One of the basic requirements for any good journalist in mass communications is to ask tough questions or clarify what has been said so it can be understood by a larger audience.
But, sadly, many broadcast journalists do not do this. They accept any answer provided by a guest interviewee, even when it fails to answer the question or is an evident lie.
Here is an interesting and provocative broadcast segment from a New York TV station that shows what happens when an interviewer fails to ask more hard questions to get at the bottom of a story. This same poor journalism is evident on TV today and it has helped slanted and false information enter mainstream discussions.
In fact, there are media consultants who coach interviewees that they do not even have to answer the reporters’ questions. They should just plow ahead to their prepared talking points and steamroll the reporter. Unfortunately, many reporters just get steamrolled and they look wimpy in the process.
Watch this Twitter clip, “Tenants vs Landlords.”
