Monday, September 25, 2006

"purple-faced rage"?

That's the title of the latest Drudge link to another, longer YouTube segment showing Bill Clinton's tense interview with a Fox reporter. Is Clinton upset? Yes-- he says as much near the end of the clip. Was this "purple-faced rage"? Not by a long shot.

To be honest, I can't stand journalists who adopt that hectoring style, cutting off the interviewee with an eye to getting them off-balance and on edge. The goal of such interviews is less about content and more about the money shot: the dude who flips out for the camera. I've seen this style used against both Democrats and Republicans; my criticism isn't confined only to what the Fox reporter did.

In this interview, my sympathies went to Clinton. Doesn't mean I like Clinton, but he deserved better treatment than he got, and I think he had a point about the "hatchet job" being done to him. Something similar happened recently during an interview of George Bush by Matt Lauer. (Thanks, Malcolm.)


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