海角大神

Chuck Todd kicked off his tenure as NBC鈥檚 new host for its struggling 鈥淢eet the Press鈥� Sunday TV political talk show.

How did he do? OK, according to snap reviews 鈥� although the bigger challenge may be TV鈥檚 problem with attracting voters burnt out on politics as usual as represented by the usual suspects who typically fill such shows, not to mention younger people who look to other outlets (mostly online) for their news and commentary

Huffington Post senior editor Jack Mirkinson聽describes Todd鈥檚 approach as 鈥渘ot radically different than David Gregory's, but 鈥� certainly livelier, less stuffy.鈥� (Gregory was the 鈥淢eet the Press鈥� host recently fired when MTP 鈥� which had led the pack of Sunday news shows for years under the late Tim Russert 鈥� dropped to third in viewership.)

鈥淚t was like a living room that has been subtly tweaked 鈥� same basic concept, but isn't that a new lamp over there?鈥� Mirkinson writes. 鈥淭he biggest changes were not in content, but in tone鈥�. Todd himself was chattier and funnier than Gregory ever managed to be; more importantly, he eschewed Gregory's tendency towards pomposity. He was engaged (and nicely tough in some places) with Obama 鈥� and he didn't seem too cowed by the task before him.鈥�

Todd had President Obama as his principal guest Sunday, certainly a big deal even though Obama had his own agenda and talking points.

Todd went to the essence of important issues. Immigration, for example, since Obama had just gone back on his pledge to use executive power to effect change now in the face of Republican intransigence 鈥� which brought a firestorm of protest from immigration advocates and critics alike.

"What do you tell the person that's going to get deported before the election that this decision was essentially made in your hopes of saving a Democratic Senate?"聽Todd asked, then came back at Obama鈥檚 lengthy attempt to explain that this is not the case with several pointed follow-up questions.

Observed Politico鈥檚 Dylan Byers: 鈥淥bama had the upper hand in steering the conversation, but Todd elicited some newsy comments from the president on his plans to address the nation regarding the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, on the potential spread of the Ebola virus, and on his struggle with optics 鈥� specifically playing golf after making remarks on [Islamic State militant鈥檚] killing of James Foley.鈥�

鈥淚 should鈥檝e anticipated the optics,鈥� Obama admitted. 鈥淧art of this job is also the theater of it. That鈥檚 not something that always comes naturally to me. But it matters.鈥�

Eric Alterman at The Nation wonders why 鈥渁ny sane person should care who hosts聽Meet the Press?鈥�

鈥淭hey remain influential with the rest of the mainstream media and therefore offer a clue as to how its denizens define their job, but they are not really 鈥榥ews鈥� shows at all,鈥� Alterman writes. 鈥淚nstead, they are branding exercises for network news divisions.鈥�

But writing in The Washington Post the other day, Michael J. Socolow, associate professor of communication and journalism at the University of Maine, listed what he said are 鈥淔ive myths about the Sunday talk shows.鈥�

鈥淭hough often derided as wonky and formulaic, these shows retain value 鈥� journalistic and financial 鈥� in a fractured media world,鈥� Socolow writes.

Among his five myths: 鈥淣obody watches them anymore.鈥�

Socolow points out that 鈥淚n July, the most recent sweeps period, ABC News鈥檚 鈥淭his Week With George Stephanopoulos鈥澛燼veraged聽2.7 million viewers.聽This exceeds the combined print and digital subscribers of the Sunday New York Times (slightly more than 2.5 million) and nearly matches viewership of the Fox News Channel鈥檚 鈥淭he O鈥橰eilly Factor鈥� (2.8 million聽average聽in July), the top-rated program on the top-rated cable news network.鈥�

Another myth: 鈥淭he shows don鈥檛 make news; guests just recite talking points.鈥�

Part of Socolow鈥檚 rebuttal: 鈥淲hen Vice President Biden 鈥榓ccidently鈥� told David Gregory on 鈥楳eet the Press鈥� in May 2012 that he was聽鈥渁bsolutely comfortable鈥澛爓ith same-sex marriage, the so-called gaffe was immediately (and correctly) read by the Washington press corps for what it was: an attempt to declare support for gay marriage while preserving deniability about a policy change in an election year. It worked.鈥�

And a third myth: 鈥淣o one will be as good as Tim Russert.鈥�

To which Socolow replies: 鈥淵es, each host is unique, and none will possess the singular attributes of Russert, whose shadow still looms over 鈥楳eet the Press.鈥� But recall that when Lawrence Spivak retired as the show鈥檚 host in 1975, many believed that he, too, was irreplaceable.鈥�

鈥淎rguing that there will never be another Russert misses the point,鈥� he continues. 鈥淭here was never another Edward R. Murrow or Walter Cronkite, but Roone Arledge and Peter Jennings successfully reinvented the nightly newscast, while today Brian Williams continues to transform the anchor model. And were Russert still with us, he probably would have updated his show for our social-media-driven time.鈥�

Chuck Todd probably is feeling pretty good about today鈥檚 performance. But he realizes that 鈥淢eet the Press鈥� still is in third place, and it鈥檒l take more than today鈥檚 opening 鈥� much more 鈥� to change that.

鈥淭o be sure, the true test will come next Sunday, when he doesn鈥檛 have a presidential booking to fall back on,鈥� says Politico鈥檚 Dylan Byers. 鈥淏ut already the show feels more lively and engaging.鈥