Monday, November 2, 2009

News Talk Show Moderators: Hosts or Hosers?

I'm starting to wonder why I treat David Gregory's Meet the Press, George Stephanopolis' This Week in Washington and John King's State of the Union as Must-See-TV. The roles of interviewer and interviewee are being played these days by The Hammer and the Artful Dodger!

By the time I had watched all three programs this past Sunday I was gritting my teeth in frustration. The host asks a loaded question, hoping to get a sound bite that can later become a controversial headline. The guest, it seems, would rather eat ground glass than respond with a straight answer, because he or she knows full well that the words will undoubtedly come back to bite. The host says, "Why can't you just answer yes or no to this simple question?" or something similar. The guest repeats a long statement, relevant to almost anything but the question, and talks long enough for both the host and the viewer to forget the original question.

After one complete hour of this back and forth game of Gotcha, the only news that's been made is that the Sunday morning talk show has become a place where a highly-paid bully engages a highly skilled evader of the "whole truth" until the time is up!

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