Katie Asked, They Answered
(CBS)
Which led me to wonder: well, what about the answers? The purpose of an interview is not to create memorable questions, but to elicit compelling answers. Did the answers shed any light on the Edwards' decision? Did they offer insight into the character of the man who wants to be President? Did they give others who are facing this kind of crisis some perspective? Did the answers have any value or add to our knowledge? (Well, among other things, Elizabeth Edwards revealed for the first time that the cancer had spread to her hip.)
Herewith, a few of the answers that came out of the Edwards interview. You can read a full transcript right here.
Elizabeth Edwards: You know, you really have two choices here. I mean, either you push forward with the things that you were doing yesterday or you start dying. That seems to be your only two choices. If I had given up everything that my life was about – first of all, I'd let cancer win before it needed to. You know, maybe eventually it will win. But I'd let it win before I needed to.
And I'd just basically start dying. I don't want to do that. I want to live. And I want to do the work that I want next year to look like last year and... and the year after that and the year after that. And the only way to do that is to say I'm going to keep on with my life.
Elizabeth Edwards: I... I... I... I think that it is our intention to deny cancer any control over us.
And though I know there are people who live short lives, I feel optimistic, not because I've got rose-colored glasses on, but because I know that I have only low-volume... a small amount of cancer in my bones.
John Edwards: We don't understate or misunderstand the seriousness of this. I mean, this could kill her, and we know it. And what we won't choose to do is... we choose to live our lives fully, and with strength and optimism. We get to make that choice.
And that's what we choose.
John Edwards: I say all of those judgments and questions are entirely legitimate. I mean, you offer yourself up for service to the country as the President of the United States, you deserve to be evaluated. I am perfectly open to that evaluation. I think that I know, when I'm running for president, I'm running for president because I want to serve this country, and because I want all people in America to have the same kind of chances that I've had.
I've come from nothing to now have everything. And I think everybody in this country, no matter who their family is, or what the color of their skin, ought to get that chance.
But, throughout this process, people will be able to see very clearly into what we do, what we say, how we behave, and they can evaluate for themselves whether they think I'm, in fact, doing this for the right reason.
We know the truth. We know the truth, but I think it's a fair judgment for Americans to make.
Elizabeth Edwards: Cancer took a lot away from us a few years ago. It took a year of my life and a lot of John's. I didn't want it to take this away not just from me but from those people who depend on our having the kind of president he would be.
Katie Couric: Here you're staring at possible death...
Elizabeth Edwards: Aren't we all though.
Katie Couric: And you're thinking, "I don't want to deprive the country of having my husband lead us."
Elizabeth Edwards: That would be my legacy wouldn't it, Katie. That I'd... that I'd... that I'd... that I'd taken out this fine man from the possibility of giving a great service. I mean, I don't want that to be my legacy.
SO WHY HAVEN'T YOU IN CONGRESS STARTED IMPEACHMENT THEN..
YOU ALL SAY YOU TALK THE TALK. LETS SEE IT..I DONT BELEIVE ANY OF YOU DOWN IN WASHINGTON HAS WHAT IT TAKES TO PULL THE TRIGGER..
BUT I DO KNOW SOMEONE WILLING TO DO IT AT LEASE HE IS A AMERICAN VET READY TO TAKE CHARGE OF THE MESS THAT YOU AND THIS PRESIDENT HAS PUT AMERICA IN....HIS NAME IS DAVID A BELANGER, SEND HIM A NOTE AT FOR-AMERICA@HOTMAIL.COM HES AMERICAS CHOICE FOR PRESIDENT
I found it quite difficult to watch Katie Couric address John Edwards and his wife last night. Katie's performance (poor editing & all) reminded me of the scene from [the motion picture] Broadcast News, when the William Hurt character gets caught editing in a new reaction shot of himself (with forced tears rolling down his cheeks) after he interviews a rape victim.
How many takes/retakes (of manufactured cut away shots -- to Ms. Couric) were there before Katie was happy with the way she looked and delivered her lines.....?
Anyone with a brain can see that Katie was batting for the Limbuagh audience types. Shame. If I could only spit at her feet in public I would.
Minutes last night about their decision to continue his presidential
campaign when she didn't give up her job as host of the Today Show when
her husband was diagnosed with cancer?
Shame. Redundant negativity like that soils the interviewee and you know it, no matter their answer. It was a pure attempt at hatchetry.
The Edwards did fine...considering they had to deal with an inept interviewer who didn't seem to think she was getting the answer SHE wanted, so she asked it again.
And again,
And again....
and revealed absolutely nothing in the way of curiosity about WHY two people would put the greater good before their own personal considerations.
Gee, it would be interesting if she had asked Edwards what his mission would be to be president, than trying to try to frame them as ambitious people who are also bad parents.
Why didn't Katie quit her job when her husband got sick...and her kid needed her??? Why did she only take a month off, while exploiting his illness?
And why are you excusing her shameful performance, Greg Kandra?
This interview, from the editing to the inanity of the questions was clearly about Couric, not about the Edwards.
