Driven to tears
Some people think that Christin Cooper, former Olympic skier who is now a reporter with NBC Sports, crossed the line in an interview with Bode Miller. The subject of Miller's brother, who died last year, came up in the interview. She pressed with additional questions on this subject and Miller eventually was moved to tears.
Most of those who have something to say about this are attacking Cooper. Some, including Miller, are defending her. I think it's an excellent opportunity to discuss the boundaries that journalists should respect, and how they vary based on the type of journalism they are engaged in.
I've covered features, hard news, sports and entertainment. In my mind you can go much further in pressing an issue when it's a hard news story. Entertainment journalists and sports journalists have to worry more about future access and offending the people they are interviewing. I was doing a one on one interview with a fairly well known actress in the not too distant past and saw her "bite the head" off of one of the myriad of assistants who were serving her needs as we were settling in for our time together. I did not address the issue nor did I report it. I was there to discuss films, not how she mistreated an assistant.
Now if that had happened in front of me when I was interviewing a politician, I'd have inquired further. I'd have tried to talk to the assistant afterwards, to see if there's more to this story than meets the eye.
Pressing on a question usually results from someone trying to duck a question. That wasn't the case with Bode Miller but I don't fault Christin Cooper in this case. She was asking questions that any good journalist would ask. If there is fault there, it's with NBC for spending the seven or eight hours they had the video without considering if they should edit that portion out. That's a different decision than to ask the questions.
In 1987 I was interviewing Pat Robertson. He was ducking my questions about his delaying the announcement of his entry into the 1988 presidential race in order to avoid having to stop his participation in the 700 Club broadcasts on his network, because they would be subject to the Equal Time rule. He wouldn't budge or stop ducking. It happens. After awhile you have to stop hammering on an issue and move on. Christin Cooper didn't get to the point where she needed to move on.
* * *
Take a look at this:
If it's a little hard to read, here's the language I want you to take a look at: "I shall have as many opportunities as necessary at each of the first three (3) locations to make a shot; however, no more than ONE (1) attempt may be made at the HALF COURT shot, provided there is still time left on the shot clock."
An 18 year old freshman at West Chester University in Pennsylvania was handed this contract (there's more to it) and told to sign it before he would be allowed to try to win $10,000 at half-time of a game. As time expired, he hit the half-court shot. On his second attempt.
Now here's the rub. The announcer who was emceeing the event encouraged him to shoot again. They kept the clock running after he missed the first shot and chased down the rebound. They should have stopped the clock the moment he missed. Maybe played this sound effect: http://instantrimshot.com/index.php?sound=priceiswrong, after stopping the clock.
Will he get the money? Probably not. It isn't enough money to interest an attorney to take the case. However, the small claims limit in Pennsylvania (according to www.nolo.com) is $12,000. I think this man should take the university and the insurance company to small claims court, after they deny his claim for the prize. Why? Because of the law on unconscionable contracts. I believe that when they did not give him sufficient time to fully review the contract (it was given to him less than three minutes before he had to take the court and try to win the prize), the protections afforded the university by that language above were lost.
You can't hand a pre-nup to a bride just before she starts her walk down the aisle and expect to be able to enforce it later. This is the same concept.
Why is this important? Because you should never sign anything until you fully understand what it is you're signing. I read everything and anything I sign. Carefully. I don't want to discover I just put down $9,400 to buy a space in the first time-share on Mars. Or that I suddenly re-enlisted in the military.
Your signature is very powerful, especially if not used carefully by you.
* * *
Random Ponderings:
A question to all the men who are being critical of the attention paid to Jennifer Welter playing in a pro football game and getting three carries at running back (first female to do something other than placekicking): Are you just pissed that she's doing something you can't do it? Or never could?
Angelina Jolie takes one of Brad's tuxes and wears it on the red carpet and everyone is amazed. But they'd be horrified if Brad had worn one of his wife's gowns. Double-standard?
Why is it that no woman has run for the position of Student Body President at USC since 2006?
Are Kendall Jenner's nipples going to get their own Twitter account? Danny DeVito's toes would be jealous.
