Reliable Sources covers CBS and the Couric/McCain editing scandal
By John Amato Sunday Jul 27, 2008 3:00pm
Many bloggers have been covering the Couric/McCain editing scandal since it began. CNN's Reliable Sources picked it up for a few minutes and even the MSMers agreed.
KURTZ: That is not what McCain said right after Katie said, "What's your response to that?" And we see these pictures now of McCain with General Petraeus. That was used to cover an editing break, where then they substituted -- not substituted, but added another answer that McCain had given from elsewhere in the interview.
STEVE ROBERTS: Well, I teach ethics at George Washington University. I would use this as a case study of what you should not do.
I was able to get the text of CBS' own in-house guidelines on their editing practices.
Answers to different questions may not be combined to give the impression of one continuous response. In short, we cannot create an answer merely because we wish the subject had said it better.
CBS violated their own standards. At the end of the segment, Howard Kurtz said this:
KURTZ: CBS says that this was, in fact, a mistake made by a young producer under deadline pressure.
CBS's latest excuse for breaking their own journalistic ethics is a farce. Their first response to this story was to say that it was no big deal:
Of the 14-minute interview, a little less than three minutes was used on the Evening News. A CBS spokesperson tells TVNewser, “As all news organizations do with extended interviews, last night’s Obama and McCain interviews were edited to fit the available time and to give viewers a fair expression of the candidates’ major differences. The full transcript and video were and still are available at CBSNews.com.”
Now they blame a young producer for being under time pressure. OK, let's get this straight. <added>Sources have told me that The CBS Evening News is their major "hard news" program of the day and they certainly would not have had a rookie running the show for a major John McCain interview with Katie Couric. And there are many others involved in the editing process that know the CBS guidelines who would have caught this blunder. Sorry, their excuse doesn't pass the smell test.
(full transcript below the fold)
KURTZ: That is not what McCain said right after Katie said, "What's your response to that?" And we see these pictures now of McCain with General Petraeus. That was used to cover an editing break, where then they substituted -- not substituted, but added another answer that McCain had given from elsewhere in the interview.
You've done a lot of these TV packages. Obviously, things have to be truncated for time. But can you take answers out of order like that?
CROWLEY: Well, you know, I'm more worried about out of context than out of order. But I think as a general rule, you shouldn't take things out of order in a package, like in a, you know, he said three things and here they are. I don't see a problem if he's answering a question on the economy, putting that first even if he answered the economy second after Iraq.
KURTZ: Sure.
CROWLEY: But I think out of context is a problem, and you run the risk out of context when you're out of order if it's the same subject.
KURTZ: Right.
Let me get to Steve.
What was left out was an explanation where McCain seemed to misstate the timing of the surge and how much credit the surge deserved.
STEVE ROBERTS: Well, I teach ethics at George Washington University. I would use this as a case study of what you should not do. First of all, you know, the mainstream media still has something to contribute in American politics, and it's veracity, it's trustworthiness. And when you make a stupid mistake like this, you undermine the very credibility of the mainstream media.
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"mistakes" were made -- the ultimate dodge...by the maker and those who enable....
this was a deliberate editing/"journalistic" choice.
Yeah! I say they should fire Couric, and replace her with somebody like...oh I don't know...DAN RATHER?
CBS are liars.
Katie Couric's credibility has been undermined long before this clusterf*ck
Think about it. A mistake of a young producer under "deadline pressure."
The editor had to find an answer that sounded somewhat like a good answer to the question that McCain got wrong the first time.
Anyone who's ever edited a video knows that a lot of work went into making this doctored clip look like a seamless interview. I hope more light continues to be shed on this by CBS and others.
Well Katie did say that is importent to"...cross the Ts and dot the Is....to get it right..." when talking about Dan Rather and Rathergate concerning Bush's no show for NG duty. A young intern is now to blame, well hey Katie maybe you should be raising a bigger stink about how YOUR interviews are put on the air. Katie is not fit to be doing interviews unless they are about cookies and/or what the hot new trend in sneakers are. There are plenty of women at CBS who could do better job than she can, hell there are young intern who could do a better job than she could.
My
dogcatatemauled my homework.Dave @ 5:
Great point! There was a cut to a scene of troops in the field in the midddle to cover the visual that would have been a tell that it was edited, this was not a mistake, it was done with a purpose.
When are they going to fire that airhead couric?
She's dragging the entire news network through the muck ratings and quality wise.
