ABC News apologized to the White House and CNBC after its employees heard President Obama call Kanye West a “jackass” and immediately posted the comment on Twitter, the Associated Press reports.
ABC employees were listening in on a CNBC interview with the president via a fiber optic line shared by the two news organizations.
The president’s remarks about West’s onstage interruption during Sunday’s MTV Music Video Awards were made before the formal interview and were being treated by CNBC as off the record.
–Elizabeth Jensen
OK – well I DON’T accept the apology! What ever happened to getting the facts straight before reporting for any of the so-called news organizations (let alone the blogosphere)? This is part of the reason we’re all so disillusioned and cynical about the news these days. I understand reporters sometimes get some of their best info “off the record” but seriously – is Kanye West really all that newsworthy that a comment about him had to be Twittered out immediately? And so what if the President used a more scatological term than we’re used to hearing from him? I’m sure all the politicians (and reporters) have used FAR worse language. Give me a break!
Why everything Bush said was fair game but not OBAMA.
What Terry Moran did was just plain wrong. Obama was speaking off the record and asked not to be quoted. Wrong, wrong, wrong. I hope ABC is banned from the White House Press corps. What an idiot.
Every microphone is a live microphone. And, every camera is a live camera. Since when was anything “off the record”?
Doug, there are plenty of times an interview subject may speak “off the record.” Whether a tape is rolling or not, a “real” journalist will respect this and not publicly report theses comments. For someone who claims to be a journalist to report as fact comments that were clearly off the record, shows their true character and integrity. Obviously these ABC news hacks are more interested in getting a “scoop” then in engaging in respectful, trustworthy journalism. I think everyone these days should read the book “How To Watch TV News.”