The question of the day — posed by Editor & Publisher — is this: “[I]s The New York Times, normally quick to run a correction or clarification, making it much more than that by stonewalling?”
Yes, stonewalling! In defense of their TV critic Alessandra Stanley’s snarky report that Geraldo Rivera “nudged an Air Force rescue worker out of the way so his camera crew could tape him as he helped lift an older woman in a wheelchair to safety.”
On Monday, Howard Kurtz at the Washington Post defended Geraldo Rivera in his campaign to gain an apology from the Times for accusing him of showboating during his Katrina coverage last week. The Chicago Tribune also covered the dispute today. [..]
Rivera has denied this from the start, claimed that a tape of the incident does not bear this out, threatened to sue, accused Stanley of being “Jayson Blair in a cocktail dress,” and suggested that if a male reporter had made similar allegations he would settle the dispute with his fists.Meanwhile, the Times has not issued a correction, and Stanley has said her description was accurate.
Woah, dude. Watch out, NYT! Geraldo’s right hook can be deadly, as we’ve seen on FOX News.
…but I’ve told Booman and I want to tell you. I think you guys are cooking over here at the Tribune.
This shop is developing a real clear voice and you’re a great part of that.
<Tip of the hat>
“if a male reporter had made similar allegations he would settle the dispute with his fists.”
I’d pay a lot to see a coward like Geraldo given a beating. Please let some male reporter repeat this.
The thing is that I’m pretty sure they’re talking about 2 different tapes. The original slam on the big ‘G’ was that he forced an elderly, frail woman evacuee (with a dog) to re shoot a scene meant to demonstrate Geraldo’s ‘compassion’. The tape I saw him discussing on O’Reilly yesterday had a little old lady in a wheelchair being evacuated and with her back to the big ‘G’.
That said I don’t understand why anyone pays any attention at all to Howie Kurtz. But then I don’t understand how such a lame suck-up manages to stay employed as a political commentator anyway. Look, we’re in the midst of the worst natural disaster and demonstration of government incompetence in our lifetimes; the neo-cons are paving the way for pre-emptive nuclear strikes and Kurtz is going on about Geraldo? wtf?
Geraldos staged pleas for help literally turned my stomach. He saw how others like Anderson Cooper and Shep Smith were getting recognition for their honest assesments as to what was really happening on the ground there and jumped in to get the attention he always has clamoured after. I didn’t buy his story for one second. The way he kept grabbing for that baby literally made me sick.
I tried watching his coverage of Katrina, but he’s just full of exclamations. In contrast, Anderson Cooper and even Shep have a grasp of how key it is — as a reporter on the scene — not to make the video do ALL the work, but to also paint a clear picture of what’s going on both on camera and off.
I saw Anderson Cooper live on Aaron Brown last night … he still looks like he’s aged 10 years.
He has been profoundly affected by what he’s seen and by his anger and frustration.
Bet his mom is worried for him. I would be … he’ll be okay because he’s strong, but this will affect him the rest of his life, and that might e a good thing for all of us listeners.
I always thought he was snide and pompous on the air and went out of my way not to watch him. My impression of him has dramatically improved.