An Open Letter to Katie Couric and Jeff Fager

[thetaoofterri]

An Open Letter to Katie Couric and CBS News 60 Minutes Executive Producer, Jeff Fager

Dear Ms. Couric and Mr. Fager:

I stopped watching 60 minutes about 10 years ago, at the time when the show became less of an investigative news program and more entertainment programming.

Last night I watched the first half of your program because I saw a commercial that touted in-depth interviews with the Democratic presidential candidates, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. In this close race, I want to see as much of each candidate as I possibly can so I can be sure I am making the right decision when I cast my final vote in November. But, rather than coming away from your program feeling more informed and enlightened, I felt enraged!

Although Steve Kroft did not ask Senator Obama what I would consider particularly probing questions, he treated Senator Obama with all seriousness and respect and limited his questioning to presidential campaign issues except toward the end of the interview which quickly touched on how Senator Obama combats fatigue.

However, Ms. Couric, your interview with Senator Hillary Clinton was, in a word, abominable. Unfortunately, that is not the only word that describes the questioning directed to Senator Clinton. More descriptive words are: demeaning, disrespectful, appalling, snide, condescending, ridiculous and unbelievably sexist.

You only asked one question about the war in Iraq and the rest were inane, insulting inquiries: The questions about her father; "What do you see yourself doing if this doesn't work out?"; and "Do you like Senator Obama?" On three occasions and in three different ways, you asked Senator Clinton if she feared losing. You asked her if she takes vitamins and drinks lots of coffee. Ms. Couric : “if it doesn’t work out?”??? This isn’t high school and you are not talking about a high school romance!

You insinuated that Senator Clinton is using her husband's campaigning ideas by saying "...she borrowed a page from her husband’s campaign playbook, stopping and shaking as many hands on the rope line as she could." Ms. Couric, where have you been? That is what politicians DO! They go out to meet the voters, shake hands and answer questions. With your logic, it could be said that Senator Obama has also borrowed a page from Bill Clinton's playbook. And, of course, that would be just as ridiculous.

Finally, the most disrespectful, demeaning question of the entire 13 minutes was "Someone told me your nickname in school was Miss Frigidaire. Is that true?"

Ms. Couric, someone obviously needs to remind you that Senator Clinton is a leading contender for, and may very well win, the Democratic nomination for President of the United States. Further, she may be the first woman President in our history. Your questioning was sophomoric and irrelevant and only serves as evidence that you are unable to conduct a serious, meaningful interview with candidates or political figures of Senator Clinton's stature.

I would suggest that, in the future, you limit your interviews to those who would be willing to join you mud wrestling.

Oh, and Mr. Fager, I can assure you that, in the future, I will return to ignoring 60 minutes.


*****

edited by poster for spelling (thanks).

[Fresh_Start]

1. Great letter

Courics talents are ill suited to news.
She should be one of the props on one of the shopping channels.

[Egnever]

2. Signed

I am no Hillary fan but I was screaming at the TV watching that thing. My wife sitting next to me asked if she was going to ask what kind of cookies she liked to bake. It was rediculous.

[classof56]

3. Good letter! Hope you sent it.

I didn't see the interview, so thanks for sharing this account. Pretty appalling, isn't it, that Katie Couric is CBS' news anchor. I don't watch it anymore, but what a sad excuse for a serious journalist she is!

Tired Old Cynic

[thetaoofterri]

9. You bet I did

I sent it to CBS News, Jeff Fager, Katie Couric and Hillary Clinton.

I haven't watched CBS news since she became the anchor. I didn't care for her all that much on the Today show when I saw it, so I wasn't really interested in watching her report the news.

[Blue_In_AK]

4. Thank you.

I'm so glad I wasn't the only person who noticed that. I'm an either/or sort of person at this point, so I'm not particularly sensitive to how Hillary is treated, but the comparison between the two interviews was just really glaring, I thought. (My husband disagrees with me, but he can't stand Hillary, so his opinion doesn't count in this case.)

[Egnever]

5. Well I cant stand Hillary either

but I thought it was embarassing to 60 minutes and Kattie

[Neecy]

6. I'm an Obama supporter, and I noticed the difference

Couric is always snarky when she interviews public figures that aren't named Bush. Croft did a nice interview of Barack, very non-confrontational, and then Couric started hammering Hillary about losing. I knew before the interview aired that it would be obnoxious because Couric is.

[Hepburn]

7. I do not like Hillary Clinton, in fact I detest her. However...

...that interview was totally out of line, disrespectful, and demeaning. It was totally unprofessional as well.

Good letter!

[asdjrocky]

8. Katie Couric and the rest of MSM:

A joke on the American people. I just no longer find it funny.

[spooky3]

10. great letter; please send a copy to

http://mediamatters.org

[Hatchling]

11. I was apalled.

The second I saw that Couric was doing the interview, I knew it would be a disaster. I would have prefered the same journalist interview them both.

All Couric wanted to know is what will Hillary do if she loses? Give me a break!

