Barack Obama continues to avoid press conferences in favor of protective liberal softball venues. He's appearing on NBC with Jay Leno and with Brian Williams. (Quiz: which interviewer will be softer? It's anybody's guess.)
On Friday, Obama's doing another razzle-dazzle appearance on MTV with black veejay Sway Calloway. They're calling it “Ask Obama Live: An MTV Interview With the President” at 5 pm Friday from the White House. MTV’s Andrew Jenks will be posted at a Washington college with students who have questions. The Washington Post says the network will focus on "jobs, the cost of college, rising student-loan debt, such social issues as LGBTQ rights and immigration."
West Coast viewers will see a tape-delayed telecast of the special, which also will be run on MTV2, mtvU, MTV Hits and MTV Jams, and MTV’s network Web site and mobile platform. MTV invited Romney to his own event, which he will naturally decline (if he's going to skip Nick News, he's going to sidestep the landmines on MTV).
The Hollywood Reporter spins subtly that NBC is featuring Obama (without quite mentioning that NBC's owner Comcast is a major corporate booster of Obama, both in contributions and in on-air contributions):
NBC's newest star is none other than President Obama.
After announcing that the commander in chief will appear on the Tonight Show on Wednesday, the network then revealed that NBC News cameras will accompany Obama on a tour of seven swing states; anchor Brian Williams will interview the president at one point during the trip, as well.
Footage from the exclusive event -- Obama has yet to give such extensive access to any other network -- will be spread throughout NBC's broadcasts. Clips will appear on The Nightly News on Wednesday, Oct. 24, and both the evening newscast and the Today Show on Thursday, Oct. 25. A bulk of the footage will air on Thursday night's Rock Center.
Yes, it's that Brian Williams, the bowing "Thank you, sir" interviewer. (Listen to the clapping enthusiasm of the handshake!)
Obama is also in talks, as is Romney, about being interviewed on the eve of Election Day, during halftime of “Monday Night Football.”
Four years ago, Obama and John McCain sat for separate interviews that ran during halftime.
