Uh, Bret, Let the Vice President Speak
By Bob Gaydos
Bret Baier interrupting Kamala Harris.
Where to start? Let’s go with the obvious. When you are a “journalist“ interviewing the vice president of the United States, who also happens to be the first ever female vice president of the United States, you don’t interrupt her in the middle of her comment and stick your hand in her face.
It’s rude and disrespectful to the office and the person. Heck, it’s rude to anyone. It doesn’t matter if she’s not sticking to the script. It’s not her script anyway. It’s yours. Let her answer and then follow up with a question if you’re not satisfied with what you heard.
Journalism 101. Something rarely practiced on Fox News because, as they have admitted in court, they are not a news organization, but rather, an entertainment network, a fact too many people still don’t know. That means most of the people who work there act like journalists, saying whatever they please whether it’s true or not, and most of their guests follow a script that both interviewer and interviewee know very well.
Kamala Harris is not part of that chummy Fox club, Bret Baier, who drew the job of interviewing her, knew that full well. And she is running for president against Fox’s favorite fascist and political candidate who can do no wrong, Donald Trump.
So Baier went into the Harris interview in a “gotcha” mode. It backfired. She got him. She chastised him for interrupting her, completed her statement, called Baier out on running a clip that did not address the issue of the discussion and concluded with a detailed and accurate description of the pathetic candidate Trump is today. Definitely off script.
Baier should’ve just let her answer the question. But see, that’s the problem when you’re not a real journalist. At Fox, everyone pretty much knows what questions to ask and what answers are going to be given. They get in trouble when outliers like Harris agree to appear with them. She’s a trained prosecutor used to arguing the facts of the case.
Baier should’ve known that. Maybe he forgot. Or maybe he underestimated his interviewee. That’s rule number one in political interviewing. Know whom you’re dealing with. Number two is know the issues well and what you want to find out. Number three is be polite, but firm, if necessary.
The goal should be to provide viewers or readers of the story to follow a better picture of the candidate. What he or she stands for on the issues and how well he or she explains those positions. Is he confident? Is she comfortable? Is he nervous? Is she believable?
Baier actually accomplished all that in spite of himself. Because he was so bad at trying to sabotage Harris and because she is such an experienced, skilled politician, the real Kamala came through. Controlled and confident. Comfortable and believable.
That’s not always the case. I remember an interview with a local congressional candidate, a political novice, who had difficulty explaining her position on some key issue. In an interview with the newspaper editorial board, her first answer was vague and evasive. Someone asked her to expand on it. Same result. Again, someone asked politely could she please explain to us a little more clearly, so we could understand and write about it accurately. Not much better and growing obviously uncomfortable. When someone started to ask just one more time, tears actually appeared in the candidate’s eyes. We relented. We knew what we needed to know. We endorsed the other guy. Polite-but-firm had worked.
There’s a lot of quasi-journalism going on today. Especially on television. Newspapers are disappearing every day and people have no clue what’s going on in their own hometown. Social media is not a reliable alternative. The truth is a constantly moving target. This is how candidates like Trump survive. Someone needs to come up with a solution fast.
I don’t know Bret Baier’s background or training in journalism. I don’t really care, because he sold his soul when he agreed to take a paycheck from Fox News to peddle lies about Donald Trump and his MAGA cult. That goes for all the Foxies.
Not tooting any horns here, but taking the license granted me when described as a curmudgeon at my retirement from newspapers, I must report that, over many years, in interviewing governors, senators, congressmen, mayors, state officials, legislators, judges, countless local officials and business leaders, never did I or any of my colleagues ever put a hand in the face of the person we were interviewing and interrupt them.
It’s not respectful or professional and, as Baier found out, can be counterproductive.
rjgaydos@gmail.com
Tags: Bob Gaydos, Bret Baier, Fox News, interview, journalism, Kamala Harris, Respect, trump, vice president
