The worst aspect of the CNN/Letterman/ yawning controversy.

[Eric J in MN]

The worst aspect of the CNN/Letterman/ yawning controversy is that CNN is so eager to help Bush, that it would rather lie and say that it was CNN's own fault-they just announce White House phone calls which never happened-then to tell the truth that the White House lied to them.

Credibility is everything in journalism, but CNN is so pro-Bush that it doesn't mind reducing its own credibility to try to boost Bush's credibility.


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From Democratic Underground's Top 10 Conservative Idiots, on the frontpage:
On the Late Show last week, David Letterman played a series of clips of a recent George W. Bush speech, which featured a teenage boy in the background yawning and checking his watch. Clearly amused by the boy's antics, CNN's Daryn Kagan ran the clips the following morning on CNN Live Today. And here's where it starts to get weird. After breaking for a commercial, Kagan came back and told her viewers that, "that video was from David Letterman. We're being told by the White House that the kid, as funny as he was, was edited into that video, which would explain why the people around him weren't really reacting. So, that from the White House." Hey, nice fact-checking Daryn! So the White House calls to tell you the "truth" and you just blurt it out right there on air? Does this have anything to do with all those missing weapons of mass destruction by any chance? But as if reporting spin directly from the White House isn't bad enough, there's even more idiocy to this than meets the eye. See, it turned out Letterman hadn't edited the boy into the clips - they were 100% real - and not only that but CNN claimed they hadn't even had a call from the White House. Apparently it was all just "a misunderstanding among staff." Fascinating! So this is how the cable news networks really operate - they just make it up as they go along.

[DIKB]

1. wonder why. . .

CNN hasn't hired Jayson Blair yet. It seems he would fit in just fine there.

[Pale_Rider]

2. He's ghost-writing for ...

... Faux News.

[Eric J in MN]

6. maybe because Jayson Blair eventually admitted the truth, while CNN

Maybe because Jayson Blair eventually admitted the truth, while CNN is still avoiding the truth.

Firstly, I believe that CNN is lying, and they were called by the White House.

But suppose I'm wrong and they weren't called by the White House. They should be forthcoming and tell the public, who at CNN SAID the White House had called? Has he or she been disciplined? Or is the CNN policy, a person can invent a White House phone-call, and not face accountability from the public, or internally?

[question everything]

3. Oh, I don't know

Frankly, I did not follow the whole story until Friday, when Letterman showed the whole tape - and I laughed.

I don't mind CNN making mistakes. All in all, I am glad to have CNN with the afternoon programs of Inside Politics, Blitzer's, Dobbs' and Crossfire. You can just see how messages start pouring in to these pages when these programs are on, positive ones - watch CNN now!

When so many watch Fox, when MSNBC is - I don't know - when the regular networks just have their 22 minutes of news, so careful not to appear bias, I am glad we have CNN.

Leave them alone. This was a non-news event, except for laughs.

[Eric J in MN]

8. mistakes are fine, if they're properly disclosed

Saying that SOMEONE at CNN falsely stated that the White House had called, without saying who, isn't proper disclosure.

[Art_from_Ark]

11. "Leave them alone"

This bit of "advice" brought to you by "Question Everything"
:crazy:

[question everything]

18. Those who can

debate the substance, those with ample space between their ears make dumb comments about others.

[Art_from_Ark]

20. You want substantive debate?

OK, why should we laugh off an obvious politically-motivated lie by a large, "trusted" media outlet? There are lots of fish to fry in this crazy world, and media lying is one of them. Trust in the information provided by the government and media is the bedrock of democracy. If they lie about this, what else have they lied about?

[KissMyAsscroft]

12. Leave them alone...

They are just a propaganda outfit for the Bush White House....just leave em alone...

:eyes:

[ochazuke]

14. Did you see Krugman's column a couple of days ago?

He shows that this incident is part of a larger failing in today's journalism.

I think this Letterman thing is a huge scandal: somebody lied here. There's a monsterous credibility gap, and this little film clip proves it.

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

21. I agree. The original story = harmless fun. But what has happened

is one of those moments where the ass of the Wizard of Rove is sticking out from behind the curtain. We're supposed to pretend like nothing ever happened.

[Guaranteed]

16. But they're LYING. nt

[DianeG5385]

4. The worst aspect for me is that we're still talking about it

That way, we don't focus on important stuff like the hellhole that Iraq has become, the fake 308K jobs, the stonewalling of the 911 commssion, I could go on ad nauseum.

