White House Slams CNN, Declines To Express Regret For 9/11 Coast Guard Training Exercise
[Updated below, with CNN's response.]
Robert Gibbs, the White House spokesman, became a media critic today, hammering CNN hard for relying on a police scanner this morning to misreport a Coast Guard training exercise on the Potomac River. The original CNN report wrongly suggested that shots had been fired on the river and noted that President Obama had just finished speaking nearby at the Pentagon, raising the possibility of some sort of criminal or terrorist attack. (To see a time line of CNN's reporting, see here.)
In an off-camera gaggle in his office shortly after 11 a.m., Gibbs wasted no time before going after the network. A partial transcript follows.
QUESTION: The Coast Guard is doing a noon press conference to explain its training exercise.
GIBBS: Hopefully CNN will go. (Laughter.) That was on the record, by the way.
The questioning continued:
QUESTION: On the exercise did you guys have advance warning?
GIBBS: Not that I'm aware of, no. But I assume there is a training exercise going on somewhere in this country right now. I think we are all safer because of training exercises. My only caution would be before we report things like this, checking would be good.
QUESTION: But how smart is it to have something like this on 9/11, while the president is right in the area?
GIBBS: Again, I tend not to question law enforcement in trying to keep the nation's capital safe. If they feel like they need a training exercise, I am not sure we are to second guess. Let's understand that the best I can tell there was reporting based on listening to a police scanner that was not verified. And then it was on television. And now we have raced back to find out that it is a training exercise. So it appears as if a lot of this might have been avoided.
QUESTION: So do you feel that the exercise was appropriate?
GIBBS: That's a decision that is made by the Coast Guard.
QUESTION: So this is not going to be like the unfortunate incident with Air Force One [flyover of Manhattan for publicity photos] earlier? It's not comparable to that?
GIBBS: I don't see any analogy to that, no.
Later, reporters tried again.
QUESTION: On the training exercise, why doesn't it rise to the level of the Air Force One photos, setting aside the media coverage?
GIBBS: Setting aside the media coverage? Can I do a point of personal privilege? If we set aside the media coverage would you be asking me this question? . . .
QUESTION: Does the commander in chief have an opinion on whether or not the public should have been informed that on the 9/11 eight-year anniversary there was a training exercise set to take place on the Potomac River in the nations capital?
GIBBS: I'm not sure the president of the United States was notified, or knew about, or knows about each and every training exercise federal, state or local law enforcement do, in preparation for, God forbid, something ever happening again.
It went on like this for a while. Gibbs did not give any ground, and declined support the idea that the Coast Guard had done anything wrong. The Coast Guard has also declined to apologize for the training exercise.
"It's unfortunate it escalated to this level," said Coast Guard Vice Adm. John Currier. "What you're seeing is the result of a normal training exercise such that when we have a threat or when we have a security issue in the national capital region, all agencies can come together under secure communications protocol and execute security operations very professionally and successfully."
The full Coast Guard press release, explaining the event, is here.
UPDATE: Politico's Michael Calderone has CNN's response, in which the company spokesman says its reporters did in fact call the Coast Guard, and were initially told that the Coast Guard HQ was unaware of any activity on the Potomac.
CNN staff were monitoring law enforcement activity this morning given the 9/11 anniversary. After hearing a U.S. Coast Guard radio transmission that a boat had breached a security zone on the Potomac River a short distance from the Pentagon where the President had just attended a 9/11 anniversary ceremony, CNN contacted the Coast Guard public affairs office at the agency's headquarters. The Coast Guard spokeswoman said she was unaware of any activity taking place on the Potomac River.
After hearing a further radio transmission about 10 rounds being expended, and after reviewing video of rapid movement by Coast Guard vessels as the President's motorcade crossed the Memorial Bridge, CNN reported the story. Simultaneously, during a second phone call, the Coast Guard spokeswoman informed us that its National Command Center and other command posts knew nothing about any activity in the area.
Given the circumstances, it would have been irresponsible not to report on what we were hearing and seeing. As with any breaking news story, information is often fluid and CNN updated the story with the official explanation from the Coast Guard as soon as it was provided.
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1
I'm sorry but the reporter(s) asking those questions are pretty stupid, no? How is this not the fault of overzealous CNN "reporters"? I understand that it is much more fun to blame this on POTUS but I mean, what a bunch of knobs those reporters are, as we say in England.
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1.1
It is more important to get it out FIRST before getting it RIGHT. That's is why they listen in by accessing the scanners. Peek a boo journalism is the way to go CNN.
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2
Was the CNN White House correspondent there? Did he/she turn red in the face and run out crying while Gibbs and the other reporters laughed and pointed?