But just yesterday I was seeing a commercial with all their anchors local and national and her front and center, about all the awards they've won.
The only one missing was Best Improved Body Odor.
In their desperate attempt to curry favor with their corporate masters, the MSM once again is willing to lose its dignity, drop trough, and take it deep and hard from the GOP.
That's nonsense. CBS showed viewers Katie Couric asking John McCain a question, edited out McCain's actual answer, which contained a falsehood, and replaced it with three separate statements spliced together, including an entirely different answer to a different question, without giving any indication of what they had done.
That is nothing short of fraudulent "reporting" by CBS, and it should be a major scandal.
But instead, the media spent the week wringing their hands over the possibility that they are mistreating McCain by covering the Obama trip. Incredible.
<strong>TRUTH??</strong>
We don't need no stinking truth!
Here is what I know so far.
Faux news is a propaganda outlet for our criminal government and their criminal wars.
CBS is a shill for our wannabe criminal executive in waiting. Waiting to take charge of the criminal government and the criminal wars.
CNN is how much better than those two. This I know not, I think not much better.
Did I mention our criminal government.
Always blame it on the lowest one on the ladder. Bottom line, they got caught editing the interview to favor McCain.
His campaign handler at the time, or maybe McCain himself, probably realized what McCain had originally said was wrong and they probably convinced CBS that he didn't intend to give that answer so it needed to be changed. I don't know that that is what happened but I'd bet it was.
CBS, the network of big brother. My god, Ed Murrow and William paysley (sic) must be rolling over in there graves. CBS was the network of Cronkite. Now it's the julie chen network. I wouldn't watch that pile of crap if it was the only network on the air. News? hell , they gave up on news years ago.
Jeez, Is CBS the new Faux News? This is propaganda plain and simple. Whats next? Is Katie going to whisper in McCain ear,ala Lieberman, the next time McSame makes a gaffe?
We should demand Couric's resignation. She was a poor choice right from the start. Why CBS sticks with her is a complete mystery.
This must be another example of the "free and open democracy" that the US loves to push on other nations.
The last one off the sinking USS America, make sure you grab a life vest.
Katie's been losing credibility with me now for a long, long time. If she were the one who ordered this edit, she should be fired immediately.
When in doubt blame the intern ... right Cindy McCain, it wasn't you that pilfered those cookie recipes, it was the young intern!
No, it was the Butler in the Editing Room with the Scissors.
wmv doesn't work
goat hussein sage @ 17:
Answer: So they won't have to admit what a collossal mistake they made hiring her in the first place.
Much like all of these crooks and liars they're only sorry they got caught.
Maybe it's time for Americans to think about "the conditions under the ground in Iraq," where the million Iraqis murdered by Bush lie in their graves.
Let Miss Katie Couric mull that over for a few hours and then, maybe, she can conjure up some courage and confront Senator McWarMonger and ask him if one million dead Iraqis are enough?
goat hussein sage @ 17:
Because they're paying her a small fortune and would never want to admit they made a mistake. At least not so soon after hiring her.
The biggest question is, why did they hire her in the first place? Did they not catch a single installment of The Today Show???
She's a borderline retard who couldn't get through a single sentence without stumbling and giggling. She never had the brains or guts to ask a single tough question. On top of that, she was a raving bitch off camera.
But hey, she's America's perky little sweetheart....so sign her up!
No wonder CBS is a loser in ratings. Couric should be fired immediatley. Remember Dan Rather? He did that piece on Bush's record and they threw him under a bus.
Lies.
They got caught yet again!
The wounded shills for corporations, parading as legitimate journalists, have been exposed yet again, and our response should reflect:
a) the seriousness of the offense
b) the repeated nature of the offense.
Enough already! Let at least the illusion die.
It is time for the MSM's legitimacy to be finally put to rest.
Netroots should twist the knife.
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he was under pressure to meet a deadline so he did extra editing...huh?!!!
Destroy your TV. We're capable of being something better than TV-News and Media Junkies-Addicts.
