Sir Trev ’scoops’ Bush interview
It’s reported today that Sir Trevor has secured the only UK television interview with George Bush prior to the G8 summit next month. This is clearly some achievement. But did Granada’s Head of Current Affairs have to be quite so condescending about it?
“Sir Trevor has done this by his own industry. He interviewed Bush three years ago and has kept lines of communication open. He made a bid for an interview three months ago when we knew when the G8 would be,” Mr Anderson said.
“To get an exclusive interview with the US president is an achievement at any time, but to get it on the eve of the G8 summit is really special. Sir Trevor is to be congratulated for using all his contacts to bring it about.”
Quite why this relatively new journalist felt it necessary to pat a knighted veteran on the head for using his journalistic contacts is beyond me. There would be much better ways of phrasing his congratulations, making Sir Trevor appear as the brilliant journalist he is, but instead he’s decided to adopt a tone of “Well done, Trev, you did great. Let the grown ups carry on with the rest of the show, now.” And I think that’s unnecessary, unprofessional, and wrong, especially when you’re talking about the eponymous personality of the show, however little he may usually do in reality.
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Leon the Lemming responds »
Just let us all hope that it is not as staged and sycophantic as the Frost interview, where it was obvious that the President had seen all the questions beforehand, and no doubt had been coached with the answers.
» This comment was received at 21:38 on 01 July 05
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sjhoward responds, »
I would be incredibly surprised if Potus would agree to do any interview in which he hadn’t seen the questions, particularly in this country. It’s a noticeable contrast with Mr Hussein who, in his interview with Channel 4 News shortly before the latest war on his country, actively refused to see the questions beforehand. And yet who did Mr Bush claim was being ‘evasive’?
» This comment was received at 12:57 on 02 July 05
