Who are you?

Posted at 10:37 AM on October 11, 2006 by Bob Collins (4 Comments)

I'm still at home this morning, watching President Bush's news conference from what appears to be the Rose Garden (nice weather there. I saw snow flurries here this morning and there was ice on the deck).

The president at one point commented on some quesitoner's suit. That got things sidetracked. Later on some other questioner started his question by noting that he, too, looked nice today.

"That's not even a suit," President Bush observed.

"Then you'll have to give me more time in the morning," the would-be questioner said. I guess 11 a.m. is dawn in Washington these days.

Anyway, it was then I realized there's something I really miss about televised news conferences: they don't show the names of the people asking the question anymore.
I flipped through CNBC, CNN and Fox. Nothing. Didn't get a chance to check C-SPAN before I lost the satellite.

I suppose this is because TV networks don't want to give publicity to another network. But NBC, CBS, and ABC used to do it and they were pretty cut-throat in their day.

Why does it matter to me? Because I want to know what shapes the question, and what the reporter/correspondent is thinking about. I know that quite often by mid-news conference -- if not sooner -- the reporter pretty much knows what the story is he's going to write, and now he/she is filling in the blanks, looking for a particular quote or piece of tape.

You can learn a lot by watching or listening to news conferences. But quite often, a good story is who is asking the question.

I wish they weren't so afraid to tell me.

Comments (4)

What is with you people? You interrupt a presidential press conference about us being nuked to talk to Hatch. Nice one.

Posted by Huh??? | October 11, 2006 11:08 AM

Polinaut has absolutely nothing to do with what's on the radio, Huh. Especially given the fact I'm sitting at home watching a news conference. And I'm the online guy.

You want the big shots. You can find him here.

http://minnesota.publicradio.org/collections/special/columns/newsroom/

Posted by Bob Collins | October 11, 2006 11:37 AM

So, given the recent discussion of the President's efforts to change the subject, was today's news conference successful? Huh says he was talking about us 'being nuked.' Is the Bush team going back to basics, with visions of mushroom clouds over our cities? Was there news in this sudden conference (possibly the reason reporters weren't dressed to satisfaction - 2 hour notice might not be enough to get home, change & return in the DC area)?

Posted by bsimon | October 11, 2006 12:08 PM

I think what you saw was basically what I wrote last night, that Korea is the story du juor now.

I did pick up on the quote you cited and immediately thought of Norm Coleman's use of "mushroom cloud over Manhattan" imagery.

I thought the reporters looked fine, by the way.

Whoever they were.

Posted by Bob Collins | October 11, 2006 12:12 PM

Services

• Hourly Newscast
• HD Radio
• iPhone App / Mobile
• E-mail newsletters
• RSS feeds
• Podcasts
• Submit your photos
• Videos
• Weather
• Most e-mailed stories