Couric makes the most of Palin fallout

Katie Couric is being awarded the Walter Cronkite Award from the Annenberg School of Journalism from USC for a certain interview with a certain someone.

Documentarian John Ziegler isn’t happy.

Of course, there is no disputing the fact that the perception created by Couric’s interview and the ensuing media and entertainment coverage of it clearly had an enormous impact on the 2008 presidential election. But is this the kind of “achievement” that journalism is supposed to be honoring? (If it is, shouldn’t the award really go to Tina Fey?) And is there any doubt that if Couric asked Palin the exact same questions and she had been viewed as performing well (or if one of her softball interviews with Barack Obama had brought down his candidacy) that there would be no awards for her from USC or anyone else of note?

This isn’t Couric, but here’s an example of even-handed interviewing done by Charlie Gibson. This was the tone most of the networks took with Palin. Decide for yourself if it was fair.

Obama interview:

How does it feel to break a glass ceiling?
How does it feel to “win”?
How does your family feel about your “winning” breaking a glass ceiling?
Who will be your VP?
Should you choose Hillary Clinton as VP?
Will you accept public finance?
What issues is your campaign about?
Will you visit Iraq?
Will you debate McCain at a town hall?
What did you think of your competitor’s [Clinton] speech?

Palin interview

Do you have enough qualifications for the job you’re seeking? Specifically have you visited foreign countries and met foreign leaders?
Aren’t you conceited to be seeking this high level job?
Questions about foreign policy
-territorial integrity of Georgia
-allowing Georgia and Ukraine to be members of NATO
-NATO treaty
-Iranian nuclear threat
-what to do if Israel attacks Iran
-Al Qaeda motivations
-the Bush Doctrine
-attacking terrorists harbored by Pakistan
Is America fighting a holy war?

Ed Morrissey of Hot Air says giving the award to “infotainment” diva Couric is just cover.

If Couric gets a pass, then perhaps it’s because the rest of her colleagues need some cover for doing the exact same thing.  No one except David Freddoso bothered to research the Chicago Annenberg Project, for instance, the only executive experience Barack Obama could claim before running for President.  The only media organizations interested in Obama’s connections to the Chicago Machine and his laughable claims to have pushed for its reform were media organizations already in Chicago — whose voices were ignored by the national news orgs.  Despite plenty of source material being public on Jeremiah Wright and Obama’s strong ties to the controversial preacher, it took over a year before anyone would report on Wright’s incendiary sermons and Obama’s substantial financial support for Trinity United Church of Christ.  Most of that coverage took the tone of tongue-clucking disapproval of the entire topic.

In comparison, when John McCain announced his selection of Sarah Palin as running mate, the national media sent dozens of people to Wasilla to dig up dirt on the Governor.  Aside from a story already known about a state trooper, the only thing they managed to find was a tanning bed in the governor’s mansion … which Palin bought herself, second-hand.  We got plenty of conjecture about the supposedely radical nature of Palin’s Pentacostalist beliefs, while the media claimed that Wright’s “God damn America” was off topic.  Had the media dedicated one-tenth the resources investigating a little-known first term Senator running for President as they did for a little-known first term Governor running for VP, we may have had a very different election.

So why should we be surprised when an industry conducts a little CYA by honoring someone who helped make the rest of the coverage look good in comparison?

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