The MSM is peddling as fast as they can to get another term of the Bush Crime Family. For some reason they are working to get a complete moron in the WH and that would be McSame the Mr. Magoo of the GOP (Greedy Oil Party).
ysbaddaden @ 9:
Firing Couric would be a total red herring. The issue is, why was it edited the way it was, and who decided to edit it that way? The explanation that it was a green producer under deadline pressure doesn't wash, because 1. if you were being totally apolitical about it, and were just madly splicing together the tape to meet a deadline, the answer McCain gave was (on face value) just as good as the one they substituted. Only if you went to all the trouble of checking your facts, or knew them ahead of time, would you realize he'd given an incorrect answer, and even then you would only change it if you were trying to cover his gaff. And 2. if you're really that concerned about your time line, why go through all that editing? It takes EXTRA TIME to go fast forward to a later spot on the tape, cut out an answer, cycle back to the first spot and insert it, along with a cutaway shot designed to cover the edit. That would take longer than just editing from beginning to end in real time, and cutting out dead air spaces and boring answers as they occur.
(I don't think this is a conspiracy, by the way. I think they just edited it to make McCain look as good as possible because, AS USUAL, they are scared of a conservative attack if they'd left it the way it was. Ironically, they edited his answer to make him look better because they were worried that if they hadn't, the right wing noise machine would attack them for deliberately leaving a 'simple slip of the tongue' in there to make McCain look BAD. On the flip side, if Obama had made that mistake, they'd definitely have left it in, because they don't want to be accused of being too biased in favor of their liberal darling. The press is liberal, but reports with a conservative bias because they're afraid of being criticized for being too liberal. What's worse is that they do it without even being aware of it.)
P.D. @ 27:
Couric's just a frontpiece. The one who should be fired is Mr. Julie Chen.
Tx @ 11:
Exactly,
MSM needs to be taken down a notch. They are getting carried away and think they are gods.
Anyone know if we can sue for fraudulent reporting?
(wrong facts or spliced interviews)
Hey LA your right! I am addicted to the MSM! I just can't get over their biased reporting! McCain makes a gaffe? It's a senoir moment. Obama makes a gaffe? HORROR! I guess I'm a masochist.
Yeah, even an ahole like Howie Kirtz gets it right once in awhile...VERY once in awhile!
I watch him on Sunday morning, even though I want to scream half the time...he usually ignores the real issues of the week and falls back on inside the beltway gossip...
A unit of measure for fecal matter. One Katie Couric is equal to approximately two and a half pounds of excrement.
Steve Roberts noticed it?
This must have been HUGE, for him to have noticed.
Or was it pointed out to him?
Cuz mostly, he's about the most obtuse of the one-off level pundits around
He's married to Cokie Roberts, y'know. That doesn't indicate much in the way of taste, now does it? Money, yes. Give him that. He flatters Diane Rehm. He always sounds like he's regurgitating, not just stenographing...
Would a respectable responsible news organization leave it to a lowly intern to edit an interview with a man who could possibly be the next president of the United States? I doubt it. And if they did, they would be highly stupid. Didn't someone review this before they aired it?
KURTZ: CBS says that this was, in fact, a mistake made by a young producer under deadline pressure.
Couric runs that news room, no one else.
Buffy, needless to say is PISSED!!
Druamas @ 34:
The Florida supreme court has already ruled that the MSM, specifically Faux, does not have to tell the truth.
Kouric's career tanked long ago. She's lost her reputation on this one for good. This is fraud in it's highest form. CBS needs to be punished by a boycott of ALL CBS advertisers. We know who owns CBS so nothing they purport as fact can be believed now. We knew they were owned by frauds - now they've proven it.
The last eight years has fully persuaded me that truth tellers and those who honor their oaths are not selected to assume positions of authority and trust in this country anymore.
OT: Faux is reporting the Robert Novack was hospitalized for a brain tumor today. Maybe he thinks that's the way to get us to stop talking about his hit and run.
This is precisely the scandal which will take down the news agencies in this country. Once the people learn the truth about the bullshit and propaganda they're being fed, it's over. Any news program now who wants to not be included as they all tank needs to have a serious "coming out" on CBS or they will sink with the RSS CBS/Titanic.
Then the people need to take on Fox News, perhaps THE most fraudulent news agency in the country. What the Bush administration did in funnelling talking points directly to the scoundrels and criminals at Faux News was also highly illegal. Spending taxpayer money to fund a public news agency is FRAUD, FRAUD, FRAUD.
Let's see here....Today show is over at 10am central and CBS news comes on at 5:30pm. I guess 7.5 hours of editing just isn't enough time for a "young" producer.
I'm surprised they didn't find a way to blame Obama for this.
"He controls the message controls the masses" - famous words and the mantra of the Bush Crime Cabal. He began spying illegally on americans and then controlling that which we learned - about 911, the run up to the Iraq War and everything that came inbetween. When this charlatan finally exits stage left, we'll someday get the full scoop on just how badly he's destroyed this country.
