Armen Keteyian’s blink-and-you-missed-it “interview” with embattled Penn State assistant coach / ineffective whistle blower Mike McQueary on CBS Tuesday didn’t quite live up to the former’s promise of “an open window to his (McQueary’s) emotions)”, and in the considered view of the New York Daily News’ Bob Raissman, promotion for said encounter qualified as “nauseating hype”.
Criticism immediately came down on Keteyian. He defended himself on Twitter, saying: “I didn’t ‘hype’ anything, exclusive or otherwise. Honest about what we got — a glimpse into his ‘shaken’ emotions. What? We don’t run it?”
Keteyian was correct — in a cockeyed sort of way. He didn’t “hype” the interview, the suits he works for did. And knowing in advance that he came up empty (unless seeing McQueary’s face on camera is a big deal), they still hung Keteyian out to dry by overselling what amounted to a photo opportunity.
If CBS, like other networks, can use its newscasts to air promos, disguised as news stories, for its prime-time entertainment programs, then the McQueary spot deserved to air, too. It just should’ve been put in its proper perspective. It was a few seconds of (very) small talk — a glorified “No comment.”
McQueary was far from “shaken.” He looked calm. Better if he flipped and told Keteyian “to get the hell off my property.” At least that would’ve passed for legit news.
Wednesday, Keteyian told a Washington, D.C. radio station that if “ABC or NBC or CNN or ESPN had that moment with Mike McQueary, they would have played it just like we played it.” What he meant to say was these other networks are capable of delivering the same garbage CBS did.