B K

Does Gayle King not even pretend to be a journalist? Her "interview" of Atlanta mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms this morning felt as though she was calling up an old high school friend to catch up and grovel, and the audience was merely subjected to the pain of eavesdropping on the conversation ("You look great, by the way.") Its worth noting that it was only Gayle who seemed to treat the interview like a giggle-session whereas the mayor replied in a straightforward fashion that conspicuously avoided matching the tone of partiality evident in her counterpart. If anyone wonders why objective journalism is a dying art, King's performance is one place to begin finding answers. This is what happens to a show when the people with depth, insight, and objectivity (Norah O'Donnell and John Dickerson) move on to bigger and better things. And that's nothing against Anthony Mason or Tony Dokoupil, although they too will also occasionally let slip opinions that are best left to the audience, not the newscasters. Nothing compared to Gayle King's sanctimoniousness, though. Update 7/17/20 - Mayor Bottoms was back on the show this morning but this time she was interviewed by Tony Dokoupil and their conversation had such a strikingly different tenor as compared to the Gayle King "interview". Tony asked pointed questions, challenged the mayor on her answers, and generally guided the conversation in an professional and unbiased fashion.