What we already know is horrendous; what we have yet to discover will make our skin crawl.
There never has been a more diabolical individual running this country in it's history - Nixon included.
KURTZ: CBS says that this was, in fact, a mistake made by a young producer under deadline pressure.
If this was a young producer, he should be more current on his knowledge of the "standards and procedures".
And by the time Chimpy leaves office, he will have corrupted and contaminated every information source (truth in reporting) in this country.
It will be time for the people to take back control of the message once again.
Dr. Hussein Matt @ 47:
It's not 6 o'clock yet. ; 0 )
JStilabo @ 49:
heh-heh - and that, my friends, is TOTAL BULLSHIT!
BOYCOTT CBS TODAY. BOYCOTT EACH AND EVERY ADVERTISER DOING BUSINESS WITH CBS.
CAN SOMEONE POST A LIST OF CBS ADVERTISERS FOR US?
Don't forget: We, the People, have the "power of the purse" and can use it as leverage to have our voices heard.
Boycott every last CBS advertiser/sponsor.
Why is CBS so disrespectful of John McCain that they would have a rookie edit him?
gwen @ 29:
They always seem so surprised when people not only catch this crap but call them on it too. As if "Oh I didn't think you were paying attention" is the same as an apology.
JasonS @ 53:
Nice framing.
off topic (lo siento) - Just heard that McGrandpappy is having a mole looked at. Anyone want to bet that his invasive melanoma has developed further? If so, he will not have 4 years to fulfill his oath of office, were he elected.
I'm sure the whoring media will give us the truth on this one when the official report on his melanoma is out????? Yeah, right!
Wow, MSM is going on and on about the election. But nobody's talking about the dozens killed today in Iraq. Wasn't the surge working? Oh, I guess thats why McCain hasn''t brought up the surge in the last couple of hours, Hmm.. the one thing he claimed to be right about, just turned to crap!
Hey People, I agree and can understand why you are so upset....it stinks; but that
is nothing new, for the MSM has stunk for the last 5 or so years. One way to avoid
this kind of spinning and "controlled" media is to do as I have done...SHUT off your
TV when the "news" is on and more importantly, do not tune in to any of the MSM
24 hr. news(?) reports...There is not one journalist left amongst them all; instead
you(who watch) are viewing political pundits/talking heads who are on the air
for two purposes: To "entertain" and to make BIG bucks for BIG business who
owns/controls them all.
casper46 @ 55:
Perfect framing and apropos! A "rookie" for a "rookie" (and that's stretching it for McCrazy!).
404 Object not found.
I see that C&L edied the clip to Object not found!
Error #404
"He who controls the medium controls the message. He who controls the message controls the masses." Paul Joseph Goebbels (1897-1945)
Really, I hate to break it to them, but the Mainstream Media has had no credibility for about 20 years - and CNN is one of the worst - so having Candy Crowley, of all people, point fingers is completely laughable. She's one of the biggest Bush groupies on the air.
What Couric's colleagues did was simply more stupid, ham-fisted and sloppy than usual - but it's all of a piece with what they all do on a daily basis. They were covering McCain's fat, senile ass. And they've been doing it for two months solid - all of 'em. (With the exception of Olbermann and Maddow.)
The American Media is about as trustworthy as Pravda.
doggiebobo @ 58:
YOU ARE SOOOO CORRECT! I've stopped watching the whoring pigs on MSM long ago as have so many people I know. They've also dropped their newspaper subscriptions in droves.
Now the next step is not to just "get mad" and ignore these sycophantic whores in the mainstream media; the next step is to "get even" for their propaganda by finding out who their sponsors are (please, someone....a list for CBS??) and then boycotting all of their products and services.
Since this occurred, there's been a blackout nationally of CBS and it's programming (Fox News was the first target several months ago and it's ratings dropped quickly). Now it's time to turn off CBS.
Then boycott their sponsors. As I've said, kick them in the gonads and when they're down, hit them in the purse strings and make your voice heard.
Couric is a liar with a phony smile and laugh. She'll do a piece on how 25 people in Iraq were just blown up and she will have a "I want to cry" look on her face. Five seconds later Katie's back with that overly toothy fake smile doing some dumbass story about a water skiing squirrel. Couric is absolutely UNWATCHABLE.
