Here's why I give Walters a pass for almost every aspect of her career except "The View":
Considering how little women were taken seriously when she started in the business, her achievements are noteworthy. Walters did a lot of fluff interviews, but if you go back to those early interviews, she had little choice. She'd sit down with a world leader or a despot, and the first words out of his mouth would always be, "It is nice to be in the room with such a beautiful woman." Those guys weren't going to hear hard questions, let alone hear them from the mouth of some woman. But she was also the equal of Hugh Downs behind the anchordesk of 20/20 for years. She went further than any of her female contemporaries, and frankly is still ahead of all but a few female TV newswomen. As for "The View," I think if the series had been syndicated, and Walters could have wielded more control over the content (and the selection of co-hosts), it could've been something beyond a cacophony of babbling women. The show is an unintentional parody of everything men cringe at about clusters of women, and I do partly blame Walters for that, but I also know even if she wanted to stop it or change it, it's not in her control, and at this stage of her life, considering how little she has to contribute for such a massive pile of money, it doesn't shock me she stayed with it as long as she did. I do have an interview Tom Snyder did with Walters early in his run on Late Late Show that shows her better side, and why he respected her (and, in turn, why she respected him). https://www.dropbox.com/s/yewec9gx11aosls/Barbara%20Walters%20%281_20_95%29.mov On Thu, May 15, 2014 at 9:33 AM, 'David Bruggeman' via TVorNotTV < [email protected]> wrote: > For me, it's Russert, Barbara, and King for an unholy trifecta. > > ------------------------------ > *From:* PGage <[email protected]> > *To:* "[email protected]" <[email protected]> > *Sent:* Thursday, May 15, 2014 12:15 PM > *Subject:* [TV orNotTV] Barbara Walters Top 5 > > It's a crowded field, so I am not quite ready to award her #1, but it > seems to me clear that Walters will go down as the most over rated > so-called journalist in the history of television. > > > http://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/tv/barbara-walters-retires-so-long-to-one-of-americas-last-listeners/2014/05/14/22c4b81e-dac3-11e3-bda1-9b46b2066796_story.html > > The WaPo piece here illustrates part of the myth-making that has always > surrounded her: "She’s one of America’s last good ears, allowing even the > most notorious among us to have a say, asking many (if not always all) of > the questions we wanted answers to, while never seeming to make the > occasion about herself." > > What? The ONE thing Walters was always good at, and could always be > counted on doing, was making every occasion about herself. She interviewed > Yasser Arafat at the height of his "career", and managed to make it more of > "An Evening with Barbara and Yasser". > > I give her credit for fighting the old boys system, but what she achieved > for herself is more the status of Larry King than Walter Cronkite. > -- > > -- > -- > TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People! > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google > Groups "TV or Not TV" group. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected] > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected] > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en > --- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "TVorNotTV" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. > -- Kevin M. (RPCV) -- -- TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People! You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TV or Not TV" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TVorNotTV" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
