On ABC, CBS and Fox, a Whole Lotta Cross-Pollination Going On
By Lisa de Moraes
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We think Tim Russert has found a surefire way to get more viewers for his weekend CNBC show.
Book Bill O'Reilly as a guest with fill-in-the-blank from the New York Times.
Fox News Channel's chief talking head was invited to "chat" with Paul Krugman, New York Times columnist and author of "The Great Unraveling," after one of the "Tim Russert Show" producers learned that O'Reilly had issued a challenge to any New York Times reporter or columnist to engage in a debate with him.
"Eureka!" we're sure this producer must have shouted -- at least in his or her head -- knowing that Krugman was scheduled to appear on Russert's CNBC show anyway this weekend to discuss his book. The producer offered Krugman the opportunity to be that person; he agreed, a show rep assured the TV Column.
According to a transcript of their "conversation," a copy of which was given to the TV Column, it was everything you'd expect.
O'Reilly called Krugman a "quasi-socialist"; Krugman called that "slander" and said if he is a quasi-socialist then O'Reilly is a "quasi-murderer"; O'Reilly pronounced Michael Moore's "Fahrenheit 9/11" a bit of "Nazi propaganda" that reinforced all of Krugman's "paranoid delusions"; Krugman insisted Moore's flick was "flawed" but was made by "a guy who really does love this country"; Russert hardly got a word in edgewise; and a good time was had by all. One of those exchanges that make you so proud to be a journalist.
During their give and take -- okay, maybe it's more accurate to say push and shove, or slap and smack -- O'Reilly would periodically accuse Krugman of not letting him get in a sentence, or words to that effect.
So we counted and, according to The Washington Post TV Team Transcript Tally, O'Reilly actually got in 321 sentences during the "debate," to Krugman's 258.
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