Just a few days ago, Time TV critic Daniel D'Addario was touting the "increasing momentum" of a boycott of Fox News host Laura Ingraham for daring to mock a leftist student activist David Hogg, the thuggish teen who calls the NRA "child murderers." D'Addario wrote "The Parkland cause has transfixed the nation and garnered widespread, mainstream support; it cannot have been a hard decision for the Bayers of the world to see a woman mocking a Parkland teen as something other than a good business partner."
But in this week's issue, D'Addario goes corporate-press soft on Lester Holt in a "6 Questions" interview. He couldn't describe the lies of Brian Williams in any more vivid language than "controversial circumstances."
You came into your job under unusual circumstances–after Brian Williams left the desk under controversial circumstances. Was it challenging to gain viewers’ trust?
The first night that the announcer said "NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt,” there was probably an audible gulp right before I said “Good evening,” because these are important broadcasts, and I watched them growing up. A lot of what got me through it was the things that people had written to me and tweeted and put on Facebook. I’m continuing to grow into the job. It’s only recently I’ve felt like I’m totally in sync with the direction of the broadcast.
This sounds like an internal NBC News employee newsletter, not a "news magazine." He could at least asked "Was it challenging to regain viewers' trust after Brian Williams was demoted to MSNBC at 11 pm?"
The questions began with a softball about Holt going to Memphis to mark the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King's assassination. D'Addario also gushed at Holt about a recent honor (an Honorable Mention, or runner-up recognition) for his 2017 interview with Trump:
You were honored by the White House Correspondents’ Association this month for your interview with the President in which he talked about his decision to fire James Comey. What’s your secret to getting scoops?
My general philosophy of doing interviews is polite but persistent. I don’t have an ax to grind in this, but I do have the responsibility to represent my viewers, who have a lot of questions. People say to me, “I hope you get him!” I don’t do that. I just want to talk to people and ask them. And if they don’t give an answer, I want to ask them again.
"I don't have an ax to grind in this" is about as persuasive as the the spin surrounding the 2016 presidential debate he moderated that "registered Republican" Holt would be fair and balanced. He didn't even attempt balance.
Earlier: Time askes Fox's Bret Baier if the GOP is admitting Fox isn't fair and balanced
