True American Journalism.

Both members of J2T have been on the road lately.... so we didn't have much time to post anything. Yet, that does not mean we don't keep up with the news.

The other day, I watched the two part interview of George Bush on NBC News. Apparently, Brian Williams was attacked by both the right and the left for the way he conducted the interview. Williams reported the criticisms not only on his blog but also on the evening news the next day. I think that's pretty brave.

On the left, Williams was criticized for "allowing Bush to falsely claim that "we delivered" on the promises Bush made during a September 2005 address to the nation in New Orleans". But if you read the transcript of the entire interview, you'll see that Williams was far from complacent.

Then on the right, he was accused of being "disrespectful" in the interview. It seems that people confuse a robust professional interview with showing disrespect. Asking tough questions is what is required of a good journalist. That's what the BBC does well and what a lot of American journalists seem to have forgotten since 9/11. It is something the French journalists still have to learn to do better as their show of deference to the political establishment is a shame.

To conclude, it seems to me that as some of the commentators said on NBC News's blog, if you get some heat from both the right and the left, it probably means that you did a hack of a job!