The Ethics Of NBC Letting George W. Bush Be Interviewed By His Daughter

[deminks]

NBC/MSNBC-home of the legacy cub reporter

http://thinkprogress.org/media/2014/04/06/3423457/nbc-journalism-ethics-bush-paintings/

Last February, the world caught a glimpse George W. Bush’s paintings through work of a hacker named Guccifier. The paintings were amateurish and charming and slightly embarrassing for a former president. They famously included self-portraits of him bathing.

On Friday, Bush decided to show off a series of paintings of world leaders in a more controlled fashion — in an exclusive interview with his daughter, NBC News special correspondent Jenna Bush Hager. As part of a package on the Today Show, Hager also interviewed her mother and grandmother, who she called Gamms, to get their reactions to Bush’s artwork.

(snip)

The Society of Professional Journalists’ Code of Ethics states that journalists should “avoid conflicts of interest, real or perceived.” Three experts in ethics and journalism contacted by ThinkProgress all raised substantial concerns with the segment.

(snip)

“The disgrace of network broadcasting is always making new bottoms,” said Todd Gitlin, professor and chair of the Ph.D. program at the Columbia University School of Journalism. Gitlin noted that there were any number of serious questions NBC News could and should pose to former President Bush, including for example the Iraq War, the collapse of the financial system, and his inaction in the face of catastrophic climate change. Instead, according to Gitlin, NBC “pretties up the self-indulgence of the president… those are the journalism ethics in charge… as satire, this is rock-bottom stuff.”

(snip)

This is not the first time NBC has had Hager interview her family members on national TV. In July 2013, she interviewed her grandfather, former President George H.W. Bush, for a soft-focus piece on his decision to shave his head in solidarity with a sick 2-year-old that aired on NBC Nightly News. When Hager was hired in 2009, Today Show executive producer Jim Bell said that “he didn’t consider the job as a down payment for a future interview with her father.”

(end snip)

Rome burns while Bush diddles. I thought it said more about him than anyone he painted. Even more interesting that Laughing Laura's portrait is still not done.

[Mnemosyne]

1. Ethics? where? nt

[arcane1]

7. Ethics went to wherever journalism ran off to n/t

[Mnemosyne]

12. Exactly arcane1, and sadly... nt

[lpbk2713]

2. BushCo should be paying NBC for letting them air an infomercial.

... but then, BushCo pays their own way as little as they can get away with.


All that was needed was a shill audience mouthing random oohs and aahs on cue.

[Jesus Malverde]

18. NBC is owned by defense contractor GE

In some ways the war monger paid for this infomercial years ago. He's the one who took our peace dividend and pissed it away on war and death toys.

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

3. Eh. No biggie. It was always going to be a puff piece.

Not like it's real news, just 'human interest'.

Heck, Mika on Morning Joe interacts with her dad on that show all the time.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

4. And over on MSNBC Mika Brzezinski is frequently interviewing her dad, Zbigniew.

Though anything that gets Scarbrough to make himself scarce I can maybe give a pass to.

[Arkana]

5. It's a puff piece and he isn't President anymore.

There are worse things

[immoderate]

6. That's entertainment!

--imm

[librechik]

8. Hitler was an amateur painter, too.

In fact, their paintings are similar in execution. And not good enough for art school.

[jmowreader]

9. Hitler didn't get into art school because he wasn't an abstract painter

Hitler painted in the style Kinkade later adopted, but Hitler was far better than Kinkade. Getting rejected from art school was what pissed him off. Hitler probably wouldn't have gone down in history as a great painter but he would have been a good advertising illustrator.

Bush is a God-awful painter. There are thousands of guys in TJ painting Elvis on black velvet who are better than Bush.

[librechik]

20. let's face it, Bush is a very poor Hitler

in many categories.

[csziggy]

10. Mika has interviewed her father more than once on Morning Joe

So what's new?

[Jenoch]

11. It's on the Today Show.

I'd have a problem with it if it were on the NBC Nightly News.

[Jack Rabbit]

13. This is the new normal in American TV journalism

When the other networks aren't being FoxNews, they're being Entertainment Tonight.

[reformist2]

14. Nepotism and cronyism and corruption rule the day.

[hughee99]

15. I'm not sure what world Gitlin lives in...

apparently it's one where NBC earned the interview on it's own merits and only then decided to make it a puff piece conducted by his daughter. Journalism my have hit "rock bottom" but this is far from the clearest example of that.

[TheKentuckian]

16. I'm much more concerned with the ethics that allow him to be interviewed outside prison

As well as those that seemingly allow his kid to have such a gig because she is his kid, to no small degree.

Then there are ethics that allow for such fluff to be associated with news but in context? Who the fuck cares, it is beyond a joke.

[Corruption Inc]

17. Direct contradiction in these 2 terms: NBC and Ethics

NBC is about MONEY and SALES, nothing else.

[Paladin]

19. Dubya's "paintings" released the same day the Rumsfeld documentary opens.

Gives a whole new aspect to a "Friday news dump".........

[hrmjustin]

21. Ethics were not involved.

[erpowers]

22. I Agree With Bill Reader

The only problem with the segment was that it was time wasted on a puff piece. It is not as if NBC has made Jenna Bush Hager out to be a serious journalist. She has mainly done soft puff pieces.

In addition, George W. Bush is most likely not going to do too many grand introspective interviews in which he is asked to think hard about his decisions during his time in office. Most likely Bush would not have done the interview if it would have been a tough interview. Also, I doubt NBC promoted the interview as hard hitting.

[dionysus]

23. it's a puff piece, who cares? i'm glad *, for the most part, is keeping his mouth shut and staying

out of the limelight.