Why Don't the Duggars Get Asked the Tough Questions?

[LongDogMom]

Why do you think Jim Bob and Michelle rarely seem to be challenged on the tough questions about their beliefs and how they have and are raising their kids? Like no higher education and lack of trust in their kids and letting the kids be independant, etc.

 

Yeah, I know the Duggars have given some lip service to the higher ed. question saying that the kids ARE taking college courses online or whatever, but it seems like reporters never investigate if that is true or what the actual courses are and if the kids even have appropriate qualifications to say, go to a college or university if they chose.

 

They never seem to get asked about IBLP or if they do, those asking let them off with vague answers that make it all seem like sunshine and happy bunnies. Why hasn't anyone really looked into the whole ALERT thing that the boys have been sent to... scratched below the surface.

 

Why haven't any reporters grilled them more about limiting their daughter's choices and opportunities and expecting them to have kid after kid and marry guys like Ben who have very little real education and no job and no way to support all those kids.

 

Why does no one ask the hard questions? The ones that might expose the ugly underside of all those beliefs that they put forth as just old fashioned wholesome values that so many buy into?

 

I hope that a lot of these articles coming out lately about ex-IBLP kids and how they feel it was a cult and they were abused, etc. might shine more of a light on the Duggars and the realities of how they are raising their kids and the harm they are doing as parents by not allowing their kids to learn independance or even have their own dreams!

[DuggarsTheEndIsNear]

Because the people doing the interviews are giving the interviews as fluff pieces and they're likely given a set of "safe questions" to ask. Unless there's a huge scandal and TLC is getting rid of the Duggars and it's like Jon and Kate level chaos, I doubt the Duggars will ever have anyone ask the tough questions because they'll only ever be a fluff piece.

[roddma]

I know I am beating a dead horse, but I think Oprah was going to ask hard questions. Someones on here posted a while back and said they couldn't agree on anything and the episode never aired. While it is speculation, I feel she was going to push beyond the basic questions we hear over and over. Anyway here are some things I wish an interviewer would ask:

What if one of your kids wants to stay single and move out?

What if they want to marry someone of an entirely different religion atheist/agnostic? And what if they decide to have 0 kids?

What is your take on corporal punishment?

How would you handle one of your kids being diagnosed with a mental disorder?

What are your thoughts on the Bill Gothard sex scandal?

[Fallgirl30]

Sometimes, I think many people don't know there ARE any tough questions.

[uber frau]

Weren't they interviewed by Anderson Cooper a while back?IIRC, it was yet another fluff piece and ppl here were disappointed with that interview.

I think it's a bit of not knowing and a bit of not caring. And possibly a bit of not being allowed to. For all of his bumbling fool persona,JB is fairly image conscious.

[DGayle]

Most likely they have contracts about what can be asked about and what's off limits. I can't remember who it was about, but a few months ago on NPR, a reporter was being interviewed and was talking about how some of the people interviewed only consent if the reporters will sign strict contracts, and she was talking about some celebrity (I wish I remembered who!) who banned ALL mention of something that was getting a lot of media attention. I'm wanting to say it was Rhianna, and the reported couldn't as about Chris Brown, but that doesn't sound right. But it's like that. It forces fluff pieces, and she said reporters do it since it'll bring in that person's fans, and if your livelihood depends on how many listeners, then you do it.

[MatthewDuggar]

Most likely they have contracts about what can be asked about and what's off limits.

I agree. it's so obvious that's the case. They always have the same stock answers for things as well. Michelle also has a super-annoying way of changing the subject when she can't come up with a decent answer to even the most mundane questions. There was a video on youtube where she was giving some lady a house tour and every time the interviewer asked her details about things, Michelle would just do her typical "The littls one have playtime and the older ones practice music, we do things different and it work for us!" Boob on the other hand seems to constantly emphasize that the kids make all these decisions about their supposed choices and behavior. Doesn't he know that lying is a sin?

