KERRY'S HOMETOWN PRESS TRYING TO COVER FOR HIM....

[TexasRainmaker]

GLOBE REPORTER CLAIMS TAPE RECORDED KERRY 'MORE' LEADERS NOT 'FOREIGN' LEADERS; TRANSCRIPTION 'SCREW-UP'

A BOSTON GLOBE reporter at the center of a growing controversy over comments made by John Kerry last week in Florida now claims he "screwed-up" -- and John Kerry never bragged how "foreign leaders" privately backed his presidential bid!

"I mistranscribed a key word," explains Patrick Healy, a political reporter for the BOSTON GLOBE who covered the event in a pool capacity.

"Listening to the audio recorder now, in the quiet of my house, I hear 'more leaders' and I am certain that 'more leaders' is what Senator Kerry said."

______________________________________________________

Dear Mr. Healy, You recently distributed a “correction” to your prior article regarding John Kerry’s statements referencing support from foreign leaders. You’re claiming you "screwed-up" -- and John Kerry never bragged how "foreign leaders" privately backed his presidential bid! You said, “I mistranscribed a key word," when you covered the Kerry event in a pool capacity. You continued, “Listening to the audio recorder now, in the quiet of my house, I hear 'more leaders' and I am certain that 'more leaders' is what Senator Kerry said.”

I’m curious whether this “correction” is being distributed out of your support for your personal choice of Presidential candidates, or whether something more sinister is behind your “correction”. I trust you haven’t been coerced to make this “correction”, but it’s quite odd you’d come out with this in light of other reporters’ recollections of the same statements by Kerry.

For instance, Patricia Wilson, writing for Reuters, recounted the statement this way, “Democratic White House candidate John predicted on Monday Republicans would try to "tear down" his character and said some foreign leaders had privately confided they hoped he would beat President Bush.” Perhaps she “mistranscribed” the recording too?

To understand why I’m questioning your new found recollection, one need only look at the whole quote surrounding the “more/foreign” question.

John Kerry said, “I've been hearing it, I'll tell ya. The news, the coverage in other countries, the news in other places. I've met more leaders who can't go out and say it all publicly, but boy they look at you and say, you gotta win this, you gotta beat this guy, we need a new policy, things like that. So there is enormous energy out there. Tell them, whereever they can find an American abroad, they can contribute," a reference to donations, prompting laughter from the crowd.”

If he really said "more" in place of “foreign”, why did he refer to “the coverage in other countries”? Why did he also say, “Tell them, wherever they can find an American abroad, they can contribute”? Do you expect us to truly believe that John Kerry wasn’t referring to “foreign” leaders, despite mentioning “coverage in other countries” and contributions from “Americans abroad”?

In addition, why would Kerry be defensive about something he didn't say? You see, when asked to name the “foreign leaders” by Colin Powell, John Kerry responded by saying he was “within his rights to keep his conversations with foreign leaders confidential.”

When pressed by a citizen at a campaign speech, Kerry said, “I've met with foreign leaders … I have heard from people who are leaders elsewhere in the world who don't appreciate the Bush administration approach and would love to see a change in the leadership of the United States. I'm talking our allies, I'm talking about people who were our friends nine months ago, I'm talking about people who ought to be at our side in Iraq and aren't because this administration has pushed them away in its arrogance, that's what I'm talking about.”

So, in light of your new revelation of faulty transcription, we have other reporters who heard it the way you originally reported it, and we have the man at the center of the issue, himself, admitting to making the statement and doing his best to defend such a statement.

Your “correction” seems to say more about your preference of candidates than your ability to accurately report on a story.

Sincerely, An Average American http://texasrainmaker.blogspot.com

FEEL FREE TO SEND THIS LETTER TO THE REPORTER DIRECTLY AT phealy@globe.com

[an amused spectator]

Revived Media Shenanigans ping - A Democrat Embed At The Boston SnotGlob Misunderestimates A "Mistranscription"

On, Off, or grab it for a Media Shenanigans/Schadenfreude ping:
http://www.freerepublic.com/~anamusedspectator/

[DallasMike]

Changing the word "foreign" to the word "more" doesn't change the meaning of what Kerry said at all.

[AaronInCarolina]

Ok, now you got me laughing again. I didn't even think about the fact that single solitary mistake that he made was that one word. HAHAHAHA!

Ask yourself this question... If neither Kerry, nor any of his aides, disputed the transcription and immediately went into defending the use of the words, then WHAT IN THE WORLD WOULD LEAD THE JOURNALIST TO QUESTION THE INTEGRITY OF THE TRANSCRIPTION AND RETURN TO SEARCH FOR ERRORS???

[MeekOneGOP]

Media bias either way ...

[guitfiddlist]

GLOBE REPORTER CLAIMS TAPE RECORDED KERRY 'MORE' LEADERS NOT 'FOREIGN' LEADERS; TRANSCRIPTION 'SCREW-UP'

Or maybe it was "moron leaders"....which rhymes pretty well with "foreign leaders".

