BELIEVE YOUR OWN EYES (Part I)

CNN's Campbell Brown conducted an interview of McCain's campaign spokesman Tucker Bounds that will live in infamy. Although Ms. Brown has self-servingly proclaimed that "I don't think the interview was over the line. Neither does CNN. And neither do most [fans] who e-mailed me," the Brown-Bounds interview is a flagrant departure from the recognized norms of fair television journalism during a campaign season.

As a simple test of the heavy-handedness of the Brown-Bounds interview, the reader and CNN would be hard pressed to identify: (1) an example where Brown used the same level of abrasiveness in an on-air interview with a spokesman for the Obama campaign ("just one!"); (2) an example where the venerable Jim Lehrer of the Newshour on PBS (no bastion of conservatism, they!) advocated a point of view as aggressively as Brown did versus Bounds; or (3) the evidence for CNN president John Klein's claim that Brown "asked fair and important questions in a respectful way" (emphasis added) in the text of the interview, found here. (That transcript was prepared by CNN and ommits the most eggregious conduct, but if you play the video file included in the same part of the web site, you will see for yourself.)

Despite Brown's and CNN's self-congratulating conclusions that they have done nothing wrong, any analysis of the interview by readers will readily evidence several atrocious transgressions by CNN's Campbell Brown. The abusive conduct included:

• Brown was argumentative: not simply stating the adversary's side in the hypothetical, or to play the devil's advocate, but pretending to refute facts stated with opposite 'facts' (Cambell asserted, in contradiction of Bounds, "No governor makes decisions how to equip or deploy the National Guard. When they go to Iraq, those are decisions made by the Pentagon.")
• Brown continuously interrupted Bounds, not allowing him time to build up his arguments, cutting him off. During the short interview, she interrupted him nine times. (The text posted on the CNN web site transcribes the questions and answers as if they were full sentences, not indicating that the speakers were often times talking at the same time because Brown would not let Bounds answer in full.)
• While not allowing Bounds to finish, Brown also repeatedly accused Bounds, "You're not answering my question" (!), which tended to make Bounds look as though he was being evasive or skirting the issues raised by Brown. The L.A. Times called the resulting ambush "great TV."
• Rather than remain neutral and impartial, Brown played up her skepticism and apparent disbelief of Bounds' words. As Kate Linthicum of the L.A. Times noted, Brown "ended the segment with a broad, sarcastic smile" before appearing to dismiss Bounds' arguments as frivolous ("All right, Tucker, I'm just going to give it to ya, baby.")

In short, CNN fell significantly short of the Radio-Television News Directors Association Code of Ethics' calls to "inform the public without bias;" to "Present analytical reporting based on professional perspective, not personal bias;" to resist efforts to "politically influence news content;" to "present the news fairly and impartially;" to "Treat all subjects of news coverage with respect and dignity;" and to "Clearly label opinion and commentary." (The full text of the Code, to which CNN is bound, is found here.)

Now, the Campbell Brown media that has set out on an unabashed attempt to discredit Gov. Palin's qualifications, will argue that as long as Gov. Palin does not appear on their Washington shows or address the Washington press corps, that she has somehow not passed some qualifying trial to certify her to be a candidate for national office. Given the short time before the election, and the demonstrable hostility of the news media to treat Gov. Palin with respect, it is the national media which has not passed the test. And so, the American public will have to exercise a lot of independent judgment and, in the case of the liberal media vs. Gov. Palin, the American people will have to trust their own eyes and see for themselves.