As if the United Nations hasn’t been enough of a circus this week, with a parade of world leaders granted the microphone to
fulminate, babble, and
explode, the big-time media has been offering a sideshow of its own. In a series of sit-downs with some of the wackier heads of state, they’ve been giving these guys a chance to do the opposite—show their soft side.
First the
Washington Post and
Newsweek got up close and personal with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who appeared “relaxed and confident” and “bantered” with journalists hours before
his virulent attack on Israel, capitalism, and the US before the General Assembly. He assured reporters that Iran had no interest whatsoever in acquiring nuclear weapons, called it a “hilarious” misunderstanding, and, to show his sincerity, offered to let the country’s nuclear experts meet with counterparts from the West.
Then Larry King had a cozy talk with Hugo Chavez, in which the pugnacious Venezuelan president “revealed a deeply personal side,” as CNN put it, carrying on about his fondness for Walt Whitman and
his childhood fantasies of playing for the Yankees. Seriously. He went on to poor-me about a supposed Bush assassination plot, show the love to his security detail, and declare his devotion to Jesus Christ. (This from a guy who’s famous for calling the Catholic Church a tumor.)
To top it off, Moammar Gadhafi, who couldn’t find a place to pitch his tent in New York, despite the best offices of
ambassador Donald Trump, found a comfy spot in the pages of the
Wall Street Journal, where he said he
does feel the pain of the families of the Lockerbie victims, despite the raucous welcome-home party for the released bomber (really, he had
nothing to do with that, it was completely spontaneous). Gadhafi lamented that he didn’t get to see much of Manhattan because of the formidable security cordon around him, and says he really, really likes our nice young president.
I hope these sober journalistic institutions were at least a little bit embarrassed to be publishing this stuff. “Exclusive interview,” CNN said of the Chavez chat, while both the
Journal and the
Post bragged that they had one-hour interviews. A whole hour!
You can imagine the internal dialogue: A big media outlet doesn’t turn down an interview with a head of state, but what do we do if they spout nonsense, or, worse, shameless self-promotion? To be used for bald image-laundering has has gotta be mortifying. Well, maybe not to Larry King.
Caroline Miller is the editor in chief of Newser. She can be reached at cmiller@newser.com.
