Posted on 09/12/2008 9:02:59 PM PDT by MindBender26
Did ABC cheat in Palin interview? Perhaps.
Its not unusual for news anchors to wear almost hidden earpieces during their live anchoring. It allows the producers to clandestinely talk to the anchors during the newscast and anchors to hear reporters in the field, receive time cues and other important audio. Its not unusual to see anchors holding their earpiece a little tighter into their ear if they are having trouble hearing what is being fed and said to them.
But an earpiece during a supposedly one-on-one interview would be very unusual. Why would the interviewer need support from producers or others DURING the interview, unless they were all ganging up on the interview subject.
Tonights Gibson-Palin interview was billed as an exclusive one-on-one, but was it really Sarah Palin vs. Charlie Gibson aided by a lot of co-conspirator news producers sitting off-set, feeding him supposedly spontaneous questions and quips?
If you have a copy of the interview, watch what happens at 10:36 (EDT). Gibson is aggressively questioning Governor Palin, but his right hand is back near his ear, in a very unflattering pose. Its a picture all of us who have worked in TV news are very familiar with. Its an anchor having trouble hearing whats being said to him in his earpiece.
Was Charlie being coached? If so, why, and why werent we told it was a one vs three or four attempted ambush, not one-on-one interview as it was advertised. If he wasnt being coached by off-screen producers, then why the all too familiar fingers in ear pose.
This is all very much like the Steve Martin tent revival minister character in the movie Leap Of Faith, who received supposedly divine messages radioed into his ear from an off-stage Debra Winger. By the way, that movie was inspired by an actual fraudulent Texas TV minister who used the very same technique . and was exposed on ABCs 20/20 the same show Governor Palin was on tonight/
Whats the truth? We may never know. Ill accept whatever Charlie Gibson tells us is the truth about this issue, but after an hour of demanding answers from Sarah Palin, dont Mr. Gibson and ABC owe us an honest answer too?
Oh, I haven't a doubt, either. But... I *do* wonder exactly *WHERE* said plug will be inserted...
the infowarior
I could suggest a spot...
Speaking of Obama and his speaking patterns, did you ever notice that he speaks in discrete blocks of words, two, three, and four usually at a time. He pauses, momentarily always, or stammers in rare instances, but he NEVER speaks fluidly except when he’s reading a teleprompter.
Maybe he can borrow one of Bidens plugs.
Thank you for posting this. Inquiring minds wanted to know.
"Hang on a minute, I can't hear myself."
Ummmhmmm... GMTA. I believe we are thinking of the same place...
the infowarrior
I saw that clip and thought it was odd. Most people would say, "I can't hear myself think.
Bring it. We can handle 4 of theirs.
But let’s put Obama to the same test. Give him Hannity, Hume, Elder, and Limbaugh.
quesney has already done the heavy lifting for us. "Two Very Different Interviews."
That’s what I thought, some kind of stalker, serial killer who was trying to terrify her into making a mistake.
I’ve never appreciated Charlie Gibson nor have I ever enjoyed watching him report the news. He’s better at being involved in a cooking segment.
I am very interested in this angle. I was taken aback during the first interview (towards the end) when Gibson asked Palin to slow down/back off because he was “getting lost in a blizzard of words here.” It struck me as very odd and I wondered where all these ‘words’ were coming from. In fact, I sent an e-mail to Gibson noting that this senior with no journalistic credentials had no problem following Palin’s remarks and wondering why he did. My parting remark to him was, “Lets keep up here, eh, Charlie!” But his words overload could have had an unseen source, as you suggest.
I’m going to try never to watch the networks again, just cable news. It’s sad to think that when I was a kid, the networks actually had something to offer. Now, it’s just boob-tube wasteland stuff. I’ll stick with FOX and Glenn Beck on CNN Headline as long as the networks don’t reform.
Glad to have your expert insight on this. I’ll be sure to watch that portion for what you observed.
We have a lot in common, though you’ve got some years on me; both vets, have a mutual friend, I’m in DC & I majored in communications at one point before switching...
I wonder if anything will come of this angle? Could be worth some mileage in the already deep & broad support for Palin.
Good point about Charle’s blizzard of words. Especially when the so called blizzard response amounted to 43 words. Someone counted them, I think on NRO.
Now I KNOW he is a liberal, sexist thug.
Nothing more, nothing less.
Obama was indeed choppy, very choppy at that forum on the evening of 9/11....but not as many errs, and ummhs lately.
Makes perfect sense!! They were having technical difficulties. Obama was literally on that stage not knowing what he was going to say. When the little voice in his ear didn't work, he was lost. He was stalling, while waiting for them to correct the issue.
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