This actually happened a while ago, but I didn’t notice it until Paul “The Huntsman” Heintz picked it up in his most recent “Winners & Losers” post.
Remember a couple of weeks ago, when Gov. Shumlin tried to quash the Jeremy Dodge land deal story by holding a series of one-on-one interviews with selected members of the State House media? You know, tell his side of the story, put on a little charm offensive?
Well, one of those interviews was with the Freeploid’s Terri Hallenbeck. And it didn’t start out well.
Gov. Peter Shumlin: “You’re going to video this? Oh, (expletive). We don’t want that. No, we’re not doing that.”
The “expletive” is left to our imagination. My first thought was “f*ck me,” but I eventually settled on the classic “shit.” The colloquy continues…
Burlington Free Press: “What do you mean we’re not doing that?”
PS: “We won’t do it. We’re not going to do that. Make up your mind. You want print, we’ll give it to you. We’re not doing video. Sorry to be rough, but you guys didn’t tell us. If you’d asked me I would have said no.”
“We’re not doing video” except…
BFP: “Are you not doing interviews with TV on this?”
PS: “Different kind of interview. Little teenie sound bites we give them, then we send them out the door. We want to have a conversation with you that’s not on video.” (Later, it would become apparent that WCAX-TV had videotaped a 20-minute interview.)
Yeah, that’s how you conduct a take-back-the-story campaign, and maintain good relations with your state’s biggest newspaper: reject a reasonable request for no stated reason, and lie to ’em in the process.
So why no video for the Freeploid? I mean, they’re a newspaper, but like all media, they’re trying to multi-platform whenever possible. Video’s part of their toolkit.
And it can’t be the fact that he was in casual dress. Because he’s apparently quite fond of the shirt he wore that Friday, as pictured in the Freeploid; it also appears in the picture of Shumlin used by the Democratic Governors Association, shown nearby. (I’d show you the ‘Loid’s photo, except they jealously guard their copyright. But believe me, it’s the same shirt. Thrifty Vermonter, don’t ya know.)
Funny thing is, after being weaseled by the Governor, the Freeploid did him a great big favor by slow-playing his expletive-laced rejection. Hallenbeck didn’t mention it at all in her article on the Shumlin interview, published on May 25. Then, a few days later, the ‘Loid decided to post the full transcript of the interview online, expurgated expletive and all.
But they did nothing to call attention to Shumlin’s ungraciousness. The online post is simply entitled “The full Shumlin land deal interview.” And the ‘Loid didn’t put it in print — only online. Paul Heintz was apparently the first member of the media to notice the interview’s incendiary opening.
So, stupid move by the Governor, for no good reason as far as I can tell. He could have gotten hammered a lot harder for it, if the Freeploid had made a bigger splash. But hey, that’s what blogs are for.
“…I don’t need this __! Nobody told me or made a request about what kind of _____ language I should use. I’m trying to tell this in my own _____ words. Yeah, I gave CAX some _____ sound bites, in real _____ language. What the Hell does my _____ language have to do with the issue? What? You think I _____ cursed Jeremy Dodge into the deal? That I said: ‘Jeremy, you little ____, sign the _____ papers, or I’ll __ you in the __ and then ___ on you!’ This whole _____ story is getting more and more ____ as we go _____ along. You know what? No more of this __! I’m the _____ Governor of the _____ State of Ver-_______-mont! You _____ are really _____ me off! Language? Well, Ex-cuuuuse ME! You _____ keep this up, and come 4th of _____ July, when you ask me for a photo-op of me selling a hot dog to a little old lady, you’re the _____ ones who are gonna be responsible for that _____ little old lady choking on her _____ dog after I say __ You! And no _____ audio either!”
I mean one of those non-stick ones with the heavy layer of Teflon. Sure, nothing sticks to them at first. After a few too many rounds with metal implements the working surface gets all scratched up. It doesn’t take a lot of scratches to make a Teflon coated pan worse than on old style cast iron one. Stuff sticks in the scratches, and it gets harder and harder to wash it off. Eventually you can’t really get it clean. It gets kind of disgusting. Then you pitch it out.
Vtdigger.com says both sides have lawyered-up.This could get oogly.
http://vtdigger.org/2013/06/03…
After several news articles and blipped & clipped TV coverage, the Governor agreed to a sit-down interview to go into significant depth and detail. This setting is materially different than a tape-rolling interview. When the camera is rolling, a person must think about how to articulate every single sentence – sometimes even a partial sentence — because a few syllables could set the complete context of a television news story. Speaking as if any single sentence could become the basis of a newscast changes how and what a person can and/or will say. The interview is stilted and less informative. In this specific context, I cannot imagine the dynamic playing out any other way.
The reason a person sits down w/a newspaper reporter – particularly the Governor in this specific situation – is to present the issue in detail without having to worry about being taken out of context. It also gives the reporter a substantially greater opportunity to cross-examine the interviewee and challenge his explanations. The point is, when you give a newspaper interview, in a situation of this magnitude and significance, you are ultimately addressing news consumers who will read through a great dell more than on a TV news spot. This was an opportunity for the press to obtain, and to give to the news consuming public, a significantly more thorough report on a subject of seemingly grand importance. The other option is WGOP and settling for a sentence or two between color commentary by a hair-product reporter. Here we have a newspaper article comprised of thirty paragraphs instead of a broadcast with 12 syllables.
With Democrats like Shummy, who needs Republicans?