The inbox of this office gets a steady trickle of letters that are some variation on this one from Liz Gregory of Kenosha, Wis.:
“My hsb and I love the PBS News Hour! However, when the White House rep, Mark Short [sic] is interviewed he just spins the news and lies. I hate that he is given this platform on a news service that prides itself in reporting the truth. I know it's hard to find people from the Trump administration who don't just lie but Mr. Short is just intolerable. Kellyanne was terrible, too. I know it may be impossible to find someone truthful but please keep trying. Your station is all we can believe. Thanks for listening.”
Nann Dave from Claremont, Calif., writes:
“Marc Short is a prevaricator and wilful deceiver. Why you would give him a segment on Newshour—and indeed a long one—and have no one pushing back against his spin is beyond me. Judy Woodruff is not a critical interviewer. She never really was. But now she is painfully sycophantic. Newshour really needs sharper interviewers, or—at least—interviewees who will challenge the lies and distortions people like Marc Short dish out.”
I’ve written about political points of view in the past, including the use of surrogates for the White House like Christopher Ruddy and Matt Schlapp on the air.
But Mr. Short is in a different category. He works in the White House. He is the director of Legislative Affairs, which means that he is the point person for White House policy. He is the person at the White House who helps shepherd their agenda and, of course, talks about the administration’s agenda.
Ms. Gregory may feel that Mr. Short is a spinner but, to be honest, the idea of White House representatives being spinners is not a new one and it’s fairly bipartisan.
In the circles of media criticism there is a robust discussion about whether some White House representatives should be given airtime. Usually that discussion is focused on Kellyanne Conway, counselor to the president, and the most trenchant critiques are expressed by NYU journalism professor Jay Rosen. She bobs and weaves and dissembles, so the argument goes, thus there is no benefit to having her on the air.
So what’s a journalist to do?
My feeling is that it is the role of journalists to take any opportunity possible to question an administration on their actions and policies. Journalists don’t get to decide who White House personnel are, it is not their job to pick and choose White House staffers, it is their job to hear from and press the administration on the important issues of the day.
I asked Sara Just, executive producer of NewsHour, for her thoughts. In an email she responded: “We believe that part of our job as journalists, and at the NewsHour specifically, is to provide insight into who is leading the government and what their ideas and points of view are. Hearing them speak and answer questions is a key part of that effort. If someone is in an influential advisory or policy-shaping role, we think an interview can be illuminating. The audience can decide for themselves whether they agree with the official or find their answers satisfying.”
At a time when the journalism profession is under attack for bias or fabrication, most prominently from the president himself, it is really important for journalists to resist the temptation to completely change their mission and the way they practice their craft.
Part of that craft is to question those in power and hold them to account and to push back vigorously.
I think journalists also believe in respecting the audience. It is not the role of NewsHour to veto an appearance by Mr. Short, or someone else who works in the administration. The role of NewsHour is to present as many voices as possible and it is up to the audience to decide on the credibility of the guests.
Clearly some of the audience has made their decision about Mr. Short and in that sense, it seems, NewsHour has provided a valuable service. The audience has watched and decided for themselves.
Posted on June 8, 2018 at 5:21 p.m.
