Said Chuck Todd, yesterday, on his last episode of "Meet the Press."
I don't know when I stopped watching "Meet the Press"... and all the other Sunday shows. The answer is in the blog archive, because I watched and blogged. But, surely, when Tim Russert ran the show, I watched devotedly, every week. But the tradition of Tim Russert was not maintained. The show died off under Todd's watch. Kristen Welker is a name I've never mentioned in my 20 years of blogging. But I have no reason to hope that she or anyone else at NBC would ever even try to return "Meet the Press" to what it was when Tim Russert was alive.
ADDED: The first replacement for Russert was David Gregory, who served from the end of 2008 until 2014.
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F. Chuck Todd, as Rush labelled him, was smugness personified. The male version of Jennifer Granholm. Hard to watch these two for more than 30 seconds or so.
We like to watch an episode of the old Mary Tyler Moore show now and then. Last night's view had Mary taking a journalism class at the university. The professor was teaching whether to report the news or personalize it for the consumer. The old Doris Day movie, Teacher's Pet, is the same. Doris is a teacher who wants her students to dig into the news and bring background and feelings, while Clark Gable is street school and just the facts. Spoiler: he loses the argument.
It took a while for that push in the 70s to take over, but now we're surrounded. The pendulum has to swing back at some point, right?
Tsk Tsk. NBC: It's a shame that you led the way in turning your network into state propaganda and defend lefties over facts and objectivity. Review your history of the Monica Lewinsky affair and leak to the Drudge Report circa 1998. After that compare and contrast your own coverage of G. W. Bush, Obama, Trump, and Biden.
NBC chose to stop "doing politics like NBC" a full 25 years ago.
The problem with "Meet The Press" is that the press and the politicians have already met. They met backstage. To discuss what narrative they're going to try to trot out this week to prop up the Democrat Party.
And everybody knows it.
It's like watching the news in Russia, or reading Pravda. That was required reading in the Soviet Union. It's important to know what the Deep State embeds in our media are thinking and Meet The Press is where you find out about their new plans.
Well...you nailed it exactly. I watched regularly- all of those shows- a mere generation of broadcasters ago. When Tim Russert was leading 'Meet the Press' it was excellent. Because...of the simple rule that Russert kept to: he worked to keep as objective as he could and allow both sides of all arguments to be properly heard. He was a left-leaning guy, but he recognized that there were good people and good ideas on the other side as well and he let those be heard.
Same thing with the other shows in those days: This Week with David Brinkley. Fox News Sunday with Brit Hume. CBS was always troublesome, so I cannot include them in this. Now all of them are so far gone, I haven't wasted my time watching one of those shows in years.
Tim Russert? I watched Tim Russert. Tim Russert was an even-handed interviewer. You Chuck are no Tim Russert. Welker is even worse. RIP MTP and NBC.
Todd too young for Huntley.
Nice recap Temujin. Excellent summary. There is no objective news program anymore. There’s not even a channel on which every candidate for president is welcome. Not one.
I remember Huntley and Brinkley but never heard of Chuck Todd. Russert was on Imus sometimes but I haven't heard him otherwise. I tossed out the TV in 1971 as too stupid to watch. So the long tradition was rejected pretty early.
I went to college with both David Gregory and Betsy Fischer, the latter of whom produced Meet the Press for several years under Russert and then during David Gregory's tenure. Fischer didn't impress me in school but she definitely proved herself working with Russert. The show was fantastic.
David Gregory is (or was) extremely ambitious and aggressive, which is what he brought to the table as a journalist. In school he didn't seem willing to understand viewpoints not in line with his own thinking, and reacted to contrary views as if the owner (me, on a couple of occasions) had bad intent. That attitude makes for profoundly poor discussions if someone wants to actually get at the core of an issue, but I doubt that was his goal.
Russert could have, to a certainty, competently argue both or all sides of any issue that was discussed on the show, and often did. Gregory during his tenure would probably have considered arguing from a Republican perspective to be beneath him, and risky to his career, and I'm not sure he understood that perspective well enough even if he was willing. So, I think it was Gregory who killed the show, simply because he couldn't or wouldn't do what Russert did, and was too focused on climbing to realize his limitations when he campaigned for the job.
I liked Fox News Sunday with Tony Snow. Otherwise, my sentiment is much like Buckwheathikes. This isn’t about a politician having to face tough questions. It is about programming the population what to think. Once that is recognized, you cannot continue to enjoy the experience. You’ll just follow along enough to know what new trick they are trying to play.
NBC sure does!
"Temujin said...
Well...you nailed it exactly. I watched regularly- all of those shows- a mere generation of broadcasters ago. When Tim Russert was leading 'Meet the Press' it was excellent. Because...of the simple rule that Russert kept to: he worked to keep as objective as he could and allow both sides of all arguments to be properly heard. He was a left-leaning guy, but he recognized that there were good people and good ideas on the other side as well and he let those be heard."
He wasn't "left leaning", he was a Democrat. He worked for Daniel Moynihan and Mario Cuomo. He is given way too much credit for his supposed fair-handedness.
