Baltimore TV Reporter Fired for Altering John Gibson Video

A producer/reporter for WBAL in Baltimore has been fired for admitting that he was the one who doctored a video to make it seem that FOX News commentator John Gibson compared Attorney General Eric Holder to a monkey. The doctored video had Gibson using the phrase "bright blue scrotum."

The video gained notoriety when The Huffington Post picked it up from YouTube. HuPo later ran a correction and an apology.

David Zurawik of the Baltimore Sun writes:

Beyond the end of [John Sanders'] career at WBAL, the video highlights the lack of verification at popular news Web sites such as the Huffington Post. Like many news aggregate sites, the Post does not employ traditional news reporters but relies mainly on contributions from readers, celebrities and columnists. Sanders' dismissal could also be seen as a cautionary tale for those who think that they can post something on the Internet as a prank for the enjoyment of their friends and that it will go no further.

According to a statement issued by Wanda Draper, director of public affairs for WBAL, Sanders altered the tape and posted it on YouTube "without the prior knowledge or consent" of the Hearst-Argyle-owned NBC affiliate.

"Further, this video does not represent the views of WBAL-TV or Hearst-Argyle Television," the statement said.

Sanders said he made the tape after he heard other anchors on Fox News repeating the phrase "bright blue scrotum" while they reported the monkey story.

"I just kept hearing the phrase 'bright blue scrotum,' and I thought it was hilarious." he said in an interview last week on The B-Cast webcast on Breitbart.tv. "And so I just recorded it."

And then he dubbed the words into Gibson's mouth and put the doctored tape on YouTube, where the Huffington Post picked it up and presented it as authentic.

Huffington Post Grew the Most in January, Neilsen Online Reveals

Nielsen Online has released its January 2009 list of the 30 most popular news sites by unique visitors, Jennifer Saba of Editor and Publisher is reporting. MSNBC has a sizable lead in the top slot, followed by CNN and Yahoo! News, while The Huffington Post had the largest percentage gain for the month -- a whopping 152 percent. The New York Times was the top newspaper on the list with 21.5 million unique viewers in the month.

Here is the top 30 sites:

Site/Total Unique Users Users in January/Increase or Decrease

MSNBC Digital Network -- 44,844,000 -- 27%
CNN Digital Network -- 41,655,000 -- 17%
Yahoo! News -- 40,499,000 -- 12%
AOL News -- 23,051,000 -- (-3%)
NYTimes.com -- 21,584,000 -- 5%

Tribune Newspapers -- 17,917,000 -- 29%
Fox News Digital Network -- 15,591,000 -- 45%
Google News -- 13,796,000 -- 15%
Gannett Newspapers and Newspaper Division -- 13,758,000 -- 2%
CBS News Digital Network -- 13,223,000 -- 42%

ABCNEWS Digital Network -- 12,771,000 -- (-3%)
washingtonpost.com -- 11,148,000 -- 13%
USATODAY.com -- 10,588,000 -- (-14%)
BBC -- 9,847,000 -- 74%
McClatchy Newspaper Network -- 9,779,000 -- 15%

WorldNow -- 9,773,000 -- (-5%)
Boston.com -- 8,535,000 -- 64%
Advance Internet -- 7,935,000 -- 23%
Hearst Newspapers Digital -- 7,822,000 -- (-1%)
N.Y. Daily News Online Edition -- 7,775,000 -- 150%

MediaNews Group Newspapers -- 7,774,000 -- 43%
TheHuffingtonPost.com -- 7,357,000 -- 152%
Topix -- 7,048,000 -- (-1%)
Cox Newspapers -- 5,940,000 -- 26%
Slate -- 5,655,000 -- 0%

NBC Local Media -- 5,576,000 -- N/A
Gannett Broadcasting -- 5,504,000 -- 1%
Telegraph -- 5,104,000 -- 139%
New York Post Holdings -- 4,992,000 -- 7%
NPR -- 4,903,000 -- 16%

News Cycle was just a bit outside for this list.

Huffington Post Apologizes for Item Claiming John Gibson Compared Holder to a Monkey

The Huffington Post ran a correction today saying the video that supposedly showed FOX News commentator John Gibson comparing Attorney General Eric Holder to a monkey was a hoax:

The Huffington Post has learned that the below video has been doctored. We regret the error and apologize to Mr. Gibson. John Gibson never compared Eric Holder to a monkey with a bright blue scrotum.

