Another term for "gotcha journalism"......

[matmar]

- holding one accountable for their words and/or actions -

This is why the RW hates "gotcha journalism"

It's the definition of a journalist actually doing their job of the 4th Estate.

[dtexdem]

1. Or inactions ...

as in "what newspapers do you read regularly?" ;-)

[JaneQPublic]

2. NPR had an interesting piece this morning....

...on Newt and his habit for scolding the debate moderators for "gotcha questions" and other supposed sins, like trying to instigate back-biting among the various GOP candidates (his interpretation; to me, it appeared the moderators were simply trying to get them to DEBATE.)

The piece told how, in GOP circles, it's always an easy applause line to attack the news media, for just about anything. It's also a tactic Newt has used for years, especially to evade a particularly hard question.

But, as you say, to anyone else, "gotcha questions" equate to the reporters just doing the job the public expects of them. Besides, do the GOP candidates honestly think hardball questions will cease once a candidate wins the White House? If they can't handle tough questions as a candidate, then they're going to be ill-equipped if any one of them actually wins the election (God forbid!)