Yesterday Mother Jones reporter David Corn took a smug swipe at Mitt Romney while gleefully promoting the release of the “full tape” of Romney’s remarks at a private fundraiser.
Romney says we posted "snippets" & not full answers in the secret videos. Uh….no. See for yourself. The full tape: http://t.co/eV3xjsjQ
— David Corn (@DavidCornDC) September 18, 2012
Mother Jones flaunted its unimpeachable journalistic ethics in a tweet about “full disclosure.”
Full disclosure? Doesn't get any fuller than this: The entire Romney donor video. http://t.co/v3znYHCT #RomneyEncore
— Mother Jones (@MotherJones) September 19, 2012
Really? It doesn’t get fuller than this? Somebody’s full of something, and it ain’t disclosure.
Critical audio gap in “complete” Romney tape – Update 1-2 minutes missing http://t.co/omapNg8d #tcot #p2 #gop
— Legal Insurrection (@LegInsurrection) September 19, 2012
So, right at the end of the part the Beltway Media is hyping up the most, the recording device stopped working? http://t.co/4BhdiuQl
— RBe (@RBPundit) September 19, 2012
After noting a key portion of Romney’s “47 percent” remarks was missing from the video, “just a blogger” William Jacobson did the work “real journalists” won’t do.
https://twitter.com/MaxwellSilver3/statuses/248400315110526976
Using Facebook, Twitter and email, Jacobson pressured Corn to explain the missing segment from the supposedly “full tape.”
@DavidCornDC audio missing bet parts 1 and 2 of full video — switches topics even though answer re voters not done — what gives?
— Legal Insurrection (@LegInsurrection) September 18, 2012
@DavidCornDC listen to answer re voters, clear not done but audio cuts off, where is the rest?
— Legal Insurrection (@LegInsurrection) September 18, 2012
Corn responded via email:
According to the source, the recording device inadvertently turned off. The source noticed this quickly and turned it back one. The source estimates that one to two minutes, maybe less, of recording was missed.
Equipment failure? Seriously? Are we supposed to say, ‘There, there. It happens to all guys once in a while”?
Wait what? The Romney video has selective, deceptive, lying edits that completely disqualify mainstream media orgs from covering it?
— Rick Wilson (@TheRickWilson) September 19, 2012
Oops! While Corn denies that this is a case of deceptive editing, there’s no question he and Mother Jones deceived readers. At Breitbart.com, Joel Pollak writes:
Mother Jones has failed a basic test and broken its promise to its readers and the public. There is now reason to doubt that it provided Romney’s full remarks–not just the context, but the remarks themselves. And there is new reason to suspect manipulation.
Corn promised the complete version of Romney’s remarks. Instead, he provided a version that is missing a large portion of video at the critical moment.
And how much credibility does @DavidCornDC lose (not that he had much) for continuously claiming they posted the "full video"?
— (((AG))) (@AGHamilton29) September 19, 2012
Hi, @davidcorndc & @motherjones! When will you release the UNEDITED Romney fundraiser video? http://t.co/JVtgGMSa
— CatsPolitics (@CatsPolitics) September 19, 2012
Just a WILD-EYED coincidence the missing minutes @Davidcorndc tried to cover up occur during the 47% remarks! — http://t.co/VHrWjXwM
— Burn, Democrat-Run Cities, Burn! (@NolteNC) September 19, 2012
@DavidCornDC U were forced to admit tape doctored, missing portion not available. Now u look like smear merchant u/r, funny how story turns.
— MNMVR (@repMNM) September 19, 2012
In a boom-worthy tweet yesterday, James O’Keefe highlighted the corrupt hypocrisy of the mainstream media’s refusal to press for the release of the full hidden camera video. How right he was.
Let’s imagine @davidcorndc’s reaction had Breitbart claimed to release full tapes and then admitted he didn’t have it. #tcot
— RBe (@RBPundit) September 19, 2012
https://twitter.com/JammieWF/statuses/248388055688413184
The media will be all over this now, right?
Hey @JoeNBC is it true that 1-2 minutes of the Romney video are missing? Any reason you're not reporting that? @DavidCornDC
— smoochacha (@smoochacha) September 19, 2012
I can’t wait for @ericboehlert to harass @davidcorndc for failing to release the full tape. How about you, @dloesch? @noltenc?
— RBe (@RBPundit) September 19, 2012
Or not. The Mother Jones video is still being hyped as the “full video.”
Top of show, @DavidCornDC on the Romney 47% video. Watch the full video here: http://t.co/X7GHPgGL Tune in @WNYC at 10am.
— The Brian Lehrer Show and A Daily Politics Podcast (@BrianLehrer) September 19, 2012
And the lies are being swept under the lapdog rug. As always.
If you're in the #47Percent, you're being lied to by @motherjones, @BarackObama, and the corrupt mainstream media: http://t.co/eSHikg4b #war
— Joel B. Pollak (@joelpollak) September 19, 2012
Update:
Beacon of journalistic ethics David Corn is now whining about conservative trolls.
Plenty of conservative trolls screaming about 1-2 minutes not recorded on Romney tapes. See the explanation here: http://t.co/eV3xjsjQ
— David Corn (@DavidCornDC) September 19, 2012
His explanation is basically the same as the one in his email to blogger William Jacobson.
According to the source, the recording device was inadvertently turned off between these two segments. The source noticed quickly and began to re-record, resulting in an estimated a one-to-two minute loss of tape.
That “explanation” doesn’t address why Mother Jones tooted the “full disclosure” horn when up to two minutes of the tape were missing.
Spin harder, lapdoggies!
Update:
More from Corn:
If there is no video, can it be selectively edited? Hmmmm. Tree. Forrest. No sound?
— David Corn (@DavidCornDC) September 19, 2012
Um, if there’s no video, isn’t it your job to disclose that when releasing the “full tape”?
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