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3
Man does your crowd come off poorly.
Even with your already established low standards.Is there a way to identify the people asking the questions? Did I sense a little Chuck Todd?
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4
Adding- if you feel that is "hammering" and "going after" then you are softer than a pillow.
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5
I can't begin to express my disgust with CNN.
CNN had a chance to become the alternative to MSNBC and Fox but instead they have skewered their coverage to the right.
The MSM's decision to give so much air time to the Teabaggers angers me. Rightwing Republican extremists hating Democrats is not news. Instead of devoting hour upon hour to people carrying signs that accused Obama of being a Communistic Nazi Socialist the networks and newspapers could have chosen to show thoughtful Republicans explaining why they don't support Pres Obama's plan while giving equal time to Dems to express why their health-plan ideas are the way to go.
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5.1
CNN is tough to watch nowadays, There was a time when it was the go to place. CNN International is way out front and competes with BBC World (which, on balance, is better). I check both out when abroad. But I watch CNN here no more than three times a day: a few minutes in the am but I find it difficult to listen to the morning hosts. I check El Blitz but give up after a few minutes. And I may or may not see 10 minutes of 360. Funny, I manage to keep informed.
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6
I guess the new motto for CNN (a partner with TIme) is "News That Hasn't Been Conclusively Disproven".
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7
Gibbs is absolutely right. No one would have been alarmed if CNN hadn't jumped on the air with "possible shots fired in POTUS' vicinity"
Idiots.
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8
...meh. It's not like they were having Air Force One buzz the Statue of Liberty for a photo op or something like that.
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9
This is a failure on two fronts.
1. The Coasties failed Public Affairs 101. If you are going to do something that could POSSIBLY be misinterpreted as a live action, you notify the media in advance.
2. CNN/Fox went live without verifying it was actually happening.
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10
A non-story and a non-issue . . . .
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Would be nice if the press, instead of hammering Gibbs with a non-issue, asked him tough questions about whether Obama's actions during a Bush SOTU were inappropriate.-
10.1
Talk about "non-story"...
Did he shout "YOU LIE!" at Bush?
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10.2
Bill, the point is that Obama didn't exactly behave with decorum at a Bush SOTU. I might also add that Dems were known to catcall and boo Bush at SOTUs. But Joe Wilson's acts are unprecedented? Ok, gotcha.
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10.3
So people heckle Obama. Big deal. Whenever Bush gave a speech, I kept invisioning the singing sphincter in "Pink Flamingoes".
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10.4
Finally! Another patron of the arts that appreciates the genius and beauty of John Waters.
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11
[...] The White House adds its spin… [...]
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12
If you read the Coast Guard press release, the information was taken from a closed channel used for training exercises. I heard on NPR that someone was listening in to that channel and called CNN.
The press release also points out that in order to ensure readiness, they conduct training exercises every day somewhere.
CNN should have verified, instead of trying to be first.
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13
You do all realize that this is Obama's fault. I mean, it's in the Constitution that the chief executive him/herself must review and sign-off on all military training excercise performed anywhere in the world and at anytime.
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That said, knowing the tabloid/gotcha/breaking nature of today's media, the Coast Guard probably should have told them that they were going to do this and that is was nothing to be concerned about. I doubt residents/workers in the area even noticed what was going on. (ie - it wasn't like AF1 flying over downtown Manhattan)-
13.1
I don't think the Coast Guard (or any other branch of the Armed Forces, for that matter) should be distributing its schedule of training exercises publicly. They should be able to count on "journalists" checking their facts before running with a sensationalistic story.
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14
Michael Scherer:
White House Slams CNN, Declines To Express Regret For 9/11 Coast Guard Training Exercise
How much value have you added to the news process by reporting using this technique?
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Isn't this literally the definition of stenography?
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Why isn't it possible for you to make the meaning of events clear to news users?
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Why can't you say which party was right?-
14.1
Neither party was right. CNN does nothing that is news. It is a political hack for the left. Fact checking is for everyone else and not them.
And how clueless, insensitive and just outright stupid can this WH be to allow a security training exercise to be held on the anniversary of the say when so many Americans died from a terror attack in the area where one of the attacks occurred.
Just another sign of the tin ear this administration has to everyday Americans. If he cared, the WH could have picked one of the 55 states he visited besides PA, NY or DC to have the exercise.
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14.2
freeinpa - Do you seriously think that Obama, his NSC team, Napolitano, etc, are in the loop and give personal sign-off to every Coast Guard excercise performed, no matter what the location? It's silly to try to pin any blame for this on the WH. This was a routine excercise planned by the Coast Guard alone, and excercise similar the ones they perform everyday across the nation. You can criticize them for being stupid - although I would then ask, "Why do you hate our military?" - but trying to lay blame for this on the administration is just silly.
