Dealing with a hostile media environment

Glenn Reynolds:

CHARLIE Gibson's ABC interview with Republican veep candidate Sarah Palin produced a lot of complaints from Palin fans. There's not much anyone in the campaign can do about journalists like Gibson misstating candidates' "exact words," but there is something that candidates - and anyone else interviewed by a possibly hostile media - can do to make sure that things get played straight in the editing process.

You just have to break the camera monopoly. Luckily, that's become easy.

An episode of "The Simpsons" a few years back centered on Homer facing bogus sexual-harassment charges. A TV news show ("Rock Bottom") interviewed him and edited his innocuous statements to make them sound incriminating. (To make the joke clear, the hands on a clock in the background were in a different position for almost every word). Ultimately, Homer was saved only because Groundskeeper Willie turned out to have shot video that exonerated him.

Real life isn't "The Simpsons" (though politics are seeming more and more cartoonish these days). Still, TV is all about the editing - and even modest tweaks can drastically change how an interviewee comes across.

So, when you sit down for an interview (unless it's live), you're putting yourself, like Homer, at the mercy of the editors. Usually they're honest, but not always.

But there's a remedy now, with technology being what it is. If I were a candidate, I think I'd bring my own camera to interviews, shoot the whole thing and post the unedited raw video on the Web.

The technology for this is easy - I've got a little Sony HD video camera that records on a chip and fits in a coat pocket or purse - and putting video on the Web is a snap, too.

Of course, the knowledge that this will happen is likely to be enough to keep people honest - but if anything is edited unfairly, the full video will tell the tale. No need to wait for Groundskeeper Willie to appear.

...

Actually the defense department already does this with most interviews. It is a little surprising that the campaigns do not. Once the interview is in the can the media tend to think it is their property to slice and dice as they see fit and they rarely agree to release the uncut version. In fact they resist court orders to do so in most cases.

Palin's next interview will not be in such a hostile environment. Sean Hannity is as likely to be hostile to the rest of the media and they have been with Palin.

Clearly the McCain-Palin campaign is operating in a hostile media environment and they have to make sure they control their message and not the hostile forces. Actually, they are doing quite well at that right now and many in the media are losing credibility with constantly attacking Palin.