[Callipygian]

Most likely they have contracts about what can be asked about and what's off limits. I can't remember who it was about, but a few months ago on NPR, a reporter was being interviewed and was talking about how some of the people interviewed only consent if the reporters will sign strict contracts, and she was talking aboutsome celebrity (I wish I remembered who!) who banned ALL mention of something that was getting a lot of media attention. I'm wanting to say it was Rhianna, and the reported couldn't as about Chris Brown, but that doesn't sound right. But it's like that. It forces fluff pieces, and she said reporters do it since it'll bring in that person's fans, and if your livelihood depends on how many listeners, then you do it.

Megan Fox https://celebrity.yahoo.com/news/megan- ... 25191.html

[DGayle]

Megan Fox https://celebrity.yahoo.com/news/megan- ... 25191.html

It wasn't her. The person on the interview explicitly said that there is a contract with the celeb about off-limits topics, at a time of a well-known not-positive event.

[GeoBQn]

Michelle did one call-in show for an Christian mom radio show. An FJ-er got through and asked about Gothard. No call-in shows after that.

viewtopic.php?f=87&t=9064&hilit=michelle+radio+gothard

[BrownieMomma]

Sometimes, I think many people don't know there ARE any tough questions.

I think this is it, more than anything. You have to have some understanding of the lifestyle... it would take someone like the Jeub daughter or a FJ'er to understand what to ask and how. Then there would have to be some education on the lifestyle itself.

I think most people look at people like the Duggars and Maxwells and think how quaint that they try to live hearkening back to a different, simpler era. It's not very interesting and few people look further.

It seems that as I've read FJ over the last months that most people here are here because they have some kind of personal experience. Ofc, that's only people who post and not lurkers, but I'd like to see someone who really understands what to ask and have them ask it, if nothing more than to make JB&M squirm in their own chosen milieu.

[hollywood]

It wasn't her. The person on the interview explicitly said that there is a contract with the celeb about off-limits topics, at a time of a well-known not-positive event.

If I remember, it was Selena Gomez. There was to be no Justin Bieber questions and she was on a live stream and she just hung up in the middle of it.

[bluebird]

I also believe that there are strict guidelines in place of what can and cannot be asked. Eventually somebody will do an expose piece that will force the Dug's into explaining a few things. They will handle the situation (glibly) with damage control responses and screw it up. IMO, it is only a matter of time.

[SassyPants]

Gothard questions in relationship to Christianity. Gothard questions in relationship to their daughters working at JFTH. Questions re the contract and how the adult children vs the minor children are compensated. If the adults are not individually compensated, how are Ben and Jessa surviving? Who wrote the books? Were the girls individually compensated for their book or did the money go through JB? Who controls GMM's assets?

So many darn questions.

I'd love to see the D's tax returns for the last 10 years.

[RosyDaisy]

I think it will be a member of the camera crew who will spill the beans. One of them must have witnessed or heard something and have a conscious.

[Rescinded and Mended]

If I remember, it was Selena Gomez. There was to be no Justin Bieber questions and she was on a live stream and she just hung up in the middle of it.

Years ago, I watched a Q & A video made by a popular YouTube personality. She had gotten about 10,000 e-mails regarding questions about how she made films and her personal life. She gathered all the most popular questions and answered them in a brief 10-minute video. The ones she did not want to answer, she gently deflected by stating that she chose to keep certain parts of her life personal. When she got questions in future videos, she simply directed fans to the link.

I know celebrities have every right to decide which questions they want to answer, and which ones they want to avoid, but I have to wonder why more of them don't do something like this. Seems like it would save a lot of trouble.

[nst]

I think it will be a member of the camera crew who will spill the beans. One of them must have witnessed or heard something and have a conscious.

apparently someone named Rotan (I believe a cameraman ) and I could be wrong - is very vocal and does post pictures of things he shouldn't - what he has posted lately - I don't know - but I did read that somewhere :D

[ExMW]

I agree with whoever said there's probably a contract in place. That's usually the case. Plus, I think a lot of reporters are concerned about the whole rights infringement thing. They don't want a lawsuit because their question might have threatened the Duggar's right to practice their religion, no matter how stupid it may be.

