The best part of the New Yorker‘s Q&A with morning-show-war-writer Ken Auletta is at the end:
| Couric told you that she believes it is her responsibility as a journalist to explore and talk seriously about issues “that people need to know about to be informed citizens.” She then pursued an exclusive interview with Jennifer Wilbanks, the “runaway bride,” and defended it as a “terrific story.” Did you get a sense from any of the morning anchors that there was an internal conflict about what their journalistic mission is? Most people don’t get out of bed in the morning believing they are going to do something tawdry. When they do, they rationalize it. At the networks — as throughout much of journalism — such rationalizations are commonplace. I don’t believe that Couric was lying to me when she said it was a “terrific story.” I believe she was lying to herself. An hour-long interview with the “runaway bride” is not why she entered journalism. |
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