Unpatriotic Question, or Poorly Worded?

Cris Collinsworth has been under fire today for a series of questions he asked US Olympic basketball star Kobe Bryant. Collinsworth was asking Bryant how it felt to play for Team USA. Bryant said he felt very proud to wear the USA jersey. Collinsworth was apparently surprised at how patriotic Bryant felt, so started asking why he was so patriotic:

Collinsworth: Where does the patriotism come from inside of you? Historically, what is it?

Kobe: Well, you know it’s just our country, it’s… we believe is the greatest country in the world. It has given us so many great opportunities, and it’s just a sense of pride that you have; that you say ‘You know what? Our country is the best!’

Collinsworth: Is that a ‘cool’ thing to say, in this day and age? That you love your country, and that you’re fighting for the red, white and blue? It seems sort of like a day gone by.

Kobe: No, it’s a cool thing for me to say. I feel great about it, and I’m not ashamed to say it. I mean, this is a tremendous honor.

The story was originally reported by Ms Underestimated, but Awful Announcing has a better quality video.

The video makes his final question look even worse, because he has a snide smile on his face as he asks it.

I certainly think it was a terribly worded question, but I’m not going to say straight up that it was unpatriotic. He could have asked the same question using different words, and it wouldn’t have caused as much controversy.

He may have been asking if people of today’s generation were as patriotic as they were in the past. He may have been prodding Bryant for controversy.

The gist of the question suggests he may have been alluding to the fact that this generation is supposedly not as patriotic as past generations.

“Is that a ‘cool’ thing to say, in this day and age? That you love your country, and that you’re fighting for the red, white and blue? It seems sort of like a day gone by.“

He made a point of asking, “in this day and age,” and mentioning that “It seems like a day gone by.”

As a journalist, you shouldn’t say anything that suggests answering your own question, as Collinsworth did by adding that final statement. Further that statement makes it a leading question, almost as if he wanted Bryant to answer, no, it’s not cool.

Some of the other elements of the question also made Collinsworth sound antagonistic. Asking if it’s “cool” was wrong. People don’t feel pride in their country just to be “cool.” In second sentence, he presents images that are valued in America–love of country, the colors red, white, and blue–and seems to cast doubt upon them.

The conservative blog Gateway Pundit played on fear of liberal bias, accusing Collinsworth of being a “liberal NBC host.” That is simply not true. Through the years, Collinsworth has donated $6,500 to the Republican Party and none to the Democratic Party. (Source)