I could have lived the rest of my life ignorant of the fact Barbara Walters felt the need to give her BOB (Battery Operated Boyfriend) a name.
There's apparently a law on the books in Kentucky that makes handling a reptile in a religious service is subject to a fine of between $50 and $100. Guess dying from a snake bite trumps that.
Apparently along with not understanding why he shouldn't carry a gun while part of Neighborhood Watch, George Zimmerman also doesn't understand the definition of scapegoat. Oh, and he wants to become a lawyer.
That a woman didn't return a VHS tape in 2005 and got arrested this week as a result isn't surprising. What's really surprising is that she felt the need to not return "Monster-in-Law", which sucks.
One of the questions in last night's trivia game was "Nairobi is the capital city of what nation?" When some of the players looked puzzled the host gave a hint. "The current U. S. president was born there." Fortunately, no one thought to answer "Hawaii" as I'm sure some thing it is a country.
There is a lot of yelling in curling.
If I asked you what U. S. city has the highest rents in the nation, you'd probably guess New York City, or L. A., or maybe San Francisco. The town of Willitson, ND is the 8th largest city in the state but housing is at a premium due to the oil boom there. An apartment there is more than $2,300 per month.
The people at Groupon were well aware Alexander Hamilton was never President. Appearing to make a dumb mistake got them lots of free publicity.
* * *
February 17th in History:
364 – Emperor Jovian dies after a reign of eight months. He is found dead in his tent at Tyana (Asia Minor) en route back to Constantinople in suspicious circumstances.
1370 – Northern Crusades: Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Teutonic Knights meet in the Battle of Rudau.
1411 – Following the successful campaigns during the Ottoman Interregnum, Musa Çelebi, one of the sons of Bayezid I, becomes Sultan with the support of Mircea I of Wallachia.
1500 – Duke Friedrich and Duke Johann attempt to subdue the peasantry of Dithmarschen, Denmark, in the Battle of Hemmingstedt.
1600 – The philosopher Giordano Bruno is burned alive, for heresy, at Campo de' Fiori in Rome.
1621 – Myles Standish is appointed as first commander of Plymouth colony.
1753 – In Sweden February 17 is followed by March 1 as the country moves from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar.
1801 – An electoral tie between Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr is resolved when Jefferson is elected President of the United States and Burr Vice President by the United States House of Representatives.
1814 – War of the Sixth Coalition: The Battle of Mormans.
1819 – The United States House of Representatives passes the Missouri Compromise for the first time.
1838 – Weenen massacre: Hundreds of Voortrekkers along the Blaukraans River, Natal are killed by Zulus.
1854 – The United Kingdom recognizes the independence of the Orange Free State.
1863 – A group of citizens of Geneva founded an International Committee for Relief to the Wounded, which later became known as the International Committee of the Red Cross.
1864 – American Civil War: The H. L. Hunley becomes the first submarine to engage and sink a warship, the USS Housatonic.
1865 – American Civil War: Columbia, South Carolina, is burned as Confederate forces flee from advancing Union forces.
1871 – The victorious Prussian Army parades through Paris, France after the end of the Siege of Paris during the Franco-Prussian War.
1904 – Madama Butterfly receives its première at La Scala in Milan.
1913 – The Armory Show opens in New York City, displaying works of artists who are to become some of the most influential painters of the early 20th century.
1933 – The Blaine Act ends Prohibition in the United States.
1944 – World War II: The Battle of Eniwetok Atoll begins. The battle ends in an American victory on February 22.
1944 – World War II: Operation Hailstone begins. U.S. naval air, surface, and submarine attack against Truk Lagoon, Japan's main base in the central Pacific, in support of the Eniwetok invasion.
1949 – Chaim Weizmann begins his term as the first President of Israel.
1959 – Project Vanguard: Vanguard 2 – The first weather satellite is launched to measure cloud-cover distribution.
1964 – In Wesberry v. Sanders the Supreme Court of the United States rules that congressional districts have to be approximately equal in population.
1964 – Gabonese president Leon M'ba is toppled by a coup and his rival, Jean-Hilaire Aubame, is installed in his place.
