CBS' Bob Schieffer: I Didn't Ask Eric Holder About The New Black Panthers Case Because I Didn't Know About It

It's a minor thing in the overall story but it's too funny to let pass by.

Howie Kurtz let Schieffer come on his CNN to show answer Megyn Kelly's charges that Schieffer is in the tank for the Obama administration because during the course a 1/2 hour interview he conducted with AG Holder the case never came up.

Schieffer's defense is he's not dishonest, just not very good at his job.

KURTZ: Let's start with the obvious question. Why did you not ask Eric Holder in that interview about this former Justice official's allegation that a case against the New Black Panther Party was dropped because of racial politics?

SCHIEFFER: Well, it's certainly a question that is a legitimate question to ask. And basically what happened was this all really became a story when the whistleblower came out and testified that he'd had to leave the Justice Department and so on. And, frankly, had I known about that, I would have asked the question.

I was on vacation that week. This happened -- apparently, it got very little publicity. And, you know, I just didn't know about it.

Strangely enough, the thrust of the segment is that FNC gave the story too much coverage. What Schieffer really meant is that the story didn't get much publicity from the right kind of outlets, the approved gatekeepers he pays attention to. FNC? Doesn't count.

The bigger problem is it sounds like poor old Bob is working by himself to put on Face the Nation every week. He has no producers, no researchers, no editors to keep track of things when he's away or to help identify important issues. Nope just Bob. Sounds more like a guy doing a show from his basement on a webcam than a long running network show.

Shockingly! Howie didn't follow up and ask him about this lack of staff. Did Katie Couric get all the money? Are they going to have a Schieffer-A-Thon like we do for Ace? For God's sake the man is 73, give him a hand. An intern! Something.

Schieffer also says that the lack of coverage is not because of pro-Obama bias (or lack of staff) but rather a news value judgment.

Again, Howie being the sharp professional journalist that he is didn't follow up with the obvious question...what if a Republican administration had dropped the charges against a couple of Klansman (like the late Democrat Senator and Exalted Cyclops Bob Byrd) had been caught on video instead of New Black Panthers.

It's really hard to figure out why the likes of CBS, CNN and The Washington Post are dying.

Charlie Gibson emails to say, "Hey Bob, stop working my side of the street.".

posted by DrewM. at 08:11 PM

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