…And Now a Few Words from the Hosts
They have well-earned reputations as two of the toughest interviewers in town. Both celebrate big milestones this year. And as we found out, Emily Rooney and Jim Braude prove just as provocative when they’re the ones fielding the questions.
Compared with what you’re used to getting from other local TV news, watching Jim Braude on NECN or Emily Rooney on WGBH is a bit like opening the oven after it’s been on for a while: The heat smacks you right in the face. The two are among the city’s most unrelenting interviewers, happy to pepper their respective guests with questions and then grill them thoroughly if the answers lack the appropriate zest. And at a time when Boston media in general is growing meeker—the Globe and the Herald seem to be shrinking with each passing day, Natalie Jacobson is off the air, and once mighty WRKO is practically dead—that doggedness never fails to provide a welcome shock to the system.
Rooney, who this year celebrates her 10th anniversary as host of WGBH’s Greater Boston, is an Emmy winner who once worked as the executive producer of ABC World News Tonight. Braude served as a Cambridge city councilor before leaving politics for NECN, where he, too, won an Emmy. He marks his fifth anniversary with the cable station this month, and also cohosts a daily talk-radio show on WTKK with Herald columnist Margery Eagan. But though their backgrounds are different, when it comes to their profession Rooney and Braude are mirror images: aggressive and unapologetic hosts who’ve earned reputations as two of Boston’s most feared (and surprisingly funny) interlocutors. And when they’re on the other side of the table, as we discovered, they can take it as well as they dole it out.
I’ve been on both your shows, and it’s not easy. Do you realize how direct you two are? It can be intimidating.
Emily Rooney: I think I’m a lot sweeter than Jim.
Jim Braude: I think you are, too.
I think we’re all in agreement on that. But when you’re trying to get information out of people, and maybe you have someone on the show who isn’t used to that style, do you ever consider easing up on the waterboarding?
Braude: If you can’t defend your position on an issue, you shouldn’t talk about it. That’s the bottom line. I’m not empathetic. If someone is unprepared or can’t make their case, my attitude is: Bury them.
Rooney: I try to balance the discussion, but it doesn’t always work. I’m constantly getting admonished, “Emily, you’re supposed to be objective.” Where’s that in my job description? [To Braude:] I’m much evener than you are.
Braude: I don’t agree with that at all. While everybody knows what my opinion is, I think I’m incredibly fair to both sides. My view is that when you do what we do, having to hide your opinion is almost disingenuous. The notion that [PBS journalist] Jim Lehrer—and I know he’s wildly talented—does not vote because it’s allegedly going to affect his ability to be objective is the most embarrassing pronouncement by a serious newsperson. What? Because if we don’t vote, we do our jobs better? That is insane.
Rooney: There are a lot of people who feel that way.
Rooney, who this year celebrates her 10th anniversary as host of WGBH’s Greater Boston, is an Emmy winner who once worked as the executive producer of ABC World News Tonight. Braude served as a Cambridge city councilor before leaving politics for NECN, where he, too, won an Emmy. He marks his fifth anniversary with the cable station this month, and also cohosts a daily talk-radio show on WTKK with Herald columnist Margery Eagan. But though their backgrounds are different, when it comes to their profession Rooney and Braude are mirror images: aggressive and unapologetic hosts who’ve earned reputations as two of Boston’s most feared (and surprisingly funny) interlocutors. And when they’re on the other side of the table, as we discovered, they can take it as well as they dole it out.
I’ve been on both your shows, and it’s not easy. Do you realize how direct you two are? It can be intimidating.
Emily Rooney: I think I’m a lot sweeter than Jim.
Jim Braude: I think you are, too.
I think we’re all in agreement on that. But when you’re trying to get information out of people, and maybe you have someone on the show who isn’t used to that style, do you ever consider easing up on the waterboarding?
Braude: If you can’t defend your position on an issue, you shouldn’t talk about it. That’s the bottom line. I’m not empathetic. If someone is unprepared or can’t make their case, my attitude is: Bury them.
Rooney: I try to balance the discussion, but it doesn’t always work. I’m constantly getting admonished, “Emily, you’re supposed to be objective.” Where’s that in my job description? [To Braude:] I’m much evener than you are.
Braude: I don’t agree with that at all. While everybody knows what my opinion is, I think I’m incredibly fair to both sides. My view is that when you do what we do, having to hide your opinion is almost disingenuous. The notion that [PBS journalist] Jim Lehrer—and I know he’s wildly talented—does not vote because it’s allegedly going to affect his ability to be objective is the most embarrassing pronouncement by a serious newsperson. What? Because if we don’t vote, we do our jobs better? That is insane.
Rooney: There are a lot of people who feel that way.
