Gwen Ifill as hostess of "Meet The Press?"

[malik flavors]

Tim Russert helped bring Gwen Ifill into the buisness and I think she would be a great choice as the next host of MTP. She's a class act, intelligent, hard hitting, credible, objective, and a serious journalist. She's great on PBS, but I think she could really be the perfect fit as the new hostess of MTP.

Chuck Todd is too timid and wet behind the ears. Chris Matthews is...well, Chris Matthews. Brian Williams isn't going to leave Nightly News. Brokaw is a bit too old. Shuster has a strange way of speaking that takes away from his appeal, imo. Olbermann is far too biased, as is Rachael Maddow. Andrea Mitchell isn't quite right either. Dan Abrams would actually be ok, but I think he's also a bit too new for a position like hosting Meet The Press. David Gregory probably has a shot, but wouldn't be as good as Ifil.

I know Ifill isn't an NBC reporter, but she was close to Tim and I just think she'd do a great job.

What say you, DU?

[ingac70]

1. I couldn't think of a better person for the job! n/t

[THUNDER HANDS]

2. Brian Williams

that's who I'd guess.

[ShortnFiery]

7. Don't we have "quite enough" middle aged white guys? Besides doesn't Brian Williams have a niche?

[Medusa]

39. Do you know who does the hiring at the news networks?

middle-aged white guys.

[Eurobabe]

24. sorry Brian requires too much prep tanning time

his schedule would allow it.

[AlCzervik]

30. eeewww, i hope not. He's a smarmy fuckwad.

[Thrill]

51. We see enough of his arrogance

[Captain Hilts]

3. 'Hostess' makes it sound like a party or a restaurant. nt

[Toucano]

59. Or a snack cake.

[ShortnFiery]

4. Excellent Suggestion IMO malik flavors. I vote "YES!" eom

[tularetom]

5. I say she is far too deferential to the bushies and not an objective commentator

But I would say that about practically anyone they'd suggest except Rachel Maddow and perhaps Olbermann.

Actually what she is is another Beltway insider. The point of view wouldn't change much.

[jaysunb]

15. I agree

n/t

[WCGreen]

23. Well put...

[Colobo]

6. Ifill would be a great asset.

[newmajority]

8. I say HELL no

http://www.blackcommentator.com/138/138_fr_hack_journalism.html

[beac]

29. I second your HELL NO, and for the same reasons!

She's a total hack and a GOP suck-up.

[psychopomp]

52. Reading the OP, I had the same initial gut reaction

It has been years since I have watched Ms. Ifill. I stopped watching when she became the lead on Newshour--a disappointment, she appears to be perfectly comfortable carrying water for the establishment.

She strikes me as somewhere between as George Stephanopoulos and Cokie Roberts.

[goclark]

42. Condi's good friend

Just because I happen to be an African American and a woman,that should give her the green light with me.

I would be mighty proud to have an AA and a woman run MTP but not Gwen, IMO.

But it doesn't.



"Like her buddy Condi Rice, she can’t be let off the hook. Media insiders like Gwen Ifill who call themselves journalists, but act like anything but, are making life easier for the powerful evildoers. Regardless of anything Imus has to say, they must be called to account."

I think Meet the Press should have a different format.

Keith and Dick Gregory for example

Rachel and Dick/Brian/or anyone -- she can hold her own.

[KeepItReal]

43. Great post.

<eom>

[eppur_se_muova]

46. Ouch! Thanks for the link, and the warning.

I always enjoyed her on WWIR, but I haven't watched it in years, before the reich wing took over.

[Mabus]

47. More on Ifill from mediamatters.org

"The war winds down, politics heats up.... Picture perfect. Part Spider-Man, part Tom Cruise, part Ronald Reagan. The president seizes the moment on an aircraft carrier in the Pacific." (PBS's Gwen Ifill, 5/2/03, on George W. Bush's "Mission Accomplished" speech) - http://mediamatters.org/items/200603180003?f=s_search


Summary: In a segment on Al Gore's global warming campaign, PBS' Gwen Ifill noted that "critics have called Gore 'alarmist,' " before airing a clip of an ad produced by the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI), which she identified only as a "Washington think tank." But Ifill did not mention that CEI is a conservative institution largely funded by the energy industry, which has a financial stake in opposing policies that seek to combat climate change. http://mediamatters.org/items/200605250007?f=s_search


During the Public Broadcasting Service's (PBS) special coverage of the Senate Judiciary Committee's nomination hearings regarding Supreme Court nominee Samuel A. Alito Jr., PBS senior correspondent Gwen Ifill characterized criticism of Alito by liberal "interest groups" as "demonization." http://mediamatters.org/items/200601110003?f=s_search

For the record, I'd rather have someone like David Brancacci (who took over NOW for Moyers).

