Media Alert!

"On The Story", a CNN show airing tonight at 7 PM ET, will include a segment on the Fitzgerald investigation.  It is hosted by Jacki Schechner and will feature bloggers Jeralyn Merritt and, yes, yours truly.  The spot will probably air in the second half hour.

We taped Friday night, so I can tell you that Jeralyn will be calm and incisive, as expected.

As for my own performance - I can't wait to see.

The first question was to contrast Bob Woodard's performance with Judy Miller's in the Fitzgerald investigation.  I rose to Bob's defense, pointing out that investigative reporters are not meant to be particularly cooperative with prosecutors.  I also emphasized the point that Judy spent over a year on a losing court fight *after* her source identified himself to Fitzgerald; Woodward gave evidence within two weeks of his source's decision to come forward.  Media maven Jack Shafer skipped right past that in his "Bob Ain't Judy" column, so I was either original or painfully obvious.  And yes, Jeralyn pointed out that Woodward may have had a duty to disclose his conflict in commenting on a case in which he was a concealed participant.

The second question was - hmm, what was that question again?  Jeralyn answered first and I was so taken by her eloquence that I had a Scooter Libby moment, which may, if there is a God, not survive the videotape editor.

Anyway, the second question related to the interaction of the media with bloggers.  I framed the question very narrowly in what was left of my functioning mind, and responded as if the question had been, "How should the media react to being chewed on from the right and left every day"?

A more interesting response would have been to chat about how the media ought to be relating to bloggers.  Framed that way, my "Coulda, woulda, shoulda" answer would have been that, since bloggers are the media's most avid and engaged customers, we ought to be a valuable source for feedback and ideas.  If Jeralyn Merritt, a top defense attorney, is willing to take time out of her day to research the legal ins and outs of Fitzgerald's investigation, any reporter with a lick of sense ought to avail himself or herself of that effort.

Well, we'll see what airs tonight.  I figure two of my fifteen minutes have been exhausted, but I have thirteen to burn!

UPDATE:  The Political Teen has the video, thanks very much.

Comments

[Jim E.]

Wow. And here I was going to waste the time to find the transcript of your blog being merely mentioned (for all of three seconds) on CNN a few days ago for your enjoyment. Your personal appearance on the network is slightly more significant (and so I won't bother finding the transcript).

Congratulations!

P.S. And if you happen to pull an Andrea Mitchell and misstate anything, I'll be happy to parse you to death. (I kid, I kid...sort of)

[clarice]

i hope this brings you lots more readers and advertisers so we can start serving refreshments in the wee hours, Tom.

[SteveMG]

Man, I knew you when you were nothing.

Let's see, when I was eight years old, I shook Sam Huff's hand. I helped Barry Goldwater with his luggage at Dulles Airport. In college, I interviewed Sidney Hook and William Kunstler.

And now this.

Congrats.

SMG

[Syl]

All right!

About time!

[Jeff]

I had a Scooter Libby moment

What?!? You lied through your teeth in the most brazen way to cover for the most powerful man in the United States?! I'll definitely be tuning in this evening.

Nicely done.

[topsecretk9]

Three cheers for TM!

I bet you faired far better than you are letting on. Humility is a great virtue.

[TexasToast]

Good job - don't get all puffed up though. I wouldn't want to see you try to start up your own "new media" operation in the Rainbow Room.....

PS Just in case you were wondering, I hasven't got $3.5 mil lying around....

[TalkLeft]

JOM readers, Tom did great. It's hard to do a show via webcam at home vs. going to a studio. I had to sit on three telephone books to be up high enough. The show also airs tomorrow for those that miss it tonight.

Jackie and Abbie are great, and CNN features bloggers more than the other networks, which is very much to their credit.

[Syl]

But..but...but...did you meet Wilson in the Green room?

And, um, was he bragging about his wife again?

[Neo]

conflict in commenting on a case in which he was a concealed participant

Sorry Tom, but this is true of virtual any story with a secret or anonymous source.
Any and every time a reporter fails to identify the source, especially when an alleged crime is involved, he/she becomes a participant in the story. The reporter often knows more than is written into the story; it is that withheld portion that creates a conflict, as, in the best case, it withholds the context of the anonymous information, or, in the worst case, withholds the knowledge of a crime.

I think Woodward acted properly (or at least within nominal bounds of conduct). His comments on the case reflected the knowledge he had of the case; it was a silly case, where the only possible losers were anyone involved.
Fitzgerald, for his part, should have excepted the obvious truth that he now believes, that there was no original crime, and ended it there.
I fault Libby for not taking the "Ollie North 101" course on criminal/Congressional interrogations by not starting every sentence with "to the best of my recollection".

[topsecretk9]

--I had to sit on three telephone books to be up high enough.

Oh I bet the in home webcam thing is tough...and you have to think of back drop vs. laundry and kid toys!

[bob redman]

"A lawyer in the case said Woodward's source had not previously testified before a grand jury in the leak case."

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/story.jsp?id=2005111818290002570022&dt=20051118182900&w=RTR&coview=

[bob redman]

It appears that the outing of Plame the super secret agent, er, desk jockey, was so damaging to the CIA that you now have Clinton's ex-CIA director helping out Libby...

