美国国家公共电台 NPR Has Hillary Clinton Actually Been Dodging The Press?

Has Hillary Clinton Actually Been Dodging 1 The Press?

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

There has been a lot of criticism of Hillary Clinton for failing to hold press conferences this year. Her last one - back in December. Last night in an interview with CNN, Clinton told Anderson Cooper, "Stay tuned 2. There'll be a lot of different opportunities for me to talk to the press," end quote.

NPR's David Folkenflik is going to help us take a step back here. He's obtained a database from the campaign of all the interviews Hillary Clinton has done, and she has done hundreds. But that's far from the whole story.

DAVID FOLKENFLIK, BYLINE 3: The question comes up a lot. Last Sunday on "Face The Nation," CBS's John Dickerson suggested candidate Clinton was failing to prepare herself to become President Clinton.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "FACE THE NATION ")

JOHN DICKERSON: They're going to need that as a way to communicate with the American people, so why not have a press conference?

FOLKENFLIK: Clinton's campaign manager Robby Mook had a ready reply.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "FACE THE NATION")

ROBBY MOOK: The real question here is whether Secretary Clinton has been taking questions from reporters, which she absolutely has. We went and counted, and she has been in more than 300 interviews with reporters this year alone. I know she's been on...

FOLKENFLIK: And just to be clear, that phrasing wasn't accidental. Mook said it again.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "FACE THE NATION")

MOOK: I don't think it's fair to say that someone is shying away from tough questions when they've taken over 300 interviews from reporters.

FOLKENFLIK: The total is at once true and yet, maybe somewhat misleading, as it includes a lot of very different kinds of interviews. Let's give you a taste. Clinton has granted interviews to NBC's top news anchor Lester Holt.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

LESTER HOLT: President Obama has spent eight years on this and hasn't been able to move the needle. How will you move the needle on race relations?

FOLKENFLIK: CBS Late Night host Stephen Colbert.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "THE LATE SHOW WITH STEPHEN COLBERT")

STEPHEN COLBERT: Thank you for meeting me in the Carnegie Deli...

HILLARY CLINTON: Right.

COLBERT: ...Where they serve, you know, sandwiches as big as a baby's head.

FOLKENFLIK: And Mr. Chase, the host of a midday show on Mix 92.3, a Detroit R&B station.

(SOUNDBITE OF RADIO SHOW, "WMXD MIX 92.3")

MR. CHASE: Your birthday's October 26, right?

CLINTON: Yes, sir.

MR. CHASE: You're basically a water sign. You have tendencies of Libra. You're great at getting people along and creating harmony, but the only thing...

FOLKENFLIK: As I said, it's a pretty broad range. NPR has reviewed and verified the list, which required only minor 4 corrections. From January 1 through the end of July, Clinton has indeed participated in more than 350 interviews. She's also done nine town halls at which she took questions from journalists and members of the public.

Clinton has largely disdained 5 big newspapers. She gave 100 interviews to major television networks in person, by satellite or by phone. Donald Trump 6 has given far more, especially before he cut back this summer. Yet, Betsy Fischer Martin says she was a bit surprised by how many Clinton had done, as it's not her strong suit. Martin is the former executive producer of NBC's Sunday public affairs show, "Meet The Press."

BETSY FISCHER MARTIN: I know notoriously, she hated doing Sunday show interviews. And it was very difficult to get her booked on the show during many periods when she was secretary of state, when she was a U.S. senator, when she was a candidate. It was always a big effort to get her to come on and do a long sit-down interview.

FOLKENFLIK: Martin notes that Clinton was having an unexpectedly hard time dispatching Bernie Sanders in the Democratic primaries.

FISCHER MARTIN: I mean, here's the deal with her, though. She does interviews when it suits her. When they have a message that they want to get out there, they have a point they want to make, then she will do interviews.

FOLKENFLIK: Many of this year's interviews were clustered around key points in the election season - major primaries, the Justice Department's decision not to prosecute 7 her over her handling of emails while secretary of state, the Democratic National Convention, too. Clinton has entertained questions a dozen times in so-called gaggles with the reporters who travel with her. In rare moments, she grants them individual interviews. It's only for five or 10 minutes a piece. Ten minutes sounds like an eternity 8 to Jon Delano. He's the political director of KDKA, the CBS TV station in Pittsburgh.

JON DELANO: The real limitation is on time.

FOLKENFLIK: Delano has interviewed Clinton twice this year - the first time, just for a few minutes.

DELANO: The candidates sometimes give very long-winded answers to questions, and, therefore, you get one or two or three questions in there. And in my case, I like doing follow-up questions.

FOLKENFLIK: Clinton granted 110 local radio interviews. Many to stations serving African-American and Latino listeners, including Mr. Chase the Detroit DJ or this one from Univision Radio.

(SOUNDBITE OF RADIO SHOW, "GOOD DAY NEW YORK")

INO GOMEZ: La senora, secretaria - Madame Secretary Hillary Clinton. Are you there, Mrs. Clinton?

FOLKENFLIK: That's Ino Gomez on "Good Day New York."

(SOUNDBITE OF RADIO SHOW, "GOOD DAY NEW YORK")

CLINTON: I am so happy to be talking to you. I think I have been interviewed on your station about six times, and I'm thrilled to be talking to you again.

GOMEZ: Terrific. All of New York - all of Hispanic New York is listening right now.

FOLKENFLIK: Though sympathetic, Gomez asked questions with both local and national relevance 9 about immigration, Puerto Rico's fiscal 10 crisis and the nation's new relationship with Cuba, so it's a mix. More than 300 interviews? Yes. More than 300 chances for people to ask revealing questions? Absolutely. More than 300 interviews with journalists? In some cases. That depends on your definition. Tonight, I'll drill down on Clinton's interview strategy for a month in the heat of this year's primary season. David Folkenflik, NPR News.