Rather, as seen in the unedited video below, Gibson played audio of Holder saying "nation of cowards" -- so his full, unedited remarks were:

"We were talking about Eric Holder today on the radio and his comment that this is a nation of cowards."

The video was doctored to include Trace Gallagher's voice saying, "bright blue scrotum" where Gibson played Holder's "nation of cowards" remark. The Huffington Post does not know the source of the video's doctoring — it was picked up off TVNewser.

This is the unedited video:



The doctored video has been deleted from YouTube.

Here is TVNewser's correction, along with Gibson's reaction:

Yesterday we posted a Fox News clip involving several references to a "bright blue scrotum." The nature of our story was how anchors Julie Banderas and Harris Faulkner got through the story. What we didn't realize at the time is that the very end of the clip includes an exchange with Trace Gallagher and John Gibson. And that portion was doctored to put words in John Gibson's mouth that he did not say.

The Huffington Post, which picked up the clip from us got hundreds of comments on their version of the story which focused on that part of the clip.

HuffPo has issued a full correction:

The video was doctored to include Trace Gallagher's voice saying, "bright blue scrotum" where Gibson played Holder's 'nation of cowards' remark. The Huffington Post does not know the source of the video's doctoring — it was picked up off TVNewser...The Huffington Post regrets the error.

We don't know either. It came from YouTube user "john13210" and arrived in the anonymous tip box. We regret the error as well. The clip has since been removed from YouTube.

Gibson tells TVNewser, "The Huffington Post, in its zeal to slime me, went over the line and posted a phony, fabricated quote, attributed it to me, and which actually constitutes a lie, and a slander. The Huffington Post plays fast and loose on a regular basis, but this time it was caught in an out and out fabricated falsehood."

Video of Palin Speaking at Wasilla Church

UPDATE, 9:09 p.m. Eastern, Sept. 8: Olbermann, Maddow paint Palin's faith as extreme.

Sarah Palin at Wasilla Assembly of God (Part 1)

Sarah Palin at Wasilla Assembly of God (Part 2)

Nico Pitney and Sam Stein, writing for the Huffington Post, uncovered a video of Sarah Palin appearing in June at Wasilla Assembly of God, the church she was a member of for many years. The full video is available at the Huffington Post.

Speaking before the Pentecostal church, Palin painted the current war in Iraq as a messianic affair in which the United States could act out the will of the Lord.

"Pray for our military men and women who are striving to do what is right. Also, for this country, that our leaders, our national leaders, are sending [U.S. soldiers] out on a task that is from God," she exhorted the congregants. "That's what we have to make sure that we're praying for, that there is a plan and that that plan is God's plan."

Alaska's governor asked the audience to pray for another matter -- a $30 billion national gas pipeline project that she wanted built in the state. "I think God's will has to be done in unifying people and companies to get that gas line built, so pray for that," she said.

The church runs a number of ministries providing help to poor neighborhoods, care for children in need, and general community services. But Pastor Kalnins has also preached that critics of President Bush will be banished to hell; questioned whether people who voted for Sen. John Kerry in 2004 would be accepted to heaven; charged that the 9/11 terrorist attacks and war in Iraq were part of a war "contending for your faith;" and said that Jesus "operated from that position of war mode."

It is impossible to determine how much Wasilla Assembly of God has shaped Palin's thinking. She was baptized there at the age of 12 and attended the church for most of her adult life. When Palin was inaugurated as governor, the founding pastor of the church delivered the invocation. In 2002, Palin moved her family to a nondenominational church, but she continues to worship at a related Assembly of God church in Juneau.

Moreover, she "has maintained a friendship with Wasilla Assembly of God and has attended various conferences and special meetings here," Kalnins' office said in a statement. "As for her personal beliefs," the statement added, "Governor Palin is well able to speak for herself on those issues."

Newsweek's Lisa Miller and Amanda Coyne looked at her current church, Wasilla Bible Church, and reported the following this afternoon:

Except for the national spotlight, Wasilla Bible Church resembles thousands of conservative evangelical churches across the country. Its statement of faith says its members believe that the Bible is the "inspired, inerrant word of God." It offers a half a dozen ministries devoted to children and families, including a chapter of MOPS, a popular nationwide support group for Christian mothers of preschoolers. The sermons of its ministers steer clear of politics and hot-button social issues and dwell instead on scripture. Its membership is largely conservative.

