’s start again.
Charles Gibson’s interview of Sarah Palin last night was an embarrassment to ABC, journalism in general, television news in particular, and most importantly, to Mr. Gibson himself. It was not an interview. It was a debate, a sucker-punch, loaded debate where one side got to choose the questions, interrupt the other side, and then in conclusion, score the debate and give the audience their slanted interpretation of what it all meant.
The supposed interview was nothing more than a coast-to-coast, satellite-fed game of “gotcha.” ABC could have provided a valuable service to voters. Ms Palin is a newcomer to the national political scene and a realistic attempt to learn her views on important issues would have been very valuable. But last night there was little attempt to elicit Ms Palin’s beliefs on the problems of our time. The “interview” was dominated by loaded questions and sneers of disbelief whenever the Governor dared to give an answer not blessed by the New York-Washington liberal news cabal. Mr. Gibson acted more like a district attorney cross-examining a hostile witness than, dare I use the term, a “journalist” who understood America wanted to hear about Governor Palin’s positions, not his.
A polite note to Mr. Gibson: This was supposed to be an interview, not “Law and Order,” or, as it turned out, “Low and Disorderly.”
Witnesses in the network newsrooms say the reaction to the interview’s airing was akin to the televised reading of the O.J. Simpson verdict. Back then, many African-Americans cheered, while many Whites shook their heads in disbelief.
Last night, the ever-so-hip young producers and news writers, (the ones fresh from the Ivy League thought factories,) cheered; Good Old Mr. Gibson was putting her in her place! How dare this…. this…. this small state governor…. a Republican at that…. how could she ever think she is good enough to be on a national ticket! How could she ever hope to compete against the likes of such Washington Power Moguls such as Obama, Biden, and Clinton, (either Clinton, take your pick.)
Ms Palin, that Governor, that hunter, that right-to-life that weirdo, (psssst… did you know her daughter is pregnant,) well, she had the gall to try for national office without the approval of the national news media…. or as they see themselves…. the People Who Matter.
At ABC, the adolescent smirks ran as high as Sarah Palin’s approval ratings in Alaska.
But there were some who refused to join the chorus. The old guys, (yes, most were guys back then,) the guys who remember how it was years ago were upset and disappointed. These are the ones who remember when facts counted, not the reporter’s opinion.
You see, back about 50 years ago, many reporters were liberals, but a different kind of liberal. Many would take great pains to remove any liberal bias from their stories. The few conservatives, well, we too would ensure our story cut it down the middle, without conservative or liberal bias. We had all learned that in Washington there is plenty of blame, inefficiency, graft and crime to go around. You don’t have to just single out one side of the political scale. The idea was to craft your story so the reader, listener or viewer couldn’t tell which side of the political spectrum you were on. As one of the old Morrow Gang said, “I try to balance my pieces so I get an equal amount of derogatory mail from both sides. When the raving lunatic hate mail is split evenly between the liberals and conservatives, I know I am going a good job.”
That’s all changed now. Back when I started in TV, we would joke that the term “Investigative Journalist” was redundant; that all journalists were expected to be able to conduct a fair and impartial investigation, and we were expected to do so on a regular basis.
Today, it’s all “advocacy journalism.” Reporters think their stories shouldn’t just give viewers the facts. They take steps to color their pieces so viewers act in a certain way. Is the typical reporter now willing to slant a story to help their cause or candidate? Absolutely. If fact, if their story fails to promote their beliefs over others, they see it as a failure.
Which brings us all back to Charl….. make that Mr. Gibson. According to the old rules, Mr. Gibson should have asked the questions, waited for the answers, then let us, the Great Unwashed make up our minds as to who is best qualified. But now we now all know that there is no doubt; Ms. Palin is unqualified. Charles Gibson’s sneer says so.
Up until last night, Charlie Gibson was thought of as the “nicest guy in television.” Tonight, the quiet feelings among some are “Charlie, we hardly knew ya.”
Many of the older guys are not so much angry as they are disappointed. One from CBS was tempted to send Mr. Gibson an e-mail that began, “Dear Dan,”
The old Charlie Gibson was a great guy. We will miss him.
That should be Mrs Palin.
Free download from iTunes for Mark Levin. I love him as well.
Ah, the great one is building slowly to the total evisceration of Charlie-Tuna Gibson.
Please provide their names and their affiliations. This article contains no sources. As such, it can't be taken seriously.
Yo, Chunga, this great piece doesn't pretend or presume to be a piece of reporting. It is a personal, first-person anecdotal opinion piece, and a darned well-done one. As a reader fully aware of this from the first few lines, I went into it buyer-beware, first cousin to your "taken seriously" assumption.
Now had it been a news story, with a byline, in third person, clearly aiming to convey factual info, you'd have a point. Unnamed sources in published news stories should be suspect and may or may not be taken seriously.
Took some kind of hubris to conduct the interview that way, Charlie.
Having said that, I am perplexed by this article's point of view. The interview wasn't THAT awful in terms of fairness, and we shouldn't want Palin to be protected from tough questioning. The only reason to fear boobs like Gibson is if we suspect she really isn't up to the challenge. I think she proved she is. I'm sure Palin shrugged off Charlie's little gotcha session, and we shouldn't start bleating like the DUmmies. Conservatives will always be on the short end of the "double standard" stick; whining about it only makes us look weak. I bet Palin isn't whining about it.
I didn’t see that. Gibson is just so gag-inducing—he really does think he’s the gatekeeper, and anyone who dares run for office has to pass through his blazing intellect (?) first. I bet an interview with Biden would be a mutual love fest.
Nothing else coming out of the media would make me believe being unbiased was ever a concern of theirs.
I’m sipping now on the second double Maragrita, so I am more philosophical about it all. Gibson is a dung encrusted welly to be discarded as worn out. He’s sold his soul in lust for relevance, clueless, a small man, trying to throw his growing physical weight around as if it has spiritual capital. He’s a pig, but has no bacon.
That's really weak. Are you saying that none of the people you talked to were willing to go on the record?
News stories without sources are rumormongering...nothing more.
Uh, if you bothered to read the rest of my post then you would see what my requirements are. And, you simply cannot compare the world of today with what we had over 200 years ago.
All I am asking for is a track record. 2 years isn’t enough.
(sigh)
Chunga, Mindbender has shown to be credible here on FR for years. When a source talks on background, that’s got to be respected.
Thanks MB26. I was hoping to get your take on the ‘interview’.
Trust him.
I wish someone could post a pic of Gibson’s ABC NEWs staff.
There is one of Brian Williams staff in Vogue.
around 20 folks....all women, one homosexual man......about 40% black women and several lesbians
no wonder...this is who determines news in most media today and they get cornfed pecekrwoodmen and women to read it for us...
it’s pure propaganda more often than not
*McGowan/Coloring the News
As for her castrating the leftist press, you can't cut what was never there. All Palin has done is expose them for the knobless crybabies they have always been. Sarah, YOU GO!! Woot, woot!!
"I wants Joe Biden"
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