I have no problem with a journalist who interviews both serious news makers and popular culture figures of note. 60 Minutes has at times done a very good job with that (you dont have to go back to the 1950s). This list itself is a testament to the value of giving popular culture serious reflection. I would love to see a thoughtful, serious interview with Patty Jenkins (Director of Wonder Woman). I don't really know much about the Khardashians, but an interview with one of those girls that touched on the appropriation controversies surrounding one of them, and the kind of mean-spirited bullying another one of them has been getting because of the poor play of her Cavalier husband in the NBA playoffs (touched on during Game 4 by Jeff Van Gundy) could be worthwhile.
My problem is: 1. I don't see any evidence that Megyn Kelly has the chops to do these kinds of thoughtful, long form interviews. I don't understand Steve's response to my earlier expression of this point; of course Walters had reserach help - why doesn't Kelly? I freely admit my exposure to Kelly so far has been very minimal. Her highest profile interview to date was with Candidate Trump near the end of their "feud", which seemed to me a complete fail on every level. Most of the rest of what I have seen of her work are the kind of 4 minute hit-jobs in which she manipulates the interview to a place where she can make a headline grabbing point and then cuts to commercial. Maybe she can do more thoughtful work in longer interviews, but as far as I can tell the jury is still out on that. 2. Good journalism requires that the journalist retain editorial control, which is not really possible in live or live to tape interviews. They have to be able to ask the same questions several times, interrupt, rephrase, back-up - all of which make for bad TV, and an only be done when the interviewer knows the messy parts can be edited out later. WIthout that, a savvy subject can run out even a 60-minute clock with evasions and generalities and head fakes. It is interesting how NBC is trying to use Kelly. It is now really clear they want her to be the new Katie Couric, not the new Tom Brokaw. A mid morning talk show will have to feature soft news and "lifestyle" issues, and a Sunday primetime show with that kind of interview can only ever be fluffy, regardless of the person being interviewed. Despite the fact that they both eventually (and horribly) anchored the evening news, neither Walters nor Couric were ever really solid hard news journalists (yes, I know about Katie's days at the Pentagon). I guess I thought they wanted something more from Kelly. When she was at Fox News was she regarded as a journalist or one of the infotainers? On Fri, Jun 9, 2017 at 5:48 PM Kevin M. <[email protected]> wrote: > Ultimately what caused Katie Couric's downfall (and what seems to be > happening with Megyn Kelly) is she tried to be the servant of two masters. > You can succeed at fluffy breakfast-chat interviews OR you can succeed at > hard news... it is nearly impossible to do both (Barbara Walters might be > the only longstanding exception, although I suppose one could include Oprah > if you absolutely must, but I wouldn't). If Kelly is including the fluff > for the same reason Edward R Murrow included his celebrity interviews... to > be given the freedom to pursue hard news stories... then more power to her. > But Murrow did what he did to take down McCarthy and HUAC... does anybody > believe Kelly has such an agenda, or the ability to follow through with it? > > On Fri, Jun 9, 2017 at 5:29 PM, Steve Timko <[email protected]> wrote: > >> Barbara Walters had a staff who would research and offer suggested >> questions and topics for her interviews. It wasn't like she came up with >> those questions on her own. Couric had strength as a live interviewer but >> i'm not sure that has shown much since she left NBC. I haven't watched her >> Yahoo interviews. >> I'm guessing Kelly's Kardashian interview will do better in the ratings. >> How many outlets are succeeding with hard news right now? It didn't work >> for Al Jazeera. >> >> >> On Fri, Jun 9, 2017 at 4:43 PM, PGage <[email protected]> wrote: >> >>> Her ability to break through to a more mainstream audience is part of >>> her challenge; but I am questioning the decision to position her as a >>> Barbara Walters/Katie Couric figure, highlighting full length interviews >>> with a mix of newsmakers and pop culture figures. I dont know that this is >>> the best way to get real news or insight for even the most talented, and I >>> dont know that she has anything like that talent. >>> >>> >>> On Fri, Jun 9, 2017 at 10:41 AM Tom Wolper <[email protected]> wrote: >>> >>>> On Thu, Jun 8, 2017 at 1:12 AM, Henry Fung <[email protected]> wrote: >>>> >>>>> This all seems like Rock Center redux. >>>>> >>>> >>>> One week's show would be too soon to judge. If the same executives and >>>> production team behind Rock Center are involved in this show, their best >>>> judgment would lead them to recreate that show. I think Megyn Kelly's >>>> problem is going to be that she established herself as a star on a partisan >>>> cable news channel and that doesn't build her the broad fan base she would >>>> need to carry an hour news show. >>>> >>>> -- >>>> -- >>>> 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. >>>> >>> -- >>> Sent from Gmail Mobile >>> >>> -- >>> -- >>> 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. >>> >> >> -- >> -- >> 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. > -- Sent from Gmail Mobile -- -- 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. 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