World's Worst TV Interview
Lets say youre a talk-show host and you get the one guy who precisely predicted the financial collapse a year before it happened. You want to talk to him about the health-care reform debate and the financial implications of the current legislation. Note also that the guest has been openly considering a run against an incumbent Senator. As an interviewer, what strategy would you choose?
A. Ask him to detail in depth how he predicted the financial collapse and to provide parallels to what he sees in the health-care debate
B. Acknowledge his success in predicted the 2008 collapse, but focus instead on the financial implications of health-care reform as a separate topic
C. Research the topic thoroughly and debate him point-for-point on substantive matters within the bill
D. Talk over him, dont allow him to answer anything completely, offer juvenile demands to force the guest to give complicated answers in 30 seconds, and berate him when he attempts to explain why thats the entire problem with the health-care debate
Most interviewers will choose either A, B, or C, and all three are legitimate ways to interview an expert guest. If you want D, you usually have to tune in to MS-NBC, where Lawrence ODonnell filled in for Ed Schultz on The Ed Show and channeled his inner Wally George. ODonnell interviewed Peter Schiff, the man who tried to warn everyone that the housing bubble would burst and create a catastrophe, only in the sense that Schiff was allowed to remain on camera during an almost-uninterrupted diatribe by ODonnell.
Why did ODonnell act like a middle-school bully instead of a news interviewer? Apart from the fact that ODonnell is a middle-school bully on air, Schiff wants to run against Chris Dodd for his Senate seat, and Schiff opposes ObamaCare. Instead of allowing Schiff to actually explain why, ODonnell simply shouts over him and issues ridiculous time demands, and does just about everything short of sticking his fingers in his ears and yelling NA-NA-NA-I-CANT-HEAR-YOU when Schiff tries to explain his positions.
You know, if MS-NBC was an actual news organization, someone there would be embarrassed.
4 Comments:
What a fucking moron. This wasn't an interview. It was 'gotcha journalisim' at it's worse
"You know, if MS-NBC was an actual news organization, someone there would be embarrassed."
But it isn't, so they won't be.
Thanks for posting this, man that was one bad interviewer. Ed Smith conductknockoutbroadcastinterviews.com/blog
How does he resist the urge to jump across the table and punch this hack right square in his stupid mouth?
Reason one why I could never be a politician, I'd be breaking my hand weekly on d***heads like O'Donnell
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