Megyn Kelly v. Alex Jones: The Free Press Always Wins
Neil Foote, President & Founder, Foote CommunicationsMegyn Kelly's interview with the outspoken alt-right conservative Alex Jones is playing into all of our worse fears. At the end of the day, both Kelly, NBC, Alex Jones and his InfoWars get what they want: High visibility to their programming and brands.Let's be honest: Kelly's interview with Putin was a flop. Anyone of the other NBC correspondents could have done as good or better to get Putin to reveal greater insights about his relationship with President Trump and his perpetual sketchiness about whether he tampered with the U.S. Presidential elections. NBC and Kelly need to drive eyeballs to compete against the juggernaut of CBS' 60 Minutes.Alex Jones is feeding off distrust of the media fueled by this presidential administration and other conservative media outlets who prefer to perpetuate "fake news" as a norm. The disturbing reality is that it is Jones who is among those at the front of the line in sharing rumor, innuendo and falsities.
What all this means - beyond this Kelly-Jones episode - is that all journalists at the major media outlets must not cower to these ongoing attempts to discredit and undermine their role to ask questions. Journalists can not sit back and hide behind a cautious veil, afraid to challenge authority and remain relentlessly curious. If anything, journalists have to brush off these vapid arguments that we are "enemies of the people." For all those who think our current free press is an evil force, I invite them to ask the citizens of Russia, China and almost three quarters of the countries in this world where this is no free press. I ask those who are questioning why Megyn Kelly should not interview Alex Jones to step back, take a breath and be grateful that journalists are confronting a person who represents a very ugly segment of America who is purporting hate and misinformation.The families at Sandy Hook have every right to vocalize their discontent about this interview. But that's one of the great reasons we live in this country. It is gravely disturbing, however, that some of these families have been harassed because some people choose to believe the myths perpetuated by Jones who has now backed off his early comments about the horrific incident.This Kelly-Jones incident reaffirms the critical need for journalists to remain independent, and dig in their heels about their roles in the country. This country is based on a democracy grounded in the marketplace of ideas, allowing for an open discourse of issues with which we may not all agree. Journalists, like Kelly and networks, like NBC, must remain vigilant to uphold the highest standards. Journalists must ward off the critics accusing them of promoting political correctness when the journalists' fundamental role is to doggedly question government officials and increasing so nowadays, conspiracy theorists. [author]About the Author: Neil Foote is a veteran journalist and media executive. He draws from his experience at the Miami Herald, Washington Post, Belo Corporation and Tom Joyner’s Reach Media. He also teaches digital and social media for journalists, media management and business journalism at the University of North Texas’ Frank W. & Sue Mayborn School of Journalism and runs Foote Communications, a media consulting firm. The native of Brooklyn, NY also is president of the board for the National Black Public Relations Society and founder of PoliticsInColor.com. [/author]