[Eric J in MN]

10. CNN is an extremely powerful organization. If they're more loyal to Bush

CNN is an extremely powerful organization. If they're more loyal to Bush than to the truth, that is an importnat issue, even if the things you mentioned are even more important.

[question everything]

15. I just think that we need to choose our fights

and this one is not worth all the space dedicated to it.

As I pointed above, no one has attacked outsourcing the way Lou Dobbs had done. Both the Inside Politics and Wolf Blitzer gave great cover to the Democratic primaries and exposed all the other lies and coverups of the White House this is a small matter, in my opinion.

No one covered the "unborn victim" law the way CNN analyzed it the other day, showing how Laci Peterson's mother desecrated the memory of her murdered daughter by using her to push for her agenda - in my opinion.

This attack on the pro-choice movement is a lot worse than that dumb kid yawning at Bush's.

[Robbien]

19. Some of us choose this fight. The WH influence on media

is a very worthy fight. Whether it is about a yawning boy or landing on an aircraft, the media is pushing this president on the masses. So yes, it is worth the space it is given here at DU and it should be given even more IMO. Who knows what Bush will tell CNN to push next, maybe selling the idea of going to war with Iraq. Oh wait, he already did that.

[sandnsea]

23. Sometimes it's the simplest things

This is SO simple and SO obvious that even the mind of an otherwise diverted American can grasp it. See Dave. See Dave run tape. See Daryn. See Daryn lie. See White House. See White House hide. Simple. Like pulling the thread that unravels the whole sweater. Maybe.

[Kazak]

5. Yes, it reveals direct influence of the WH on media.

Scary! I guess we in fact have not learned from history. :scared:

[SoCalDem]

7. The White House actually CALLS them...

They LIED to try to protect the WH...after the fact

[Robbien]

9. This article from the Moscow Times says it all

<snip>

Pretty amusing, right? Wrong!

There is no laughing at this president! CNN picked up the footage but soon labeled it fake, citing the White House. Letterman responded in outrage. CNN apologized -- and then, oddly, also denied that it had ever heard from the White House. Letterman countered that "our source, a very good source, confirms the White House did call CNN." Of all the possible scenarios here, Letterman's seems most likely. Especially since CNN is looking more and more like a low-rent version of Russia's Channel One.

Last year, CNN -- which already had theme music and snazzy graphics in the can to accompany its future war coverage -- was refusing the tamest ads, even ads featuring clergy, that questioned the wisdom of invading Iraq, on grounds that "we do not accept international advocacy ads on regions in conflict." (What?) More recently, anchorman Wolf Blitzer has proven willing to smear White House critics. Reporting on former anti-terrorism tsar Richard Clarke, the administration's new nightmare, Blitzer cited unnamed government sources saying Clarke's "personal life" might have "some weird aspects."

So that's life in America these days. The week begins with a chuckle; but by mid-week you've realized that even a 12-year-old's yawn can be met with official hostility, and you're starting to feel uneasy. By Friday a wave of relief sets in because the White House has decided against punitive action and is instead chucking the boy under the chin. As The Washington Post reported Friday: "The White House, trying to get out in front of the Yawning Boy story, is now in charge of media access to the young man." First stop: The David Letterman show, because, as assistant press secretary Reed Dickens explains, "He's a young person who strongly supports the president and is excited about getting a chance to talk about it." As to the fun had at the President's expense, Dickens adds, "We think it's all in good nature, very good-humored."

Letterman snorts in reply that, "This whole thing just smells." He observes that now everyone says they're delighted, but initially everyone was furious. In fact, a newspaper that spoke with the boy's father, a Florida Republican politician, initially found him "more than a bit anxious": "I accept full responsibility," dad told The Orlando Sentinel. "I should have prepped him better."

To sum up: If this were Russia and some nutter in Omsk filed suit against the satirical program Krasnaya Strela for defaming President Vladimir Putin, every American news bureau would be on the case with deadly seriousness. Yet when the White House itself feels threatened enough by a kid's yawns to sow confusion on national television about whether he even exists, well ... that's a "bright" story that's gotten just a little too complicated to bother with.

[SheWhoMustBeObeyed]

13. Yep, says it all for me

When Moscow's laughing openly at White House cover-ups and CNN's lies about them, we are really living in Bizarro World.

Me love Russkys! Me hate President! Arrrrrrggghh....

[rumguy]

17. it is becoming a bizzaro world...totally bizarro

fucking republicans...I hate them....there isn't room in this country for both decent people and republicans...

[everythingsxen]

22. Sir the Ministry of Truth is on the line for you!

I think this is double-plus good!