Boxing referees have a duty to “prevent a weak boxer from receiving undue and unnecessary punishment.”
Members of the press probably have a similar obligation to the people they interview. The point isn’t to grind a person into pulp. If there’s an obvious problem with an interview subject, or if he’s apparently under the influence or otherwise not in his right mind, it is wrong to hammer away at him like you would someone at the top of his game.
On Tuesday, as former Trump campaign aide Sam Nunberg blitzed newsrooms with free-wheeling interviews, several media personalities fell short of the mark of responsible journalism.
Nunberg appeared first on MSNBC to tell host Katy Tur that he refuses to comply with a grand jury subpoena in the Russia investigation. When that interview broke, newsrooms were left wondering what the hell they had just witnessed. Before that question could be answered, Nunberg taped a second interview with CNN’s Gloria Borger. He then interviewed with NY1’s Josh Robin and CNN’s Jake Tapper.
It was at this point Monday evening that it appeared something was not quite right. The Daily Beast reported “several” of Nunberg’s friends were worried he had been drinking “prior to dialing into MSNBC and CNN.” It was also at this point that it became clear he had nothing new to tell reporters. He was just repeating himself.
If this were a boxing match, a good referee would’ve ended it as a technical knockout. But newsrooms kept booking Nunberg. He appeared next on MSNBC with Ari Melber. The appearance was as strange and worrisome as all the rest. This is to say nothing of the interviews he continued to give throughout the evening to print journalists. Then the one-time Trump campaign aide did his final television appearance with CNN’s Erin Burnett, marking the low point for the day.
“We talked earlier about … whether you were drinking or on drugs or whatever had happened today,” Burnett said. “[T]alking to you, I have smelled alcohol on your breath.”
“I have not had a drink,” he replied.
“I just — because it is the talk out there … let me give you the question so you can categorically answer it: Have you had a drink today?” Burnett asked.
This is bad journalism. First, reporters are called to minimize harm, or so says the Society of Professional Journalists. We are obligated to “balance the public’s need for information against potential harm or discomfort. Pursuit of the news is not a license for arrogance or undue intrusiveness.” We are also called to “avoid pandering to lurid curiosity, even if others do.”
Burnett was aware Nunberg may have been drinking. She had him on anyway, even though there is no journalistic value to what an allegedly drunk person could say about Russia, the Trump White House or anything else for that matter. Her questions about substance abuse also served no public interest. It was just cruel.
All that said, there’s the possibility this episode is really a “spectacular stunt” by a longtime acolyte of the infamous political “dirty trickster” Roger Stone. It’s possible Nunberg did this for attention. It’s possible he always intended to cooperate with Mueller. However, if it’s a stunt, only Nunberg truly knows that. The newsrooms that booked him Monday evening even after reports surfaced alleging he may have been drunk aren’t off the hook for pursuing what appeared to be an unwell man. And if he did somehow dupe them with an act, that’s almost worse.
To host a possibly impaired guest who has nothing new to say is dirty pool. It is also contrary to the rules of responsible journalism.
Full disclosure: This author is a paid contributor with CNN/HLN.
