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Sunday, August 15, 2010
Media Needs To Stop Throwing
Softball Questions To Presidents
The media should always treat any sitting, or former, president as the Commander-In-Chief of the United States of America and nothing more.
That means that even if President Obama makes an appearance on “The View” or busts a move with some other talk show host, or even when George W. Bush made fun of himself on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno” during the 2000 elections, the media should not treat any president or candidate as a celebrity and starts asking softball questions.
That’s the bottom line for Susie Gharib, the co-anchor of PBS’s “Nightly Business Report.” Wall Street Journal’s Jon Friedman did a great interview with Gharib and near the middle of the article Gharib, who has interviewed former presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, was asked what questions she would inquire to Obama if her request for an interview with him was ever granted.
“She all but rolled her eyes at what passes for some exchanges between the president and the media nowadays. ‘I won’t be asking any questions about Michelle or the kids ... or the dog.’
Her questions, Gharib said, would be along the lines of: ‘What is he going to do to make America more competitive? Where is our country going, relative to China and the rest of Asia? I want to know what we are going to do so we don't lose our No. 1 spot in the world economy.’”
And she’s right. Many in the media are more than happy to give President Obama, or any sitting president, easy questions that make them appear to be like an average citizen.
However, that should not be the case. The president is not some average citizen, but an elected leader that the media should be more interested in asking the tough questions that the real average citizen needs to know.
And that’s just it. Even if the average person would rather spend their time watching mind-numbing reality TV shows and be absorbed by the latest celebrity gossip, it’s the news media’s job to grab them by the shoulders and shout, “Hey, you may not be interested in what I’m about to report, but you need to watch or read this.”
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