“I’ve never watch this. Why are they taking me here?”–Jefferson Parish President Aaron Broussard on MTP to someone off camera, upon the hearing the replay of his emotional breakdown on MTP a few weeks prior.
I wholly see the need to talk about Broussard’s accusations (which Russert notes have been seriouly questioned). Still, they should have told Broussard what was coming. Even if Broussard’s story was wrong, he was at a very emotional place when he broke down–having just lived through one of the worst weeks in American history. I am willing to give him some slack on the emotional level.
That having been said, it is a legitimate question to deal with the facts of Broussard’s tale. However, it seems to me that it would have been more useful for Russert to have dealt with the facts and not the emotion. By having Broussard hear his breakdown and infusing emotion into the discussion, the odds that Broussard was going to do anything other than get recalcitrance and defensiveness were quite low.
It would seem that the facts clearly at odds with Broussard’s initial tale, but the truth was not going to be served by ambushing a guest, which is how it looked to me.
Update: The transcript can be found here and Crooks and Liars has video.
September 25th, 2024 at 1:33 pm
“…but the truth was not going to be served by ambushing a guest…”
This is the reason that I have always been less than impressed with the 60 Minutes style of journalism where they ambush some poor sucker at the end of the show, stick a camera in his face, and demand to know why that person hates the baby Jesus and rips the hair off kittens and bunnies using duct tape.
What’s the purpose? To show that the person is ill-at-ease responding to those questions? Duh! What makes it really trite is that they have their little formula for dealing with every reaction that the “perp” could possibly have. Is he nervous and stammering? Obviously a guilty conscience! Is he indignant? Obviously he doth protest too loudly! Does he ignore them altogether and go about his business? Obviously he’s afraid to talk with them!
September 26th, 2024 at 10:49 am
You make a good point, as always, Dr. Taylor. Though the humanist and the journalist in me likes how Jeff Jarvis sees that interview.