NBC News Reporter Addresses Critics Accusing Her of Ableism in Fetterman Interview: We Did Not ‘Comment on His Fitness for Office’
NBC News’ Dasha Burns defended her interview with John Fetterman from those who accused her or being ableist or unfair with her framing on the Pennsylvania Democratic Senate candidate.
Burns conducted her interview with Fetterman for NBC Nightly News, wherein his campaign required that he have a computer on hand to provide closed-captioning for Burns’ questions. Fetterman has lingering auditory processing issues from the stroke he suffered months ago, so the computer transcribed Burns’ questions so that he could read them as they were being spoken. Tuesday marked the first time Fetterman granted an in-person interview since suffering his stroke.
Before airing the interview on Tuesday, Burns told Lester Holt that “in small talk — before the interview, without captioning — it wasn’t clear [Fetterman] was understanding our conversation.” The “unconventional interview” — as Burns called it — then aired as she questioned Fetterman on whether he’s physically fit to be senator, and why hasn’t his campaign provided an update on his medical condition.
Following the interview, Burns became the center of online debates about whether she was raising legitimate questions about Fetterman’s well-being, or if she took his medical issues out of context and sensationalized the piece with his physical condition. In response to initial criticisms, Burns took to Twitter to point out that Fetterman’s computer wasn’t there to be a crutch, that “we had no problem with accommodating the closed captioning,” and that NBC would release a full version of the interview.
We were in the room with him at his home, not on facetime/zoom/etc. Releasing full intv tomorrow for anyone w questions about editing. We had no problem with accommodating the closed captioning. Our job as reporters is to be as transparent as possible. https://t.co/Mvi7234olZ
— Dasha Burns (@DashaBurns) October 12, 2022
Burns continued to defend the interview on Wednesday by saying “Our reporting did not and should not comment on fitness for office.” She doubled down on her push for transparency on Fetterman’s condition, and she gave him credit for doing “his job” as a candidate by taking her questions.
“This is for voters to decide,” Burns said. “What we do push for as reporters is transparency. It’s our job. Fetterman sat down and answered our questions. That’s his job.”
It’s possible for two different reporters to have two different experiences w a candidate. Our team was in the room w him & reported what happened in it, as journalists do. Before & after closed captioning was on.
Our full intv is now available to watch:https://t.co/UIRrzEd70X https://t.co/3s1TBKjFhb
— Dasha Burns (@DashaBurns) October 12, 2022
We were happy to accommodate closed captioning. Our reporting did not and should not comment on fitness for office. This is for voters to decide. What we do push for as reporters is transparency. It’s our job. Fetterman sat down and answered our questions. That’s his job. https://t.co/gFZ02hlUs5
— Dasha Burns (@DashaBurns) October 12, 2022
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