Don't Call It Journalism Yet

As a former reporter, one inspired to join the profession by Woodward and Bernstein and who left it before it became a Village of repug-dick-sucking transcribers, I am all in favor of reporters rhetorically beating politicians - especially the president - about the head and shoulders to demand honest answers to tough questions.

But it only works if you do it the same way to everyone.

Amanda Terkel at Think Progress exposes the wrong way to do it.

Yesterday, Fox News anchor Bret Baier aired his 19-minute exclusive interview with President Obama, where he frequently interjected and interrupted the President. (Raw Story counted 16 such instances.) The right wing gave Baier kudos for the interview, saying he “showed us how a genuine professional TV journalist works.”

Baier’s tenacity, however, seems reserved only for Democratic presidents. His interviews with President Bush were far friendlier, with questions like, “What are you reading now?” and “Do you believe that there hasn’t been a terrorist attack on U.S. soil in more than seven years because of the policies your administration has implemented?”

Today on Fox News, Fox News Sunday host Chris Wallace defended Baier’s technique, saying that he needed to get in more questions and prevent Obama from “giving talking points.” But Baier had no problem with allowing Bush to give talking points in interviews. ThinkProgress has compiled some moments of Baier’s final interview with Bush versus his recent interview with Obama. Watch it:



This compilation doesn’t even include Baier’s infamous January 2008 documentary “George W. Bush: Fighting to the Finish,” on which he remarked:

We talked a lot about President Lincoln. And there’s going to be a lot of people out there who watch this hour and say, is he trying to equate himself with Lincoln?

I tell you what — he thinks about Lincoln and the tough times that he had during the Civil War. 600,000 dead. The country essentially hated him when he was leaving office.

And the President reflects on that. This is a President who is really reflecting on his place in history.

Note that despite Baier’s attempts to back up Bush’s delusional comparison, Lincoln wasn’t “hated” when he left office; he was assassinated just after being re-elected by an overwhelming margin.

Let's see Baier - or anyone else at Faux - badger, interrupt and insult Dick Cheney, or even his filthy spawn Liz, the same way Baier treated President Obama. Then I'll call it journalism.