[malik flavors]

48. You could find tons of stuff like that on Russert as well, and most of us loved him as the host.

[Mabus]

50. And that's why a lot of us (I don't dare say "most") didn't like him

We each have our own opinions and our own standards. Russert and Ifill fall below mine. I like journalists like Brancacci and Moyers over those who are willing to play the game and move up the ladder.

[malik flavors]

54. You can also find quotes from both Ifill and Russert that pissed off the conservatives.

If extreme liberals and conservatives both dislike you, you know you're doing a good job.

[Mabus]

55. No it doesn't

When liberals criticize these news personalities they use the truth and facts. When conservatives criticize them they call them stoolies of the liberal media.

Disagreeing with someone because they are ill-informed or propagating an ill-conceived agenda is the fodder of liberals. Disagreeing with someone because you don't like what they say is the fodder of conservatives. Therein lies the difference.

[malik flavors]

56. Conservatives would say the same exact thing you just said, but would be calling liberals liars.

[Mabus]

57. And they are entitled to their opinion

Do you have a point?

[me b zola]

9. Best proposal I've heard!

Recommend if you like the idea.

[sfam]

10. Tom Brokaw - he's the only one with the gravitas to pull it off nt

[Rowdyboy]

11. Excellent suggestion.....

I respect her more than most.

[KAZ]

12. Like her a lot, but it's going to be Tweety.

[Demit]

13. Quintessential representative of the DC 'Village'.

She loves being one of the club so much she can't help but make references to it constantly. Painful to watch, as they go around the table to rehash the latest Lapel-Pin level non-event. She has to rein it in a bit on NewsHour, but that show of hers is fluff & gossip and all about the guests, as insiders.

[malik flavors]

18. I don't know about that, I've seen her constantly talk about how flag pins and such is nonsense.

She's pretty vocal about stuff like that just being a distraction from what's most important.

She might talk about those things on occasion like any other journalist, but she always mentions how it's not what people should focus on.

[BobbyVan]

14. She's great

[ruggerson]

16. I like her where she is

she's the best reporter on television.

[Stephanie]

17. Isn't she Condi's BFFE?

I recall hearing that, seriously.

[Dervill Crow]

21. I've also read that.

Don't know whether it's true, but it's enough to make it hard for me to watch her.

:scared:

[Dinger]

19. Sounds Like It'll Be Tom Brokaw, At Least For This Week

I don't care if he is old, he'd be a great replacement, and I know there are other choices. No disrespect to any of them.
I wouldn't mind Dan Rather either, come to think of it.

[TygrBright]

20. I'd crawl outta bed onna Sunday morning to watch that...

Gwen is one of the best interview journalists on television today.

eagerly,
Bright

[MarjorieG]

22. Brokaw smugly superior, a big McCain fan. Anyone else interested in John Harwood.

I know he worked on the news side of the WSJ, but he's always fair, lacked bias with John Kerry, and one of the few to always point out that the primary wasn't all the fault of what Clinton did wrong, but what Obama did as a stellar candidate.

He also formulates complex opinion. I've never seen him as the interviewer, but he has energy. Also works for NYT. I don't know about Chuck Todd as an interviewer, either, but he's savvy. They will probably test a few.

[Algorem]

25. Jesus H. Christ yes!She's a tremendous mediawhore and she'd

be a perfect replacement.Maybe they could add a food segment,"Cooking with Condoleeza".

[dailykoff]

26. Her show went down the shitter after she took over.

Maybe it's just me but it's beyond lousy.

[Algorem]

28. Weak Review In Washington?

[dailykoff]

31. Yeah that one.

I think it's a cooking show now.

[davidpdx]

27. I think Todd could grow into the role

though the timing obviously sucks (it would have been better had he eased into the role on a non-election year). I've got nothing against Gwen Ifill, I have seen her on MTP a few times.