Queue, "Well, if this happened when George Bush was president, the left...", in 3....2....1.....
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14.3
Last week freeper had a hair in his soup.
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Obviously, its was the Obama administration's fault. -
14.4
what do you mean right? In a moral sense? In a factual sense?
in a factual sense, there is no doubt. CNN was wrong. As a matter of journalistic convention, they were also wrong. News organizations are generally responsible for false reports, even if they are attributed. We are supposed to check things. That said, the current breaking news rush does not often allow all that. CNN took a chance and got burned.
But the journalistic efforts and ethics were not the subject of my post. Gibbs reaction was. And that is legitimate, even if you would prefer something else, or if James LA would prefer a story about the memorial service.
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14.5
Of course it's Obama's fault!
On the other hand, had he received a daily briefing titled,
"Bid Landen determined to strike within the U.S." then of course, it would have been the CIA's fault. -
14.6
and if we are playing the blame game, i would add that the Coast Guard might have done a better job of foreseeing the reaction of bystanders, given the time and place. But the Coast Guard oversight does not absolve CNN
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14.7
Michael Scherer:
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Thanks for responding --I was just about to tweet this post as an example of reporting that poorly serves news users.
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I'll try to be very careful in describing what I believe to be the inadequacy of this report. The failure lies in your identification of the subject of the story.
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When I ask "Why can't you say which party was right?", I'm doing so because I perceive the events in question to be more than the conflict between the two parties (CNN, the WH Press Secretary).
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You have reported the existence of the controversy, and ended the subject there. For news users to benefit from a report on a controversy, I believe that it's imperative that reporters explicitly report which of the sides in a public dispute is correct --"right"-- in their assertions. Otherwise, the reader is left to arbitrate the dispute themselves without the benefit of the reporter having assigned a value to the assertions --without the value supposedly added by journalists to what is, by itself, merely a transcript of a video of the event.
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When you ask "what do you mean right? In a moral sense? In a factual sense? ", the answer lies in the sense of the word "wrong" that you, yourself used as a journalist in the description "Gibbs...declined support the idea that the Coast Guard had done anything wrong.". I mean "right" in the same sense as you meant "wrong", as the term would be used by readers to determine the answer to the most important and perpetual readers' question "Who amongst the parties in the dispute was in the right, and who was in the wrong?". Without such declarations --however threatening they would be to the reporter's advertisement of objectivity, however exposed the reporters' inability to correctly determine which party was in the right might be -- the readers' key interests are poorly served.
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When you assert "the journalistic efforts and ethics were not the subject of my post.", I would say that it is impossible to decently report a controversy involving such matters without explicitly stating whether such "efforts and ethics" were better or worse in this controversy's case. Simply stating that CNN's reporting was false prior to transcribing the exchange doesn't automatically assign a value to the press conference reporters' (obviously --I mean, come on, Michael Scherer) leading questions "do you feel that the exercise was appropriate?" or "how smart is it to have something like this". These are assertive questions that rhetorically seek to absolve CNN from responsibility for their failure in this incident, and frame the situation as one in which it is "smart" or "not smart" for the White House to have somehow put the press corps in the position of being likely to fail in this way.
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Surely you're not professionally obtuse enough not to acknowledge that, right, Michael Scherer?
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"Gibbs reaction was" not the story, although it was, certainly, the subject of your post, hence my complaint. The legitimacy of reporting that the White House commented on this organization's failure ("false reports") isn't in question. But (somewhat pejoratively, I'm sure you can admit) characterizing Gibbs as a "a media critic", and his commentary as "hammering CNN" without explicitly assigning a value to that criticism is merely reporting the controversy.
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If my original question was imprecise, Michael Scherer, then I can be faulted for that, I suppose.
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Let me then ask the real question, the one that journalists and editors supposedly ask themselves every time a story is ran:
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How are news users' interests best served by reporting on a dispute between the Press Secretary and the press in a public conference, when the reporter won't say which of the parties' arguments was the most legitimate?
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You're right, I "would prefer something else", Michael Scherer. I would prefer that reporting on controversial events or topics be accompanied by the value the profession of journalism supposedly adds to the news consumption and use process. I would prefer it if reporters did not solely note certain facts, transcribe conflicts and then call it a day --job well done. I would prefer it if there was better, more useful journalism, instead of techniques designed to shield reporters from criticism. Whatever the preferences of James LA for memorial services may or may not be, yes, I and an ever increasing number of news users would prefer "something else" than this style of reporting.