"A group of Libby's friends and colleagues have joined a committee to help raise money for Libby's defense, a spokeswoman said. The members include former CIA director James Woolsey, ex-Republican Sens. Fred Thompson and Alan Simpson, former presidential candidate Steve Forbes, former vice presidential candidate Jack Kemp and top Bush fundraisers Bill Paxon and Mercer Reynolds. "

[Jim E.]

"A lawyer in the case said Woodward's source had not previously testified before a grand jury in the leak case."

Hmmm. That's more definitive than the Wash Post's story, which says just the opposite.

But I wonder if the "before a GJ" has any significance. What if he were interviewed by FBI agents, but never testified in front of the GJ? Is that a blanket denial, or a weasly denial? Or is it a total lie (like Rove's and Libby's early assertions that they weren't at all involved).

I'm beginning to think that looking at all of these denials is a fool's errand. Pretty soon it will be leaked that Woodward's source denies being Woodward's source.

[judge wop]

"Or is it a total lie (like Rove's and Libby's early assertions that they weren't at all involved)."

Rove and Libby never asserted anything. Now Scott McClellan said those two weren't involved in the leaking of classified information. Now help me out here, who exactly have been charged with leaking classified information (let alone found guilty of it).

Please bring in the next case Rusty.

[Jim E.]

"Rove and Libby never asserted anything."

Please. McClellan has repeatedly made clear that he was speaking on behalf of Rove and Libby. And he said it was "ridiculous" to say they were "involved" in any way.

Doug Llewelyn, get us a new judge!

[Dwilkers]

"The second question was - hmm, what was that question again? Jeralyn answered first and I was so taken by her eloquence that I had a Scooter Libby moment, which may, if there is a God, not survive the videotape editor."

Look at it this way TM, when you watch it tonight it will be as if you are hearing it for the first time.

Glad I caught the post, I'll be tuning in.

[Squiggler]

Watching Tom on CNN ... don't exactly know what he said ... I can't get past how cute he is. Whew! [oh relax, I'm a granny.]

[Dwilkers]

OK, so Jeralyn is a hottie.

And whoa, that Delia Gallager that was reporting on religious issues before your segment? Raaaarrr.

Seriously, good segment. Short on PlameGate specifics, but you guys made some good points about the media conflict in this case.

Congrats on getting the, um...exposure. 8^)

[Mark Coffey]

Tom, nicely done...and well deserved!

[jen]

Admit I've only come here when Jane has linked here but caught you on CNN tonight and had to stop in to say you did GREAT! You guys (bloggers) are going to be the ones who will ultimately force "show biz/corporate" journalists to get back to being "investigative" journalists! Congrats!

[Syl]

You did great, Tom!

A sweater? Yummmmmmmmmmmmm.

Of course, what I got out of the segment, from CNN's point of view, is that half the time bloggers speculate, the other half they nag the MSM.

They probably actually believe it.

[Jim E.]

Well done! I can only imagine how difficult it would be to do such an interview via webcam. Jeralyn did awesome, too, but she, unlike you, has had extensive experience being a talking head. I was impressed with both. Very cool.

[Seven Machos]

Way to go, TM.

[David W]

Nice work TM. I really have enjoyed reading your speculations and appreciate all of the time and effort you have spent following this saga.

[judge wop]

Jim, anyone who can actually remember "Doug Llewelyn"'s name definitely doesn't have a Libby (or major media reporter) memory.

[richard mcenroe]

Squiggler — you're a grandfather?

[Jim Elbe]

Well done Minute Man. First time I've watched CNN in years...

[Squiggler]

LOL. I think I lack the proper plumbing to be a Grandfather.

[topsecretk9]

shoot I missed it tonight...

syl

A sweater? Yummmmmmmmmmmmm.

what does this mean?...from the girl types I get the feeling TM had hearts pumping. I'm just glad it is running again tomorrow.

[Toby Petzold]

Dammit, I missed it. Where's that Political Teen kid with the video when you need him?

[Lesley]

Tom will appear tomorrow (Sunday) from 1-2pm ET, on CNN's "On the Story."

FAME

I love it!!! Congrats, Tom.

[topsecretk9]

Are Evan Thomas and Michael Isikoff reading TM!!!

And to think TM, you did their story without dialing a phone!

They peg Armitage for both Woodward and Novak. Second startling factor of the story, is I think it may be one of the first stories that actually get some of the Wilson portions correct.

"...It was Novak who identified Plame as the CIA operative who helped send her husband, former ambassador Joseph Wilson, to Africa to check on reports that Iraq was trying to buy uranium from the country of Niger....

Today I speculated that Wilson would be radioactive after he called for a Woodward probe, and I think we are seeing more and more shades of that.

PS-I am still jealous I didn't see TM the HUNK tonight. I did a google image search after all the comments made me so curious...Tom Maguire primarily returns Tom Cruise and a few Toby's (not the rabbit).

[topsecretk9]

oh...I should say Nuero did a good Job of the Armitage as source too!

[Alexandra]

Tom,

I am devastated I missed it. Just read your post now. Did anyone live blog it? Your mother perhaps? (LOL)

Will you do a post blogging CNN 'On The Story' today please, and let us know what actually aired in the end. Thanks, and congrats btw, I always knew you had that TV Star quality.

[windansea]

congrats!!

so Jeralyn and Tom are hotties

would their children be good looking bipolar crazies or cute well adjusted moderates???

[TP]

It would be interesting to find out from Novak if he has the same kind of limited release as Woodward--one which would preclude him from disclosing his source publicly. If Novak's source is Armitage, it would also be interesting to know how many (if any) non-classified sources he (Armitage) has for his knowledge of Wilson-Plame and who they are. Wilson's call for an investigation of Woodward, rather than an investigation of Woodward's source is very curious. He must also have an inkling of who the source is and know it doesn't fit his story line.

[Syl]

This bit in the Newsweek article top links to:

Woodward has indicated that he knows the identity of Novak's source, which further suggests his source and Novak's were one and the same.

This is something I've totally missed--that Woodward has indicated he knows who Novak's source is. Anybody know where that comes from?

[Terrie]

Tom, you did great! If this was your first TV broadcast, it surely didn't show - and Jeralyn's public punditry has improved since her media ascent back in the O.J. days.

During your segment, Jacki Schechner cited an advantage that bloggers have over MSM journalists: the ability to speculate about such mysteries as Bob Woodward's source for the Plame/CIA connection. She was right, which makes the naming of Richard Armitage in the Newsweek article topsecretk9 linked above an exception to her rule - unless it is a well-educated, well-sourced guess by Evan Thomas and Michael Isikoff.

I think I smell another fascinating Maguire post in the making.

[Patrick R. Sullivan]

Well, Woodward is supposed to be on Larry King tonight (9:00 EST) and now TM is a CNN performance artist. King is famous for staging phone calls....hmmm.

Use up more of your 15 minutes...or 9 lives or whatever.

[Terrie]

Man, this is getting good!

If Armitage is the source for Novak as well as Woodward, this is a huge setback for Fitzgerald. Did he have Armitage questioned by the FBI or testify before the grand jury? If only the former, Fitz has got some serious explaining to do. Add that to the fact that he sent the FBI to interview Wilson neighbors only days before the Libby indictment was announced and you have what looks like a pork barrel prosecution doomed to sink under the weight of its own emptiness.

Armitage was part of the State Department cabal at war with the Cheney cabal. He must have enjoyed the damage his silence - and the silence he imposed on his MSM contacts - did to the reputations of his old opponents, but karma might be coming around to bite him back Libby-style if he perjured himself.

The irony is, of course, that the man who refuses to release his identity publicly may be the first government official known to leak Plame's CIA affiliation.

[topsecretk9]

Wilson's call for an investigation of Woodward, rather than an investigation of Woodward's source is very curious. He must also have an inkling of who the source is and know it doesn't fit his story line.

Pure speculation here, but do you think this may also have to do with all the Hadley rumors? It is weird that Raw Story always goes to the WH and keep Hadley alive as a source even after he has denied it helps the Wilson camp.

[TP]

TS. I don't read Raw Story very much, but it sounds like they have a lot credibility invested in him as a source and in the theory of Wilson as injured victim. At this point, I would expect the rest of the MSM (particularly those that might be called to testify under oath)to follow the Newsweek lead and look for a more benign theory for the leak.

[TP]

I'll bet Armitage can trace his knowledge of Wilson and Plame to unofficial sources outside of the intelligence community. How pissed is Fitz going to be at Joe?

[TalkLeft]

so Jeralyn and Tom are hotties...would their children be good looking bipolar crazies or cute well adjusted moderates???

Thank you for the compliment. I hope when Tom does have a kid, he or she turns out as great as mine, who is a happy, handsome super-liberal law student with hopes of being a public defender if he can't be the next Eric Clapton.

[clarice]

TP the word of the day today for the media is backstroke, backstroke from Wilson and his ex-CIA agent buddies. .and(except for the NYT) it has been for about 2 weeks..

[topsecretk9]

I just watched today, both TM and Jeralyn were fantastic!

I am going to layoff the Hunk references so Mrs.TM does not bar him from continuing this!

[JJ]

It happens to them all!

First its virtual-mongol-horde barbarian, then on executive/bureaucrat/TV producer and editor. Ooooo, the transformation! So long! ;)

[JJ]

..on *to* executive/bureaucrat/TV producer and editor...

Or let it read: Don't turn in your spurs!

[windansea]

Thank you for the compliment. I hope when Tom does have a kid, he or she turns out as great as mine, who is a happy, handsome super-liberal law student with hopes of being a public defender if he can't be the next Eric Clapton.

de nada....so I guess Tom will have to produce a happy good looking conservative lawyer and when they are both Supremes the Force will be balanced.

[kim]

Got they Mojo wukkin' out theyah in the fields wheh the butter flies lay on blooms, miles spann the waters wheh ducks pawl the muddy dunn sam.
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[kim]

Do naldo.
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[kim]

You want barbar,
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