Nightline ran an interview with a Russian terrorist last night, and the Russian government had a fit.
Here's the thing. The interview was actually pretty intelligent and well done. It was creepy to see the interviewer sitting next to a cold-blooded murderer asking him why he orchestrated the killings of hundreds of schoolchildren and theatre goers.
And I think it's important for people to see this kind of thing -- it's about getting a fuller perspective on what's going on. Yes, the guy is a murderer and a maniac. But he's also a great example of who The Enemy really is -- and the more we can learn about why he does what he does and how his mind works, the better able we will be to beat him and people like him.
So I say kudos to Nightline for having the chutzpah to air that interview. We need more bold journalism like that in this country -- far too many cable news programs are mere fluff meant to hold your attention between chunks of advertising space, unless they're on Fox News, in which case all of the programs are in some way Republican propaganda orchestrated by Darth Sidious...sorry, Karl Rove.
Let's also not forget that while the Russian government complains about Nightline airing this interview, they're also busy wiping out the limited amount of freedom that their press gained after the fall of the Soviet Union. I don't think we should really be taking lessons from them about proper things for the media to report.
