A growing number of media reporters come to interviews with an agenda, trying to get the interviewee to reinforce a pre-existing thesis. You hear this a lot on BBC, for example. On CNN tonight Paul Zahn did her best to get any of several students to say they were angry with the administration for not closing the school after the first morning shootings. No student would do this. In fact, one went out of his way to say something close to the opposite. Still, Zahn rephrased questions, added suggestive words, and tried again to get the statement she was determined to get, which would reinforce her own thesis (not theirs). She failed. Hooray for the VT students to resist such biased questioning. Don't reporters know any more that their job is to get the news, not pre-shape it?
Personally I agree the college was amiss in not closing school after the first incident. But as a reporter, if I want to find out what students think, I ask them, I don't put words in their mouths.
There's a late night BBC guy on the radio who is even worse. He drives me up the wall. I only listen because he comes on before a show I want to hear.
P.S. Zahn was followed by Larry King, a first rate reporter who can conduct an interview without bringing a personal agenda to it.
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