Wolf Blitzer: "That's what I try to do, make news."

[geek tragedy]

<snip>
BLITZER: The reason I ask was it a mistake because in our latest CNN/"USA Today"/Gallup poll, we asked this question, has the war in Iraq made the U.S. safer from terrorism? Thirty-four percent said yes. Fifty-seven percent said no. How would you answer that question?

CLINTON: Oh, I would agree with that. I don't think -- I never thought it had much to do with the war on terror, except that we were looking to see if there were biological and chemical agents there.

I thought we should have done that. I thought the U.N. inspections were well-advised. But it was clearly not going to have anything to do with al Qaeda. They had never been involved before and that was where our focus, I thought, should have been.

So I would agree with that. But independent of that, we are there now, and there now are terrorists operating there. And there is a clear majority of people in Iraq who are supporting the idea that their country should be free, independent and at peace. And they're trying to come up with a constitution and we're trying to train the security and the military forces.

So I think -- that's what I hope we can do, and do it successfully. And if we can do that, then our people can come home.

BLITZER: So I assume that the answer is, yes, the war was a mistake. Is that your answer? CLINTON: You're trying to get me to make news, and I'm trying to educate people. It doesn't matter whether it was a mistake to go in or not at the time. I thought we should have let the U.N. inspectors finish.

We are where we are. We can't undo what has happened. Fifty-eight percent of Iraqis voted in the last election. That's more than we had turn out in 2004. And we've got a lot of good people there working hard to train the security forces and the military forces.

My answer is, whether it was a mistake or not, we are where we are and we ought to try to make this strategy succeed, support that strategy. It's the only option that will get us out in an honorable way, having made these sacrifices mean something.

BLITZER: That's my job. I'm a newsman. That's what I try to do, is make news. And you try to avoid news. That's your job.
<snip>

Yes, at CNN a person's job is to manufacture news, as witnessed by their runaway bride coverage, Schiavo coverage, etc etc.

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0508/11/sitroom.01.html

[BlueEyedSon]

1. Since when did a newsman's job morph from REPORTING the news

to MAKING the news???

[geek tragedy]

2. Welcome to the new age of yellow journalism! eom

[johnfunk]

3. "The Situation Room?" It's more like "The Rubber Room"!

Mind you, a Rubber Room pimped out with plasma screens and a couple Avid video workstations.

The only two good things about "The Situation Room": no more Bob Novak (thank Dobbs), and those two hot Vassar chicks who cover the blogs.

[TheSubliminableKid]

5. Imagine what they could've bought with the cash they spent on that set

It could have paid for more people to actually pursue news stories - or maybe raises for a few people.

I wouldn't be surprised if CNN employees refer to the show as "The Shitty Wages Room."

[AlGore-08.com]

4. What's Wolfie mean by it's Clinton's "job" to avoid making news?

Even if that were true, in some bizarro universe... why would you invite somebody who's "job" it was to avoid making news onto a news interview program, fer Crimmineysakes.

That trival matter to one side... Wolfie's grasp of what his "job" is pretty slim, even if you assume that he meant "I report the news"... how does trying to trip up your interview subject in this way constitute making and/or reporting news? How much more surface can you get?

[Catherine Vincent]

6. Wolf was being a smart ass.

I saw that interview and he was trying to pin Clinton on that question. Clinton probably wanted to slap him but held back. :-)

[AlGore-08.com]

7. But the larger point is Wolfie thinks "news" is a pol giving a sound byte

Rather than anything remotely resembling analysis or investigative journalism. Let's say, just for the sake of argument, Wolfie had gotten Clinton to say "The war was a mistake". How is that "news"? That's "opinion" at best - - especially given the fact that Clinton's out of office. It means no more or no less than if Jimmy Carter said "The war was necessary" (which is never going to happen).

Opinion or spin should not be presented as fact, and a reporter's job used to be to test them against the facts. Instead of facts, Wolfie used more opinion (polls) to try to bully Clinton into saying the war was a mistake. But just because a war (or anything else) is unpopular, that doesn't mean it's a mistake. The U.S. involvement in World War II was extremely unpopular until after Pearl Harbor. Ending segregation was extremely unpopular. Etc., etc., etc.

The real reason Clinton saying "The war was a mistake" would be "news" is because his wife voted for the d*mn thing. Forcing Clinton to call that vote a mistake would embarrass her politically, and would provide an excuse to gossip about the state of their marriage - - all of which is tabloid journalism, not "news".