News Blackout on Stephanopoulos's incompetence as a "correspondent."

abc ^ | Sep 18, 01 | laureldrive

[laureldrive]

How wildly irresponsible and incompetent is was for a nationally broadcast "correspondent" -- ie George Stephanopoulos -- to say on-air last week that TWA 800 was taken down by a "bomb." He probably misspoke - - but news professionals don't make verbal mistakes of such magnitude. Why has his MASSIVE BLOOPER not been mentioned by the journalists who cover journalism (eg, Howie Kurtz, et al)?

Clearly, Stephanopoulos is not professionally competent to be a major network correspondent. IF they had him on as an editorialist - a la George Will, fine. But what gives him the expertise and competence and professional training to be billed as a reporter/correspondent (and even ANCHOR by week's end)?

At ABC "News," is the key to becoming an on-air journalist not journalism experience, but DEMOCRATIC PARTY HACKDOWM EXPERIENCE?

[timestax]

bump to the top !!

[laureldrive]

Would somebody please forward my question to the Media Research Center and tiger columnists such as Coulter, Hewitt, Charen, Feder?

[cmsgop]

He Said That......?

[Mr. Jeeves]

It was wildly irresponsible and incompetent for Georgie to accidentally tell the truth after so many years of exemplary service.

Someone will make him pay.

[MarkWar]

>How wildly irresponsible and incompetent is was for a nationally broadcast "correspondent" -- ie George Stephanopoulos -- to say on-air last week that TWA 800 was taken down by a "bomb." He probably misspoke...

WHAT?!

Your link doesn't work for me.

What precisely did George say? When and where did he say it?

Wasn't George one of the first to jump ship? (I know he was Clinton's rep at at least one Bilderberger meeting during the Klinton years, so he must know things...) Mark W.

[bleudevil]

Maybe because in the greater scheme of things, a broadcaster's gaffe during the biggest terrorist attack ever doesn't matter that much?

[Ditter]

Georgie Porgie misspoke. He meant to say missile.

[laureldrive]

I heard him say it, and the following FR thread was started by someone else who heard it: http://www.freerepublic.com/forum/a3b9e7a954e80.htm

[laureldrive]

I might agree with you, except that a comparable gaffe by a regular evening-news anchor (such as Rather) would - believe me - be fodder for Kurtz, and for journalism-focused websites such as www.poynter.org.

[pgkdan]

I find this very hard to believe. Georgie girl has never told the truth before, why start now?

[xkaydet65]

One thought comes to me as a result of Stephanopolous'comment. On the evening TWA800 went down I remember Wolf Blitzer, then CNN White House correspondent, telling Bernie Shaw the the President would make a nationwide comment on the tragedy later that evening.That statement confirmed to me and my wife that this was an act of terror. No president has ever made an emergency TV appearance to comment on a transportation disaster. Fatal crashes equal to TWA 800 occurred in the past without any notice taken by the White House till much later. Of course Clinton's appearance never materialized and no further mention was made by CNN. Was Stephanopolous'comment in the heat of the disaster a reference to a truth he knew which we did not?

[Alberta's Child]

Maybe the "broadcaster's gaffe" was actually a slip of the tongue. I picked up on this right away, and practically shouted at the television in an attempt to get someone to call him on the carpet for it.

"What do you mean, George? How could TWA Flight 800 have been a terrorist act if the FBI and NTSB said it was caused by a spontaneous explosion in the center fuel tank?"

[d14truth]

'SharkFRee' making sure there are no 'FReeploading mullet' here.

WHERE WOULD YOU GET YOUR NEWS FROM IF FREEREPUBLIC WASN'T HERE? Thread 2

[Pete]

I posted his comment when he said it. I heard it live. He said "TWA 800 bombing".

[laureldrive]

And nobody has answered my question: What are Steph's credentials for being a correspondent - as opposed to an opinion commentator? His background is as a highly partisan Democratic spokesman/strategist. During the 1992 campaign he was one of the prime Clinton spokespeople on TV, debating Bush's (usually less articulate) frontmen.

In the past, when a son or daughter asks what preparation one should go through to try to make it in big-time media news, the parent would say, "go to J-school," or "get a job at a local station and work your way up." But now, it seems, the answer is, "become a Democratic Party strategist and spokesman."

[Alberta's Child]

I was watching the aftermath of last week's attack in New York, and after hearing Little Steffie's comment I suddenly put two and two together. I strongly suspect that TWA Flight 800 was a terrorist target, but not in the way that most people suspect. Based on the stories about Navy ships off the coast of New Jersey that night, and the eyewtiness accounts of a projectile being fired in the direction of the plane, I suspect that Flight 800 was hijacked soon after takeoff and was shot down by the U.S. military specifically to avert a catastrophe like we saw last week.

[Alberta's Child]

George seems to have a few career options. If his career in "journalism" does not succeed, I suspect he will become a figure skater or gymnast.

[janus]

They should use him, only, for short news items.