THE PLANK AUGUST 27, 2009
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On MSNBC's Morning Joe today, Joe Scarborough hosted a panel that included Chris Matthews and New York Times managing editor Jill Abramson. As the discussion was coming to a close, the subject of this morning's (excellent) New York Times story about Ted Kennedy's final days came up. The comprehensive piece was written by Mark Leibovich, the same Times reporter who wrote a much-discussed and extremely enjoyable profile of Matthews last year. Here is the amusing transcript:
Chris M.: [To Abramson] By the way, congratultions on Mark Leibovich’s piece. He saved his generosity over a lifetime--he saved that generosity for that piece. Don’t you think he rationed it well?
Joe S. [laughing]: Are you suggesting he didn’t ration it during your piece?
Jill: To hear Chris praise Mark Leibovich really does move me
Leibovich's Matthews profile can be read here.
1 comments
In my opinion, Chris Mathews embodies the mainstream media in a way that few others can ever hope to approach. That so many others want to though is why the media has come to revolve more and more around the Gridiron Club by way of the White House Correspondents Dinner. He is the quintessential politico; the play by play announcer hell bent on turning every news event into another horse in the race. He's obsessed with the jockeys as they jockey about with each other for position on the Evening News. He is the pundit as celebrity; and nothing in my view is more deleterious to confrontational journalism than that. That's what the media should do: Confront power over and again. Forget the bullshit about speaking truth to it. What the hell does that mean? Whose truth? Instead, great reporters focus far more attention on HOW "the truth" gets fabricated in Washington. How, among other things, it gets bought and paid for. Maybe we don't need more Keith Olbermanns to shunt the Mathews off the beat. The beat as stage. But we sure as hell could use more Rachel Maddows. In fact, Maddow is pushing the envelope further each day. How long will MSNBC allow her to go after crony capitalism as forcefully as she does? Only she has deconstructed the health care con game for what it is systemically: a deeply rooted manifestation OF crony capitalism. And she names names. george
- iambiguous
August 28, 2009 at 9:57am