Two networks bungle Stewart verdict

AP | 3/05/04 | DAVID BAUDER

[kattracks]

NEW YORK (AP) — In the chaotic rush to report the Martha Stewart verdict live on television Friday, at least two networks initially called it wrong and had to quickly correct themselves.

CNBC and MSNBC at first reported Stewart was not guilty on some of the four charges against her in the stock-trading scandal. The jury convicted Stewart on all of the charges.

The culmination of a trial for a woman who built her homemaking empire in large part on television drew intense interest from TV networks. ABC, CBS and NBC broke into regular programming to report the verdicts.

With cameras not allowed in the courtroom, networks had to devise intricate plans to get the news out — involving scarves, placards, cell phones and quick feet.

Most networks had staff members in a courthouse room watching the verdict over closed-circuit television. When a verdict was read, the staffers raced to report it.

For CNBC and MSNBC, this involved producers who left the courthouse in lower Manhattan carrying placards — red for guilty, green for not guilty — with a number that corresponded to the specific charge against Stewart.

CNBC reporter Mike Huckman was standing outside the courthouse with two large posters listing the charges against Stewart and her ex-stockbroker, Peter Bacanovic, and boxes marked "guilty" and "not guilty."

Huckman marked "not guilty" for the conspiracy charge against Stewart and went at least a minute before correcting it, scribbling over the wrong "X" with a red magic marker.

"I apologize," Huckman said. "The confusion out here is immense."

David Friend, CNBC's senior vice president for business news, said the incident should not overshadow strong work done by Huckman during the trial.

"It was chaotic," Friend said. "He had a hard time seeing the verdict as it was coming out of the courthouse."

On MSNBC, reporter Dawn Frantagelo reported that Stewart was found not guilty on the first charge against her. A graphic with the incorrect information was flashed for six seconds before being taken down.

"I don't know why it was wrong," spokesman Jeremy Gaines said. "It was very loud and it was quite chaotic. There was a small bit of confusion and we corrected it immediately."

Another network employed staffers who left the courthouse waving color-coded scarves frantically in the air to signal their reporters.

CNN used four separate staff producers, one for each count against Stewart, who ran outside and phoned a producer. That producer then shouted the verdict into the earpiece of correspondent Mary Snow.

[weegee]

Don't tell me. These reporters voted for Buchanan.

[billorites]

Wow, a momentary mistake, an error in judgement.

Let's send them all to Federal Prison too.

[elli1]

Should have had a pin-striped placard.

[jolie560]

This is a graphic description of how our Media operate.

This is how junk gets broadcasted on our FCC-licensed airwaves.

[irishtenor]

And they all live in Florida.

[saquin]

Why, in the year 2004, are reporters resorting to waving colored scarves or pieces of cardboard? Isn't this the way verdicts would have been communicated in, oh, about 1904? Hasn't anyone heard of cellphones?

[BIGZ]

Did anyone check the juries ballots for hanging chads?

[WoofDog123]

"Wow, a momentary mistake, an error in judgement.
Let's send them all to Federal Prison too."

Stewart isn't in jail for a fairly small-time insider trade. She IS in going to jail for lying to investigators repeatedly, apparently conspiring with the broker to lie to the feds, plus whatever other things came out (I haven't followed too closely.)

She could have come clean and gotten a pr hit and a slap on the wrist. Her first attorney resigned, presumably because she refused to follow advice somewhere along these lines. Her ego failed to believe she could in fact be taken down for something originally involving pocket change, the equivalent of lunch money to most americans.

Extremely successful, driven people, generally seem to have super-egos, presumably this is part of why they were able to succeed to the degree they did, whether they be president, or a person who built a net worth in the 9 digits. It in no way means they have any grasp on reality or objectivity in other departments, especially once you get used to the lifestyle of a half-billionaire with national exposure. Martha clearly didn't have any grasp on how breathtakingly stupid her method of handling this was, and wouldn't listen to anyone who told her otherwise.

Ask any attorney what happens when you lie to feds and conspire to lie with others to feds in an investigation.

[Cato the Censor]

HUCKMAN was a hack here in Detroit on the local ABC outlet WXYT-He was known for his wearing of a huge brown Fedora on his silly head and screwing up the news daily. His constant assignment was to stand on a bridge over an expressway whenever it was snowing out and giving traffic reports. We assumed the staff wanted this stinker out of the studio as much as possible.All of this reminds me of Fatso Rita Cosby on Fox. She's best remembered for misreporting on National TV that the U.S. Supreme Court had ruled in Al Gore's favor in 1999 and he was our new President.

[billorites]

"Stewart isn't in jail for a fairly small-time insider trade. She IS in going to jail for lying to investigators repeatedly, apparently conspiring with the broker to lie to the feds, plus whatever other things came out..."

Well, other than that she's squeaky clean.

[barker]

The Watergate break in wasn't what destroyed Nixon. It was the cover up that did him in. Martha should have studied history.

[kittymyrib]

Except for that lying lawyer, Hillary Clinton, who said, "I can't recall", or "I don't remember" 80+ times in her grand jury testimony and got away with it. Seems her memory came back to write her "Lying History" book.

[nmh]

Knowing ole Martha she'll probably want to work in the kitchen and make the inmates appetizers, give cooking and decorating lessons.

[spectre]

I agree.

If she had 'fessed up to an "error in judgment" in the beginning, she would still be a multi-gazillionaire diva assembling paper trivets on national TV to an adoring audience.

Instead, for whatever pathetic, egotistical reason she could come up with, she decided to lie to the one person that has more resources, staff, and legal expertise than she could ever buy:

A Federal Prosecutor.

Stupid.