Greenwald takes on CNN
(posted by Paige)
Glenn Greenwald, of salon.com , criticizes CNN for inviting Bush’s Director of National Intelligence, Admiral Michael McConnell, to be interviewed by John King, despite King’s self-proclaimed ignorance of the surveillance debate. Rather than using the interview as an opportunity to pose tough questions to a controversial figure, the session, according to Greenwald, deteriorated into a platform for government propaganda reminiscent of Pravda:
When it comes to claims about the need for telecom amnesty, you can’t get more conflicted than Mike McConnell. How can McConnell ever go into an interview, demand telecom amnesty on behalf of his industry, and not be asked about this? What’s the answer, John King? “To a guy like me who’s spent most of his time, in the past several months, out covering a presidential campaign, this is highly detailed stuff that’s pretty hard to follow.” Not only is McConnell never asked about this — I’ve literally never once heard any journalist question him about this — but worse, our journalists go out of their way to depict him as the opposite: the supremely objective, dispassionate straight-shooter whose only goal is Keeping Us Safe.