I have a question that I think exposes a little bit of how people approach journalism. Which do you think was a better interview: Swan or Wallace?
If you think Swan's interview was better, I think you're more aligned with what I'll call reformed journalism: where it's okay for an interviewer to have a point of view and challenge the subject from that, even being what some would call rude. If you think Wallace was better, you're from the more orthodox school, where you play it straight and push a little harder against where the subject outright lies, but what I'll call "respectful": Full question, full answer, follow-up as appropriate. You can absolutely like both, but which you prefer is a little bit of a tell. What has happened in the orthodox interviewers that allow for full answers don't know what to do when a subject filibusters or swerves. You've gotta now try to keep two or three follow-ups in your head while they're taking. One of the things that I liked about Swan (and where I think he was better) was that he refused to take Trump's traditional mid-answer subject changes. When Trump went to do that, Swan interjected and forced him back onto the answer. The risk in that method is (as mentioned) you come off as rude. But the reward is that you force the subject to stay on the topic at hand and can draw out more (in this case, that Trump literally has no clue what's going on). The "books and manuals" moment was a perfect example of that. On Wed, Aug 5, 2020 at 3:24 PM Kevin M. <[email protected]> wrote: > There’s a viral video where the audio has been replaced by Python’s Dead > Parrot sketch. Brilliant. > > As for the original, while I typically try to avoid the actual words of > Trump, this interview was helpful in seeing how he was coming up with his > phony numbers. As the interviewer was pointing to the number of Covid > deaths based on population, and Trump literally told him “you can’t do > that,” I finally understood the exact point of Trump’s disconnect from > reality. The lack of even a toddler’s level of deductive reasoning from > Trump is astonishing. CNN chose to focus on the insensitivity of “it is > what it is,” and I understand why (because it’s easier and the outrage is > more sensationalistic), but pointing out that the commander in chief > refuses to allow others (let alone himself) to focus on the numbers which > are critical to fully understanding the seriousness of this virus is a more > lofty goal for the media. > > That said, this wasn’t an especially good interview... it’s just that the > people who typically interview Trump are so bad at even basic follow-up > questions or on-the-spot fact checking that it appears to be a great > interview. > > On Tue, Aug 4, 2020 at 7:08 PM Joe Hass <[email protected]> wrote: > >> "“Oh my god it’s just like VEEP!” I shouted as I plunged to my death." - >> Billy Eichner >> >> >> https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2020/08/04/veep-trump-axios-interview-jonathan-swan-david-mandel/ >> >> -- >> 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]. >> To view this discussion on the web visit >> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/CABru7%2BdKPYZvNmRyg2rKq9TuXbBR6GWvwjWQqyM73reyuEMxEA%40mail.gmail.com >> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/CABru7%2BdKPYZvNmRyg2rKq9TuXbBR6GWvwjWQqyM73reyuEMxEA%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> >> . >> > -- > Kevin M. (RPCV) > > -- > 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]. > To view this discussion on the web visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/CAKgmY4BhzwQmMxNhUdBe8wp5SWivZf%2BgzOAm590C6fQoz%2Bz%2BQg%40mail.gmail.com > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/CAKgmY4BhzwQmMxNhUdBe8wp5SWivZf%2BgzOAm590C6fQoz%2Bz%2BQg%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > -- 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]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/CABru7%2BdwNLHTpEbppiuPTJ9CSSMTodwTJTFZd-kScP-SAf6AyQ%40mail.gmail.com.
