What's Changed Exactly?

Michael Calderone unloads on Palin:

Yesterday, on Hugh Hewitt's show, Sarah Palin -- who declined to tell Katie Couric the name of one periodical she reads -- talked about the decline of the Fourth Estate.

HH: Now Governor, the Gibson and the Couric interview struck many as sort of pop quizzes designed to embarrass you as opposed to interviews. Do you share that opinion?

SP: Well, I have a degree in journalism also, so it surprises me that so much has changed since I received my education in journalistic ethics all those years ago. But I’m not going to pick a fight with those who buy ink by the barrelful. I’m going to take those shots and those pop quizzes and just say that’s okay, those are good testing grounds. And they can continue on in that mode. That’s good. That makes somebody work even harder. It makes somebody be even clearer and more articulate in their positions. So really I don’t fight it. I invite it.

So what exactly changed since Palin received her journalism degree from the University of Idaho, just over two decades ago? Were Vice Presidential candidates like Lloyd Bentsen and Dan Quayle not subjected to scrutiny by the political press? Was there a time when Vice Presidential candidates weren't asked questions about their positions on foreign and domestic issues -- as was done in the Couric and Gibson interviews? What was the pop quiz question?

One difference from 20 years ago might be that a no candidate seeking the Vice Presidency has ever been as shielded from the press corps following her, and resistant to answer questions on the trail.

Of course, to Palin its all "gotcha" journalism, even when the question comes from a voter. And Palin, and McCain, will simply continue decrying the treatment they get in the media to sympathetic listeners as long as they can.

Wednesday, October 1, 2008