Posted on 09/03/2015 8:46:21 AM PDT by MarvinStinson
I’m the ombudsman at PBS and I don’t want to be glib or dash off something on Twitter that I would quickly regret, or that could easily be misunderstood, or could be used to either discredit me and my work or PBS. I had the same policy about pre-social media venues when I was the ombudsman at The Washington Post.
So that brings me to the real self-inflicted wound, which was a tweet by PBS NewsHour co-anchor Gwen Ifill on Wednesday—after it became known that President Obama had secured the necessary number of Democratic backers in the Senate to ensure that the nuclear agreement with Iran could not be blocked by opponents—that said: “Take that, Bibi.”
That was a reference, of course, to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who has strongly opposed the agreement and came to Washington at the invitation of Republican House Majority Leader John Boehner to argue against it in front of Congress.
Ifill added the comment when she retweeted an illustration from an Obama administration Twitter account that is designed to support the case for an agreement.
As they say in today’s world, her tweet instantly went viral, picked up by bloggers, websites and a large number of Twitter followers and it quickly produced a lot of angry emails in the ombudsman’s inbox.
I asked Ifill and the NewsHour for a response and explanation. She explained, in an email to me and in a tweet to many others, that she was “RT'ing a @TheIranDeal tweet,” and added that she “should have been clearer that it was their argument, not mine.”
One would have to lean way over backwards to give her the benefit of the doubt that she was simply shedding light on the administration’s view of portions of Netanyahu’s arguments.
But to personalize it by saying, “Take that, Bibi” is, in my book, inexcusable for an experienced journalist who is the co-anchor of a nightly news program watched by millions of people over the course of any week.
It is not the first time that I have written about Ifill and tweets. Three years ago a tweet supporting a former colleague, who made an inflammatory remark apparently unaware that his microphone had not been turned off, also brought about lots of criticism.
Ifill is a highly experienced journalist, very quick, alert, knowledgeable, and with an engaging on-air personality. She also has a talented eye for the ironies and political turnabouts in the daily flow of news that contributes to her presence. But PBS and the NewsHour are bigger than any individual and tweeting does not appear to be a tool, in these cases, that is appropriate for maintaining credibility, which is the bedrock for news organizations.
Agreed, but Gwen and Jorge and these other leftist progressive activists are NOT journalists. So let's begin calling them by what they are, political activists and then it's OK for them to make biased statements.
does anyone know if this “journalist” acts or has acted in a similar matter to Conservative and/or Christians?
bump
I could have done this myself. I believe her that she meant it to mean, “LOL, the White House might as well have said ‘Take that, Bibi!’” In other words, she was rewording their message. But it sounded like it was her saying it. (It didn’t help that her mug shot was next to it.) What is inexcusable is that she didn’t realize what would happen. Sometimes Twitter is not our friend. This goes for Trump too.
IMHO, Twitter causes more problems than it solves. It is not conducive to a reasoned discussion.
PBS was a creation of LBJ.
Nothing’s changed since “the Big Fool said press on.”
...also, it didn’t help that this is probably what Ifill was thinking anyway, whatever she intended the tweet to mean.
Ifill should be fired for that.
But of course she won’t as she is the Poster Child for “affirmative action” Taxpayer subsidized, overpaid, underworked, can’t be fired, biased quasi governmental employment. Stick that black face out there in the name of “look at us, we’re ‘diverse’”
To no one’s surprise, her true color(s) comes thru
From Gwen and 34 Bolshies.
Mentally challenged Gwen Ifil has only one qualiificat ion to a member of the “news” media—she is “african-american.”
Defund PBS. They can make it on their own just fine.
But she is also black, and 96% of blacks voted for Obama. What do you expect?
Here we go ago, daughter of immigrants. Immigration is manufacturing left wingers day and night
Her bio shows she’s bounced from paper to paper, then of course winds up long-term with PBS. What does that tell you? Hired due to her color, movin’ on up, then crash landing to a soft, safe location where she’s guaranteed a lifetime income.
If the RNC allows Ifill to moderate a debate this election season, they (those in control of the RNC) should be removed from power. She is as bad, if not worse, than the Obama loving Candy Crowley.
So?
[to Mr Getler]
On my profile page, I have the Tweet from Patrick Gaspard when ObamaTax was declared legal by John Roberts.
It’s how they think, folks...
“If the RNC allows Ifill to moderate a debate this election season,....”
They probably will, as Karl Marx is no longer available.
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