An Extraordinary Interview

I have a growing belief that the best television journalism being done today is coming out of the sports world. ESPN frequently has more intelligent and thoughtful discussions about race, gender, and the actual impact of the so-called “culture wars” in a week than any of the big three cable news shows will have in an entire year. And I have long believed that Bob Costas, who has worked for NBC Sports virtually his entire career, is the best journalist on television today.

If you doubt that last part, watch this Today Show segment, which covers a phone interview that Costas did the previous evening with accused Penn State pedophile Jerry Sandusky. (The interview has some disturbing content, so be warned.) The headline is about how horrid a job Sandusky did at defending himself. But from my perspective, it was one of the best interviews that I’ve ever seen, especially considering the touchy content, the fact that Costas was given very little warning that he would be talking to Sandusky directly (he was interviewing Sandusky’s lawyer, when the lawyer suggested that they talk to Sandusky directly), and the shocking things that Sandusky was saying.

In particular, Costas managed to keep Sandusky talking and answering questions without hounding him and without making himself out to be a Sandusky supporter. Costas maintained his own professional integrity throughout the interview, neither excusing Sandusky’s behavior, nor condoning it. He asked fairly straight-forward questions and gave Sandusky plenty of time to answer–and plenty of rope to hang himself. When Sandusky dodged a question at the beginning of the interview, about what Mike McQueary saw in the locker room shower, Costas went on to a different question. A few minutes later, he came back to the McQueary question, asked in a different way, and got the answer.

It was a beautiful interview, on a disgusting topic. With a lesser interviewer, Sandusky could have easily come across as wrongfully persecuted or would have stormed away from the phone after the first couple questions and not answered anything. Thanks to Bob Costas, Sandusky came across like what he probably is: a desperate, and desperately guilty, man.