1965 – Project Ranger: The Ranger 8 probe launches on its mission to photograph the Mare Tranquillitatis region of the Moon in preparation for the manned Apollo missions. Mare Tranquillitatis or the "Sea of Tranquility" would become the site chosen for the Apollo 11 lunar landing.
1968 – In Springfield, Massachusetts, the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame opens.
1972 – Sales of the Volkswagen Beetle exceed those of the Ford Model-T.
1974 – Robert K. Preston, a disgruntled U.S. Army private, buzzes the White House in a stolen helicopter.
1978 – The Troubles: The Provisional IRA detonates an incendiary bomb at the La Mon restaurant, near Belfast, killing 12 and seriously injuring 30.
1979 – The Sino-Vietnamese War begins.
1980 – Mount Everest, 1st Winter Ascent by Krzysztof Wielicki and Leszek Cichy.
1992 – Nagorno-Karabakh War: Armenian troops massacre more than 20 Azerbaijani civilians in the village of Qaradağlı
1995 – The Cenepa War between Peru and Ecuador ends on a cease-fire brokered by the UN.
1996 – In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, world champion Garry Kasparov beats the Deep Blue supercomputer in a chess match.
1996 – NASA's Discovery Program begins as the NEAR Shoemaker spacecraft lifts off on the first mission ever to orbit and land on an asteroid, 433 Eros.
2003 – The London Congestion Charge scheme begins.
2006 – A massive mudslide occurs in Southern Leyte, Philippines; the official death toll is set at 1,126.
2008 – Kosovo declares independence.
2011 – Libyan protests begin. In Bahrain, security forces launched a deadly pre-dawn raid on protesters in Pearl Roundabout in Manama, the day is locally known as Bloody Thursday.
Famous Folk Born on February 17th:
Lola Montez
Wally Pipp (the starting Yankees first baseman who was replaced by Lou Gehrig for what was supposed to be one game and Gehrig went on to play in 2,130 consecutive games)
Red Barber
Andre Norton
Margaret Truman
Hal Holbrook (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_rTMNnxwSE)
Tommy Edwards (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8iOOxE9YiII)
Chaim Potok
Roger Craig
Christina Pickles (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLRfhRuGNW0)
Jim Brown (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ceGqXkrIMrs)
Mary Ann Mobley (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9oR9ZB-k0Q)
Huey P. Newton
Brenda Fricker (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPZkXpG7NS0)
Rick Majerus
Rene Russo (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qmhzDZk9w4I)
Rowdy Gaines
Neil Lomax
Lou Diamond Phillips (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-7ozSxTClY)
Larry the Cable Guy
Michael Bay (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23ypkgYO4Rc)
Luc Robitaille (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hu-HL27mbxQ)
Denise Richards (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dgIOCanrI0M)
Bryan Knight
Jason Ritter
Paris Hilton
In honor of the birthday of Denise Richards, "Undercover Brother" is the source of today's movie quotes as well as the clip by her name:
[Knock on door]
Mr. Feather: Who's there?
Undercover Brother: Kung.
Mr. Feather: Kung who?
[Anton kicks down the door]
Undercover Brother: Kung Fu!
#2
Undercover Brother: [Smart Brother tried to turn Undercover Brother into a white man expert by showing his various and random clips from white movies and t.v. shows. Undercover Brother begins screaming so they stop the clips] CAUCASIAN OVERLOAD! CAUCASIAN OVERLOAD! CAUCASIAN OVERLOAD! CAUCASIAN OVERLOAD!
Smart Brother: Are you alright?
Undercover Brother: [pauses with a horrified look on his face] ... I... see... WHITE... people
#3
The Chief: I'm tired of you disrespecting me! Give me one good reason why I shouldn't fire your black-ass?
Undercover Brother: Because I... don't... work for you?
The Chief: SHUT UP! Save the smart comments for the chunky brother in the smock!
#4
Undercover Brother: You know what they say, behind every great black man...
Conspiracy Brother: is the police.
Undercover Brother: No.
Smart Brother: A bunch of slow white athletes?
