Jodi Kantor gets a grilling from Upper West Side Barnes & Noble patrons about her book, 'The Obamas'
Jodi Kantor.
9:24 am Jan. 12, 201211
It's been a busy, rough week for Jodi Kantor, the New York Times reporter whose new book about the first family, The Obamas, entered the world on Tuesday to mixed reviews and controversy, as the White House aggressively counterspins her narrative.
It started last Friday when a White House spokesman called the book "an overdramatization of old news," and went on to say that Kantor hadn't spoken to either of her subjects in years. Days later, a list of "alleged errors" surfaced in Mike Allen's column in Politico (though the alleged-error-list itself turned out to be somewhat problematic). And yesterday morning, Michelle Obama herself challenged Kantor's reporting during a CBS News interview with Gayle King, suggesting the book innacurately portrays her as "some kind of angry black woman."
One might have expected the dozens who came to hear Kantor speak last night at Barnes & Noble on 82nd Street and Broadway to be a more sympathetic bunch.
Enough of them had shown up by the event's 7 p.m. start time that the crowd was spilling out of the designated seating area on the second floor and into the surrounding stacks. Latecomers huddled around a display table stocked with test prep books, craning their necks for a view of the author as she entertained inquiries from those with seats.
It was one of those curious scenarios in which the person who usually asks the questions suddenly finds herself answering them. For the most part, Kantor, whose latest work is being thoroughly picked apart by the media (with the encouragement of its subjects) was able to take comfort in the warm embrace of the Weekender-subscribing intellectuals of the Upper West Side. But the question-and-answer session that followed her 13-minute talk immediately touched on some of the very topics for which she is under fire.
One person asked how many of the scenes that are reported in the book Kantor had actually been present for and how many were based on accounts from sources, echoing criticism from some of Kantor's detractors in recent days that her reporting isn't thick enough to fill 368 pages of a book that lacks participation from the people it is about.
Kantor, who's reported extensively on the president and first lady for the Times over the past three years but hasn't interviewed either of them since 2009, didn't give an exact count, but rather an example of each type of scene, the first being a visit to the Iowa State Fair in 2008 on which she accompanied the Obamas and the second being an Oval Office meeting that she described as "one of the turning points of the book," in which the matter of Michelle Obama's midterm campaigning was discussed.
"What I did was talk to a whole bunch of people in the room," said Kantor, who wore a casual green dress, from her perch at the lectern. "For some of the most sensitive scenes," like the one where former White House press secretary Robert Gibbs curses out Michelle Obama, "I think I talked to six people who were actually sitting there in that meeting so I could be sure that I had everything right."
Why didn't Kantor get a one-on-one interview with Michelle Obama, the second person to ask a question wanted to know.
Kantor's answer: "The book is reported based on 200 interviews. I talked to about 33 White House aides. When I started the project, I had just gotten an interview with the Obamas. I sat down with them for 40 minutes in the Oval Office. And, you know, a couple of things happened. At first they said that it was a possibility, but at the end of the process—again, I don't want to speak for them ... but I was told that by the end of the process, they did feel that I [already] had this big interview with them that got a lot of attention two years ago."
Short answer: "After the Ron Suskind book came out," which detailed internal rivalries within the White House during its response to the economic crisis, "they stopped giving book interviews."
And what did she have to say about Michelle Obama's remarks to Gayle King? Aside from the "angry black woman" comment, Obama also told King that she had never clashed with her husband's former chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel. (She also said that she had not and would not read the book.)
"The book doesn't really say either of those things," said Kantor. "There's definitely no description of her as an angry black woman. I've never written about her that way. When those charges were leveled against her in the 2008 campaign I was one of the reporters who did the research to get a more accurate description out there. And the other thing is that the book doesn't say that she and Rahm Emanuel clashed directly. So my assumption is that she was responding to some of the coverage. Because some of the coverage of the book has definitely been exaggerated."
It was hard to see who was in the audience, but at least one notable journalist was present: Edward Felsenthal, who recently resigned as executive editor of Tina Brown's NewsBeast.
He wanted to know what comes next for Michelle Obama after the White House.
"The question of what she'll do after the White House is a question of great suspense," said Kantor, though she's pretty sure the first lady's future does not include a Hillary Clinton-style second act. "I really, really, really don't think that's gonna happen."
Propaganda by profiteering "reporter" propagandist tapping into age old America style white supremacy "Sapphire" stereotype does it RIGHT! Reminds me to cancel my subscription to the greys of gray "ladies".... Jodi Kantor is a handsome SHILL that brings out the best in all of us!
Of course the Hillary Clinton-type second act isn't going to happen. All we keep hearing, not just from this book but other sources, for years, is that Michelle feels frustrated by politics and was resistant to all the stresses of campaigning etc.
By the way, does anyone really believe M.O. is NOT going to read this book? Just like it's a stretch to think that Laura Bush never picked up "American Wife."
M.O. is finally proud to be an American just let her be.
I wonder what Ms.Kantor wanted from this book? Was it headlines? ( $$$ ) If so, that's what she got. But at what cost? It's not hard for some to quickly devolve into intellectually easy, simple and reprehensible caricatures of Mrs. Obama, The President or of Black people. She had to know that this would happen. Or maybe she didn't know. Either way, her writing makes her an exploiter of the worst kind as she extracts a pound of gold and a pound of flesh from our collective spirit. This is not to say that The First Lady should not be written about or should not be criticized. A lazy commentator relies on easy paths in telling a story. Playing subtly to stereotypes in a country built on White supremacy and fearful of losing it reveals more about the artist than it does about the art.
Just to think that Jodi's parents Harry and Wendy were partisan hacks for Obama
and now their daughter is writing this dribble
if you have trouble believing this - then start by googling Harry Kantor and see the illegal activities he's had in his life
..
Fred,
Let's refrain from bringing Kantor's parents into this and stick to a discussion of the book and its fallout, shall we?
it's all about da dough...........
just as it's been with her papa
It is so sad that Jodi Kantor took advantage of the Obamas by talking to so many persons, who had varying points of view, yet did not find it proper to confer with the persons characterized in the book. It is obvious that she was more for the money and popularity than for the honest piece of product. (The more controversial the more exciting perhaps). How would she like to have someone explore her background and emerge it with what can be considered fillers for the excitement of selling? Compare the book and information with what former reporters wrote about other presidents and their wives, a piece of political propaganda. It is only fitting if someone now writes a "counter report" and give the truth. By the way, her interview with Piers Morgan also told a story, she would give anything to discredit Mrs. Obama.)
Who cares about Michelle Obama! Just be thankful we don't have the Obama's running our great Country. Maybe free speech isn't so free in the U.S of A. where there is always fallout if you go against the great ones.
Elites covering elites... Inside pool.
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