Feeding frenzy in DC Press Corp
Just finished watching a feeding frenzy at the White House press conference this morning. Dozens of redundant questions about how the local press in TX was aware of the VP accidentally shooting someone before they were briefed on it. It seems to me that once he informed them that VP Cheney had spoken to the owner of the ranch and encouraged her to speak to her local paper there is no story here. It was a hunting accident. Nobody died. There are no charges filed and there will not be. The press was informed. There is no cover up.That is not enough for the DC press corp. They are all pissed off because some "nobody" at a local paper got to break a story that they didn't. How many of these news agencies had someone locally to cover the VP's trip? There has been no mention of that question of course. My guess is a big fat ZERO.
I am not saying that the VP shooting somebody isn't a story. It would have been a bigger story if there was an effort to cover it up. There wasn't. This is a classic example of the press not understanding the topic they are covering. The White House was informed that there was a hunting accident and the VP was OK. It appears that it was hours later before they were aware that the VP was the one who shot the guy. This is not surprising if you know anything about the topic. While I have been on many hunting outings I have never been involved in this type of accident. I was on a hunting trip where somebody tripped and badly twisted an ankle. Everything stops. You get the person safe and treated. Then you worry about getting all the facts together and informing whomever needs to be informed. I am sure that the VP was busy being at the hospital with his buddy and his buddy's wife. I would guess that his team was busy with security and rescheduling, etc. Any time the President or VP has an unplanned schedule change there is chaos.
This was a misstep on the part of the White House press team, but it actually is coming out as more negative to the press than to them. These guys, meaning the DC press corp, need adult supervision.
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