Here's the lesson the media should take from this

Post #305,463 by drook 3/13/09 3:00:01 PM Reply	Here's the lesson the media should take from this Yes, speak truth to power, we all understand how badly they've failed at that. But I think for a lot of them the problems is that they really don't understand the issues well enough to know when they're being lied to. That set of clips Stewart had, and the cue cards, showed an incredible amount of preparation. With most politicians it would be easy to look at their last two weeks' worth of public statements and get a good idea what their current talking points are. So pull their previous speeches. Find the times they said the opposite. Call them on it live, while they're sitting there looking at you. I've seen him interview authors, retired generals, foreign ambassadors and heads of state. There wasn't once that I didn't thing, "Damn, he really knows his shit." Whether it's amazing interview prep, or he genuinely keeps up-to-date on all these issues, he is always prepared. That's what journalism is supposed to be. Not just looking good on camera, speaking clearly, and reading the teleprompter. -- Drew
Post #305,465 by a6l6e6x 3/13/09 3:09:59 PM Reply	Amen to that! Most definitely not winging it! Alex
Post #305,468 by Another Scott 3/13/09 3:48:14 PM Reply	Russert thought he was doing that, but he wasn't. Tim Russert of Meet the Press apparently thought he was doing that with his interviewing style. He and his staff would dredge up bits of video often from a decade or more ago, comment on it, show the tape, and then get the politico to explain why s/he feels differently now. I never found it satisfying. Everyone who came on the show knew he was going to do that, so they prepared for it. They knew he wouldn't bring any insight to the question - just try to get a Gotcha! out of it. Stewart, on the other hand, doesn't just look for Gotcha!, he wants to get to the heart of the matter. He doesn't simply want to show that someone changed their position, but actually try to make them understand why what they did was bad or at least have them explain their position with more than sound bites. Cheers, Scott.
Post #305,470 by drook 3/13/09 4:40:04 PM Reply	As I think more about it, Jon Stewart didn't inteview him The whole staff did. They do it all the time. I think that show's specialty is insanely comprehensive research. When they show a public figure's history, they don't just go for one gotcha. They show patterns. What Stewart presents is the finished product from a team of researchers and writers. We all know comedy shows have a staff of writers. Cramer seemed proud of the fact that he only has his nephew. I don't know how much of a joke that was, but if true it raises a great question: Why does a satirist do more preparation than someone telling people how to invest their life savings? -- Drew

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