Dear Charlie Gibson and George Stephanopoulos,
Quickly, a word to any and all of my fellow journalists who happen to read this open letter. This. Must . Stop. Tonight, if possible. I thought that we had hit rock bottom in March 2003, when we failed to ask the tough questions in the run-up to the Iraq war. But this feels even lower. We need to pick ourselves up, right now, and start doing our job - to take a deep breath and remind ourselves of what voters really need to know, and how we get there, that's it's not all horserace and "gotcha." Although, to be blunt, I would also urge the major candidates in 2012 to agree only to debates that are organized by the League of Women Voters, with citizen moderators and questioners. Because we have proven without a doubt in 2008 that working journalists don't deserve to be the debate "deciders."
George and Charlie should have to eat dinner off the mantelpiece for about a week, as my Dad used used to say before one of my frequent trips to the woodshed.
Bonus twofer: a piece on the same subject by Katrina vanden Heuvel on the same page.
Update: See also Greg Mitchell's take.
No comments:
Post a Comment