When Does MSNBC Pull the Plug on Olbermann?

At what point does Keith Olbermann's power play at MSNBC and his snide comments to guests and colleagues overshadow what Barack Obama is trying to achieve this week in Denver?

Olbermann has provided such a powerful counter punch to the Democratic Party as it tries to show America how united liberals are that liberal websites are wondering what the heck is going on.

The Huffington Post has this blog entry (from David Hauslaib's Jossip) this afternoon titled "Nobody Can Believe How Much Keith Olbermann Is Getting Away With"

Meanwhile, in the past few hours we've spoke to a number of 30 Rock staffers in Denver, New York, and Washington -- some of whom thought it more productive to speak to us than attend to the on-going live DNC coverage -- and the common wisdom is: 1) Nobody can believe how much Keith Olbermann is getting away with, even if he does draw ratings; 2) As an Olbermann protege, Rachel Maddow is attracting negative feelings from staffers, since she stays mum on many of these catfights, but "there's still time" to represent; 3) MSNBC head Phil Griffin is alienating staffers by publicly defending Olbermann while privately bashing him, and it's left many wondering when that will leak (oops); 4) MSNBC publicist Jeremy Gaines appears increasing stressed out and can be seen "shaking" with a phone attached to his ear dealing with reporters; 5) You don't want to run into Chris Matthews anytime soon, especially en route to the bathroom, because he has zero pleasant things to say right now; 6) Joe Scarborough is definitely stressed, but he's managed to calm down a bit today and can be seen laughing and gabbing; 7) None of this is helping ratings, with MSNBC scoring the lowest numbers against Fox News and CNN in convention coverage.

Olbermann has quickly become the main story in Denver, and that's not good news for Obama as it overshadows his message on the very network that should be promoting it. It's even worse for MSNBC. It would be one thing if it were a ratings gold mine. But MSNBC has been in last place every night. America is getting weary of watching cat fights, and his colleagues are growing more irritable every day.

At some point, the chiefs at GE and NBC may have to cut their loses and send him packing. Maybe then he could get a job as an assistant for Bill O'Reilly.

Olbermann's Verdict: Maddow In, Abrams Out

Rachel Sklar originally wrote this post for the Huffington Post, but it was determined that it was not suitable for that site. So now Poynter is publishing it.

In it, Sklar dissects the removal of Dan Abrams from MSNBC's 9 p.m. slot and inserting Rachel Maddow's new show. The post does a critique of Keith Olbermann's role in all of this, and how his internal political strength at the network is growing.

That network anchors might not be best buddies isn't exactly groundbreaking, but putting all of this together suggests something lopsided at MSNBC. It's not particularly opaque, either; here's Jossip's headline, "Rachel Maddow's New Show: The Most Solid Evidence Yet That Keith Olbermann Runs MSNBC"; here is New York's Daily Intel: "With Appointment of Rachel Maddow to Prime-Time Host, Keith Olbermann Appears to Officially Run MSNBC." Maddow obviously was a rising star at MSNBC anyway, but this isn't about why she was hired, this is about who she replaced, and why -- and, behind the scenes, by whom.

Also, Rush Limbaugh got the coveted Silver the other night as Worser Person in the World for daring to make a comment:



All this back and forth aside, it's clear that Olbermann has not only become the face (and voice) of MSNBC, but he has indeed started to shape its editorial content. Is that good? well, ultimately viewers will decide. People who make a living through political commentary should, in fact, by the nature of the job be forceful. But Olbermann always dishes up a main course of attacks on conservatives, often getting personal. (Would he mock a liberal he disagreed with by bringing up a previous drug problem? I doubt it.) And is it wise for any network to allow the talent to make programming decisions?

It is clear that FOX has it voice, and MSNBC-Keith is developing its own. Whether it results in ratings and advertisment revenues remains to be seen. What's truly important is that viewers understand they are watching commentary. Occasionally, the line between opinion and straight news gets blurry. Newspapers have it easy. They have "news" pages and "editorial" pages. Television is different, and the mixing of the two is growing.