Bush receives the kindest cut:

Bush and Rumsfeld took some time out from their defense briefing to speak to reporters.



What actually happened was shown on CBS:

In a report by Bill Plante:

BUSH: ... when I say I'm a patient man, I mean I'm a patient man. And that we will look at all options and we will consider - uh, .. uh, .. uh, .. uh - all technologies available to us and diplomacy and intelligence.

The four seconds where Bush was trying come up with the items he was going to consider were unflattering to the President. He looked hesitant and not focused on the issues.

However, a different George Bush was seen on ABC:

In a report by Terry Moran:

BUSH: ... when I say I'm a patient man, I mean I'm a patient man. And that we will look at all options and we will consider - uh, ^† all technologies available to us and diplomacy and intelligence.

How did ABC do that? Instead of a continuous shot, which would have shown a "jump", the viewer saw Bush at the podium up until the words "we will consider", and then the image was switched (†) to a side view - the four-second fumbling excised - where "all technologies available" was heard as if he spoke whole thing seamlessly.


There is a noticeable difference when comparing two video clips, but it still carries some punch in an audio version which is available as a 250k .wav file here. The first part is CBS / Bill Plante, the second part is ABC / Terry Moran. (The .wav file is as small as possible: 8bit, mono, 8khz sampling.)

Who says the media doesn't polish Bush's image?

Calling Howard Kurtz!

---

UPDATE:

In case you were wondering if the report on ABC was edited by Procrustes, here are some additional details: The total length was 91 seconds (or 90?). The breakdown was as follows:

TIME	VIDEO	AUDIO
00-04	Bush and Rumsfeld arriving in a pickup truck.	MORAN: "The President rolled up to waiting reporters, Secretary Rumsfeld riding shotgun."
05-08	Side shot of Bush & Rumsfeld.	MORAN: "The two men made light of invading Iraq."
09-23	Close-up of Bush at podium.	BUSH: "I know there's this kind of intense speculation that's been going on. I don't know how you would describe it. A churning." RUMSFELD:"Frenzy." BUSH: "Frenzy, is how the Secretary would describe it. But the subject didn't come up."
24-28	Side shot of Bush & Rumsfeld.	MORAN: "Mr. Bush, once again, as he has in recent weeks seemed to tone down his rhetoric about attacking Iraq."
29-37	Close-up of Bush at podium.	BUSH: "... when I say I'm a patient man, I mean I'm a patient man. And that we will look at all options and we will consider, um"
-	The 4-second edit.	um, um, um,
38-43	Side shot of Bush & Rumsfeld.	BUSH: "all technologies available to us and diplomacy and intelligence."
44-52	Gen. Tommy Franks in Kazakhstan.	MORAN: "But the war talk continues. In Kazakhstan, General Tommy Franks who would lead any campaign against Iraq, said that he was drawing up war plans."
53-71	Fort Hood, Texas	MORAN: "And later, addressing troops at Fort Hood, Texas, Secretary Rumsfeld, who is a leading advocate of going after Saddam Hussein militarily, had this to say." RUMSFELD: "The president has made no such decision that we should go into Iraq. He's thinking about it, but... (chuckles)"
72-91	Terry Moran @ Bush's Crawford ranch. Live (EDT), not tape.	Wrap up commentary by Terry Moran

It's impossible to know for sure why the 4-second edit took place without asking those who did it. However, there was a fair amount of time on atmospherics (arriving in pickup truck, joshing about the "frenzy"), which makes it unlikely that there was a severe time constraint. Also, invading Iraq is a major issue, and presumably less subject to the editing axe. In any event, viewers should be wary whenever ABC shows Bush and cuts from one angle to another while he is speaking.


posted by Quiddity at 8/21/2002 08:54:00 PM