CBS are starting to give bullshitting a bad name.
the fact that kurtz sells himself as a media critic (all the while being of the media), the fact that he is on the ever-terrible cnn, all are simply astounding.
cnn, cbs, msnbc, faux, abc... all about the same. but their petty internecine battles are amusing though.
yet... this story is important. i just find it humorous that cnn is covering it. hello kettle, you are looking awfully black today (signed, pot)
Oh, now that's funny, I mean the pretense ... They are trying to make us think they had some credibility before this point in time?
The MSM hasn't had any Credibility since this Admin got into power. The whole idea that there is some "Liberal Media" is totally ludicrous.
This shit is laughable. (but not in a funny haha way)
osiris @ 59:
Is that all the popping, cracking and groaning I hear?
And that's just getting off the toilet.
..."CBS needs to be punished by a boycott of ALL CBS advertisers..."
Amen!
In the meantime, it will help if CBS is inundated with letters, emails, and calls urging that CBS News be made credible once again, and by reminding CBS that other evening news channels exists.
P.D. @ 57:
Which "surge?" The presurge surge that preceding the insurgency surge, which followed
the other presurge just before the surge that McCain says worked?
sulphurdunn @ 62:
And the apple never falls far from the tree......as Prescott Bush (Chimp's grandpappy) and Herbert Walker (Chimpy's maternal grandpappy) were stopped from "aiding and abetting" the enemy during the Third Reich. They perpetuated the nazi mantra through Bush 41 and all the damage he did to this democracy and brought in the flunkie to finish it off.
Ever research Prescott Bush and his connections to Adolph Hitler? It's spine chilling. Did you know that Prescott Bush and his cadre of criminals back then had plans for a "coup on this democracy"? It's all there. Do the research.
Of course, all producers are seemingly young when compared with a subject like McBain. At least producers have the good sense to retire before they're 70!
Well what is the average Joe Shmoo to do? He puts in 8 hour work days to come home sit down have a beer and watch biased news. Not everybody follows the media like we do. In fact, my in-laws swear by Faux News. Depressing ins't it?
Dr. Hussein Matt @ 47:
This isn't your ordinary bullshit, this is Brit Hume quality horseshit. It takes time to engineer spin and deceit.
bncthor @ 70:
Yes, let's begin a mass demonstration via angry email to CBS. Does anyone have direct email addresses to the people at the top? If so, please publish it here for us or link us up. Thanks!
Clip still not playing at 4pm CST. Error 404. :(
P.D. @ 74:
If someone asked you if you'd like to watch pure horseshit and Bush propaganda every night would you do so? That's precisely what it's all become.
Just as he politicized the DOJ and every aspect of his administration, the mainstream news media has been contaminated and politicized.
Time for americans to find some new hobbies. Rent movies or watch the movie channels.
DO NOT PERMIT THE INSIDIOUS LIES TO PERMEATE EVEN A PORE IN YOUR BODY BY SITTING THERE AND LISTENING TO SUCH OBVIOUS DRIVEL. IT WILL MAKE YOU PHYSICALLY SICK OVER TIME.
Alright. Enough with the McCain stories. The people running this site are obsessed with McCain.
I was able to get the text of CBS’ own in-house guidelines on their editing practices.
Answers to different questions may not be combined to give the impression of one continuous response. In short, we cannot create an answer merely because we wish the subject had said it better.
Am i the only one who finds it amazing that CBS had to put this in their editing practice guidelines?
Where's the video? Pulled?
Nada @ 54:
The press has been painfully aware that the Republicans are paying attention to every word they say, which is what caused this scandal in the first place. Not all of them have clued in to the fact that Democratic supporters (who are actually ORGANIZED for a change) are doing the same thing now. The sooner they realize it, the sooner they'll stop subconsciously pandering to the Republicans.
As for the right wing noise machine, also they seem pretty clueless about the fact that people are actually CHECKING the stuff they pull out of their ass, and it's pretty cute. At least, it's cute according to The Paris Business Review.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RbX-2X7_h-M&NR=1
Thanks C&L and John for following up on this..CBS should not get a pass on this- and if they think that we as Watchers are dumb enough to believe that a rookie producer was editing the WORLD tour show ....unreal.....it took a pro to chop/dice /slice what they did....Shame on them...
fry @ 79:
BYE.
osiris @ 78:
Even the prime time programming is dumbing down America. I rent the movies.
osiris, I couldn't agree more. But I'm sad for my fellow Americans who have no idea how they are being played, but then again, as citizens, they should know what is going on in the world around them.
osiris @ 42:
But in the coprorate media you kinda fail upwards... while the likes of Sam Seder and Marc Maron get shitcanned for doing great work, being intelligent, well-informed and holding people accountable.
