"You know, I owe you an apology. Last week, I led into an interview with a guest analyst and really botched the set-up. The guest had wanted to discuss the Dick Cheney and Joe Lieberman statements suggesting that terror group-- Al Qaeda types, to use Cheney's words -- would be buoyed by your win, but I posed it badly, stupidly ad-libbing about "some saying Lamont is the Al-Qaeda candidate."
"No one, in fact, used that construction. Anyway, I wanted to correct the record, and I'm glad we had this chance to do it. Now, let's get to the insinuations that were lobbed..."
There you have it: an actual admission of on-air stupidity of a kind you rarely see. Note the reference to "the record." Sadly, in the 24 hour news environment in which I have worked, there are occasionally transcripts but no real record. People rarely remember what they said or heard or even where they saw it. Its all tend sound the same with look- alike and think-alike formats.
Does this insulting behavior happen, by accident or "stupid ad-libbing? Or is it encouraged by the whole irresponsible and shameful political/media climate fed by arrogance, ignorance and the influence of savvy professional media advisors and "perception managers?"
These practices are becoming far too common to be mistakes. They are now often the norm, not the exception to it. For every TV host who take media work seriously, there are ten that don't. This is why our media has gone from a guardian of democracy, to a threat to it.
Countering this assault on truth is no longer just about correcting facts. We have to be vigilant about illegitimate media practices that are now acceptable. Like chess players we have to anticipate their next move so we can ultimately check and checkmate them
"No one, in fact, used that construction. Anyway, I wanted to correct the record, and I'm glad we had this chance to do it. Now, let's get to the insinuations that were lobbed..."
There you have it: an actual admission of on-air stupidity of a kind you rarely see. Note the reference to "the record." Sadly, in the 24 hour news environment in which I have worked, there are occasionally transcripts but no real record. People rarely remember what they said or heard or even where they saw it. Its all tend sound the same with look- alike and think-alike formats.
Does this insulting behavior happen, by accident or "stupid ad-libbing? Or is it encouraged by the whole irresponsible and shameful political/media climate fed by arrogance, ignorance and the influence of savvy professional media advisors and "perception managers?"
Countering this assault on truth is no longer just about correcting facts. We have to be vigilant about illegitimate media practices that are now acceptable. Like chess players we have to anticipate their next move so we can ultimately check and checkmate them
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