Brokaw's Objectivity: Down The Drain

On "Meet The Press" today, Tom Brokaw made his political leanings rather obvious.

His guests were Fred Thompson and John Kerry. After lobbing softballs at Thompson and basically agreeing with his ridiculous ramblings, his follow up questions were powder puffs. Yet every question he asked of Kerry included a Republican attack talking point. And then he began the cross examination. He has a particular way of dismissing his guests answers as he goes on to the next point, which he happily put to use against Kerry.

It is a real shame that Brokaw is treated as royalty around NBC. Exactly what has this guy done that merits such treatment? As far as I know, his life has consisted mainly of sitting in front of a camera and reading. He is not particularly well educated and has little experience in the real world. Anyone can hire a ghostwriter and then quote from his "book."

I used to like Tom Brokaw. But that was when he had not overreached. Now, he has been given the assignment to be NBC's ambassador to the Republican party. This move came in a knee-jerk reaction by the suits at NBC to criticism from Republican talking heads as well as the campaign. There is nothing wrong with being fair, but Brokaw seems to have confused ambassadorial duties with advocating. He has overreacted in his assignment and let his true political leanings show through.

So, along with my respect, he has washed his objectivity as well as his journalistic ethics down the drain. As long as he's host, NBC should rename its program "Meet The Right-Leaning Mainstream Press."

Comments

[Producer1]

R.W.:

I'm even more adamant about Browkaw than you are. I think he is and always has been a first class phony. In my Off The Bus column two weeks ago, I made reference to that in my reaction to the debates. I promised to do a later column on him after the election and why his credibility is seriously in question.

[Brian Ross - Huffpost Blogger]

Boys and girls.. Other than Tim Russert, who was a political untouchable, in the real world, Fix News rules the airwaves for ratings. If you haven't noticed CNN and the other networks have also done some Red rump kissing to bring those viewers and their demographics to the network. Remember Red Staters are easily impressed by the Tube. Keeping them happy keeps advertisers happy.

[R.W. Sanders - Huffpost Blogger]

A very large percentage of those who run companies are republican. It is easy to see their influence all over the dial. I acknowledge that their greed seems boundless, but I think some ideology also comes into play. And they have the money so they control the words that appear on the teleprompter. It is in the unscripted dialogue where you can glimpse the employee's personal leanings. Brokaw's lean right.

[wildflowermaven]

I don't think Brokaw is doing anything other than revealing his real views. He's been a barbeque buddy of McCain's for a long while, and probably been voting republican for years. Its not just on NBC that he is favoring McCain, I caught an interview he gave to Charlie Rose last week, he revealed his bias through his answers and demeanor. He likes to think he's a historian and prides himself on his reputation of integrity. But the reality is that he's someone who read a teleprompter well, and never learned to hide or disregard his leanings when doing political interviews.

[R.W. Sanders - Huffpost Blogger]

I saw the Rose interview as well, that is until I turned the channel.

[bruster55]

I saw the show yesterday. Yes Tom Brokaw did show bias. But John Kerry beat him at his own game.

Fred Thompson said some of the most outlandish lies of the campaign. It was obvious from his facial expressions that not even he beleived what he was saying.

Well, one good thing. Fred Thompson is not only washed up in politica he is also a washed up actor.

OBAMA 08

[SamThornton]

Didn't catch the Brokaw interview but it rings true. With few exceptions, most of the network and cable outlets seem to share a bias to the right that exaggerate McCain pluses and Obama negatives. Take CNN, for example, which is now using the outlier Mason-Dixon poll numbers as their basis for selling the bogus idea of a "tightening race" favoring McCain. With regard to MSNBC, it's difficult to take anything they broadcast seriously since, from their beginning, they been unabashedly in the infotainment rather than the news business.

[thatonetoo]

I tend to agree that Brokaw,along with the majority of the talking bobble-heads,seem to just read from the loop on the teleprompter. Not much dfiferent from one hour to the next. That wouldn't be a bad thing if any of them were intelligent or curious enough to use the talking points as a guide and then ask a follow up question,robe a little deeper,deter the quests from the same od answer to everything.When they don't,it's easy to see what the political leanings are of the intervewer. Sad and,yes,shallow. Not to mention boring.
I don't get HD tv so haven't seen how Dan Rather is handing the campaign,anyone else? I always enjoyed his enthusiasm and humor.

[R.W. Sanders - Huffpost Blogger]

Rather handles everything with his usual aplomb. He is the best newsman of his peers.

[mountains04]

i couldn't agree more. compared to russert's engaging and challenging line of questioning and delving into tough issues with his guests, brokaw comes off so sophomoric. he discussions lack any new, probing analysis, and it's like watching a shallow recap of the week's top news soundbites. boring and shallow. nbc MUST replace brokaw with a truly intelligent political journalist as soon as possible before the 'meet the press' brand is completely tarnished and abandoned by their thoughtful audience, which includes me!

[R.W. Sanders - Huffpost Blogger]

I heard Brokaw's replacement will be David Gregory.

[RoloTomassi]

Jeez, that might be worse; from my POV, Gregory has always been camped on the Right side of the aisle.

[jadeba]

Agree completely with this post - Brokaw is a good friend of Mc's and it really shows. He certainly is no Tim Russert.

[Romulus]

I don't usually watch Meet the Press but I went to the MSNBC site to do so because of what you wrote.

I disagree with you. I don't think Tom Brokaw pitched hardball to either Thompson or Kerry. I don't think he was at all partisan.

And by the way, I support Obama. :-)

[R.W. Sanders - Huffpost Blogger]

You have no idea how refreshing it is to hear of someone so curious. And even though we don't agree, i appreciate your comment.

I think there is a similarity in the McCain campaign and NBC management. They both seem to be erratically reacting to stimuli. A bit like a new driver overcorrecting after turning. There may be a conflict in upper management at the network. ( This is total conjuncture on my part.) But one hour the network is trying to separate itself from MSNBC, then they bring on Keith or someone the next hour. Over the last couple of months it's been like watching a ping pong game. And I remain unimpressed with Brokaw the philosopher.

[SDButler]

Thanks for that post!

I have been thinking that same thing about Brokaw for quite a while. It seems like NBC, in general, and Brokaw, in particular, are over-correcting for the "liberal bias" image that MSNBC has acquired.

I guess the last wave of even-handed journalism has broken.