The Lack of Critical Thinking Among Today's Journalists
Listening to Meredith Vieira interview Laura Bush on the Today show this morning, it was clear to me that Meredith Vieira lacked any critical thinking in her questioning of Bush. This is a problem that is common among many of the morning shows (and in journalism in general).
At times, Vieira’s interview seemed also to be a commentary. Speaking to Bush about the First Lady’s effort to combat illiteracy in many countries, Vieira said “Even if you have wonderful proposals, WHICH YOU DO, how do you convince the government in those countries to enact them?”
When Vieira asked Bush about her thoughts on Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton referring to George W. Bush’s presidency as “the fear factor,” Vieira issued another commentary, saying “If someone said that about my husband, I’d probably knock them.”
Moreover, she failed to ask critical follow-up questions.
For example, she asked Laura Bush how she responds to someone she might meet on the campaign trail, who is on the fence about the war in Iraq. Bush responded that she tells them it is important that we “stay the course.” Yet, Vieira failed to ask what she meant by “stay the course.” “Stay the course” is not a policy, so the obvious follow-up should have been to ask what the Bush Administrations means, from a policy perspective, by “stay the course.”
Vieira also failed to challenge her statement that “The President doesn’t want war. No one does.” Any journalist worth their salt would have asked Bush about several circumstances that indicate her husband DID want war.
For example:
Two years before September 11, then-candidate George W. Bush told his ghostwriter Mickey Herskowitz that he planned to invade Iraq if elected President. He told Herskovitz that invading Iraq was on his mind because in Bush's words: "One of the keys to being seen as a great leader is to be seen as a commander-in-chief. My father had all this political capital built up when he drove the Iraqis out of Kuwait and he wasted it. If I have a chance to invade, if I had that much capital, I'm not going to waste it. I'm going to get everything passed that I want to get passed and I'm going to have a successful presidency."
- Former Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill has also said Bush planned to invade Iraq , just days after entering the White House. O'Neill said: "From the very beginning, there was a conviction that Saddam Hussein was a bad person and that he needed to go. For me, the notion of pre-emption, that the U.S. has the unilateral right to do whatever we decide to do, is a really huge leap."
Furthermore, O'Neill says: "It was all about finding a way to do it. That was the tone of it. The president saying 'Go find me a way to do this.'"
- Likewise, former White House Counter-terrorism Chief Richard Clarke says that in the aftermath of 9/11, he expected the focus to be on al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden. Instead, Bush's focus was on Iraq . Clarke says: "They were talking about Iraq on 9/11. They were talking about it on 9/12."
Another area where Vieira failed to challenge Bush, was on her statement that “Americans are not for torture. Neither is the President.” An obvious follow-up, would have been to ask why George W. Bush issued a signing statement saying he is not obligated to abide by John McCain’s anti-torture bill, that he signed into law.
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Comment by Barry G.— 2006/09/19 @ 05:28 PM — (Reply)
Comment by Cynthia McKinney and her ilk are whack jobs— 2006/09/19 @ 07:24 PM — (Reply)
And that\'s the problem I had with Vieira\'s interview with Laura Bush. It was supposed to be an interview, not a commentary (which it ended up being in some parts, as I referenced).
What\'s more, Olbermann engages in critical thinking.
Comment by SMillard— 2006/09/20 @ 08:02 PM — (Reply)
Comment by Barry G.— 2006/09/20 @ 08:32 PM — (Reply)