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Thanks for reading and considering this, Michael Scherer. I very, very much appreciate you having taken the time and trouble to respond to such a contentious comment as mine. I hope that I am more clear in my criticisms, and that at least you are slightly entertained by them. -
14.8
...and, like you, Michael Scherer, I am under deadline constraints, and so get the first version of my posts wrong in detail upon occasion:
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No, the conflict wasn't "between the two parties (CNN, the WH Press Secretary)" as I mistakenly typed in shorthand, the sentence should have read "between the two parties (the press corps, the WH Press Secretary)".
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I hope that you will forgive and try to honestly understand similar unclear shorthand in my comment, if I have left that in; my apologies. -
14.9
Stuart, we have gone here before, and I am sure we will again. I agree in principle to the idea that it is wrong to just report conflicts, especially conflicting factual statements, without resolving the difference. But once you move beyond facts to finer questions of, for instance, government and journalistic responsibility, i don't think every news piece, especially a quick blog post, has to resolve all qualitative issues, nor do I always think that my opinion on such matters is always so interesting. I don't think there is an objective resolution to who messed up more here, the Coast Guard, CNN, Gibbs, or me and the press corps in responding to the others. I could muse, but i didn't, and i think that's fine. It's not a failure. It's a choice. And since this is a blog it is almost an entirely subjective choice. If I had more time today, if I drank more coffee, if it was not raining when I woke up, I might have done differently. We can agree that I chose to write the story on a subject which you did not prefer. And for the record, thought it does not matter much, I was not one of the reporters quoted in the post.
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14.10
I very, very much appreciate the opportunity to speak with you this way about a subject that seems important to both of us, Michael Scherer, thank you so much for your generous response.
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14.11
“This whole creation is essentially subjective, and the dream is the theater where the dreamer is at once: scene, actor, prompter, stage manager, author, audience, and critic.”
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Jung -
14.12
What? Me?
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Your spin on the thing was unfair and preposterous, Scherer. You explicitly imply that the WH 1) the training exercise was somehow botched or conducted or conceived in bad judgment, which it was not; 2) that the WH was responsible for catching or scheduling the exercise, or should have known about it and stopped it, which is silly and unreasonable, if you think about it; and 3) unreasonably slams CNN. And that's just the HEADLINE. And all three points are stupid and meanspirited and typical of you pompous and self-obsessed emotional adolescents in the WHPC. You could tell all of this had you listened or attended the Coastie press conference.
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Seriously, Michael you and your colleagues need to grow the f*ck up and start being reporters and quit acting like narcissistic frat boys. I pointed out the work of a reporter, Steve Collinson, who acts professionally and takes his job, and his responsibility to his readers, seriously. He has a blog (AFP has a blog) and still he doesn't publish insider-the-beltway pathological bullsh!t like you do. You and your adolescent jocks like Ed Henry are clowns and hucksters, not journalists.
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I was just pointing that fact out, and trying to show you an example of good reporting. -
14.13
Also, Scherer:
I don't think there is an objective resolution to who messed up more here, the Coast Guard, CNN, Gibbs, or me and the press corps in responding to the others.
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In what conceivable way do you feel like GIBBS "messed up here"??
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I guess a case could be made that the Coast Guard failed to divine that CNN might be so irresponsible as to run with a ginned up story with fabricated details on a day like this, but how the hell do you get any culpability from GIBBS for God's sake? That is just objectively preposterous.
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15
Guaranteed Rick Sanchez had something to do with this. what a joke
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15.1
"And for other potential terrorist attacks, check my Twitter page, hasta manana!"
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(The Spanish was for him to remind people that in case his last name didn't make it clear enough, yes, he IS hispanic).
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16
I'll bet the whole thing started because Lou Dobbs thought the Coast Guard was a boatload of illegal aliens and spazzed out again.
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17
Billie's right.
Why would the military routinely announce when and where a training exercise is going to take place?
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18
If CNN did not jump the gun and report the observation of some bystander as dead-set fact this would bnot have been a story.
Gibbs is absolutely right in standing up for the White House and the Coast Guard. Do people really think the president is privy or in some way has direct command over what the Coast Guard is doing every day in Washington? Like he looked at a daily schedule and ordered a radio training exercise today? That's insane...
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18.1
Maybe Obama doesn't look at the schedule of the Coast Guard but somebody in this administration does making them all incompetent. The aides for not noticing and Obama for hiring them.
Rationalize away but the WH is equally complicit in stupidity here.
