Thursday, November 02, 2006
Memo To Mr. Brokaw
To: Tom Brokaw
From: Daniel Melder
Subject: Resuming Your Retirement
Mr. Brokaw:
I watch a lot of MSNBC these days. Between Keith Olbermann, Chris Matthews, Tucker Carlson, and Don Imus, I sense there are a few people at that network who actually think for themselves. Meanwhile, their competitors on Fox are...well...on Fox; and the folks at CNN desperately want to be on Fox.
That said, MSNBC is not without their problems. Dusting you off may have just become one of them. You recently put together a piece (and I use that word in two ways) comparing the people supposedly in charge of the partisan efforts to win the midterm elections. That piece ran last night during "Countdown" and again during "Hardball" a few minutes ago. While any such piece might have some journalistic value, it would have a lot more if you compared the right people.
Your piece, Mr. Brokaw, compared Ken Mehlman and Rep. Rahm Emanuel. Mr. Mehlman is chairman of the Republican National Committee (RNC), while Rep. Emanuel is chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC). These are two entirely different organizations. An accurate comparison would put Mr. Mehlman up against Gov. Howard Dean, his counterpart at the Democratic National Committee. It could have also compared Rep. Emanuel to Rep. Tom Reynolds, his counterpart at the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC).
You, sir, have been a TV journalist for decades. With that in mind, I suspect you are already keenly aware of the differences in title and responsibility between the people you compared in your piece. Therefore, we must examine why you chose to do what you did.
First, let's look at what Rep. Emanuel and Mr. Mehlman have in common. They are similar in age, similar in background, and similar in public persona. In other words, they look alike and they sound alike. They make for a much easier comparison, especially for today's jaded TV audiences.
Now, let's look at why you didn't do what you should have done. Mr. Mehlman and Gov. Dean are counterparts in their respective parties, yet you did not compare them. Why? I suspect it's because Gov. Dean regularly makes a fool out of Mehlman on TV. Mehlman is rather unimpressive when put up against Gov. Dean. Additionally, Gov. Dean regularly calls Mehlman out on his bullshit, especially his connections to Jack Abramoff and his involvement in the still-unraveling telephone jamming scandal.
Meanwhile, it is a similar pairing between Rep. Emanuel and Rep. Reynolds. While Rep. Emanuel is a credible person and a hard worker for his party, Rep. Reynolds has become a GOP embarrassment. In addition to having to justify his lack of action in the Mark Foley mess, he's also in serious danger of losing his own seat (and probably because of that whole Foley thing).
So, in future, I ask you to make honest comparisons between people at the same level. Too often these days, journalists think their job is to put things on en even footing, even when they are not. In truth, your job is to tell the truth. The fact that Democratic Party leaders are much better people (and certainly more ethical) is no reason to try and make the Republicans look better. The truth isn't always pretty, but it's your job to tell the truth.
I hope you'll do better in the future.
From: Daniel Melder
Subject: Resuming Your Retirement
Mr. Brokaw:
I watch a lot of MSNBC these days. Between Keith Olbermann, Chris Matthews, Tucker Carlson, and Don Imus, I sense there are a few people at that network who actually think for themselves. Meanwhile, their competitors on Fox are...well...on Fox; and the folks at CNN desperately want to be on Fox.
That said, MSNBC is not without their problems. Dusting you off may have just become one of them. You recently put together a piece (and I use that word in two ways) comparing the people supposedly in charge of the partisan efforts to win the midterm elections. That piece ran last night during "Countdown" and again during "Hardball" a few minutes ago. While any such piece might have some journalistic value, it would have a lot more if you compared the right people.
Your piece, Mr. Brokaw, compared Ken Mehlman and Rep. Rahm Emanuel. Mr. Mehlman is chairman of the Republican National Committee (RNC), while Rep. Emanuel is chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC). These are two entirely different organizations. An accurate comparison would put Mr. Mehlman up against Gov. Howard Dean, his counterpart at the Democratic National Committee. It could have also compared Rep. Emanuel to Rep. Tom Reynolds, his counterpart at the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC).
You, sir, have been a TV journalist for decades. With that in mind, I suspect you are already keenly aware of the differences in title and responsibility between the people you compared in your piece. Therefore, we must examine why you chose to do what you did.
First, let's look at what Rep. Emanuel and Mr. Mehlman have in common. They are similar in age, similar in background, and similar in public persona. In other words, they look alike and they sound alike. They make for a much easier comparison, especially for today's jaded TV audiences.
Now, let's look at why you didn't do what you should have done. Mr. Mehlman and Gov. Dean are counterparts in their respective parties, yet you did not compare them. Why? I suspect it's because Gov. Dean regularly makes a fool out of Mehlman on TV. Mehlman is rather unimpressive when put up against Gov. Dean. Additionally, Gov. Dean regularly calls Mehlman out on his bullshit, especially his connections to Jack Abramoff and his involvement in the still-unraveling telephone jamming scandal.
Meanwhile, it is a similar pairing between Rep. Emanuel and Rep. Reynolds. While Rep. Emanuel is a credible person and a hard worker for his party, Rep. Reynolds has become a GOP embarrassment. In addition to having to justify his lack of action in the Mark Foley mess, he's also in serious danger of losing his own seat (and probably because of that whole Foley thing).
So, in future, I ask you to make honest comparisons between people at the same level. Too often these days, journalists think their job is to put things on en even footing, even when they are not. In truth, your job is to tell the truth. The fact that Democratic Party leaders are much better people (and certainly more ethical) is no reason to try and make the Republicans look better. The truth isn't always pretty, but it's your job to tell the truth.
I hope you'll do better in the future.