Undercover Brother: No!
White She-Devil: A cute butt.
Undercover Brother: NO!
Lance: Probable cause.
Most of those who have something to say about this are attacking Cooper. Some, including Miller, are defending her. I think it's an excellent opportunity to discuss the boundaries that journalists should respect, and how they vary based on the type of journalism they are engaged in.
I've covered features, hard news, sports and entertainment. In my mind you can go much further in pressing an issue when it's a hard news story. Entertainment journalists and sports journalists have to worry more about future access and offending the people they are interviewing. I was doing a one on one interview with a fairly well known actress in the not too distant past and saw her "bite the head" off of one of the myriad of assistants who were serving her needs as we were settling in for our time together. I did not address the issue nor did I report it. I was there to discuss films, not how she mistreated an assistant.
Now if that had happened in front of me when I was interviewing a politician, I'd have inquired further. I'd have tried to talk to the assistant afterwards, to see if there's more to this story than meets the eye.
Pressing on a question usually results from someone trying to duck a question. That wasn't the case with Bode Miller but I don't fault Christin Cooper in this case. She was asking questions that any good journalist would ask. If there is fault there, it's with NBC for spending the seven or eight hours they had the video without considering if they should edit that portion out. That's a different decision than to ask the questions.
In 1987 I was interviewing Pat Robertson. He was ducking my questions about his delaying the announcement of his entry into the 1988 presidential race in order to avoid having to stop his participation in the 700 Club broadcasts on his network, because they would be subject to the Equal Time rule. He wouldn't budge or stop ducking. It happens. After awhile you have to stop hammering on an issue and move on. Christin Cooper didn't get to the point where she needed to move on.
* * *
Take a look at this:
If it's a little hard to read, here's the language I want you to take a look at: "I shall have as many opportunities as necessary at each of the first three (3) locations to make a shot; however, no more than ONE (1) attempt may be made at the HALF COURT shot, provided there is still time left on the shot clock."
An 18 year old freshman at West Chester University in Pennsylvania was handed this contract (there's more to it) and told to sign it before he would be allowed to try to win $10,000 at half-time of a game. As time expired, he hit the half-court shot. On his second attempt.
Now here's the rub. The announcer who was emceeing the event encouraged him to shoot again. They kept the clock running after he missed the first shot and chased down the rebound. They should have stopped the clock the moment he missed. Maybe played this sound effect: http://instantrimshot.com/index.php?sound=priceiswrong, after stopping the clock.
Will he get the money? Probably not. It isn't enough money to interest an attorney to take the case. However, the small claims limit in Pennsylvania (according to www.nolo.com) is $12,000. I think this man should take the university and the insurance company to small claims court, after they deny his claim for the prize. Why? Because of the law on unconscionable contracts. I believe that when they did not give him sufficient time to fully review the contract (it was given to him less than three minutes before he had to take the court and try to win the prize), the protections afforded the university by that language above were lost.
You can't hand a pre-nup to a bride just before she starts her walk down the aisle and expect to be able to enforce it later. This is the same concept.
Why is this important? Because you should never sign anything until you fully understand what it is you're signing. I read everything and anything I sign. Carefully. I don't want to discover I just put down $9,400 to buy a space in the first time-share on Mars. Or that I suddenly re-enlisted in the military.
Your signature is very powerful, especially if not used carefully by you.
* * *
Random Ponderings:
A question to all the men who are being critical of the attention paid to Jennifer Welter playing in a pro football game and getting three carries at running back (first female to do something other than placekicking): Are you just pissed that she's doing something you can't do it? Or never could?
Angelina Jolie takes one of Brad's tuxes and wears it on the red carpet and everyone is amazed. But they'd be horrified if Brad had worn one of his wife's gowns. Double-standard?
Why is it that no woman has run for the position of Student Body President at USC since 2006?
Are Kendall Jenner's nipples going to get their own Twitter account? Danny DeVito's toes would be jealous.
I could have lived the rest of my life ignorant of the fact Barbara Walters felt the need to give her BOB (Battery Operated Boyfriend) a name.