I quit watching CBS news when Couric became the anchor and quit watching 60 Minutes whn she became involved with it. Let's face it. 60 Minutes no longer has the cachet of hard hitting news stories that it once had. I remember looking forward to Sunday and this program and it's exposes. What has happened to this program is a glaring example of what has gone wrong with th M$M.

[Arkansas Granny]

15. I agree that it would have been better if both candidates had been

interviewed by the same person asking similar questions of both. CBS really blew it last night.

[Jazzgirl]

12. I felt exactly the same way you did about the interviews.

I thought that Steve did a decent job asking Obama questions. I was very disappointed in Couric's questions to Hillary. I noticed her questions were shallow and silly and made Katie look like an idiot.

[DS1]

13. did you send it yet? There's a number of typos

this line doesn't work

You only asked one question about the war in Iraq and the rest were inane, insulting inquiries. Questions about her father.


drinks lost of coffee

[thetaoofterri]

17. Thanks... fixed

[DS1]

18. the lost of coffee is still there

lots

[thetaoofterri]

20. Yep, I saw that. Got it. Are you an English teacher??

[DS1]

22. No, just nitpicky when people post open letters and want to send them somewhere

I try help where I can if I agree.

[hiaasenrocks]

14. Good letter. That's what Katie Couric does. That's all she's capable of doing.

She was fluff on The Today Show, and she's fluff on CBS Evening News and 60 Minutes.

Why in the world anyone gave her these high-profile positions is beyond me.

[Eurobabe]

16. I cannot stand Katie Couric

She is the most condescending moderator I have ever seen. I refuse to call her a journalist.

[Lochloosa]

19. Worst Interview Ever!

You hit every point that I was screaming to my TV.


KC needs to crawl back in the hole she came out of.

[BlackVelvet04]

21. Here is the email address for anyone

who wants to write them: [e-mail]

[chuckytb]

23. Hillary interview

How do you know that the Hillary camp would agree to "probing" questions? It is my experience that most politicians want to know what will be asked up front before being interviewed. I am certain that the Hillary camp would have objected if they knew such "inane" questions would be lobbed her way.

[thetaoofterri]

27. I don't know if you watched the interview...

if you haven't, and would like to, you can do so here:

http://www.cbsnews.com/sections/60minutes/main3415.shtml

Senator Obama's interview is also accessible at that link.

To speak to your question concerning whether or not the Clinton camp would agree to "probing" questions, I cannot even imagine why they wouldn't want to answer policy questions, since that is where the differences lie between Clinton and Obama. It seemed to me during the interview that some questions caught Senator Clinton off guard a little, but she recovered very well. It is quite possible the Clinton camp was provided a list of "probing" questions, but because the final interview piece was only 13 minutes long, there could have been many other pertinent policy questions that were merely edited out. In any case, during the one hour "town hall" spot purchased on the Hallmark channel a couple of weeks ago, the questions posed to Senator Clinton were far more pertinent to the issues of the campaign than the those contained 60 Minutes piece I viewed last night.

[grantcart]

24. Obama supporter and I agree.

[calico1]

25. It boggles the mind how someone like Katie Couric

can have a job like she has when she is one of the most inept, unprofessional, tactless and moronic "journalists" out there. I bet we all know some local news anchors who could dance circles around her with their intelligence and talent and seriousness to the profession. And yet this dip shit still has a job.

[Blue_In_AK]

26. Our nightly news team even up here in Anchorage

could run circles around her. She's truly pathetic.

[flordehinojos]

28. hats off to you.

i hope katie couric gets and reads the letter... not just the staffer who might not even pass it on to her.

thank you for expressing the outrage that so many of us are feeling at the press and the press' treatment of hillary rodham clinton.

[Diane R]

29. Yes. I'm voting for Obama, but Katie Couric did an abysmal job..

[cottonseed]

30. Obama supporter agrees - the whole thing was pathetic.

I'd like to see my man get an edge anyway possible, but this was absolutely pathetic. At times like this, I almost think it's fair for interview subjects to pre-review the questions. What in the world was Couric thinking? After the Obama piece, the whole interview seemed like dropping in on a slumber party. It's just not a way to treat a presidential candidate in the middle of a neck and neck primary.

[SaveOurDemocracy]

31. I got in late, and missed the Obama interview ...so

wasn't able to contrast the two. I was appalled at Couric's handling of the interview, and that Miss Frigidaire question was totally off base. "Someone told me..."??? That's real journalist integrity for you.

But, what else is new? Just another example of the abuse HRC takes at the hands of the MSM.

Great letter!! Thanks for writing it and sharing it here.

[cbayer]

32. Katie Couric makes me queasy.

I was outraged when I saw that she would be doing this interview. Then I thought about it and realized that Clinton probably had a lot to say about who would interview her for this show. I think she was trying to show her more human side and thought that Katie would be the best to help her do that (just as I think Obama was trying to show a more reasoned side).

Katie Couric is a twit and she always asks stupid questions. My favorite was, "Do you like Obama?". I though she might follow that up with, "Is he your boyfriend?".

All that being said, I think both candidates were very, very good. They were both articulate, strong, human and gracious. And as I posted last night, I think their followers should try to emulate them.