I’m not entirely sure what it was, but I found hilarious Matt Allen’s tete-a-tete with Bill Rappleye about the latter’s performance during John Robitaille’s press conference announcing his GOP gubernatorial candidacy. Audio here.
On the substance of the discussion, I sorta split the difference. On the one hand, Matt’s concern that Bill holds a personal grudge against a gubernatorial candidate is justified, and placing Bill’s questions in the press conference context of other journalists with an ax to grind about Governor Carcieri’s relationship with select media venues gives the whole thing the sound of hyenas who’ve found the Lion King’s son out rambling in an elephant graveyard. Frankly, the notion that “objective” reporters should be able to disguise their personal feelings has things precisely backwards, if you ask me… readers/viewers/listeners should know that reporter X is ticked that she couldn’t get an interview with a candidate’s former boss.
On the other hand, Bill had a point that his skirmish was a small part of the press conference, and that it’d be helpful to know the origin of the perceived slight. But that points to something that I’m surprised neither Matt nor Bill brought up: Robitaille had no productive way to answer that line of questioning. Even if it were his intention, he couldn’t declare, as a candidate, that he intends to stonewall journalists whom he doesn’t like once he’s elected to office. Moreover, he’s not currently in a position from which he can be expected to badmouth the governor and/or reveal the administration’s strategic discussions.
I’d note, in closing, that Rappleye did say he found Robitaille’s openness and lack of overt political handling to be refreshing.
(Note: Yes, I’m aware that “media” is plural.)