“Accidental TV Journalist” Major Garrett Explains His Move Back To Print

Q&A

by Steve Krakauer | 4:28 pm, August 25th, 2010

» 13 comments

Major Garrett will be leaving Fox News for National Journal – a surprising move from TV to print.

We talked to Garrett today about the reason for his decision, what impact the White House vs. Fox News battle had, what his new Twitter handle will be and more.

Mediaite: National Journal has been going through some major revamping with new hires coming in. What was it that appealed to you specifically with this opportunity?

Garrett: Anyone who has worked nearby or competed against Ron Fournier knows he is one of the most tenacious, intelligent reporters in Washington. I’ve been a huge fan of Ron Brownstein since he was at U.S. News And World Report. You put those two Rons together, you already have a phenomenal team. The team they’re building there is just, for me personally, almost too good to be true. That they would want to find a place for me, a TV guy, to come back to print after eight years, that’s a big thing. It’s a happy coincidence that things converged, and I’m very much looking forward to the next thing.

Mediaite: You’ll be leaving the White House briefing room as well, to cover Congress. How do you feel about switching beats?

Garrett: Great. I started in Washington covering Congress first, and learned the ins and outs of the legislative process, how Congress interacts with Presidents. I’ll maintain all my contacts at the Obama White House, which makes me a more effective congressional reporter.

Mediaite: You tweeted you’ll be writing about national politics as well. What does that mean? Is that different than reporting, or am I reading too much into it?

Garrett: There’s a lot of bandwidth at National Journal. They have, and will continue to burnish, a reputation as a place where long form writing exists and is important. I have every reason to believe that they want a lot of reporters chasing interesting stories in a long form nature. I’ll have a chance once in awhile to be the lead writer, or one of the writers, on pieces. I expect to travel during the midterms, and tell stories not just on individual races but the arc of American politics. I’m not the only one who will do it, but I may sometimes be a small voice and it will be something I’ll have the chance to do.

>>> NEXT PAGE: The WH vs. Fox News drama, coming back to TV, changing his Twitter handle.

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fnc, fox news, major garrett, National Journal

Contessa

Congratulations Major! This sounds like a really great job; best wishes and good luck!
http://www.facebook.com/people/Larry-Kelly/1464519149 Larry Kelly

Good things happen to good people. It should be noted that Major is often hilarious on Twitter. His running coverage of the Winter Olympics was laugh out loud funny.
AngelPeters

As a moderate I am wondering what, if any, questions that were put to Major were met with an off the record comment or a “no comment”

It does end with the “This has been edited for length and clarity.” footnote
Big Eddie

More Major stories . Maybe get Snooki’s take on him leaving , or Steven Slater’s view of this development .
JamesA1102

It’s FOX’s loss and the National Review’s gain. Good luck Major!
Dosser

Along with Shep,this guy had to be the only real non-biased journalist on Fox.
Pity,i wish him luck though.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Ruth-Gretzinger/596613915 Ruth Gretzinger

Major is really a class act. Fox will miss him. I do think it’s funny how some people are determined to spin this as “something’s wrong with Fox” but I suspect you’ll let that go as soon as you see there’s no story there.

btw Dosser, did you actually READ Major’s comments? he mentions Bret Baier, whose program he calls “the most important news hour on Fox.” I would agree with that. if you’ve ever watched Baier (6-7pm) you would know that there are several “real non-biased journalists” on Fox. in fact, most of the network is made up of “real non-biased journalists” but because of the popularity of Beck, O’Reilly, and Hannity, you guys base your opinions of the whole network on them. not the case.

I agree with Major: Bret Baier’s show is the best, and personally I think it beats the crap out of any other hard-news show, including the networks’.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Janice-Kushner/614163844 Janice Kushner

Major Garrett is one of the very few journalists whose words I take at face value, without hesitation or question. I wish him the best and while I will miss him at Fox News, I look forward to following him at the National Journal.
juan

Thanks, Major, and FOX News for helping us take our country back from this RADICAL Regime and Socialist Democrat Party!
da-wdc

It’s a big loss for Fox. Good luck to Major Garrett, I’ll definitely be following him at the National Journal as well.
jk76

National Journal Group hired alot of people lately, I’m guessing it helps when they bring all their contacts. It’s like a pro-sports team.
Drew

I am bummed that Major Garret will be leaving Fox News but I am happy for him too. I’ll be reading the National Journal more often now
NORBIT

WHERE’S THE ED SHULTZ STORY?

Page Six has a lead story on how the Sarge LOST IT, for being shunned by execs in favor of Olbermann & Maddow!

First he threw a Screaming Fit at the Studio, then NBC Brass called him into the office, and HE WHIMPERED & CRIED, like a little Sissy-Boy! – in fact, just like Olberman did when Donnie Deutch criticized him!!! LOL!!

I mean, it’s getting pathetic over there at NBC! —– Are there no Men left?

It seems that out of the three Axis-of-Evil Hosts at msnbc , Maddow’s got the Biggest Balls!!
LOL!!
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11-02-10 —- Purge the Democrats!