Klassic Kolbert: “At the White House”
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I just re-watched that incredible interview with CBS News’ Chief Foreign Correspondent Lara Logan from last night’s Daily Show, and it made me incredibly angry (again) at the state of broadcast news in this country. Unlike Logan, most of the mainstream media is busy patting itself on the back over how great a job it’s doing, an assessment I can’t share. This goes double in the realm of political “reporting”, where the story is often at least as much about the media itself as it is about the candidates or the issue.
Anyway, my exasperation with the self-satisfied and egocentric broadcast media needed assuaging and, as is often the case, Stephen Colbert’s over-the-top satire provided the means to make me laugh some of my cares away. Here’s one of his pieces on the correspondent-as-story from January 2001, “At the White House“:
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10 Comments
June 18th, 2008 at 3:15 pm
“Though I may never have won a Peabody…”
Things change.
Oh, and he must really love Doritos.
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June 18th, 2008 at 3:45 pm
good clip. i didn’t know he was the WH before TCR
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June 18th, 2008 at 3:45 pm
I started crying during Lara Logan…
I need to find her reports or read her book or whatever because she’s clearly the only person out there who is doing actual reporting on stuff.
Thanks for this…glad to know I’m not the only one who’s outraged.
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June 18th, 2008 at 5:11 pm
I loved when Stephen kept saying he was at the White House, that was so cute. :)
The part of Ms. Logan’s interview that made me sad is when she said there were soldiers who were convinced that the American people have forgotten about them. But I’m glad her boss at “60 Minutes” continues to press for stories from Iraq and Afghanistan, regardless of how “depressing” they may be.
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June 18th, 2008 at 8:59 pm
When she mentioned how the soldiers were convinced they were forgotten, that upset me as well. Although we may be suffering from high gas and food prices due to a poor economy (not that this isn’t an important issue as well), they’re going through a lot more over there and deserve attention from the media. Glad she’s doing her job.
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June 18th, 2008 at 9:10 pm
Seriously, Lara Logan freaking rocks. Have you seen this clip of her talking with Howard Kurtz? It was linked from the TWoP boards earlier today, and I just now had a chance to watch it; it is amazing! We need more people like her not only reporting the news, but in charge at the studios (i.e. so that journalists are allowed, no, encouraged to do their jobs again!).
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June 23rd, 2008 at 11:58 pm
Thanks for the link, she really is amazing. I remember her from when she used to be on British TV news quite a few years ago – I thought she was a rare example of a true journalist back then – so it was great to see her on TDS the other week.
We really do need more people like her reporting the news. Here’s hoping she’ll be a guest on TCR before long!
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June 18th, 2008 at 10:32 pm
Lara is smart, sensible and sexy, just like Jon…
What a incredibly charismatic pair they made. Yum.
I think she will hit it big, kind of like Anderson Cooper did, and bring some sense to TV news.
And the White House.
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June 19th, 2008 at 9:13 am
Ha I hadn’t realized Stephen’s ~relationship~ with Helen Thomas stretched so far back. I really need to dig though the old Daily Show clips for old school Stephen!
That Lara Logan interview really was awesome. I’m a total rube and wasn’t really that familiar with her so needless to say I seriously respect her now.
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June 19th, 2008 at 10:16 am
!Peabody mention
I loved the steamy description of his and Helen Thomas’s relationship.
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