CBS. Juden.
fry @ 79:
Perhaps you'd prefer stories about water skiing squirrels? Or maybe the latest on Britneyparisbrangelinahannahmontana?
The reason you won't see this scandal covered in the Main Stream Media is that, to some extent, they all do the same thing. When you reduce a long interview to a two minute video clip things can be moved around, change, etc. You don't really even have to just outright cut and paste recordings. All you have to do is just show those parts of the interview you want the viewer to see. In an hour interview ANYONE can be made to seem either smart or dumb after editing down the good/bad parts to two minutes.
What I find interesting is that CBS had to just make stuff up to get even TWO MINUTES of video of John McCain not saying stupid stuff. Is he so lame that even friendly editing of an hour interview cannot get two minutes of material? How bad is McCain?
Young producer?
That's ageism.
Guess it's OK to call someone "too
younginexperienced," but it's not OK to say "McCain isseniletoo old."The Truth Hurts @ 26:
And don't forget... Katie let the entire nation crawl up her ass in prime time. That's the kind of devo(lu)tion ya just don't get on Faux Snooze. (:>
pissed off patricia @ 14:
"Always blame it on the lowest one on the ladder." Reminds one of the militiary, e.g., My Lai, Abu Ghraib. This is what will happen with the Bush administration too. The big fish will get away (pardoned), and the whitebait will go to prison.
See B.S.
couric is just wishing this issue would go away. well, katie, we are scratching out heads why you are still in cbs and why you still havent said anything about this dishonesty.
So some poor bastard lost his job just because CBS needed a scapegoat? Damn, I'm glad I don't work there.
So how many other "young producer" mistakes have there been? Is all of CBS's fact checking and truthiness handled by "young producers". I don't buy it. Nope. You don't make a major edit like this without some thinking and approvals.
Anybody else have trouble with the wmv player - "Object not found."
bilhelm-X @ 60:
HELLO! IS ANYBODY AWAKE OVER THERE?
As said above, no videofile is working. Wmv is dead, QT is AWOL!
this is just another f#cking corporation and embarrassingly
a
newsinformation service definitely and withoutshame working for the mcfuckhead better impression squad.
even if they have to violate honest guidelines and morals.
Wow....
That was fast. I've got picture again in the player.
Time Pressure would not have created an error like that.
They expect us to believe that the pressures of deadline resulted in an editor taking more time to create a non-linear A-B montage that materially altered its content, because he was in a hurry?
LMAO!!
Excuse me, but as an amateur video editor, I can assure you that even if one accepts the dubious non-excuse that this was the work of a "rookie", time pressures had nothing to do with it. The process of producing re-arranged audio with substitute video of an answer takes a heck of a lot more time than simply abbreviating an answer that was given subsequent to a question, in order.
The professor from Georgetown said something that was inadvertently pretty funny:
"STEVE ROBERTS: ...First of all, you know, the mainstream media still has something to contribute in American politics, and it’s veracity, it’s trustworthiness. And when you make a stupid mistake like this, you undermine the very credibility of the mainstream media."
That gave me a good laugh.
i still don't understand how mccain pointing out that he believes "Iraq is the central front in the war on terror" "because that's what Osama Bin Laden said that it was" hasn't gotten any play either on the left or right (although it's true, the right is in such a swoon over obama they hardly ever mention mccain much less talk about anything he's said unless it's about obama).
i suppose given the volume of nonsense pouring out of mccain and his campaign, the fact that the republican candidate for president is saying that bush invaded iraq at the direction of bin laden, and that he himself believes iraq is the central front because bin laden said it is, is kind of understandable.
so much lunacy, not enough time in the 24/7 news cycle to get to it all, even if the teevee personalities were so inclined.
I am disappointed that no one that I have seen either blogging or in MSM has noted that on the following day, at noon ET, CBS News ran a clip with Couric saying that McCain said that the surge predated the awakening, and that the Obama campaign "claims" otherwise.
That was their first position on it. I think that's a part of the story that should be getting told, but no one is picking up on it. CBS News' first position was to try to make it a matter of opinion between campaigns, rather than to report the facts.
I saw the clip broadcast.
As for the idea that it was an editor under deadline, this would mean a time issue, and it takes longer to do what the editor did, that to just run the sequential answer.
