I ask the question in response to a Tweet from Terry Moran of ABC News that President Barack Obama called Kanye West a “jackass” after his silly and rude antics at the MTV Video Music Awards last night. (After the awards show Mr. West appeared on the new Jay Leno show crying.)
Here’s the tweet,
Pres. Obama just called Kanye West a “jackass” for his outburst at VMAs when Taylor Swift won. Now THAT’S presidential.
Anyway, the alleged comment was part of an “off the record” segment of an interview with CNBC according to the President’s staff. ABC had to issue an issue an apology which Michael Calderone of Politico obtained:
In the process of reporting on remarks by President Obama that were made during a CNBC interview, ABC News employees prematurely tweeted a portion of those remarks that turned out to be from an off-the-record portion of the interview. This was done before our editorial process had been completed. That was wrong. We apologize to the White House and CNBC and are taking steps to ensure that it will not happen again.
Regardless of the apology, the nature of the Internet allows for these types of communications to live on. Simply deleting it from Twitter does very little, if anything, to correct the error.
Still, the entire idea of tweeting reporters (or flip camera operating bloggers) raises myriad questions about how the journalistic principle of “off the record” applies. I’ve given several talks about the role that social media is playing in politics and journalism, and my argument is that anyone who believes in the fair application of the principle is delusional. Say what you want about fairness, but in an age where people can witness a newsworthy event and disseminate that information to lots of people quickly, there’s no opportunity for a traditional editorial process to work.
I’m not suggesting that this is a good thing, however I am admitting that the communications world has changed. This means that people have to be extra cautious about what they say, where they say it, and how they say it. From enterprising journalists on Twitter to ninja-like bloggers with digital video and voice recorders (or, an iPhone), there’s little boundry between what is on or off limits.
I’m not excusing what Mr. Moran did. If he knew it was off the record and his actions were in violation of his news organization’s editorial rules then so be it. Yet, I have to wonder how much ABC is complaining about all of the free publicity around the event, not to mention the surge in Web traffic, Twitter searches, Google searches, and more.
That being said, why was President Obama’s comment “off the record”? After all, there’s nothing wrong with what he said. Mr. West was a jackass; he admitted as much in his pitiful appearance on Mr. Leno’s show. Hiding behind the “off the record” principle serves what purpose? If he was sheepish about the issue, why engage in the first place?
After all, calling Mr. West something mild like a jackass is hardly worthy of hiding. Paying attention to this type of incivility, particularly after Rep. Joe Wilson’s antics last week, demonstrate a president that is attune with what’s happening in our society and in our culture. He should have an opinion on these matters. And he should express them. But he should do so on the record.