Via NRO’s Hot Links, Bias author Bernie Goldberg has a good read in today’s WSJ on Iranian President Ahmadinejad’s media savvy:
To his credit, Mike [Wallace] never let up. But in the end all a reporter can do is ask the tough question and let the subject answer. If he doesn’t, you can try again. But at some point, you have to move on.
And that is precisely what Mike and “60 Minutes” should have done. They should have found some people who know the real Mahmoud Ahmadinejad–not the made-for-television, Mr. Rogers version. They should have found some people to fill in the blanks; people who could paint an alternative picture of this man. They should have rounded up a few Iranians living in exile–the ones who must have been throwing shoes at their television sets during the interview–and asked them what really makes him tick.
But there were no exiles in the piece. No Israelis, either. Nor were there any historians, people who would have been able to say that Mr. Ahmadinejad is not the first leader of an undemocratic country to speak in platitudes about how much he longs for peace, justice and fairness. Read “Berlin Diary,” by William L. Shirer, who along with Ed Murrow covered World War II for CBS News, and you’ll learn that Hitler spoke the same way.
Allah at Hot Air has the outtakes.