[Algorem]

32. Ralph Nader would be good.

[bridgit]

33. I like Gwen, I've watched her from previous to when they brought her in all faltering and halting...

over questions as she learned where her sea legs where. Todd I don't really care for, and I am not so sure that every empty chair requires, even with Obama on the horizon...a black face. Gwen Ifill = Tim Russert? Mmmm, wait and see sadly more likely...

Look to see Michele Barnard (she's already plastered everywhere, smiling in the process, and has 'the look') in Russert's seat despite Gwen's already many contributions to journalism such is the nature of image over substance

[malik flavors]

40. So she shouldn't get the job because she's black? Too many blacks getting on tv in your opinion?

FYI: I chose her becasue I think she's an excellent journalist, and she has the look and feel of a MTP host.. If she were white I still would have suggested her. For you to think of it in racial terms, and then to suggest we already are getting too many blacks in powerful positions, is absurd.

Also, how many blacks host serious political programs? How many political empty chairs have been filled by african-americans?

[bridgit]

45. Gwen's already been *on* TV for years. She is as well a good fit where she is.

PBS/News Hour, etc, has more prestige to my way of thinking. Gwen has earned it via hard work and stick-to-itiveness (did i spell that right :() Obama is already bringing along with him black faces, if black faces are what you're looking for. So you'll be seeing more as time goes along. Again, Michele Barnard is one of them before even the convention and already on McLaughlin's panel, to his right hand, and in a seat known to be occupied on occasion by Clarence Page; who has himself been around for many years. But it's not so easy as I think some would think it...

When, however, and imo, if all you're looking for is 'a black face', you might end up with Clarence Thomas where Thurgood Marshall performed all the heavy lifting.

Tavis Smiley...Obama didn't show for his gig. Tony Brown, comes to mind. Does public policy writ to benefit we the people have a color?

I just like Gwen, I'll say it that way. And your OP's take on the other faces: KO, Schuster, Brokaw and the rest is spot on. Though maybe answer this for me if you would please,

If & When...and as 'a black face', would Gwen be required by the black community to speak upon or direct discourse to predominately black issues to be taken seriously? Would she have the latitude to be what she considers a journalist? Even if that meant talking up an old dead powdered wig or two

[malik flavors]

49. I'm not even considering the fact that she's black. I think she'd be right for the job.

[TheDonkey]

34. I think that is the most legitimate name I've seen floated but it'll take awhile before a person is

picked. the thing about MTP is RATINGS, RATINGS, RATINGS and the NBC bosses will evaluate who brings the numbers.

[nebula]

35. She wouldn't be a very good ratings draw.

Her manner seems much too understated for a hard-hitting program like MTP, dull even.




My first choice would be Jack Cafferty.

[Kickin_Donkey]

36. Uh, no ...

She's another Beltway sellout. Soft on Republicans, soft on Bush.

Plus, she's Condie's pal.

She'd be too biased.

[Joe the Revelator]

37. Aaron Brown or Chuck Todd

Those are the only two I'd be on board with.

[TexanDem]

58. Arron Brown -- good suggestion. I miss him.

[undeterred]

38. Excellent suggestion.

[greyghost]

41. Ms. Ifill would be a very good choice but I think that David Gregory

is going to get the nod from TPTB. I think he'd do a fine job as well.

[saltpoint]

44. I'd be much more likely to tune in if she were chosen than if they

tried Matthews or someone else, obviously depending on who that someone else is.

As others have suggested here and on other threads, Bill Moyers would be a terrific choice because he would bring a powerful jolt of integrity to television news programs, and he would leave everyone else on the tube gasping for breath & completely at a loss to compete.

The range in television news journalism is always dizzying and uneven, from a sage mind like Moyers all the way down to a bootlicker like Brit Hume.

Gwen is far, far closer to the Moyers end of that spectrum. She would be a very good choice.

[newspeak]

60. yep, that's the one I'd like to see

BILL MOYER-BILL MOYER-BILL MOYER:loveya:

[Evergreen Emerald]

53. Andrea Mitchell or Katie Couric or Gwen Ifill

It is time for a changing of the guard.

[MasonJar]

61. The times I have seen Gwen Ifill she has been doggedly right wing oriented.

[totodeinhere]

62. The only person I can think of who has enough prestige to fill Russert's shoes is...

Tom Brokaw. He is not too old. Bob Schieffer, the host of Face the Nation, which competes with Meet the Press, is older than Brokaw and he does just fine. IMO, to say that Brokaw is too old is ageism. And that "ism" is just as bad as racism or sexism.