Monday, December 06, 2004

Synergistic Blues, Part Seventeen

Dana Stevens at slate has an interesting theory about why Bob Dylan appeared on "60 Minutes":

So why was Dylan doing his first interview in nearly twenty years? The answer may lie in something Steve Kroft told viewers at the top of the hour, before the Dylan segment aired: Dylan's new autobiography, Chronicles: Volume One, is published by Simon and Schuster, which, like CBS, is owned by Viacom. Earlier this year, 60 Minutes took heat for failing to tack on a similar disclaimer after an interview with Richard Clarke about the publication of his new book, also with Simon and Schuster. The newsmagazine has featured recent stories on Viacom properties like Comedy Central's Jon Stewart and Dave Chappelle, as well as Jim Carrey, whose upcoming film Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events comes from Paramount, another Viacom company. Was this uninspired interview just another compulsory stop on the press junket?

I would say that sounds about right. But, then again, maybe Bob Dylan always wanted to meet Ed Bradley.

No comments: