Students on the HC-J list:
Some of you may or may not be
aware that MSNBC anchor David Shuster said on the air on Thursday that Hillary
Clinton had "pimped out" her 27-year-old daughter by having her call Democratic
superdelegates on behalf of her mother. Shuster, who apologized on the air for
his comment, has been suspended.
I thought some of you might like to see the email exchange between MSNBC correspondent Shuster and Hilary Clinton’s press secretary that immediately followed the “pimping” comment. And I’d love to know what you think.
I don’t, though, want to seem completely neutral: I love rough, honest
political reporting that cuts through the spin and calculation, but I confess to
being old-fashioned enough to feel that no serious print or broadcast reporter
should ever use language like this.
But
this email exchange is very revealing of the ongoing struggle between campaign
staff and the press that is quite routine during a national
campaign.
Steve Gorelick
______________________________________________________
-----Original Message-----
From: Philippe
Reines
To: David Shuster
Date: Thu, 7 Feb 2008 7:14 p.m.
David -
how hard is it for someone, anyone, in the vast MS/NBC universe to contact any
one of us at the campaign for comment about Chelsea before going on air and
saying that she is being "pimped out" ? It's absurdly offensive. And what the
hell does that even mean?
I just don't get MSNBC - does GE not allow you to
make toll calls? What's the problem.
Philippe Reines
Press Secretary
Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton
-----Original Message-----
From: David Shuster
To: Philippe Reines
Date: Thu, 7 Feb 2008 8:51
p.m.
Nice to hear from you, philippe.
It is a fact that
--------------------------
Sent using BlackBerry
-----Original Message-----
From: Philippe Reines
To:
David Shuster
Date: Thu, 7 Feb 2008 9:00 p.m.
Since you guys asked
for the transcript - here specifically is what David said on air:
SHUSTER: "But doesn't it seem like she's being--but doesn't it seem as
if
I have a hunch that
such offensive and unacceptable language was never used on MSNBC's air about
Karenna Gore, the Bush twins, Venessa & Alex Kerry, Kate Edwards, the Romney
sons - or any other adult offspring who chose to campaign on behalf of a
parent.
-----Original Message-----
From:
Philippe Reines
To: David Shuster
Date: Thu, 7 Feb 2008 9:16: p.m.
David - I want to make sure I'm crystal clear here - you're saying that
because she doesn't grant interviews and makes calls on behalf of her mother,
you are right to say that she is being pimped out?
I don't need to read
a the whole transcript for context, you were way out of line. Nobody's jumping
down your throat about asking for an interview or talking about calls she made.
And you know it.
There is simply no excuse for being so
offensive.
By actually rationalizing your behavior rather
than accepting responsibility and apologizing, you become the poster child for
everything wrong with tv journalism, and it's a shame your NBC colleagues have
to be associated with this (expletive).
-----Original
Message-----
From: David Shuster
To: Philippe Reines
Date: Thu, 7
Feb 2008 9:29 p.m.
No. That's not what I'm saying. And if you bothered
to look at the transcript and saw all of the glowing things I said about
The issue is not her making
calls. As + said on the air, I have no problems with that what so ever. The
issue is not her refusing interviews. The issue is that the campaign has come
down hard on reporters who merely sought to ask
--------------------------
Sent using BlackBerry
-----Original Message-----
From: Philippe Reines
To:
David Shuster
Date: Thu, 7 Feb 2008 9:49 p.m.
I think we've each
said what we have to say on this matter. Based on this email exchange, we're
assuming two things:
1) You are not disputing that you said on air: "But
doesn't it seem like she's being--but doesn't it seem as if Chelsea is sort of
being pimped out in some weird sort of way?"
2) You have no intention of
apologizing for the above.