My Conversation with Barbara Walters

Barbara Walters' new memoir, Audition, is a revealing account of an extraordinary life lived on the air, and off the air. I talked to her recently about some of the hardest moments and about what made her such a good interviewer. Here is a part of that conversation:

Comments

[NHGranite]

yeah

[PhantomAviator]

..

Gosh...to be a rich , adulterous, teflon woman. Nothing ever sticks to her, does it? Is it because no one cares or because she is so beloved.

She does fawn over the Rich like a little girl reading a Hollywood movie magazine. Maybe THAT'S what makes her so accessable to the Masses.

The most entertaining thing about her is the way she SHUTS down Hasslebeck with just a LOOK.
Did you ever notice that whenever Lizzie screams over the other hosts, the very next day Babs makes an appearance. Curious.

.

[mabell75]

What happened to Charlie Rose??? He had to interview Barbara Walters that's what happened. She gives a horrible interview because she spends most of her response time going on and on getting her listener up to speed on her vast knowledge of the world, most of which the listener already knows.

[Chuckwheat]

Charlie fawned all over Bush during that 'interview.'
Otherwise, some interviews are great exchanges, but all too often he yammers on, not giving the guest a chance to speak.

[Rog49Thomas]

A great interviewer?

Einstein was of course right with his principle of relatviity.

Can Brother Charles give his reference points?

I really don't see it.

[AJ39]

I watched the Barbara Walters interview, as I do almost all of Charlie's interviews. They are with guests of some consequence and his questions are mostly serious ones. However I am really tired of hearing Charlie ask a question, bang on the table, and then go on and on without letting his guest answer his question. When the guest finally gets a chance to respond, he barely listens to the answer or refuses to accept it. This is not just pursuing an evasive answer. He goes beyond this. It is annoying. He did this last night with Walters and he does it with many of his guests.

What's happening to him? His interviews/conversations are deteriorating.

[AJ39]

I watched Charlie's interview, as I do almost all of his interviews. He has guests of some consequence and mostly asks serious questions. I respect what Barbara Walters has accomplished and the barriers she has broken, even though I'm not a great fan of her interviews. Nevertheless I am really tired of Charlie's pounding on the table and the monologues he gives in the guise of a question. Oh, yeah, the question is there but after he asks it, he doesn't let the guest answer it until he goes on and on. Then, often he doesn't listen to the answer.

What's happened to him?