Luke Russert and Other Journalists Hail Steve Kroft’s Obama Interview: He Was a ‘Friend to the Nation’
Conservatives thought CBS 60 Minutes correspondent Steve Kroft was typically soft and deferential toward Barack Obama on Sunday night, but his fellow liberal journalists are high-fiving him. On Twitter, NBC’s Luke Russert oozed: “Steve Kroft was a friend to the nation tonight. Clear concise questions that got us important answers.” That’s an interesting tweet from the son of Mr. Two-Minute Question. But it sounds to many that you're somehow patriotic and nonpartisan or a “friend to the nation” when you rally around Obama. Over at the Poynter Institute’s website , Al Tompkins interviewed Kroft and praised his “laser-focused” questioning. He even praised him for avoiding political questions (like enhanced interrogation). Questions that sounded to Obama critics like pathetic whiffle-ball questions were hailed for their professionalism: Kroft gets right to the interview with, interestingly, an objective (or closed-ended) question. Not what journalists might expect. KROFT: Mr. President, was this the most satisfying week of your presidency? I would have expected a subjective question to work best at the beginning of the interview. I might have asked the question, “How satisfying was this week?” But Kroft's question was better than mine. His question would reveal any hint of gloating. Was Kroft trying to “reveal” gloating? Or was he encouraging gloating, because he felt Obama deserved to pat himself on the back? For most interviewers, a short question is a good interview-starter, and this was not an occasion for a typical, sweat-inducing 60 Minutes grilling. But Tompkins avoided the history of Kroft's gooey interviews with Obama, especially before he became president. The second question was also a softball: “Was the decision to launch this attack the most difficult decision that you've made as Commander-In-Chief?” Tompkins asked about it: Kroft is aware he used a lot of closed-ended questions, and he did it on purpose because of time pressures and because of how this President answers questions. “I have interviewed him before and you don't want to ask him open-ended questions – you get long answers,”…Kroft explained, ” It is difficult to interrupt the President – it is not something I particularly like to do. The thing about this president is he will give you his thought process if you ask him about it. He will explain the complexities that weigh on his mind.” This is where the bias becomes obvious. CBS and “60 MInutes” are known for hardball interviews, with plenty of interruptions. On the same program, Scott Pelley was tough on President Bush in 2007, and tough on John McCain in 2008. (See our “Syrupy Minutes” Special Report for the contrast.) But for Obama, the whole formula was thrown overboard. Kroft asked Obama at that time about whether the country was too racist to accept him, why people would think he was Muslim, and toughies about beer and bowling.
Posted by
on May 10, 2011. Filed under