Fox40, Multiple journo-dudes slam Palin after CA speech (UPDATE 8: FOX40 RESPONDS TO ST)

**Note – 12:56 AM: Please scroll to the bottom of this post for (ongoing) important updates.**

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Just got done watching the speech Sarah Palin gave at California State University, Stanislaus – the one that generated so much controversy from “concerned” students to the point they were digging in trash dumpsters looking for contract info.

Anyway, she gave a great speech as always (commentary/live Tweets are here) but at times the Fox40 live feed was hard to hear – they were having audio issues. But at the end of the speech is where it got interesting. Here’s what some of the audio/camera guys** were saying:

“The dumbness doesn’t just come from soundbites.”

[…]

“I can’t believe she quoted Kennedy – twice.”

[…]

“how am I going to write about this-there’s nothing there-answer well there’s your story” (source for this quote)

There was more – The Right Scoop is working on getting the video/audio posted as we speak.

And people STILL wonder why conservatives are so distrustful of the mainstream media?

Contact Fox40 (middle right side of page) to let them know what you think.

Update 1 – 12:38 AM: Right Scoop got part of it (turn it up if necessary – the audio from live feed was awful at times), but not the major money quotes. Anyone else out there who may have gotten the after-speech audio? Please let me know. Some on Twitter are even speculating that the sound quality of the speech was “purposely poor.”

**Update 2 – 12:56 AM: Interesting:

WAIT! I called, got thru – it was NOT their feed! it was the school’s feed & room of reporters!

The plot thickenz.

Stay tuned as determined Tweeters try and find out who it was making the after-speech remarks. Find it hard to believe that Fox40 didn’t have someone there directly monitoring the feed – this was a pretty big deal tonight in CA.

Update 3 – 1:06 AM: Via Tammy Bruce:

For those who are confused, @Fox40 took the Palin audio/video from a projector but it was *their* mics that were hot at the end. Losers.

Developing …

BTW, you can read a recap of the speech here.

Update 4 – 1:24 AM: Fox40 denies it was them:

NOTE: The comments you heard in the media room were from reporters at other outlets and newspapers and were not from FOX40 journalists.

Hmmm. If true, this makes what was said even worse. Camera/audio guys are one thing, but MSM journalists saying crap like this is something else. Tammy Bruce is all over it right now. If anyone can get to the bottom of it, it’s her.

Update 5 – 2:16 AM: Fox40 has issued a more complete statement on the post-speech comments:

SACRAMENTO – Thousands of people from California and around the world tuned in to FOX40.com to listen to a speech prepared by Sarah Palin Friday evening from the campus of California State University, Stanislaus. During that stream, several unfortunate events occurred that we hope to clear up through this statement.

First, FOX40 News was the only station streaming a live signal from CSU Stanislaus during Sarah Palin’s presentation. Friday, we were told by officials organizing the speech that we were not permitted to beam a live signal direct from the dining hall where Sarah Palin was presenting; instead, we were offered the opportunity to aim a FOX40 camera at a projection screen inside a room for assembled media down the hall from where Sarah Palin was due to speak. We were cautioned by the organizers of the event that there was an ongoing audio situation. We were faced with two decisions — to not carry a speech of local and national importance due to the low-quality methods we’d be forced to transmit, or to provide a signal by any means necessary. It was with the public interest in mind that we opted for the latter.

Second, following Sarah Palin’s address from CSU Stanislaus, several reporters could be heard making comments about the speech that some viewers considered inappropriate and unprofessional. Day by day, television, newspaper and radio reporters are asked to cover stories involving mayhem and misery, and occasionally off-color comments slip out on-air and online. Honestly, it’s happened on FOX40 News and on FOX40.com in the past during live presentations of news and events.

However, the comments overheard were made by reporters assembled from other newspaper and television outlets, and at no time was the voice of our photographer heard on the stream. It’s very likely that those reporters and photographers were unaware, or simply forgot, that there was one television station with an open microphone broadcasting to the world. If you did not hear their comments, you can watch a portion of them here, captured by a viewer who was watching the FOX40.com live stream.

Additionally, it should be noted that FOX40 reporter Andria Borba was not in the room where our signal was broadcast, and the voices heard delivering color commentary at the end of Sarah Palin’s speech were male.

Unfortunately, there’s no way to immediately identify the photographers and reporters making commentary following Sarah Palin’s speech, and it would be inappropriate for FOX40 News and FOX40.com to apologize on their behalf.

As always, our phone lines and e-mail inboxes are always open to comments and criticism. Our news director Brandon Mercer can be reached at Brandon.Mercer@FOX40.com, our acting general manager Mike Armstrong can be reached at Mike.Armstrong@FOX40.com and I can be reached at Matthew.Keys@FOX40.com.

Would sure like to know who the bunch were who made the remarks. Even if Fox40 knew, the unwritten “solidarity pact” many MSMers have towards each other would likely keep them from revealing.

