President Obama granted short interviews to a variety of news outlets while in China. I caught bits of three of them.
Major Garrett of Fox was incredible, touching on a lot of substantive areas–health care, Afghanistan, Israel–in a very short time and getting good answers. I understand that, unlike most Fox reporters, Major Garrett is well-respected among other journalists.
Chuck Todd of NBC asked good questions, too. I like Chuck Todd.
Meanwhile, the CNN guy spent his time getting Obama’s reactions to the Sarah Palin book, and asking if he was going to run again in 2012. What was that about? You get 10 minutes with the President, and those are your questions? Fluff?
Major Garrett threw in one question about Palin: “Yes or no: are you going to read the Sarah Palin book?” Obama said probably not, and Garrett moved quickly to a question about Israel. Good job. That’s what a serious journalist would do.
