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NEIL MUNRO IS THE NEW JOE WILSON
Jun. 22nd, 2012 10:08 amBy now you’ve probably heard the one about Presidente Obama announcing his new immigration policy, only to be heckled by Neil Munro of The Daily Caller.
I’d have blogged on this sooner, but apart from having been flat-out busy in Singapore all week, I hate the idea of giving Munro any more attention than he’s already received – because I’m pretty sure that Neil Munro’s primary motivation was getting everyone to talk about Neil Munro.
Well, maybe not. I suppose it’s possible (if not entirely likely) he really did think Obama was done speaking and blew his Question Wad early. And maybe his “I’m asking the questions you people won’t ask” defense to his fellow reporters was just grandstanding (especially considering one such question is “What about American workers who are unemployed while you employ foreigners?” – which is a ballsy thing to ask when you yrself are a foreigner employed in America).
Anyway, it’s bloggable mainly because one key result was Daily Caller founder Tucker Carlson making a fool of himself:
Yes. This is a very good point. As a professional journalist, I can tell you from personal experience that if you ask a question in the middle of someone’s speech – rather than at the end – you will not only get a completely different answer, but one that will reveal far more than the subject ever intended to reveal, no matter how much media training he/she has had. Because few things make you more likely to give an honest answer than to have someone interrupt you.
Ha ha. Yes. Good one, Tucker.
To be fair, I can’t fault Neil Munro for wanting to give the WHCP some teeth. Even Ana Marie Cox has pointed out that the White House Press Corps is basically a glorified steno pool that has never, ever broken a major story. Fair call.
The thing is, interrupting POTUS won’t change that. You can ask all the hardball questions you want whenever you want – POTUS or his press secretary will spin ‘em as fast as you can throw ‘em just the same.
So the whole “Our job is to find out what's going on with federal government” meme is a bit disingenuous in this particular context.
Which wouldn’t bother me if it wasn't for the fact that the Conservative Punditry (with a couple of exceptions) has been hailing Munro as their New Favorite Hero, the journalist who DARED stand up to Comrade Socialist Fuhrer Obama. He’s the new James O’Keefe, only with credibility.
Great.
Still, I suppose the bright side is that if conservatives decide that Munro’s behavior is Good Journalism, then they don’t get to complain if any journalist does it to the next Republican president. If conservatives get to shout at the president, then everyone does.
Not that I think anyone should be shouting at the President (not until he’s done speaking, anyway). I’m just saying I will not have this “it’s okay when our guys do it” nonsense. Oh no. I do not play that game. If you get to do it, so does the opposition, and you do not get to whine when they do.
Ask me anything,
This is dF
I’d have blogged on this sooner, but apart from having been flat-out busy in Singapore all week, I hate the idea of giving Munro any more attention than he’s already received – because I’m pretty sure that Neil Munro’s primary motivation was getting everyone to talk about Neil Munro.
Well, maybe not. I suppose it’s possible (if not entirely likely) he really did think Obama was done speaking and blew his Question Wad early. And maybe his “I’m asking the questions you people won’t ask” defense to his fellow reporters was just grandstanding (especially considering one such question is “What about American workers who are unemployed while you employ foreigners?” – which is a ballsy thing to ask when you yrself are a foreigner employed in America).
Anyway, it’s bloggable mainly because one key result was Daily Caller founder Tucker Carlson making a fool of himself:
"This is what reporters are supposed to do," Carlson said by phone. "They're supposed to get their questions answered."
[…]
"Politicians don’t get to make a statement and then retreat to a fortified castle," Carlson said, adding that "our job is to find out what's going on with federal government on our time-table."
[…]
"Politicians don’t get to make a statement and then retreat to a fortified castle," Carlson said, adding that "our job is to find out what's going on with federal government on our time-table."
Yes. This is a very good point. As a professional journalist, I can tell you from personal experience that if you ask a question in the middle of someone’s speech – rather than at the end – you will not only get a completely different answer, but one that will reveal far more than the subject ever intended to reveal, no matter how much media training he/she has had. Because few things make you more likely to give an honest answer than to have someone interrupt you.
Ha ha. Yes. Good one, Tucker.
To be fair, I can’t fault Neil Munro for wanting to give the WHCP some teeth. Even Ana Marie Cox has pointed out that the White House Press Corps is basically a glorified steno pool that has never, ever broken a major story. Fair call.
The thing is, interrupting POTUS won’t change that. You can ask all the hardball questions you want whenever you want – POTUS or his press secretary will spin ‘em as fast as you can throw ‘em just the same.
So the whole “Our job is to find out what's going on with federal government” meme is a bit disingenuous in this particular context.
Which wouldn’t bother me if it wasn't for the fact that the Conservative Punditry (with a couple of exceptions) has been hailing Munro as their New Favorite Hero, the journalist who DARED stand up to Comrade Socialist Fuhrer Obama. He’s the new James O’Keefe, only with credibility.
Great.
Still, I suppose the bright side is that if conservatives decide that Munro’s behavior is Good Journalism, then they don’t get to complain if any journalist does it to the next Republican president. If conservatives get to shout at the president, then everyone does.
Not that I think anyone should be shouting at the President (not until he’s done speaking, anyway). I’m just saying I will not have this “it’s okay when our guys do it” nonsense. Oh no. I do not play that game. If you get to do it, so does the opposition, and you do not get to whine when they do.
Ask me anything,
This is dF
