When a journalist loads a question with their own personal opinion, they are drawing readers to a conclusion before the person being interviewed even gets a chance to express their views. Look at this question from the Washington Post’s Lally Weymouth to Israel’s new Education Minister, Naftali Bennett:
You seem modern and hip — so unlike a person who would take this position on the Palestinians. Do you really think you can just annex this land and just take Area C?
In other words, to be modern and hip is somehow connected to support for a particular policy. On the other hand, positions such as Bennett’s must only be held by those who are simply so uncool, their opinions are not even valid. Weymouth pays Bennett a back-handed compliment, expressing surprise and incredulity that Bennet could hold such a position. But is it Weymouth — the journalist — who should be telling readers what positions are “modern and hip?”
It is commendable that the Post used a format that allowed Bennett’s unedited responses to be published as he said them. But asking questions that pass judgment on the answer is clearly not an objective way to conduct an interview.
[sc:graybox ]You can contact the journalist on Twitter @LallyWeymouth.
Image: CC BY-SA Steve Voght via flickr
