On Tuesday's Amanpour & Co. on PBS and CNN International, Daily Beast columnist Margaret Carlson lamented the dominant left-leaning media's diminished hold over politicians as she spoke during a segment hosted by her ex-boss, former Time magazine editor Walter Isaacson.
Later in the segment, former CBS Evening News host Dan Rather fondly recalled Barack Obama's first convention speech from 2004 as the "transparently liberal" former news anchor described it as being one of the most memorable speeches for him.
Raising the issue of news media influence, Isaacson posed: "Margaret, do you worry that candidates can now just bypass the news media -- that what happens on TV and in newspapers doesn't really matter much?"
Carlson expressed her disappointment that the news media can be more easily ignored these days and longed for the "golden days of journalism" as she began her response:
Do I ever worry about that and does it ever hurt me because I think about the convention we're about to see. It could be the Twitter convention in which the first impression people get is from their Twitter feed, skipping us altogether because we'll be coming out, you know, in the middle of the night. ... We were there in the golden age of journalism.
She then hoped that some day she and her ilk will no longer be seen as "fake news":
So much has happened, and so much is lost, and I don't think it's just because I'm in it that I say that. (inaudible) someday people will come back to the notion that we weren't fake news and that buying a newspaper as a citizen was a good thing to do and that it matters. How you used to learn about things happening in the government really mattered.
After Isaacson asked about memorable convention speeches, Rather brought up Obama's 2004 speech -- when he was a candidate for the U.S. Senate in Illinois -- that stood out in the veteran liberal journalist's memory:
One that stands out the most is Barack Obama, who had just been elected as a senator from Illinois, made a tremendous speech in 2004. And I interviewed him immediately after that speech, and, as most politicians, he drilled you in the eye. He had strong eye contact.
And in giving the speech and the way he handled himself in the wake of that speech, I did find myself saying there's a great future ahead for him. I can't say I thought he'd become President of the United States as quickly as he did, but for a speech who was not a candidate on the ticket, it was the most memorable, thoughtful, and tremendous speech. Every young, aspiring politician, whatever their party (inaudible) entered the national consciousness as a model of how to give a convention speech on television.
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Below is a transcript of the relevant portion of the Tuesday, August 18, Amanpour & Co. on PBS and CNN International:
Amanpour and Co.
8/18/2020
WALTER ISAACSON: Margaret, do you worry that candidates can now just bypass the news media -- that what happens on TV and in newspapers doesn't really matter much?
MARGARET CARLSON, THE DAILY BEAST: Do I ever worry about that and does it ever hurt me because I think about the convention we're about to see. It could be the Twitter convention in which the first impression people get is from their Twitter feed, skipping us altogether because we'll be coming out, you know, in the middle of the night. You know, it's -- we were there -- we were there in the golden age of journalism.
So much has happened, and so much is lost, and I don't think it's just because I'm in it that I say that. (inaudible) someday people will come back to the notion that we weren't fake news and that buying a newspaper as a citizen was a good thing to do and that it matters. How you used to learn about things happening in the government really mattered.
ISAACSON: Some of the most memorable moments for me at conventions have been great speeches, whether it was, you know, Ted Kennedy's "A Dream Shall Never Die" at that 1980 convention we've been talking about, or Jesse Jackson taking the early morning bus. Margaret, what's most memorable for you in terms of great convention speeches?
[Margaret Carlson recalls George H.W. Bush's acceptance speech in 1988]
DAN RATHER, FORMER CBS NEWS ANCHOR: One that stands out the most is Barack Obama, who had just been elected as a senator from Illinois, made a tremendous speech in 2004. And I interviewed him immediately after that speech, and, as most politicians, he drilled you in the eye. He had strong eye contact.
And in giving the speech and the way he handled himself in the wake of that speech, I did find myself saying there's a great future ahead for him. I can't say I thought he'd become President of the United States as quickly as he did, but for a speech who was not a candidate on the ticket, it was the most memorable, thoughtful, and tremendous speech. Every young, aspiring politician, whatever their party (inaudible) entered the national consciousness as a model of how to give a convention speech on television.
