Tom Shales: “Matt Lauer Is No Mike Wallace”

Ouch. The Washington Post‘s Tom Shales writes about Matt Lauer‘s interview with Sen. Larry Craig:

“Lauer was anything but hard-hitting or confrontational with the Idaho Republican”

“Lauer’s like a virgin veteran, an old hand who seems inexperienced.”

“Lauer wore his concerned, caring face throughout the interview, but he appeared to be an actor in a role, with every facial expression, gesture and use of props (a pair of glasses, a pen) calculated for effect.”

“Lauer needs to worry less about his own image and more about getting valuable information when conducting an interview”

But Shales does praise that other NBC News anchor… sort of:

“The interview was plugged for two nights in a row by Brian Williams on his otherwise exemplary ‘NBC Nightly News.’”

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