Caption me.
Posted on 05/19/2004 6:22:35 AM PDT by .cnI redruM
I've always heard that the media is the "permanent government" in Washington. Politicians come and go, but the bigwigs are here forever. For example, in 1989 Ben Bradlee, the executive editor of the Washington Post, dismissed John Sununu, the first President Bush's chief of staff, as "a jack-leg governor from a horse's ass state; how could he play with us in the big leagues?"
This combination of power, permanence, and arrogance — not liberal bias — is often the real secret behind many of the elite media's problems. Because conventional wisdom flows from the top down, many rank-and-file journalists are afraid to question it.
But I never appreciated this dynamic sufficiently until the recent kerfuffle over Tim Russert's Meet the Press interview with Colin Powell.
You may have heard that Powell made the rounds — by satellite from Jordan — on the Sunday shows on May 16. He made some real news: He admitted that much of the information in his famous U.N. presentation was flawed or wrong. But that news was either lost or dampened by the excitement of a camera showing a palm tree.
Here's what happened. Powell was taping an interview with Russert — one of five that morning. The interview was scheduled to last 10 minutes. At 13-plus minutes, Powell's press secretary Emily Miller (stupidly) tried to end the interview by having the camera move off of Powell. It panned over to a palm tree.
There was some momentary confusion. Powell said the interview was still going. His aides demurred for an instant. Russert sounded offended: "I would hope they would put you back on camera... I think that was one of your staff." His indignation rising, Russert declared: "Mr. Secretary. I don't think that's appropriate."
Powell ordered the camera back on him and invited Russert to re-ask his last question. And the "drama" was over.
Now, for reasons I find unfathomable, Russert seems to believe that in those 30 or so seconds, the fate of the free press hung in the balance. On CNN he declared, "I've been in countries where staffers pull the plug on people. This is the United States of America. It really is unacceptable."
A "taxpayer-paid employee interrupted an interview," he exclaimed to the Washington Post. "Not in the United States of America, that's not supposed to go on. This is attempted news management gone berserk."
Get thee to thy fainting couch, Tim! A government employee attempted to cut off an interview! In America!
Uh, folks, this happens every day.
I used to be a television producer. I know lots of television producers. And I can tell you flat-out: The suggestion that there's something unusual, never mind ominously un-American, about cutting off a taped, satellite interview when it's run too long is such nonsense it doesn't pass the giggle test.
All that's unusual here is that it happened to Russert. Indeed, he says, "It was my first time in 13 years of doing 'Meet the Press' that a press aide has actually tried to pull the plug on an interview."
I'm sure that's true.
I could forgive Russert for not knowing how unremarkable all this is, since he basically started at the top at NBC. A former aide to former Governor Mario Cuomo and the late, great, Pat Moynihan, he didn't learn the TV ropes from the bottom up. Still, I find it hard to believe that in his time with Cuomo or Moynihan he never saw an interview cut short by a "taxpayer-paid employee," including, perhaps, himself.
I mean: How many times have we seen press aides say, "No more questions"?
Russert's gratuitous praise of Powell is even odder. "We appreciate Secretary Powell's willingness to overrule his press aide's attempt to abruptly cut off our discussion as I began to ask my final question," Russert officiously intoned to the camera. "Secretary Powell was really stand-up. He was a general and took charge," he told the Post and others.
Yes, hooray for the most popular political figure in America having the warrior's courage to overrule a flunky in favor of America's arguably most powerful pundit.
Now, I should say that I think Russert's a decent guy and, more important, is good at his job. Also, his high ratings are attributable in no small part to the fact that conservatives and liberals alike consider him an honest and straightforward journalist.
Nevertheless, political bias is different than ego bias. And the only "news management gone berserk" here is the preposterous notion that upsetting Tim Russert is the same thing as trampling free speech.
Only Russert and one or two other 800-pound media gorillas could make such a claim without being laughed at. But because Russert & Co. constitute the "permanent government," no one's willing to say the emperor has no clothes.
Mark
For Russert immediately to start whining, "Mr. Secretary. I don't think that's appropriate," was very strange. You'd think he'd first ask what was going on, rather than jump to the conclusion that Powell or his aide was trying to interrupt the all-important, all-powerful Media Guy in the course of his work.
Russert's ego made him not care how long he was going over the alloted time, but Sec. Powell's assistant should have had used better judgement and not put her boss in the position of looking like he owed Russert an apology. Yep, that was a really dumb thing the assistant did. Sec. Powell could have ended the interview in his own diplomatic way,.
I thought the whole thing was hilarious and absolutely tore the cover off of Russert's sense of self importance.
Caption me.
I skipped all the other threads about this because I hadn't watched it, but there was a rerun night before last and I saw it.
It was the most rude, low-class, and just plain tacky moment I've ever seen on TV, at least by a "professional." He then had a moment to redeem himself somewhat but instead chose to emphasize his low class in his remarks after the interview.
And now he's giving comments about it to the newspapers?
He's got a serious self-esteem problem. He's got to beat someone down to feel good about himself. If the staffer is fired, I wonder if that would make him feel better?
What a clymer!
On the other hand it effectively damped out his admission of faulty information. Makes me wonder if he asked the aid to create a controversy?
Imus roasted Russert on his pomposity..Andrea Mitchell defended his pretentious outrage..."His last question was too important to go unanswered...and he was the "best witness" she said." Imus pointed out that she had revealed that the press acts like they are all on trial when she called Powell a "witness".
I disagree; Powell could have gone along with his own staff member and blamed the thing on "technical difficulties". That way, Russert would look like the jerk he is when he can't get a forced response to his leftist bullshit. But not Colon Bowell.
I am dumbfounded as to why the Republicans make such a big deal out of Powell. The guy has never been right on any important issue of the day, at any moment in his military or political career. If the Republicans need to trot out a black person, then why not give the honors to Rice. At least she has a better record of conservative advocacy than Powell.
You're just forgetting Tim Russert is a special human being. (sarcasm off) We should call him Tim Russet. The man is a potato head!
These media types always forget their place and are really above themselves in the whole world politics equation.
The real question is why wasn't that edited out. It wasn't a major news item, it was just some egos and schedules clashing. Not news worthy. If they lost the satellite and just had a test pattern for a couple of minutes, would Russert have shown that or edited it out?
We can't do that to fat-face Tim. He's a very, very, very important man.
Russert declared: "Mr. Secretary. I don't think that's appropriate."
Hum.... Just who is Tim Russert to tell the Secretary of State of the United States what is appropriate or not? I guess in Russert's mind he is GREATER that any Secretary of State. Thank God Powell is black or Russert may have had him shot right then and there.
That would have been the professional thing to do. You don't let inside baseball like that distract from what is supposedly on to inform the public.
I was going to buy Tim Russert's new book, but after his little hissy fit, I'd rather read the phone book. He won't be getting any of my money.
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