Obama, TV and The Z
MIDDAY WITH DAN RODRICKS 88.1 FM, WYPR, WYPO, WYPF NATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO
Wednesday, March 25
Noon-1:00 pm
Some critics found President Obama's press conference last night less than-electrifying, even passionless. After a week in which he made March Madness picks on ESPN and visited Jay Leno on the Tonight Show, the president was careful, almost professorial in his televised exchange with reporters last night. Today on the show, we'll talk about President Obama's first two months in office, where things stand with his costly economic proposals and a $3.6 trillion budget that has some moderate senators from his own party concerned about exploding federal deficits for years to come. Our guests are Brian Wendell Morton, the Baltimore City Paper columnist also known as Political Animal, and Paul West, who covers national politics for the Baltimore Sun. As always, WYPR listeners are invited to call and comment about the president and Washington's efforts to come up with a big fix for the nation's fiancial crisis. Join us for the discussion, or drop us an email at midday@wypr.org
1:00-2:00 pm: President Obama has been on television screens a lot in the last week. The comedian Craig Ferguson says the only way President Obama could get more TV time is if he had eight babies. But, in the midst of an economic crisis and his first budget rollout, with some members of his own party starting to sound alarms about spending and deficits, the president appears to be eager to sell his proposals directly to American television viewers. We'll look at that with Baltimore Sun television critic David Zurawik. The Z will also tells us about an upcoming TV program on another public figure -- the former Baltimore mayor and Maryland governor, William Donald Schaefer. . . Join us for the discussion, or drop us an email at midday@wypr.org
Comments
I felt my blood pressure rising precipitously yesterday as I listened to both hours of Midday. The kind of nitpicking of the Obama tv appearances and press conference you and your guests were engaging in puts you on the same level as Rush Limbaugh -- trivial (and irritating) entertainment. This president, who has the support of the public in record numbers, is doing a fantastic job of trying to tackle serious problems facing this country, and he is doing so in an open and transparent manner. Instead of kvetching about the fact that he used the teleprompter for three minutes at the beginning of his press conference, why not talk about the depth of his understanding of the issues apparent in his 55 minutes of extemporaneous speaking? And complaining that the president is traveling around the country, appearing in public?! That's part of his job, which he is doing very well. I just wish the media would
give a little more thought to what its job is -- to inform about the issues. Let's not bring down this fine president, who has been in office only 65 days and is dealing with unprecedented problems he inherited from others, before he even has a chance.
Posted by: Jean Heimer | March 26, 2009 9:33 AM