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 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."