There's apparently a law on the books in Kentucky that makes handling a reptile in a religious service is subject to a fine of between $50 and $100. Guess dying from a snake bite trumps that.
Apparently along with not understanding why he shouldn't carry a gun while part of Neighborhood Watch, George Zimmerman also doesn't understand the definition of scapegoat. Oh, and he wants to become a lawyer.
That a woman didn't return a VHS tape in 2005 and got arrested this week as a result isn't surprising. What's really surprising is that she felt the need to not return "Monster-in-Law", which sucks.
One of the questions in last night's trivia game was "Nairobi is the capital city of what nation?" When some of the players looked puzzled the host gave a hint. "The current U. S. president was born there." Fortunately, no one thought to answer "Hawaii" as I'm sure some thing it is a country.
There is a lot of yelling in curling.
If I asked you what U. S. city has the highest rents in the nation, you'd probably guess New York City, or L. A., or maybe San Francisco. The town of Willitson, ND is the 8th largest city in the state but housing is at a premium due to the oil boom there. An apartment there is more than $2,300 per month.
The people at Groupon were well aware Alexander Hamilton was never President. Appearing to make a dumb mistake got them lots of free publicity.
* * *
February 17th in History:
364 – Emperor Jovian dies after a reign of eight months. He is found dead in his tent at Tyana (Asia Minor) en route back to Constantinople in suspicious circumstances.
1370 – Northern Crusades: Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Teutonic Knights meet in the Battle of Rudau.
1411 – Following the successful campaigns during the Ottoman Interregnum, Musa Çelebi, one of the sons of Bayezid I, becomes Sultan with the support of Mircea I of Wallachia.
1500 – Duke Friedrich and Duke Johann attempt to subdue the peasantry of Dithmarschen, Denmark, in the Battle of Hemmingstedt.
1600 – The philosopher Giordano Bruno is burned alive, for heresy, at Campo de' Fiori in Rome.
1621 – Myles Standish is appointed as first commander of Plymouth colony.
1753 – In Sweden February 17 is followed by March 1 as the country moves from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar.
1801 – An electoral tie between Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr is resolved when Jefferson is elected President of the United States and Burr Vice President by the United States House of Representatives.
1814 – War of the Sixth Coalition: The Battle of Mormans.
1819 – The United States House of Representatives passes the Missouri Compromise for the first time.
1838 – Weenen massacre: Hundreds of Voortrekkers along the Blaukraans River, Natal are killed by Zulus.
1854 – The United Kingdom recognizes the independence of the Orange Free State.
1863 – A group of citizens of Geneva founded an International Committee for Relief to the Wounded, which later became known as the International Committee of the Red Cross.
1864 – American Civil War: The H. L. Hunley becomes the first submarine to engage and sink a warship, the USS Housatonic.
1865 – American Civil War: Columbia, South Carolina, is burned as Confederate forces flee from advancing Union forces.
1871 – The victorious Prussian Army parades through Paris, France after the end of the Siege of Paris during the Franco-Prussian War.
1904 – Madama Butterfly receives its première at La Scala in Milan.
1913 – The Armory Show opens in New York City, displaying works of artists who are to become some of the most influential painters of the early 20th century.
1933 – The Blaine Act ends Prohibition in the United States.
1944 – World War II: The Battle of Eniwetok Atoll begins. The battle ends in an American victory on February 22.
1944 – World War II: Operation Hailstone begins. U.S. naval air, surface, and submarine attack against Truk Lagoon, Japan's main base in the central Pacific, in support of the Eniwetok invasion.
1949 – Chaim Weizmann begins his term as the first President of Israel.
1959 – Project Vanguard: Vanguard 2 – The first weather satellite is launched to measure cloud-cover distribution.
1964 – In Wesberry v. Sanders the Supreme Court of the United States rules that congressional districts have to be approximately equal in population.
1964 – Gabonese president Leon M'ba is toppled by a coup and his rival, Jean-Hilaire Aubame, is installed in his place.