Yes. . . and there was no editor sitting there at the computer that knew the editing guidelines and told the producer it could cost him his job. And Kati Couric is totally innocent. She never screens her own work for quality to make sure it meets her journalistic standards. She would never say "hey.. that's not the answer I remember" she just reads the questions off the teleprompters and then goes home. . . . how could we expect her to make sure work with her face on it is ethical. That's just not the job description of todays news models.
As a video editor I would like to add that it would take LONGER to edit it the way they did than to just cut down the original answer. So why would this producer, under deadline pressure, actually do something that took him longer to accomplish? This is a totally nonsensical statement to anyone who does that kind of work.
Smells to me like they are counting on industry ignorance when they make their excuses.
"you undermine the credibility of the MSmedia" No that was all ready accomplished in the run up to the illegal invasion of Iraq and continues when the MSm never NEVER challenges the endlessly repeated unsubstantiated claims about Iran by the very same radicals who lied us into Iraq
Somebody wanted to "make sure we get that bite in" about McCain wanting to lose an election rather than a war and Obama willing to lose a war to win an election. That's my thinking. They wanted that pithy bite in there somewhere and told an editor to drop it in. They thought that was the headline and wanted to move it up in the interview. I work in a form of "documentary" television where "Frankenbites" are created all the time because an interviewee is inarticulate or doesn't quite say what we want them to say. But we never create these "Frankenbites" in response to a question from an on-air interviewer. That's where CBS went wrong.
Definitely, if you were under deadline pressure you wouldn't make any edits -- you'd do it live, as Billo says. YOU'D DO IT LIVE!
sulphurdunn @ 43:
Well said! I agree with you wholeheartedly on this topic. CBS is no longer a channel I watch ANYthing on... news or otherwise. That way their advertisers aren't even making it into my home. If enough people stopped watching CBS, they'd tank along with their fraudulent actions and their meat-puppet talking heads. Eff 'em all!
gwen @ 29:
Excellent point. In case there were any doubts....
Yeah-But the body odor does not originate from her armpits!
ysbaddaden @ 9:
Hey! C'mon, McKeating is a war hero! He should be able to bugger a baby on national teevee and have Wolfie and Katy and Chrissy and all of the pointy heads blame it on Unitarians.
Dave @ 5:
Deadline pressure my ass! They went out of their way to make this video far more tasking then it need be to put this together. I have edited clips in Adobe after effect and premiere, and far more tasking to make anything look easy and smooth. CBS answer to this situation is making this even worse on their credibility. You don't give a young intern a job like this, You have to know what the frickken software can do. Just as you can't throw a street person into performing brain surgery.
http://www.mediacollege.com/adobe/after-effects/workflow/workspace/image...
here is an average screen shot of a video project! You either know or don't know what you are doing! very unlikely one can fudge through it and make an honest mistake.
Will The Pot Call The Kettle Black
Within the MSM, there is a whole list of editing that fall into a questionable area. One could conclude, because of the competitive nature of cable news programs, the "other" networks would be all over this story -- forever highlighting the difference in their network. That comparative criticism is missing, and it is obvious as to why.
CBS is waiting for the "other" networks to dare say a word. I would guess every network covering right-wing formulated media is guilty of the same thing. What comes to mind is the media campaigns often used by this administration. Al Qaeda in Iraq was such a editing example. Before the Surge, everything going on in Iraq was attributed to Al Qaeda. Before it was over, Al Qaeda became the primary fighting force. Yes, from 5% influence to warranting a Surge. You only need imagine the editors saying "take that name out and place Al Qaeda in it's place." In the end, Al Qaeda had its day, America save the day with its Surge, and the Iraqis are living forever after.
No, the "other" networks better not say too much about their propaganda buddy. They are all the same.
Joseph
bg @ 105:
I didn't see that, but if true C&L should get that clip up immediately. It's even more incriminating than the original clip. Not incriminating in the sense of conspiracy, but incriminating as yet another example of how the press has degenerated into a bunch of lazy-assed repeaters of other people's spin, who never bother to check facts on their own. Either because they can't be bothered to, they are afraid of being attacked by the side that the facts don't favor, or because they don't have the resources to do so. The former two things would make them worthy of our contempt, the latter one our pity. Either way, it's not good. It's even WORSE than being straight out corrupt.
