This week’s Liberal Media Scream turns the spotlight to NBC’s Chuck Todd, who portrayed himself as a journalistic martyr in announcing that he will step down as host of Meet the Press later this year.
“Being a real political journalist isn’t about building a brand. It’s about reporting what’s happening and explaining why it’s happening and letting the public absorb the facts,” he bragged Sunday.
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“I take the attacks from partisans as compliments, and I take the compliments from partisans with a grain of salt,” said Todd, a favorite target of the Secrets’ weekly Liberal Media Scream.
NBC said that Kristen Welker, NBC News’s co-chief White House correspondent, will succeed him in what is a well-worn path to hosting Sunday public affairs shows.
Todd, on Sunday’s Meet the Press:
“I’ll be honest, though. I leave feeling concerned about this moment in history but reassured by the standards we’ve set here. We didn’t tolerate propagandists, and this network and program never will. But it doesn’t mean sticking your head in the sand either. If you ignore reality, you’ll miss the big story. Being a real political journalist isn’t about building a brand. It’s about reporting what’s happening and explaining why it’s happening and letting the public absorb the facts. If you do this job seeking popularity, you are doing this job incorrectly.
“I take the attacks from partisans as compliments, and I take the compliments from partisans with a grain of salt. The goal of this and every Meet the Press episode is to do all of the following in one informative hour: Make you mad, make you think, shake your head in disapproval, and nod your head in approval. If you do all of that in one hour of this show, we’ve done our jobs. So, again, this isn’t goodbye. But know this: No matter who sits in this chair, if it’s Sunday, it’s Meet the Press.”
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Brent Baker, the vice president of research and publications for the Media Research Center, explains our weekly pick: “Arrogant until the end. No acknowledgment from Todd that he just might be biased in favor of the Left and against conservatives. Instead, he played the martyr card, portraying himself as the target of misguided criticism which only proves his integrity.”
Rating: THREE out of FIVE SCREAMS.
