NBC defends Jones interview
MEGYN Kelly responded to a slew of criticisms over the upcoming broadcast of her interview with Alex Jones, saying the purpose is to “shine a light” on a man who’s earned President Donald Trump’s respect despite his “personally revolting” denial of the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre.
The sit-down interview, scheduled to air on Sunday, prompted a major advertiser to reportedly pull out its advertisements and angered relatives of those who died in the 2012 massacre in Newtown, Connecticut, which Jones has dismissed as a government hoax to push for tougher gun laws.
In a statement on Tuesday, a day after an anti-gun group created by family members of Sandy Hook victims dropped Kelly as a host in its annual gala, Kelly said she understands the event organisers’ decision but added that she’s disappointed.
“I find Alex Jones’s suggestion that Sandy Hook was ‘a hoax’ as personally revolting as every other rational person does,” Kelly said. “It left me, and many other Americans, asking the very question that prompted this interview: How does Jones, who traffics in these outrageous conspiracy theories, have the respect of the president of the United States and a growing audience of millions?”
She added that one of the goals of the interview is to discuss “the considerable falsehoods he has promoted with near impunity”.
Liz Cole, executive producer of Sunday Night with Megyn Kelly, echoed the host in an interview with CNN’s Dylan Byers. She said people shouldn’t make any judgments until they see the interview, which is meant to challenge the rightwing provocateur about his conspiracy theories.
“We’re not just giving him a platform,” Cole said, adding that “viewers will see Megyn do a strong interview where she challenges him appropriately. . . . That’s the benefit of putting him out there. When someone actually sits down and asks him questions and he has to come up with an- swers – there’s value to that.”
NBC released a 90-second preview of the interview on Sunday. As criticism poured in, JPMorgan Chase reportedly pulled its local television and digital ads from all NBC News programming until after the interview airs, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Sandy Hook Promise, a foundation created by relatives of some of the victims of the 2012 shooting, also dropped Kelly as a host for its gala, scheduled for yesterday in Washington.
Jones himself wants NBC to pull the plug on the interview, saying the network used deceptive editing to misrepresent his views on Sandy Hook.
Jones, a star in the right-wing media universe, reaches millions through his radio show and his website, Infowars.com. The site had 4.5 million unique page views in the past month, and more than 5 million from mid-April to mid-May, according to Quantcast. His YouTube channel has more than 2 million subscribers.
Trump, who has appeared on Infowars, once called Jones a “nice guy” and hinted that their mind-set align. Infowars was even given temporary White House press credentials last month.
Cole said that level of influence is one of the reasons the new show interviewed Jones.
“He’s a controversial figure for sure, but as journalists it’s our job to interview newsmakers and people of influence no matter how abhorrent their views may be,” she told CNN.
But critics see the interview as a way of normalising Jones, a polarising figure who has called the 9/11 terrorist attacks an inside job and peddled a conspiracy theory that Hillary Clinton and her campaign chairman, John Podesta, ran a child sexabuse ring out of a Washington pizza restaurant.
Erica Lafferty, daughter of slain Sandy Hook principal Dawn Hochsprung, called the interview “sickening”. Her sister, Cristina Hassinger, tweeted this on Monday:
“This is what happens when you put the spotlight on conspiracy theorists, @megynkelly. Harassment of victims. Riveting, isn’t it?”
Nelba Márquez-Greene, whose 6-year-old daughter was killed, doesn’t buy NBC’s pre-emptive defence.
“Sounds like something you say when you put profit and controversy over people,” she told the Washington Post via text message on Tuesday. “And the fact that Megyn Kelly hasn’t responded speaks volumes.”
Márquez-Greene told the Post on Monday that she wants to speak personally with Kelly, either on or off the air.
“If they’re going to do the interview, fine,” she said. “But then give us equal airtime to express how dismaying this is.”
She also said she doesn’t plan to watch the interview on Sunday.