Washington Post media reporter Paul Farhi’s latest story rubbed former talk show host and political activist Montel Williams the wrong way.
“I don’t really care about Paul’s story itself,” Williams told the Washington Examiner. “I’m used to this, but I care a lot about the principle of accuracy. Hot air accomplishes nothing.”
Farhi’s story is a look at how cable news outlets regularly seek out the opinions of celebrities on current events, even though those celebrities may not be qualified to actually speak on them. The story opens by recalling a recent appearance by Williams on CNN, where he discussed the Senate report on the CIA’s extreme interrogation techniques.
“Montel Williams, ubiquitous pitchman for payday loans, compression sleeves and blenders, was on a national news program discussing the CIA’s controversial ‘enhanced interrogation’ program?” read Farhi’s story.
It goes on to say, “Cable news has copious hours of airtime to fill, and it sometimes fills them with expert analysts who not only aren’t experts but also really aren’t even analysts.”
Williams noted the story on Twitter.
“I actually think the better question is what qualifications does Farhi have to be a media critic if he can’t be bothered w[ith] fact-checking?” Williams tweeted Tuesday night.
In a phone interview, Williams’ spokesman Jonathan Franks said the former talk show host is “certainly qualified” to speak on government intelligence matters. “He’s a 22-year Naval intelligence officer talking about intelligence,” he said.
Farhi responded to Williams’ tweet, correctly stating that his story did identify Williams (though only in passing) as “a former Naval officer.” The story also alludes to Williams’ educational background, but didn’t specify that Williams is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis.
In a follow-up tweet, Farhi seemed to undercut the actual theme of his story (that celebrities often appear on cable news to talk about things they don’t have any expertise on).
“Point of story is that your fame/star power precedes your expertise on ANY subject. You draw viewers,” Farhi tweeted at Williams.
Franks, Williams’ spokesman, said Farhi’s story was “deceptive” and that Farhi must not have read up on Williams’ background, perhaps intentionally.
“It’s like he was trying to fit an outcome that he had already pre-decided,” Franks said.
Farhi did not back down on his article. “This could devolve into a boring debate over who’s an expert and who isn’t,” he told the Examiner. “Suffice to say, Montel Williams is a very compelling personality and is certainly knowledgeable about the topics he addresses on cable shows. But an expert?”
“I have no problem with people criticizing [Williams’] view points, but this just seems to me to be a simple factual issue,” Franks said. He said he has asked Farhi to amend his story with a clarification of Williams’ intelligence career history and educational background.
As of press time, Farhi’s story has included no such update.
