Meet The Press (MTP) Essays Example

The purpose of this paper is to critically examine and review two programs of repute that are aired on American televisions. These are shows that focus on dealing with major political and national issues with the hope of providing more information to a national audience base.

Meet the Press (MTP) is the NBC’s weekly news and interview program that is aired on Sundays. The first episode was run on November 6, 1947. Although it was presented according to the same format of MTP, the name of the show and some of its features were different from the current version. Therefore, it is viewed as the longest-running program in American history.
MTP interviews national icons and popular figures in the United States. Unlike its rival show, Face the Nation, MTP has a broader scope and it interviews people on matters that range from politics, foreign policy, public affairs and economics. It is a panel show and there are panelists who provide analysis and reviews of the questions that are presented by the moderator, Chuck Todd.
The main achievement of MTP is that it was the first to interview a sitting US president, Gerald Ford and this was shown live on November 9, 1975.
The longevity of Meet the Press is illustrated when one considers that the program debuted during what was only the second official "network television season" for American television. One historical landmark of the program is that it was the first on which a sitting U.S. president, Gerald Ford, appeared on a live television network news program, which occurred on the November 9, 1975, broadcast.
MTP is an hour-long program and it is ran on Sunday mornings at 9:00 am for viewers on the East Coast. This is competitive and it coincides with the showing of FTN which is also a rival program that is shown at 10:00 am. The show is rebroadcast on Sundays at 2:00pm and on Monday morning at 4:00am.
One of the features of MTP is that it is very dynamic and unlike FTN which is more conservative and follows a particular format, there are numerous changes and variations that occur. One of the variations is that MTP could be aired as a one-on-one interview or as a panel discussion. The panelists are always chosen carefully and they all ask different questions that might reflect the realities of the situation more appropriately.
Unlike FTN where a conventional summary of key pointers are presented in a somewhat simple manner, MTP shows more modernization. The section known as Nerdscreen involves the presentation of data and facts in a way and manner that shows trends and important formations and matters that are relevant to the discussion. This allows the viewers to get an idea of the bigger picture and the variations of the high-tech screen implies that there are better expression of facts and ideal discussions of matters that keeps the least informed viewer about the realities of what is going on. This can make the program more interesting and more cooperative.
Viewer comments are also encouraged and there are a lot of messages viewers can present before the show. Finally, MTP seeks to promote and enhance their broadcasts online. They show full episodes live online and this seeks to promote some degree of flexibility and integrate technological advancement.

Face the Nation (FTN)

Face the Nation (FTN) is a show that focuses on political reporting and it airs from Washington with a national approach to all the questions and activities. It is moderated by Bob Schieffer and it airs on Sundays on CBS. Schieffer started moderating the show in 1991. The show started being aired on television in 1954 and it is the longest running political reporting show on television in the United States.
FTN’s format is to interview a newsmaker and ask questions on the most recent events in the political and social spheres of the United States. This is done on Sunday and it has been a popular program due to the date and time that it airs. Until recently, the show used to last for 30 minutes. However, after 2012, the duration was extended to 60 minutes to allow more depth and a broader scope of questions and matters. Each show ends with a short topical commentary when the entire interview is completed.
The show is broadcast from CBN’s Washington, DC studios. This is a good location for contacting top political figures and getting in touch with national icons who have made news and have hit the headlines of major American newspapers.
Bob Schieffer always sets the program rolling by introducing the guests on his show. After the introduction, he normally reads out a quote or states something that the guest is connected to or is involved with. The guest in turn provides an explanation to his motives and convictions and the conversations and discussions commences from that point.
The show is run by a team of CBN news broadcasters and they are all entitled to come in and ask questions as and when they have to. Bob Schieffer sits at the head of the table whilst five of the CBN news broadcasters sit on both sides of the table and the guest sits in the middle of two of the broadcasters on one side of the table. There are multiple cameras that are used to capture different angles of the submission made by all the members of the team. Thus, Bob Schieffer acts as the moderator of these different broadcasters and interest group members who are all knowledgeable and represent different aspects of the American society and ask questions related to these different interest groups. Thus, the guest on the show will have to take questions from different aspects of society and the most troubling and the most problematic matters are presented to this as a means of providing a broad representation of the scope of issues the American people will be interested in getting answers about.
The time the show is aired is 10:30 am Eastern Standard Time and other affiliates to CBN air it a few hours later. Local affiliates are encouraged to show FTN before midday on Sunday and there is an audio version on the CBN Radio Network. The stated aim of the show is to inform and provide major views of important events and happenings in the United States.
The idea and the time is chosen as a strategic tool to get the American people to digest the stories behind the broader scope of the news presented on television news. Therefore, there are numerous interest groups who ask critical questions and there are also the journalists and CBS news anchors who provide insights and contributions. Some make comments and suggestions whilst others tend to disagree with the guests. Thus, the guest will have to ultimately say what his views are and what he thinks of the question or issue under discussion at any given point in time.
The principle of interviewing newsmakers on FTN has come with several criticisms. A group of academics stated that this approach is detrimental to US’s fundamental principles because they tend to interview people who have questionable lifestyles and questionable reputations. However, most people appreciate the depth of the discussions and the fact that it provides an insight into some of the deepest and the most important issues in the American society.

Works Cited

Liebes, Tamar, Zohar Kampf and Shoshana Blum-Kulka. “Saddam on CBS and Arafat on IBA Interviewing the Enemy on Television.” Political Communication 25(3) (2008): 311-329.
Schieffer, Bob. Face the Nation: My Favorite Stories from the First 50 Years of the Award. New York: Simon and Schuster, 2013.