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18.2
free - The only one equally complicit in the stupidity here is you. And that's sad because while I disagree with most of what you post here, you have shown that you can make logical, informed, and reasonable arguments. Think about what you are saying for a moment. Directives for excercises like this rarely come from the WH or even from DHS. They - like similar excercises in any branch of the military - are standard, regular excercises and almost certainly not subject to regular review but some civilian bureaucrat. I highly doubt even the commandant of the Coast Guard - not hired by Obama (he was appointed by Bush)...and the people serving in the Coast Guard are also not "hired" but Obama - knew about this excercise. Somebody in the chain of command may have failed in their responsiblities - and I'm not even sure that's the case - but it's probably far down the chain within the Coast Guard itself and nowhere near reaching the level of the administration itself. Do you really want civilian appointee/employees working for the administration meddling to the level of reviewing a schedule of daily, standard, military excercises. Heck, I remember the days when many folks were fans of the Bush "whatever Petraeus wants, I'll keep my hands off" approach when it came to significant military actions and strategies in a gosh darned war. No we want the president and/or his appointees to get involved in stuff like this?
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Stop being silly and stop looking for a cheap gotcha. -
18.3
ogliberal
Well I think the only cheap shot is yours. Last I checked the President is the Commander-in-Chief of our Armed Forces which I believe includes the Coast Guard. I would bet you an adult beverage that the Coast Guard or any other branch did not hold terrorist training on 9/11 in PA, NY or DC for the past 8 years. Nor fly-by's the Statute of Liberty either.
No matter how you slice it the insensitivity of this administration is mind-boggling and the buck stops there.
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19
This is how your colleague Steve Collinson reported the incident, Scherer. Collinson, a real reporter, a journalist and White House Press Correspondent from Agence France Presse, put the incident in the fourth paragraph:
The solemn ceremonies were marred by a security scare in Washington after a Coast Guard training event on the Potomac River prompted unfounded reports that a suspicious boat had been fired on.
Then he goes on to report the essential points of the White House ceremonies and other commemorations around the US. He assigns the incident EXACTLY the importance it should have, unlike you petulent drama queens in the American press.
Of course, Collinson isn't a stenographer and cheap headline-monger like you are, Scherer.
Source:"Obama leads US in September 11 commemoration" by Steven Collinson AFP
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20
"White House Slams CNN, Declines To Express Regret For 9/11 Coast Guard Training Exercise."
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Seriously, that is the headline you decided to go with?
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Here is a tip on a police officer getting hurt in a training excercise in Tennessee last month. Why don't you crack reporters see if the WH wants to apologize for that too!
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http://www.officer.com/online/article.jsp?id=47929&siteSection=1&cPage=2&OrderBy=InsertDate&Dir=ASC -
21
While I expect nothing less from the wingnuts who blame this administration for their hang nails...
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But first, it was Obama's fault because he doesn't make absolutely sure than nothing happens that will distract the press from focusing on the news rather than information about health care reform.
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Then, it's Obama's fault that the press is in such a rush for an exclusive that went on air before verifying their facts.
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Now, it's Obama's fault because the news media have been scorekeepers and stenographers for so long that they've forgotten how to investigate properly.
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Get a grip people GTFU-
21.1
Typical liberal response in that they are not responsible for anything.
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22
"And how clueless, insensitive and just outright stupid can this WH be to allow a security training exercise to be held on the anniversary of the say when so many Americans died from a terror attack in the area where one of the attacks occurred."
First of all, the idea that the WH has anything to do with scheduling military exercises is preposterous.
Second, how manhy days should there not be exercises on? Let's start with December 7th and keep going.
it's simple, if one media outlet had not been reckless and unprofessional, no-one would know.
It is not at all like the Air Force One NY flyover.
CNN has become to news what cotton candy is to cuisine. It's just sad.
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23
My only surprise is that CNN interrupted their Michael Jackson coverage for this story.
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24
So it appears as if a lot of this might have been avoided.
This is your idea of "media criticism"?
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25
Michael, what the hell is the matter with you lately. This is a "Mayor insists he's not beating his wife" post.
Maybe it's different when you hear it, but I don't see Gibbs "slamming" CNN, and why shouldn't they decline to express regret over a training exercise? Your phrasing implies that they should have.
- michaelscherer @alangrayson TIME told your story (http://bit.ly/cdG9qb), tho not how you would have told it, here: http://bit.ly/YSRHh - 3 hours ago
- michaelscherer RT @PElliottAP: Obama makes surprise visit to White House briefing room. Tune in. - 6 hours ago
- michaelscherer RT @ryssiebee: 92 magazine covers, 10 years, 2 minutes. http://bit.ly/5d7oCo - 9 hours ago
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