CNN's Kyra Phillips Has Last Laugh (Top Ten List)

People ^ | 09/01/2001 | Stephen M. Silverman

[Responsibility2nd]

CNN anchor Kyra Phillips, whose bathroom gossip was broadcast live on CNN on Tuesday, appeared on Thursday's Late Show with David Letterman to give her side of the story.

That is, she delivered Top 10 list of reasons why things went wrong. (Phillips accidentally left her mic on when she went to the ladies room while covering a speech by President Bush in New Orleans – and her family gossip was broadcast live. CNN issued an apology, and Phillips told Letterman no one was fired as a result of the snafu.)

Phillips's Top 10 list:

10. Still haven't mastered complicated on/off switch.
9. Larry King told me he does this all the time.
8. How was I supposed to know we had a reporter embedded in the bathroom.
7. I honestly never knew this sort of thing was frowned upon.
6. I couldn't resist a chance to win $10,000 on America's Funniest Home Videos.
5. I was set up by those bastards at Fox News.
4. Like you've never gone to the bathroom and had it broadcast on national television.
3. I just wanted that hunky Lou Dobbs to notice me.
2. Okay, so I was drunk and I couldn't think straight.
1. You have to admit, it made the speech a lot more interesting.

[PennsylvaniaMom]

Kyra Phillips really did do the list nicely...great timing and delivery. And the Fox news reference wasn't hers, or CNNs...it was the Late Show writers who do the 'Top Ten List.'

[DBrow]

Thanks, TonyRo76.

Although this is nothing like what Buckhead did.

Notice, though, that most of the posters on this thread react as though it was something Kyra P did wrong- this will be the take that America will take too.

CNN is not going to take a hit for this, they have already spun this into the shallow end of the news cycle.

You'd have to have worked at a studio or mixing console to understand how things work, and to be able to listen to the audio and visualize the sound guy's actions- this won't resonate like the CBS font issue and Kyra is publicly acting like it was her who goofed.

[TXBubba]

I'm glad to hear she can laugh at it all. Having sent an office wide e-mail by mistake once I could certainly empathize with this broadcast oops. At least in my case I worked in the IS department and we went around and deleted the mistake before people returned to work the next day...whew!

[DBrow]

"I'll give this idiot a bit of credit, at least she can laugh at her own stupidity."

See my post above- she did absolutely nothing wrong, it was the sound engineer at the board in the control room who messed up. That's the guy who decides what channel to bring up and which outgoing bus to mix it into, and he chose to bring up her mic. Sending it to the live bus was probably a mistake, the intent was most likely to eavesdrop for a little fun- with his headphones on he missed the fact that he was live nationally!

If it was up to the talking heads with their own wireless sets, you'd hear them switch in and out for every segment- it would go like this: Producer says it's time for the weather, so the weather guy switches on and the two behind the desk reach for their transmitters and switch off. You don't see that, it's seamless because it's done from the sound board.

All of the wireless units are on all the time, and the sound man selects which channels to feed to the main output. Like a Broadway musical that uses fifteen mics, the talent does not do the switching (or you'd hear dressing-room noise when Ado Annie goes offstage to change if she forgot).

Most of the time, the transmitter is hard for the talent to reach, especially for women who don't wear a jacket- it'll be behind them at waist level where they can't get to it.

[Southack]

This spin shows that the broadcast news media has COMPLETE CONTEMPT for the American Public.

The broadcast news media thinks that the American public will glibly believe that the CNN Control Room doesn't exist...that this incident was an "accident" by a ditzy talking head rather than a deliberate episode of rude behavior meant to distract from President Bush's speech.

85 seconds. Come on!

What American TV viewer thinks that a professional control room would permit a mic gaffe to go on for almost a minute and a half?!

I'll bet that if anyone analyzes the tape that they'll find that the control room at CNN turned up Kyra's bathroom mic while simultaneously lowering the sound input from President Bush, too.

But the bigger point is not that CNN walked over President Bush's speech (churlish and unacceptable in and of itself), but rather that the Broadcast News Media thinks that the American Public is so dumb as to believe that this incident was the fault of a ditzy talking head rather than orchestrated by the Control Room.

[Southack]

"I'll give this idiot a bit of credit, at least she can laugh at her own stupidity."

