From Ace of Spades comes this clip (above) of MS-NBC making a real-time “correction” based on an e-mail from the White House.
Upon watching it, my immediate thought was of the scene in “Broadcast News” where Albert Brooks (the brainy but uncharismatic journalist) is feeding background information for a breaking crisis to William Hurt (the handsome but less-than-brilliant anchor) via Holly Hunter (the brilliant if neurotic producer). Brooks is giving information to Hunter on the phone, who in turns feeds it to Hurt via his earpiece, who is then giving it live on TV (which Brooks is watching). When the piece is done, Brooks shakes his head and says, looking at the screen, “I say it here and it comes out there.”
Except in this case, the feed isn’t from a jounalist. It’s from the White House, the very institution that MS-NBC and the rest of the media are supposed to be covering. “Independence“, indeed. ..bruce..