Nora Ephron
"Some people" are saying that Katie Couric went too far on 60 Minutes. I don't actually know who those people are, because I haven't done any reporting on it. Why bother? "Some people" must be saying it. "Some people" will say anything. And there's no real need to mention their names, because I can just say that "some people" are saying it and get away with it.
Last night on 60 Minutes, Katie Couric kept referring to "Some people." She said that "some" were saying the Edwardses were courageous, and "others" were saying they were callous and ambitious. She said that some people were wondering how someone could be president if he was "distracted" by his wife's health. (This question, in a year when there are two presidential candidates who are themselves cancer survivors, seemed particularly disingenuous.) (And never mind that it was being asked by someone who managed to keep working while dealing with her own husband's terminal illness.)
more
Some People:
Some people would really like to give Katie a chance to fill out the larger role she has accepted.
Some people think that we can ill afford to have key 4th estate roles filled by lightweights, but were willing to postpone judgment to see what she might really be made of.
Unfortunately, some people who were worried that she was way over her head and susceptible to being nothing more than a tool may have been proven correct.
Some people think, once again, that we are screwed.
Some people want their country and their honest institutions back.
Some people, on bad days, give up all hope.
Couric%u2019s deliberate accusatory tone as she was mocking the Edwards' decision at every turn available was astonishing. She implied over and over, %u201CHow dare the Edwards' pursue their life%u2019s work in the face of a disease?%u201D
Who in the hell is she to tell someone how to live their lives? And even worse was Couric telling the Edwards what Americans think of their decision. Katie Couric does not speak for me! And she should refrain from making such generalizations about what America thinks.
In the past I was a fan of Katie Couric%u2019s. But she has proven her true colors in this shameful interview. What she hoped was a %u201Chard-hitting%u201D interview only showed her incompetence and desperation. I will not be watching Couric as a news anchor or at 60 Minutes. It%u2019s time for her to go back to the fluff she came from and where she belongs. I am so outraged at her performance and disgusted with her ethics %u2013 she truly owes the Edwards an apology.
Did Couric stop working and stay home with her children when her husband, Jay became ill. No! She is a big hypocrite!
admirer of yours, but after the 60 minutes interview I no longer believe in you. Your behavior was downright shameful; How could you judge the Edwards after your action after losing your first husband to cancer with young girls at home?
"SOME PEOPLE SAY THAT" you should be fired from 60 Minutes - I agree; maybe it's time you spend more time with your girls.
I would applaud any choice the Edwards want to make about how to deal with her cancer. But if they choose to continue to campaign, these are the kinds of questions voters will take into consideration, not just his position on health insurance or Iraq.
Where I do agree with Katie's critics is in her overreliance on the "some have said" dodge in framing her questions. Ugh! She's transparently using a straw man for her own opinions, but doesn't want to own up to it. If she had been more clear and forthcoming as to where these questions were coming from, a lot of the criticism might have been avoided.
Once the question (regarding continuing the campaign with the new cancer diagnosis) was asked and answered, Katie should have done her job as journalist by allowing a bonafide candidate to differentiate himself from the other Presidential candidates -- "Why should you get the vote for President of the United States over the other candidates?"
I had the same response. I wonder if it is Katie or CBS leadership? Someone needs to critique the shows. Katie's smile was inappropriate for an interview with an incurable-cancer patient. In hard news, the smile is rare and only when obviously caqlled for.
Go back to a morning show, any show. You are a likeable person, but you are not meant for prime time hard news coverage. Here's what I came away with from your interview:
So, how does it feel to know you're going to die?
How did it feel to tell your children you're goint to die?
Is it selfish to run for president when she's going to die?
Will you be able to concentrate on the campaign when she's about dead?
How do you cope with thinking you're getting better, but you're going to die?
Are you starting to feel dead yet?
When you first started, there were": freespeech segments, Dr. John Lapook and his medical stories, "this week on the web segments, less smiling, and other subtle changes. You and Rick Kaplan are doing great to "toughen" up the broadcast. Your questions were straightforward and to the point. But Katie, sometimes these "tough" questions should be reserved for criminals, like when Ann Curry just recently interviewed thes African president in Sudan. Those questions were intensive and eye-opening. On the last day of "TODAY", I remember they aired these exclusive clips of hard questions that you fired to presidents, prime-ministers and etc. But Katie, to have a successful broadcast, you need these tough questions and at CBS News you've got them here. Good Luck Katie.
Katie, I advocated for early on -- back in September -- when comments about you on the boards were far from flattering.
You sliced and diced John and Elizabeth Edwards with your condescending attitude. I was embarrassed by your rudeness and lack of sensitivity.
"People who live in glass houses should not throw stones."
-
by fafa781
March 28, 2007 6:14 PM PDT
- The need to send Katie packin'. Not only has she NOT brought viewers to the network---she WON'T ever do so. I guess in her case the old adage,"you get what you pay for" is MORE than a tad "off the mark!!"
-
Reply to this comment
-
See all 31 Comments