Samantha Power is no longer an adviser to Barak Obama. Another casualty of the war of words being raged in the quest for the Whitehouse, Ms. Power went a tad too far in her assessment of the Senator from New York–too far, that is, for a spokesperson for the campaign that is trying hard to avoid politics as usual.
As reported by The Scotsman, Power said, “We f***** up in Ohio. In Ohio, they are obsessed and Hillary is going to town on it, because she knows Ohio’s the only place they can win. She is a monster, too — that is off the record — she is stooping to anything.”
Even after issuing a public apology to both Obama and Clinton, and confessing to admiration for the former first lady, Power felt obligated to resign her post.
But what about this on/off the record thing? Journalists will occasionally conduct an interview off-the-record, at the request of the interviewee–if that is the only way the information can be obtained. Although information gathered in this manner is not available to be used directly, e.g quoted or attributed, the information can be used as background research. The Scotsman, the paper that broke the story, includes an explanation of their policy on off-the-record interviews at the end of their story. According to The Scotsman, an interview can only be considered off-the-record, “when the rules are established in advance.” Trying to withdraw a statement made in the middle of an on-the-record interview by saying, “off the record” does not make it so. And according to one source, Power should have known better. As a graduate of Harvard Law School and a journalist herself–who has written for Time Magazine, U.S. News & World Report, The Boston Globe, The Economist and The New Republic–Power should have shown better judgment.
BTW, just yesterday Clinton’s communication chief accused the Obama team of “imitating Ken Starr.” When will the name calling stop? 😉
This does not surprise me nor do I really care for one news paper view on the right and wrong ways that “off the record” to be used. Logically speaking the news paper will change this rule to benefit themselves and make sure their paper out sells the competition. As far as the women giving an apology it her apology should have read “Am really sorry about what I said, but I meant every last word and still do. Once again opps my bad am so sorry.” To force someone to say they are sorry about their views to limit the freedom of choice that each person has. She should have never said she was sorry and no one should ever trust a journalist.
It seems the old rule of on/off the record should clearly be retaught to everyone, it’s not fair only the journalist can make up the rule as they go. The way I would envision any good journalist using the “off the record” rule is in good taste to help them gain knowledge of their subject matter. A journalists job is to find the facts, to ask the right questions. Instead of using the”off the record” statements their subject uses agains them, use them as a step in the right direction, as a lead. If this person was so gracious enough to grant them an interview, why disrespect their wishes and (in this ladies case) ruin their career?
Once again people are using exceed word when it comes to telling their true feelings about someone. I think that this is just unacceptable. I think this lady needs to take some ethic classes and needs to get a life. I mean I don’t like a lot of things in life but I don’t write in a newspaper or a blog and curse out someone. I would say this is why younger adults don’t vote. To us this seems like little kid petty arguments that we don’t like to get involved in. To me her public apology met absolutely nothing. She knew she was in the wrong so there for I think she should have never made those comments. People like this make me mad and upset that people would say harmful things about people who didn’t do anything to them.
Reading this blog just gives me more reason why I am not voting for Hillary Clinton. I cannot see her a good president, she is too close minded and would stick to her ideas even if she was proven wrong by a million different people.. “Off the Records, She is a Monster,” I could see this 100% to me Hillary just seems fake on camera’s and will say what the people want to hear from her, but when the pressure come on, her personality will show, angry and mean. Its already been shown many times with her running against Barak Obama. I don’t think she will stop with the name calling, personally I think its going to only get worse.
Wow.. The newspaper that published it is garbage. I read a story about it and she said “Off the Record Clinton is a Monster” apparently off the record isn’t clear cut enough to say I don’t want this published. What a joke. The media mishandles everything. The media can easily decide an election.. I mean if the price is right. They can easily be more positive or negative to a candidate.
The Average American Citizen is a joke these days. Take what the Media says for granted. I bet half of the people who vote have never been to Hillary, McCain or Obama’s websites. They have no idea what they stand for…..just what the media says the stand for.
I was at the CC hockey game last night and I was talking to one of my friends and we were arguing about a fight that broke up. I am a DU fan he is a CC fan. Well, we were arguing who won the fight obviously with our biases we argued that our respective team won. He said well I guess we will just see the paper in the morning and see what they say. I responded by saying, depends which paper you read, The Gazette or Post.
I dont know these days.. Whoever wins will be because of what the media portrays.. Point-Blank truth.