Todd Gitlin Reports on Meet the Press

Todd Gitlin says that Meet the Press is vastly improved now that Tom Brokaw has replaced Tim Russert as its moderator:

CJR: Sunday Watch 7-20-08: Imagine! Almost an entire installment of Meet the Press devoted to an interview with a private citizen who is not running for office—who receives the attention not only because he is famous but because he…knows something... Al Gore...

Tom Brokaw sat still for this rampant seriousness. He did not force Gore to debate a crackpot from cloud-cuckoo-land who is still waiting for the evidence to arrive about human sources of radical climate change....

Brokaw broached a doubt: cost. “Let’s talk about the cost.”... The cost question is legitimate, as is the question of how those costs will be paid. Brokaw rightly inquired.... Brokaw could have nitpicked around the edges. To his credit, he didn’t. So, for a change, we got a TV talk show for grown-ups, where a burning issue of our time was discussed without a single gotcha moment, a single accusation of flip-flopping, a single objection from a representative of the Flat Earth Society. Hallelujah.

Comments

[Doctor Jay]

That sounds great. I must be feeling cynical today, because I'm wondering what this means for the ratings.

[donmaj]

Watched the new format. Boring. Decided I had better things to do and left the program. I'll watch the entire program next week and form an opinion. Maybe I missed some important info last Sunday morn.

[LACJ]

And yet The Editors at thepoorman.net is not happy...