Sign up for The Media Today, CJRâs daily newsletter.
On Monday, ABC News reporter Terry Moran broadcast President Obamaâs off-the-record assessment of Kanye Westâs MTV Video Music Award antics (âjackassâ) to the world, via Twitter, before quickly deleting his tweet.
According to The Washington Postâs Howard Kurtz, Moran learned of the remark via a CNBC interview feed that was available to other news outlets; other ABC employees had actually considered blogging the exchange before deciding not to. (Presumably Moran was not part of this conversation, though itâs not quite clear from the account.) Afterwards, ABC apologized profusely to the White House and CNBC, releasing a statement that said the too-fleet tweet went out âbefore our editorial process had been completed,â and vowing that it was âtaking steps to ensure that it will not happen again.”
Just what those steps will be, though, was left unspecified, and theyâre not immediately obvious. Much of the appeal of Twitter, after all, is its streamlined (or nonexistent) âeditorial process.â So: other than reminding reporters to pay close attention to âoff-the-recordâ guidelines, is there anything news outlets can do to prevent this sort of faux pas? And if they can, should they? Would the trade-off be worth it?
Has America ever needed a media defender more than now? Help us by joining CJR today.