Fox40’s news director Brandon Mercer had an exchange with Tammy Bruce over what allegedly happened. Here’s what he wrote (newest posts are on the top):

@HeyTammyBruce The apology I heard was when CSU lost their video feed. Was there another apology?
10 minutes ago via web in reply to HeyTammyBruce

@LynnFYI Again our camera was shooting a screen that showed CSU’s video feed for the media room.
11 minutes ago via web in reply to LynnFYI

@shigrin Thanks! It’s not our fault some lame reporter who doesn’t work for us made a stupid comment. We warned them the mic was hot 4x
15 minutes ago via web in reply to shigrin

@HeyTammyBruce There were dozens of reporters in the room. He was apologizing to them. The FOX40 cam was sitting on a tripod, unmanned
20 minutes ago via web in reply to HeyTammyBruce

@HeyTammyBruce That projector was not ours. It was for the CSU media room. My photog was not even in the room when the feed died.
21 minutes ago via web in reply to HeyTammyBruce

@fox40 streamed @sarahpalinusa speech. We warned other reporters about hot mic, but they forgot and were on our feed. They don’t work for us
26 minutes ago via web

@heytammybruce The voices on the hot mic do not work for FOX40. Our reporter was in the actual event, not media overflow w/ the loud mouths

Gotta give Fox40 props for being on top of it and responding to questions from new media peeps. Others would take several hours before addressing. They’ve been responding to questions about what happened almost since the word “go.” However, many – including me – still remain skeptical.

BTW, Tammy’s got the audio of the remarks:

[To] @bmmercer The complete audio is at http://is.gd/d4th2, issue begins at 40:02, audio which places voices in context

Make sure to listen! You can hear some of it even while she’s talking ;) The Fox40 guy on the audio apologizes for the feed going out, which happened once during broadcast about midway.

Tammy has been a machine on getting to the bottom of the issue. Mega-props to her for her hard work.

Last but not least, The Right Scoop has the full video of Palin’s speech.

Update 6 – 3:00 AM: Just listened to the audio at the time mark Bruce noted. Many MSMers are jawing about how ‘stupid’ Palin supposedly is, but then what I believe to be a Fox40 guy apologizes for feed going down – remember: Fox40 was running the feed. The SAME voice then says something like “You guys are gonna have a tough job making a story out of that” – an implication that it was an “empty speech.” MSMers were saying/insinuating that Palin had to put “a lot of quotes” in her speech to fill time, etc.

Is this a gotcha moment for the new media vs. old media? You betcha.

Last update, via @TRScoop:

@HeyTammyBruce I got an email from Brandon Mercer asking me to correct my post. I did, of course. He says their reporter was female

So they’re saying they had NO ONE there monitoring their live feed for their own station? I find that extremely hard to believe. There were two guys earlier in the vid seen on camera trying to fix the feed. I know because I wondered why the hell I was having to look at some dude’s butt for a few seconds while I was trying to watch Sarah Palin’s speech. So is Fox40 saying those guys did NOT work for them?

Update 7 – 6/26 – 9:30 AM: Here’s a clear audio feed, sans Tammy’s spot-on commentary:

Fellow Tweeter Cubachi, who also was online last night and heard the remarks as they were said weighs in with a must-read.

Update 8 – 6/26 – 2:54 PM: Fox 40 has responded in the comments:

Hi, I’m from FOX40, and I just have to comment on something. First off, we are truly sorry that our mics picked up such rude and negative comments. Second, this is how it was set up. Palin was doing her speech in an auditorium. Media + overflow were put into a room with a big projector screen. That’s where our camera was. CSU Stanislaus had a feed of the speech going on to that screen. We shot video off of that screen. That’s why the quality + audio were so bad.

When you hear someone at the end say he’s sorry for the feed going out… he’s talking about the feed from CSU Stanislaus to the overflow room. You can see our feed was still working (you just see a guy in front of the camera trying to fix it).

We streamed the speech live – so because it was heard on our website, people started assuming our people made those comments. The person saying β€œSorry about the feed going out” was from CSUS, he was talking, again, about their feed. There were AT LEAST 200 people in that room.

We don’t know who said those things. At the end of the speech, our photographer stepped outside to call his boss to make sure it was okay for him to turn off his camera. He couldn’t get reception inside of the building. He was specifically told to leave the camera on until he was told to turn it off. So yes, that’s where everyone heard what they heard.

We are open to answering any questions anyone has about this situation. We’d like it sorted out just as much as you.

I believe them and appreciate them responding.

The next and most obvious question is, of course, who were the journalists who uttered the remarks? I can pretty much guarantee that we will never know. Journo-“solidarity” and all that.

Also, here’s Tammy Bruce’s take on all the post-speech developments:

Bottom line–Fox40 insists it wasn’t them. None of the reporters, technicians or anyone else in that media room were associated with Fox40. There is no apology and they do not identify those making the comments.

As I noted in my previous post, is it possible university techies were manning that camera, yes. But come to your own conclusion about to whom that techie was apologizing regarding the Fox40 feed going down. Again, is it possible it was a random reporter not associated with Fox40? I suppose it is, unlikely, but possible. I believe Fox40 believe it wasn’t them. What I hear and see tells me otherwise.

I must also say I appreciate [Fox40’s] Brandon Mercer’s speed in responding, first on Twitter, then in an email to me. Ultimately, this is as concluded as it can be considering the circumstances. Whomever made the comments, I am sure, is aware of the response, and that also is important.

So, at this stage come to your own conclusion. Although there will be no apology I do think an important message has been sent to all parties–there are no more Free Shots at Sarah Palin. Not any more. And I think it’s also fair to say that this will be the last hot mic Fox40 ever allows.

Make sure to read the whole thing.

And … Memeorandum picks up on the story. Awesome.

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