1965 – Project Ranger: The Ranger 8 probe launches on its mission to photograph the Mare Tranquillitatis region of the Moon in preparation for the manned Apollo missions. Mare Tranquillitatis or the "Sea of Tranquility" would become the site chosen for the Apollo 11 lunar landing.
1968 – In Springfield, Massachusetts, the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame opens.
1972 – Sales of the Volkswagen Beetle exceed those of the Ford Model-T.
1974 – Robert K. Preston, a disgruntled U.S. Army private, buzzes the White House in a stolen helicopter.
1978 – The Troubles: The Provisional IRA detonates an incendiary bomb at the La Mon restaurant, near Belfast, killing 12 and seriously injuring 30.
1979 – The Sino-Vietnamese War begins.
1980 – Mount Everest, 1st Winter Ascent by Krzysztof Wielicki and Leszek Cichy.
1992 – Nagorno-Karabakh War: Armenian troops massacre more than 20 Azerbaijani civilians in the village of Qaradağlı
1995 – The Cenepa War between Peru and Ecuador ends on a cease-fire brokered by the UN.
1996 – In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, world champion Garry Kasparov beats the Deep Blue supercomputer in a chess match.
1996 – NASA's Discovery Program begins as the NEAR Shoemaker spacecraft lifts off on the first mission ever to orbit and land on an asteroid, 433 Eros.
2003 – The London Congestion Charge scheme begins.
2006 – A massive mudslide occurs in Southern Leyte, Philippines; the official death toll is set at 1,126.
2008 – Kosovo declares independence.
2011 – Libyan protests begin. In Bahrain, security forces launched a deadly pre-dawn raid on protesters in Pearl Roundabout in Manama, the day is locally known as Bloody Thursday.
Famous Folk Born on February 17th:
Lola Montez
Wally Pipp (the starting Yankees first baseman who was replaced by Lou Gehrig for what was supposed to be one game and Gehrig went on to play in 2,130 consecutive games)
Red Barber
Andre Norton
Margaret Truman
Hal Holbrook (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_rTMNnxwSE)
Tommy Edwards (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8iOOxE9YiII)
Chaim Potok
Roger Craig
Christina Pickles (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLRfhRuGNW0)
Jim Brown (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ceGqXkrIMrs)
Mary Ann Mobley (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9oR9ZB-k0Q)
Huey P. Newton
Brenda Fricker (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPZkXpG7NS0)
Rick Majerus
Rene Russo (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qmhzDZk9w4I)
Rowdy Gaines
Neil Lomax
Lou Diamond Phillips (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-7ozSxTClY)
Larry the Cable Guy
Michael Bay (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23ypkgYO4Rc)
Luc Robitaille (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hu-HL27mbxQ)
Denise Richards (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dgIOCanrI0M)
Bryan Knight
Jason Ritter
Paris Hilton
In honor of the birthday of Denise Richards, "Undercover Brother" is the source of today's movie quotes as well as the clip by her name:
[Knock on door]
Mr. Feather: Who's there?
Undercover Brother: Kung.
Mr. Feather: Kung who?
[Anton kicks down the door]
Undercover Brother: Kung Fu!
#2
Undercover Brother: [Smart Brother tried to turn Undercover Brother into a white man expert by showing his various and random clips from white movies and t.v. shows. Undercover Brother begins screaming so they stop the clips] CAUCASIAN OVERLOAD! CAUCASIAN OVERLOAD! CAUCASIAN OVERLOAD! CAUCASIAN OVERLOAD!
Smart Brother: Are you alright?
Undercover Brother: [pauses with a horrified look on his face] ... I... see... WHITE... people
#3
The Chief: I'm tired of you disrespecting me! Give me one good reason why I shouldn't fire your black-ass?
Undercover Brother: Because I... don't... work for you?
The Chief: SHUT UP! Save the smart comments for the chunky brother in the smock!
#4
Undercover Brother: You know what they say, behind every great black man...
Conspiracy Brother: is the police.
Undercover Brother: No.
Smart Brother: A bunch of slow white athletes?
Undercover Brother: No!
White She-Devil: A cute butt.
Undercover Brother: NO!
Lance: Probable cause.
posted by me at 8:56 PM
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