[socalrules]

I think that the reporters who do hard hitting news are not the ones interviewing the Duggars. They wouldn't even waste their time. Interviewing a Duggar is not a big get. The majority of people either don't know or don't care about them so trying to get a straight answers from them about their lifestyle is a waste of time. Most people would not watch or read about it. The only people who interview them are conservative Christian outlets and the Today show, which likely has a deal with TLC to interview it's "talent" on a fluff level. An expose on the Duggars would really only interest people on FJ and maybe some of the few that watch the show. The majority of the country has no interest in them. Kim Kardashian trying on shoes would get bigger ratings.

[Iamthe20thDuggarKid]

People don't know or don't care. Probably a little of both.

With a little research of publicly available information (and maybe an interview or two ex-ATI/ILBP/Gothard kids) the practices could easily be exposed and the Duggars connected to to them. Of course you ask the Duggars for comment and they refuse comment. But this hasn't happened, not in the mainstream media anyways--not CNN, Fox, 60 Minutes, etc. or anything else anyone watches or reads. I know it's shocking to people here, but most people would probably be like "The Duggars? Who?" I get that they're big for TLC and with the weddings, People and Us and whatnot, but I doubt most of America really cares.

[Handmaiden of Dog]

The Duggars are not important enough for anyone to ask questions about. Let's face it, American news has softened up considerably in the last 20 years and hard-hitting questions are now reserved for politicians and sports stars. And even then the reporters often ask easy curveballs. Remember when Palin was running for VP? A "gotcha question" was "What newspapers do you read?" Palin stuttered and could not answer and many people came to her defense as though that was a sneaky question.

Reality TV stars are not important enough to take up airtime or newspaper inches unless there is a big scandal. Is anyone asking Bobo from "Finding Big Foot" if he really believes he is going to find anything? Are reporters lining up to get the scoop on the Real Housewives of blankity blank? Does anyone check out the bona fides of the latest Project Runway star? No, of course not. At one time there were few TV stars and there were real, tough journalists. Now there are hundreds of "stars" and very few real journalists.

[Mrs Ms]

The only way to get the info out would be to do an expose on them as the Duggars would never (again) give an interview without screening the questions beforehand and would never answer any uncomfortable ones.

I just can't see someone caring enough to research Gothard, Quiverful, ATI and all the other nonsense, digging up info that the Duggars themselves have shared in the past (like endorsing the Pearls on their blog) and looking up and interviewing credible survivors of the movement.

If anyone didn't go to that length before blasting the Duggars, there would be screeches (and lawsuits) about slander, freedom of speech, religious persecution and a whole lot of other nasty repercussions...

[Seven]

I'm just so sick of any of their interviews going something like this:

"Wow how do you handle 19 kids?"

"Do you know everyone's birthday?"

"Your children are so well behaved!"

"So there is no TV allowed in your house?"

"And you homeschooled all of them?"

"What is Duggar time?"

"And everyone loves pickles!?"

"You are so amazing!"

[bluebird]

I agree that the Dug's are not all that important news wise to warrant a serious expose if it was just about them. However, the politically religious right is important and newsworthy. What I can see occurring is a t.v. reporter or print journalist delving into that topic and featuring the Dug's as a example family. They are politically involved on a lot of levels, are becoming household names and people are curious...They are also role models and listened to (shudder) by the extreme political/religious right, a segment of society that oddly appears to be increasing. That is how I envision the evolution of a expose piece and hard core questions being asked by simply featuring them as major players in a politically religious topic. ETA: Should this ever occur they are caught between a rock and a hard space. Ignoring or glossing over the tough questions makes them look guilty and answering such questions truthfully makes them look like haters. Let's call it for who they are.. un-polished, uninformed, under educated bigot haters. They are not socially smooth people who have (if left to their own devices) damage control skills. Open mouth, insert foot..

[Four is Enough]

I think they're that well insulated. TLC started with them because of the family size. They found out how dumb they are, and to keep the nation from finding out, they've surrounded them with a whole lot of people. You can't get near a Duggar now without a representative doing the talking, I'll bet.