Originally published at: http://boingboing.net/2017/01/23/journalists-should-stop-interv.html
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I’m not sure I agree with that. She and Spicer, and their boss need constant pushback on the lies that come out of their mouths.
But I’ll give the podcast a listen and see what they say.
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From the anti-Trump perspective, it seems like a bad idea to stop interviewing her. The continual doublespeak and contradictions will play an important role in eroding his support.
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Imagine what would happen if nobody actually did interview her. Her usefulness would be at an end, to begin with.
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That will get nobody anywhere. They will just Gish Gallop past the lies, and pile more lies on when caught in a lie. Their supporters don’t care. Plus, interviewing her gives her legitimacy.
I’m more on the side of stop interviewing her, but I think both sides have valid points.
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I’d interviewer her, but add a graphic overlay pointing out every lie and distortion.
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You’d get more truth from the Mouth of Sauron but yeah, I agree with the idea of the constant push-back. Spicer should never have been left to leave the stage without a grilling. Kelly got grilled a bit this weekend though.
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i think this is a good idea. shunning can work in two directions.
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The rest of us do, though. remember the he didn’t win the popular vote and doesn’t have anything approaching a mandate. He’s not going to alienate his base, but he could easily alienate those who held their nose and voted. He could get a challenge from the moderate right in 4 years.
Additionally, working for the POTUS gives her legitimacy. She’s already a part of the conversation, like it or not. That’s not going to change if NPR or the network news programs just ignore them.
Agreed that both sides have valid points, but obviously, I lean towards the other side! 
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I think that reporters also need to be on the lookout for the stooges that clap and cheer at Trump events and point them out. We need to be able to recognize these people in a crowd.
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What moderate right? This isn’t the 1990s. Whatever moderate right people who are left are fully controlled by Trump and the Republican establishment now.
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If the goal is to undermine Trump (I’m not 100% sure it is) then I would say avoid Conway. Based on his first press conference, Spicer is super unqualified and does an abysmal job of supporting the Trump position. Conway is slick and smart. I’ve often watched her interviews where she said things where I was like, “Oh, you got them.” If the press didn’t talk to her anymore then she’d eventually go and probably be replaced by someone incompetent, since Trump hires incompetents.
Anyway, it’s a bit moot. Might as well be telling people not to cover Tom Cruise. Fame is it’s own thing, once it gets hold you can’t really dislodge it.
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I’d say it’s actually worked very well for him since July 2015, but perhaps it is indeed eroding – Buyer’s Remorse. One can hope…
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I agree with this, and for all the other Trump mouthpieces too. Go ahead and interview, but don’t publish/broadcast until the statements can be validated/invalidated.
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Maybe I’m pie in the skying, but there might still be moderate republicans, who just aren’t getting heard. There are much less of them now, but I think they still exist. [quote=“LearnedCoward, post:11, topic:93438”]
Whatever moderate right people who are left are fully controlled by Trump and the Republican establishment now.
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But if there is dissent from their constituents, it gives them a reason to rebel. We can hope this is true, at least.
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I have not yet listened to the podcast either, but I agree with your statement.
The republicans WANT the press to either follow orders or simply just go away. There’s no way the press should do either, and sticking your head in the sand will not make the issues go away.
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Given Spicer’s performance - come out, tell a bunch of lies, take no questions - there’s no point in going to White House press briefings, either. Which would make for an interesting presidency if the media largely ignored the White House except for deconstructing press releases… Either way, the press needs to be focused on investigative journalism, not trying to get access to the White House, because that’s not very useful.
I think perhaps “moderate” is the wrong word for anyone in the Republican party right now. Perhaps “sane reactionary” is more accurate?
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At this point, journalists shouldn’t argue with Conway, allowing her the possibility to re-frame the narrative. They should instead have video clips queued up, proving the endless lies and backtracking of Trump. No need to even say “but what do you think about this?”. Just let the clips speak for themselves and allow her to twist in the wind, attempting to answer it.
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Like the old Pop-Up Videos from VH1?
I’d watch it
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Yes. Jeb Bush might be the best we can hope for.
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