the kicker

"Producing Something Resembling News"

December 8, 2008

Howard Kurtz attempts to distill What Meet The Press Is For:

At the heart of these programs is the questioning of candidates, administration officials and members of Congress, generally on inside-the-Beltway matters, in the hope of producing something resembling news for the Monday papers.

Today’s “something resembling news” (President-elect Barack Obama was Tom Brokaw’s guest on yesterday’s Meet the Press)?

“Obama Warns of Further Economic Pain,” New York Times

“Obama expects economy to worsen,” LA Times

“Barack Obama says he won’t smoke cigarettes in White House,” Chicago Tribune

Sign up for CJR's daily email

(Ok, so the Tribune also has this: “Worst of economic pain yet to come, Obama says.”)

Liz Cox Barrett is a writer at CJR.