More Deggans Punditry Than You Can Stand

One of the cool things about being a TV/Media nerd who spends most of his day glued to a TV set and computer screen: Other writers call you when they're working their stories.

So that explains why my pal Matthew Felling, most recently of CBS' now-defunct Public Eye blog, wound up calling me while pulling together a story for American Journalism Review on Morning Joe, the AM concoction MSNBC pulled together when it jettisoned Don Imus.  I'd written a long feature about Scarborough's previous program, Scarborough Country, five years ago -- even then the former Pensacola U.S. Representative resisted the way MSNBC was trying to turn him into a young Bill O'Reilly -- and I was happy to go on a bit about this, much better showcase.

The full extent of my erudition: " "Morning Joe" is not reinventing the wheel, says St. Petersburg Times media writer Eric Deggans. "The tone of the show is not a particularly groundbreaking one. It seems to be a modern-day salon." But, he adds, "It's very hard to do that well. Everybody tries to do something like that. But they've hit on a combination that works. You're hanging out with people who are knowledgeable but hip enough to be fun."

The Wall Street Journal's Washington Wire blog also decided to reference the best line out of my blog post on the whole Geraldine Ferraro mess, just after praising a column by Slate's Mickey Kaus contending that she was right. "If Obama were white, he wouldn't embody hopes of a post-racial future," Kaus wrote, leaving me wondering if that's really why so many people, black and white, are voting for Barack Obama. I think people are looking for the best person to embody a post-Bush future, personally.

I've also done some talking to National Public Radio and the Los Angeles times for longer-term pieces they're doing. It's kinda nice to be appreciated -- even if these big shot outlets don't always agree with me.

Comments

[Gretchen]

The first time I watched Scarborough Country was when the whole Imus thing hit the air & I found him to be very right wing and dare I say "prejustice" b/c he was trying to spin the story by showing hip hop artist & saying they were the cause of the "nappy headed hoe" comment. I was completely turned off by him immediately and also offended.

But I must say that since the show has become Moring Joe, I truly enjoy watching it EVERYDAY. They have changed the format and I feel I get a better sense of Scarborough. I look forward to catching him & Meka every morning @ 6.