I now wish I had watched it during 2017-2018 just so I could see the lefties sad a little more.
Nobody does liberal propaganda like NBC.
Fixed it Chuck.
The problem is the shows persist. One of many great Trump ideas was to end the charade of politicians pretending the propagandists are journalists. He wanted to kick them out of The White House, turn the press room back into a...swimming pool was it? Stop pretending they are journalism. That would have mercy killed these stupid shows. Unfortunately he was talked out of it, mostly to save the uniparty from having reconstitute the whole charade once they were back in office...
...worst of it is you just know there are people out there, people close to us here, who still believe the crap they peddle...
Who among us won’t miss the smug smile of this news ferret!?!?
I was like Prof. Althouse. I watched these shows every week. The person who finally did it for me was Senator Robert Dole, of all people. Dole was on Meet the Press and talking about the Deficit.
"We're not going to balance the budget on the backs of the American people!", Dole thundered.
Then whose backs are you going to balance it on, ya dimwit? The Chinese?
That was the exact moment I realized it was all like that. A procession of unserious fools reciting facile talking points written by their staffs. None of it had an atom of meaning.
Yeah, Todd and the others are mendacious fools. Their guests are worse.
He wasn't "left leaning", he was a Democrat. He worked for Daniel Moynihan and Mario Cuomo. He is given way too much credit for his supposed fair-handedness.
I concur. Russert went to college with someone I was close to. Russert was a liberal activist shaped by Vitenam/Alinsky era. People appreciated his MTP presona thinking he was objective but it was only the style of Washington coverage of the day where the narratives are presented within the context of old school journalistic rules and ethics. They all told us they were dropping that pretense for Trump because he was so dangerous, or something or other, go look up the op-eds where they were telling you this yourself. Todd was operating under the new rules of Washington propaganda and so will the next one...
The white board for the elections was kind of informative at a time when we didn't have anyone explaining electoral math to us, I guess...
Gregory and Todd killed this once iconic franchise. I haven't watched in years.....
Not sure when we cut the cable tv cord but it was prior to the 2016 election so I got my updates that evening by tuning in to Google’s live stream which happened to be NBC’s coverage. Chuck Todd desperately trying to to reassure the public Hillary still might win at around 11pm, while looking like he was about to cry, is still one of the best things I’ve ever seen on TV. Comedy gold.
You have to be willing to ask tough questions of those you politically support to successfully run a show like Meet the Press. Gaggory and Toad never did this- that willingness to do so is what distinguished Russert from most of his contemporaries and those that followed him onto the Sunday news shows. Today's mainstream media political journalists are pretty much nothing more than a bunch of cocksuckers and salad tossers.
Not Political Coverage per se -- more like Political Cover, as in we will smother any story that is bad for Democrats.
Meat: The Press.
I'm going to be generous to Chuck Todd. When first on the scene he was the typical left-leaning journo who nonetheless tried to be as evenhanded as possible.
But then the game changed where media no longer informed but meekly reinforced establishment narratives. Chuck didn't have the nads to do a Chris Hedges, Matt Taibbi or Glenn Greenwald. Instead, Todd adapted to fit network demands.
Needless to say, the Chuck Todd of 1999 would never be allowed to host MTP in the 2020's.
"he worked to keep as objective as he could and allow both sides of all arguments to be properly heard. He was a left-leaning guy, but he recognized that there were good people and good ideas on the other side as well and he let those be heard."
It isn't the new reporters that are biased and don't want to address opposing arguments. It is the CFO of the news organization. Their viewers want to be told (a) that they are smarter than everyone else, (b) the other side is beneath them, and (c) the other side is about to ruin the entire world so stay tuned tomorrow to see how that goes. It is the CFO that makes sure that the viewers get what they want. The top line must be preserved, so the CFO can get his or her bonus.
All this whining about bias in the news is naive. It is a business, first and foremost. That is what drives the content. Whatever gets people to tune in and whatever keeps them tuned in. And what has proven to be effective is a combination of flattery and fearmongering.
So that is what we get - on both sides of the spectrum.
So *that's* who's been hosting Meet the Press since Lawrence Spivak retired.
What are the recent ratings for the Sunday newstalk shows?
I used to watch them regularly a few decades ago, but there is no way I will subject myself to that torture these days.
I read some of the transcript. Todd tried to interview Sen. Cassidy from LA and Gov. Newsom of CA. Pathetic.
Gavin kept saying he wasn't running because Joe had so many accomplishments. Todd never asked him what those accomplishments were.
I haven't watched any of those shows since the early 90's. Brinkley had a refreshing cynical streak that appealed to me. We could use more cynicism, a lot more.
I stopped watching sometime during the Gregory tenure. In defense of Todd, he wasn't as bad as Gregory. Todd was kind of innocuous, but Gregory was actively obnoxious. If Russert was just pretending to be objective, then more credit to him. It was an impressive imitation of an objective journalist which is probably harder to do than actually being objective....The human brain naturally tries to subsume the raw data of experience into some kind of pattern or narrative. Most of the time those narratives are wrong, but that's how awareness goes. There are some exceptions but the people in the news and entertainment industry generally chose a left wing narrative. The evening news and most movies should be preceded by warning sign that states that this production is brought to you by a bunch of egotistical assholes whose domestic lives although marked by chaos and exploitation will now like to explain to you how the world works and how to make it a better place.
