Watching Charles Gibson's interview with Sarah Palin has given me a new respect for the Alaskan Governor - Vice Presidential Candidate. I thought she stood up well for herself. It's not easy being drilled with questions asking you about your qualifications and beliefs; especially when your interviewer has to remain neutral and therefore cannot be on your side. However, I do think Gibson was a little less than neutral. At points he seemed to be attacking her. Also, the three camera angles during the interview appeared to work to the advantage of the program when it came time to editing. It may have just been the way some of the cuts between the cameras were, but there appeared to my eyes to be many jump cuts that attempted to make Gov. Palin not look as good in the eyes of the viewers.
I understand that it takes energy to separate the journalist at work and the person with beliefs at home. At the same time, I believe it is very important to stay in that middle ground, which never seems to happen. Some programs don't even pretend to try to act neutral or seem neutral. Others lean ever so slightly to one side or the other, but you can almost always find the line that is crossed to enter into biased reporting.
I do feel the need to give kudos to Gov. Palin for standing her ground and not swaying when put to the test. I noticed when she became frustrated, but she handled the sitation in a manner that showed she was not going to waver under pressure. Of course, pressure from one journalist and pressure from an entire country and even foreign countries are extremely different matters. I am, of course, keeping a close eye on her and the rest of the candidates, but so far, she is doing a good job at presenting herself in a good light and boosting Senator McCain. She, thus far, has my interest.