[guitfiddlist]

This is rich. I suppose in the future, the Globe will be informing us of other "transcription errors". When Kerry is someday quoted as saying "I believe the Marxist economic model is absolutely the best for mankind", it will be re-transcripted as, "Yes, strawberry sherbert is indeed my favorite."

Thank you Globe, for bringing back cherished memories of Pravda and Tass.

[Piranha]

I listened to your .wav file for the first time this morning, and I am horrified at how this candidate is delegitimizing 1/2 of the electorate; if the man is a Republican, Kerry is saying, then he has no right to question Kerry.

Reading about this episode doesn't begin to convey the arrogance and self-righteousness of John Kerry.

[Piranha]

Great work.

Actually, it does ease my mind.

As I wrote on another thread this morning, and Healy confirmed, this correction is a distinction without a difference -- it is irrelevant. Healy went back to check whether Kerry said he had "met" with foreign leaders. He found that Kerry had said that -- despite his denial -- so he is confirming that Kerry is a liar. However, he panicked when he realized that he mistranscribed what Kerry said ("foreign leaders" instead of "more leaders"). He transacribed it as "foreign leaders" because, as the context makes clear, that is what Kerry clearly meant. Kerry never corrected it because he meant foreign leaders and his staff didn't have a tape to listen to.

What we are left with is a Democratic candidate who talks down the President and his policies with foreign leaders and lies about having met with these people. We also have a reporter who is eager to keep the historical record accurate, even at the risk of keeping an anti-Kerry story in the news for another day.

[cyncooper]

Well, MSNBC just did a very short report and here is my paraphrased representation of what the female anchor reported:

"The WH has criticized John Kerry for saying he spoke with foreign leaders, but a reporter has corrected the record and says Kerry said 'more' not 'foreign'."

And that was it. Needless to say, nothing about how the context indicates the word means little, except that a reporter is willing to lie, and most certainly no reference to how John Kerry has repeated the phrase "foreign leaders" in front of a camera for us all to hear for ourselves.

[Piranha]

Patricia Wilson may have been relying on the pool reporter, who in this case was Healy.

[freeperfromnj]

It's going to backfire. Let them try to cover him on the Logan Airport story. It was splashed in big headlines in yesterday's NY Post with a picture of a plane taking off from Logan Airport. A real eye catcher. The Post is widely read in NY and NJ. I saw many commuters opened to that page yesterday.

[cyncooper]

In the case of the fundraiser wording, my correction is a distinction without a difference, I think.

He's correct, though I thought his original apology was overkill. He should have explained the "error" (which still makes little sense, the way the sentence is structured), and pointed out the gist of the story stands.

I will retract saying he lied since I haven't heard the tape myself.

MSNBC just reported on the story as if the distinction DOES make a difference.

[Piranha]

As I wrote a moment ago, the reporter said that he went back to listen to the tape because he had written that Kerry said he "met" with these leaders, and Kerry was denying it.

In listening to the tape, the reporter confirmed that Kerry is a liar and that he did say that he met with those leaders. However, he also noted that he mistranscribed a potentially important word, writing "foreign" for "more", which he probably did because in the context it was clear that Kerry was referring to foreign leaders.

In his panic about mistranscribing potentially a key word, he sent an immediate correction to the world.

I don't think this was coordinated with the Kerry campaign, because (a) Kerry didn't deny that he was referring to foreign leaders, (b) the correction confirms that Kerry said that he met with them when he did not do so and (c) the change is a distinction without a difference. It doesn't make Kerry's statement any better.

[Piranha]

What MSNBC did is an appalling example of media bias, and they should be called on it.

That is much more deserving of our outrage than this reporter's attempt to correct the record and save his own reputation for accurate transcription.

[Puddleglum]

Rose Mary Woods, personal secretary to President Nixon, shows in 1973 how she may have accidentally erased 18 1/2 minutes from White House Tape...

Patrick, Rose. Rose, Patrick Healy. You might get paired in history together. An ironic twist for the anti-Nixon ketchup candidate, isn't it?

[cyncooper]

I agree, especially just now seeing Healy's emails with acknowledement that the context we all understood stands.

I'll send an email to MSNBC.

[KarlH]

The purpose of the "correction" is to give news organizations a cover to either ignore or brush off the story, just like MSNBC did. "Move along folks, there's nothing to see here." The story about Kerry making things up or lying about these foreign leaders becomes irrelevant, history, and they, the news media organizations, have a reason not to pursue it.

[cyncooper]

I know that.

I'll not stand by and ignore it, though.

BTW, the male anchor, Randy whoever, just repeated the report almost exactly as I transcribed above without referencing context and subsequent Kerry utterances.

I report this not out of surprise or shock, but in an effort to inform those not watching how it is being reported on MSNBC.

[Happy2BMe]

Which do you think it was - "foreign" or "more?"

They kinda sound alike, but this was a major breaking story and no liberal reporter worth his queer abortion at the DNC would have missed it in their scrubdown prior to print.

I still think it was "foreign."

[cyncooper]

Rush addressing the reporter running to the rescue now.