Members of the press make a great deal of noise these days about the important role their profession plays in safeguarding the republic. They’re not wrong! A free and open press is crucial to the American experiment. That said, it’s amusing every now and then to be given little reminders that many in the news industry don’t quite live up to the lofty ideals expressed by their loudest peers. It’s amusing to be reminded of how several in the press comported themselves between 2008 and 2016.
Consider, for example, an interview published this month by Time magazine titled, “An Obama Confidant Opens Up on Eight Years in the White House.”
The interview is with former deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes, who once boasted to a reporter that he lied regularly to the press to advance the Obama administration’s agenda.
Considering Rhodes is an admitted liar, one would expect Time’s reporter to approach the Obama alumnus carefully, applying a well-earned dollop of scrutiny. But that would be expecting too much. What the reader gets instead is a masterclass in media subservience to a well-connected former bureaucrat.
The following is a list of real questions that the Time reporter asked Rhodes, who is currently on tour promoting his new book, The World As It Is: A Memoir of the Obama White House. None of these questions are made up (I’m not going to bother including Rhodes’ responses):
- Was [former President Obama] the most disciplined person on Earth? Or does it just seem that way given who’s president now?
- Obama’s speeches always articulated ideals. And now we have a president whose speeches never do. Trump’s UN General Assembly speech mentioned “sovereignty” 41 times.
- In the book, Obama says some U.S. voters probably felt they had more in common with Vladimir Putin than with him. Was that prescient?
- Is it surprising that someone so charismatic believed in institutions?
There’s more where that comes from, though the other questions are not as slavishly deferential as the above. Still, they are not exactly hard-hitting either. They include:
- The book is filled with fabulous fly-on-the-wall stuff. I mean, in this case you’re a talking fly, but did Obama read the book, and say yes to all that?
- You seem to be more than just a speechwriter or Deputy National Security Adviser. What was your relationship like with Barack Obama?
- It’s satisfying to read [Obama’s] observations about race and understandable grievance that he never expressed publicly. Were there people telling him at the time, “Maybe it would be useful if you did”?
If the purpose of this interview was to hold the powerful to account, the Time journalist failed with flying colors. If, however, the point was to massage Rhodes’ ego while also heaping praise on former President Obama, well, mission accomplished, I guess.
Let’s hear it for that fearless Fourth Estate.
