Pathetic: ABC sends reporter to Wasilla to “find” Levi Johnston for an interview

Mark Finkelstein reports (video is also at that link):

This clearly seemed to be an interview of the ambush sort, not something Levi had agreed to in advance. ABC apparently sent a crew up to Wasila to track Johnston down. As [Neil] Karlinksy said in introducing the interview, “we found Levi Johnston,” and there he was in his pickup, looking about as comfortable as some corporate exec confronted by Mike Wallace.

The oily-toned Karlinsky came close to saying that the way the relationship between Levi and Bristol Palin had been portrayed during the campaign was a sham:

“It was only days after joining Senator John McCain in his run for president that Alaska Governor Sarah Palin announced her teenage daughter Bristol was pregnant, adding that she planned to marry the father. Today, the couple’s relationship is a long way from where it was on stage at the Republican National Convention.”

Hey Karlinsky, ever heard of teenagers having a change of heart? It got worse . . .

At one point, after Levi said the baby meant everything to him, Karlinsky sprang this gotcha: “do you have a picture of him?” Yeah, wouldn’t that have great, Neil, if you could have portrayed Levi as a hypocrite, not having handy pictures of the child he claimed to mean so much to him? As it turned out, Levi did have pictures, clipped to the visor of his truck. But that wasn’t quite good enough for Karlinsky, who looked into the truck, then sniffed:

“Just the old ultra-sounds?”

Apparently this is what passes for “serious journalism” on Good Morning America: Stalking  the ex-boyfriend of Bristol Palin and the father of their child in order to try and “expose” their relationship as “sham.” What purpose did this interview serve?  Did it enrich your life any? Will Americans go to bed tonight relieved to know that Levi Johnston apparently only has “old ultra-sounds” of his child in his pick-up truck?   This reminds me of the media hit squad that descended onto Wasilla not longer after Gov. Palin was announced as McCain’s veep pick, and the “scandalous” stories like the one about her tanning bed and the possibility that her lipliner was tattooed on.

Let GMA know what you think about their sorry priorities and attempts at tabloid style “journalism.”