One of the more disturbing trends we are seeing is the increasingly contemptuous way some politicians are starting to behave towards what is called the “mainstream media.” First, we had some politicos deciding that only Fox News is where they will do interviews. Next, we see Newt Gingrich and in effect Sean Hannity saying that Chris Wallace is a lousy or ideological reporter since he asked tough questions — perhaps suggesting that all Fox News reporters emulate Hannity (who basically does PR for any conservative Republican he interviews, throwing more softball questions that all of the softball teams in California and Arizona).
And now, via, Mediate, we have this: CNN’s Don Lemon tries to ask GOP Presidential hopeful Rep. Michele Bachmann some stock and respectful questions — and he is shoved around…reportedly by Bachmann’s husband as well who Lemon says pushed Lemon into a golf cart. So now it has gotten physical as well.
Here’s the mediate video showing Lemon’s report — and then the raw footage where you can hear Lemon try to get Bachmann’s handlers and her husband to take their hands off of him:
Are we getting back to the 60s when CBS’s Dan Rather was punched at the 1968 Democratic convention? GO HERE to see that segment.
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.