Debate Over Whether Networks Should Stop Interviewing Kellyanne Conway [View all]

[HAB911]

Kellyanne Conway is a very polarizing figure in the media landscape. She is both renowned and reviled for her ability to spin absolutely anything Donald Trump does into a positive. Saturday Night Live regularly guts her for it, but now, so, too, does everyone else. What was a semi-respectable skill during the election is now a terrifying White House reality for reporters who value the truth.

Today, GQ reported that New York University journalism professor Jay Rosen has suggested simply not interviewing Conway anymore. During a recent podcast appearance, he said this:

[T]he logic is, this is a representative of the president. This is somebody who can speak for the Trump administration. But if we find that what Kellyanne Conway says is routinely or easily contradicted by Donald Trump, then that [rationale for interviewing her] disappears. Another reason to interview Kellyanne Conway is, our viewers want to understand how the Trump world thinks. But if the end result of an interview with her is more confusion about what the Trump world thinks, then that rationale evaporates … No, it’s not just lying or spin or somebody who is skilled in the political arts of putting the best case on things or not answering a question, which is a pretty basic method of doing politics. It’s that when you are done listening to Kellyanne Conway, you probably understand less. That’s a problem.

Lots of journalists are on-board with his suggestion.

http://www.mediaite.com/online/there-is-debate-over-whether-networks-should-stop-interviewing-conway-altogether/