Have you seen the “exclusive,” “one-on-one,” and “revealing” interview with Rick Perry featured on today’s Star-Telegram website? It’s a blog post written by former Star-T reporter Kevin Lyons; he now lives in Austin and works for an online insurance company. I’ll summarize it for you: Lyons met Perry accidentally at a physical therapy center in the state capital, Perry had uncharacteristically mussed-up hair, and the guv still doesn’t like journalists. You can decide if this fits your definition of “revealing.”
This is not a jab against Lyons. Unlike its online hype by the newspaper, his blog post is what he sells it as – anecdotal and casual. But I found the whole thing sad for a couple of reasons. 1) Now that the Star-T’s editorial staff has been cut to the bone, they are relying on the blog of an ex-reporter – a person no longer being paid for his journalistic efforts – for a purported “one-on-one” with a top politician. And 2) our governor has to be charmed by an erstwhile reporter in a non-interview setting to answer questions about his press policy. From a journalist’s perspective (and, hopefully, from the public’s), those are the sounds of at least two apocalyptic horsemen approaching.