Bill Maher said it best when he said that the right wing is good at playing to the media's laziness, and tendancy to just repeat the spin 'from both sides.' So, if the Democrats say Bush is four feet tall and the Republicans say he's 64 feet tall, the press just throws up their hands and says "oh, let's just split the difference between the spin from both sides and say he's 34 feet tall." In most cases, both sides may be spinning, but one side is usually closer to the truth than the other. It is the press's DUTY to sort out the facts, and report them, but they're just too damned lazy or cowardly to do so. They'd rather just repeat other people's spin, and claim that they're being unbiased if they report the spin equally from both 'sides.' Well, believe it or not, there is more to the world than just spin, fellas. There IS a reality in there someplace if you'd only bother to look for it.
http://thinkprogress.org/2006/01/26/couric-caught-on-tape/
Little Miss GOP fluffer has a history of stroking the Elephant.
Could that "young producer" be none other than Brooke Buchanan, McCain’s national press secretary?
"Media’s Love Affair With McCain Apparently Doesn’t Extend to the Gateway City"
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/07/18/medias-love-affair-with-mccain-...
The right wing noise machine doesn’t get it. They are creating monsters like this man who killed in a church. You and I know what is next. Obama will be shot by a white angry man who listens to Rush, Sean, O’Reilly, Milken, Coulter, Savage and the other usual suspects. They then will again blame it on us like they do everything. They are for a one party system and against Democracy. Read my book 2199 on Amazon and see their reviews and then understand their warped minds. Thomas Sutton, Author of 2199
{ If you keep spamming the site I'll be forced to put you in the spam filter. Please stop spamming. SiteMonitor}
Hey were talking about Viacom what do you expect?
This is such a double standard. Dan Rather was fired for putting out a news story that was factually correct but based on tainted evidence that was chronologically incorrect (a memo from the early 70's printed on a computer printer that didn't exist back then). Now Katie Couric airs a chronologically incorrect interview with John McCain where his factually wrong answer was replaced with parts of answers from different question asked at different times during the interview.
What is the difference?
Dan Rather was fired because his story was damaging to the Republican candidate (incumbent George W. Bush).
Katie Couric is still working because her interview covered up in order to protect the Republican candidate (John McCain).
So much for the liberal media.
A few comments here note the continued daily death toll increase in Iraq not being covered because of drivel stories and lies like this one. Add to the list India, Turkey. I am struggling to understand what is brewing up quickly. My mom doesn't have a computer/ I call her and rant and she has no idea what I am talking. Turkey. what?
I was 6 years old when we got our first tv in 1955. What a wasteland from what could have been.
I contacted CBS to voice my disappointment with this type of journalism and to ask them to air the entire interview. To date I have had no response. I no longer watch FOX news so now I guess I can cross of CBS. Interestingly enough, The NBC interview with Obama had "audio problems" so was rebroadcast at 3:00 AM - I voiced my disappointment to NBC and asked them to rebroadcast at a time when people would actually be awake to watch. To date - no response. So they are off the list.
It is time to start to deluge the advertisers who support these pseudo-news programs and tell them we will boycott their products until some changes in news reporting are forthcoming.
PS Barf alert - tomorrow evening we are treated to Katie Curak giving a tour of the Mc Cain campaign headquarters so we can better understand how a campaign works.
They will hide the viagra and the walker, the hearing aid and the heating pad.
Katie and Johnny
sittin' in a tree
Selling out the people
And the country!!!!
Sometimes no news is good news - let the station know what you think
Pericles @ 117:
I commented about it on a few blogs, including News Hole (twice ...and they didn't publish the second mention, so Countdown has seen and noted my comment.)
No, it was not a force of nature. No, it was not divine intervention. It was not a mistake it was a deliberate attempt to mislead the public.
From this day forward, when I see Couric’s face the words “liar” and “arrogant” will scroll across my mind.
This was the type of falsehood one would prefer not to be caught in.
This editing story is more significant than the Imus flap a few months back, because people did not necessarily buy his line of bull.
Katie Couric and CBS conspiring against the public trust is utterly offensive and undermines any credibility they might have had. To pull such a stunt is disrespectful of the viewers that I am surprised that Katie and the producer are not gone.
katie, we're scratching our heads why you let a "young producer" take the fall for you. what values! what example! not only are you not fit give us the news, you may perhaps be an unfit mother as well.
How convenient for the "Big Three" to always have a "little guy" to blame for their incompetence. The editing was obviously deliberate to cover up yet another gaffe by McCain. The stations might believe shifting the blame protects Katie but in reality it only further explains that she's just a mouthpiece and hardly a qualified jounalist. When Rather broadcast news that someone else presumably prepared and checked for authenticity he was immediately demoted. Katie deserves the same treatment.
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