Shorter Chuck Todd: "I can see no difference between David Brinkley, Tim Russert, and me."
A few days ago the discussion was on how much time you'd recoup if you stop watching live sports. I've recouped my Sunday mornings by not watching this dreck anymore.
"...nobody does politics like NBC."
As in "I did your sister last night"?
If Russert was just pretending to be objective, then more credit to him. It was an impressive imitation of an objective journalist which is probably harder to do than actually being objective.
I have repeatedly heard and agree with the argument that all of journalism has a point of view. What differs is how fairly is an opposition treated? Are there straw men? Op-ed? Outright lies?
Covering Washington has always been a problem since media is so necessary for politicians. Media figuratively and literally in bed with those they cover should have been be a bigger problem in Russert's day but these days it's all relative, innit?
LOL. Todd has the self-awareness of Trump.
Shorter Chuck Todd? If he was any shorter he'd be Dana Perino.
I used to browse among the Sunday gabfests, trying to keep in mind the old adage that "If they're talking they don't know, and if they know they aren't talking."
It's hard for an educated person to be impressed by media people nowadays.
"...nobody does politics like NBC."
As in "I did your sister last night"?
I gotta believe that's Brokaw's take, too...
This guy was such a weakling. He blocked me on Twitter because I pointed out how lob-sided a segment he did on justice Thomas was. I didn’t call him a racist, I didn’t say anything that would justify a block. And yet there it was.
Tuck Chodd.
He's taking advice from Brokaw?
Jesus.
I guess I'm weird. I've watched almost every MTP episode since the early 90's (Gulf War 1). Not as many in the early days, but every episode for a while, although now I almost never watch it live.
Tim was a Democrat. He approached everything from a Democrat lens. But he was not one to asking tough questions of his Democrat guests.
I think Tim understood that he represented the feedback loop in American Politics. By asking tough questions, he weeded out the ineffective in the Democrat party. The arguments that won't work. The flip fops in politicians statements. Modern media no longer does that. There is no way a Tim Russert would have accepted the Russia collusion narrative. There is no way that Tim would have not pushed back on Stacey Abrams claims of stolen GA election. There is no way that Tim would not have pursued Hunter Bidens alleged crimes.
Arguably Tim Russert cost Al Gore the presidency when he asked Joe Lieberman about military mail in ballots. The narrative pushing up to that question was that those votes shouldn't be counted because they were arriving after the deadline (WaPo). "Let me just say that the vice president and I would never authorize, and would not tolerate, a campaign that was aimed specifically at invalidating absentee ballots from members of our armed services", Lieberman [said]. Would a Chuck Todd have asked that question?
My wife calls Chuck "clicky mc-clicky" because he's always clicking his pen (or shuffling his paper) when he thinks he's made a point. He only does it when grilling Republicans though.
It was always a hoot watching Chuck. I never learned anything, but it was entertaining.
Tom Brokaw said, "Look, some networks do some things well, but nobody does politics like NBC."
Some cooks do meal prep well, but nobody does meal prep like Jeffrey Dahmer.
You mean, Chuck, I'm not going to have the chance to miss you because you really aren't going away?
Cursed again!
Too many former Dem congressional aides hosting those programs, including Russert.
Brian Williams worked for NBC news.
I used to watch Huntley and Brinkley every night. Todd is just another Democrat staffer hack. He is certainly no David Brinkley. I also recommend Brinkley's book, "Washing to Goes to War," to learn about how the Deep State began.
Todd is as believable as his comb over.
The link to Brinkley's book is "Washington Goes to War."
Can't say I'll miss Chuckles. Mostly because I didn't bother to watch him--or the rest of the Sunday news shows. Nostalgia ain't what it used to be as the saying goes--but then neither are the Sunday news shows. About the only one worth even 10 minutes of my time is the Wall Street Journal editors for one hour on the weekends. And even then they aren't worth much.
Back in the day with Tim Russert yes---but once he was gone, it was easy to get out of the habit.
I think Russert's objectivity was way overblown, BUT he was a big man who could fill the chair.
I have no idea why Dick Howdydoody Gregory, or Chuck Todd were made hosts of Meet the Press. I've never met anyone who had any respect for them, or found them impressive in any way. I assume they knew some NBC TV exec or were someone's relative. Maybe they went to the same Church on Sunday. Or Chuck Todd dunked over Bill Maher in a Basketball game.
How did Jeff Zucker end up as head of CNN news? And hire his absurd Mini-me. You tell me.
I did an analysis of MTP several years ago and did a word count. Results? The actual news makers (I'm excluding commercials) talked 1/3 of the show. The other 2/3 was Chuck Todd, and his boring press discussion panel.
That's when I stopped watching.
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