Nope. You got it wrong. She's laughing at you.

See post #45.

[doug from upland]

She is a little late and has already been lampooned in two songs. Note: the bathroom stall may take awhile to load.

Skip to comments.

DFU SONG: Twinkle Twinkle Little Star (for Kyra - tinkle, tinkle little star)
DFU - news of the day in song ^ | 8-2006 | Lyrics, Doug from Upland

Posted on 08/31/2006 10:24:29 AM PDT by doug from upland

Writing the history of our time in song.

http://monya1.tripod.com/midis2.html
MIDI - TWINKLE TWINKLE LITTLE STAR (click on Margie Harrell, then the song)

Tinkle, tinkle, little star...viewers wonder where you are

Maybe in stall number one...this is really getting fun

Tinkle, tinkle, little star...viewers wonder where you are

Kyra was there to hear our leader speak

Her sister-in-law we learn's a real controlling freak

Then there was a television moment quite profound
I hope everybody got to hear the zipper sound

Come on, put it on your website, CNN

We are waiting anxiously to hear the clip again

Tinkle, tinkle, little star...we are all wondering where you are
Maybe you're in stall number one...I've got the popcorn, man, this is really fun

Tinkle, tinkle, little star...viewers wonder where you are

[DBrow]

I'll bet that if anyone analyzes the tape that they'll find that the control room at CNN turned up Kyra's bathroom mic while simultaneously lowering the sound input from President Bush, too.

No analysis needed- just listen. Or, to help visualize, put both hands down on a tabletop and pretend that you have soundboard slide controls in each hand. Make Bush's sound level your right, and Kyra P's your left, then listen to the audio and move your hands up or down as the level changes. It will be quite obvious that someone is changing the mix levels. If you argue that KP's levels are changing because she's moving around, then focus on the ups and downs of the President's speech levels- he is not moving around a room.

[jpl]

I won't dispute at all that someone in the control room screwed up big-time (maybe even on purpose).

But are you telling me that it's normal for anchoresses to go to the ladies' room with their microphones attached and on, so that the nerds in the control room can always hear every single word they're saying? I'm pretty gullible, but sorry, I'm simply not buying that one. She had no idea that anyone else outside the restroom was listening in on that little conversation.

[CougarGA7]

It's good to see that she can laugh at herself. It's too bad Letterman's writers are so lousy, that could have been a hilarious list.

[Southack]

see post #31. Their mics are always on.

[Southack]

Doug! Don't fall for their spin!

Good grief, their mics are *always* on. This was done deliberately in the Control Room.

[1Old Pro]

1. You have to admit, it made the speech a lot more interesting.

UGH, not even remotely funny. Typical reporterette nitwit.

[DBrow]

I've worked plays and musicals and public speeches and that is exactly what happens all the time.

It is up to the "nerds in the control room" to not bring the channel online.

Look at the cast of "Cats"- they use wireless and they tape the transmitters to their bodies under the costumes. No way are they going to dig down inside to flip a little switch.

For a man, with the xmitter in a suitcoat pocket, no problem, but women usually have the transmitter around in back or tucked away somewhere and it would be hard to reach.

If it were up to the talent, you'd see many cases where they forgot to turn it back ON and you'd have dead air at embarrassing times.

The control room guys prefer that they just leave it alone and let the tech crew deal with it.

[DBrow]

Let me amend a bit. The talent does have the ability to turn the xmiters on and off (if they can be reached) but they are not required to, and it usually (as I mentioned above) leads to the talent forgetting that they switched off, and walking on stage to deliver a line and nothing comes out!

It is much much easier to leave them on and have the sound crew keep the sliders down until the cue for that talent is given.

[HamiltonJay]

Letterman top ten lists stopped being funny back in the 80s....

[1Old Pro]

After reading these "Top Ten" thingys I thought, "No wonder they put him on so late at night." LOL!

Yep, when people are over tired they get "punch-drunk" and laugh at the stupidest things.

[BurbankKarl]

Letterman has been on since 83 I think...

[ibbryn]

DBrow has a handle on this. The rest of you guys need to lighten up. The Top 10 list was pretty funny AND the best thing she could have done PR-wise since everyone was already talking about her.

Have some fun and laugh along with her. :)