TV station crosses the line

A Pennsylvania TV station censored a congressional debate after one of the candidates made a mistake, according to mccall.com.

The debate was recorded and aired later.  Democrat Sam Bennett said that ”Wachovia Bank and Sovereign Bank folded and now those shares are only worth a dollar each.”  This is, of course, not true.  Neither bank failed — they were bought by larger corporations.

Bennett went on to say ”Wachovia and Sovereign Bank very well would not have failed if the right action had been taken at the right time, that’s the point I’m making.”

Fine.  She messed up.  But when WFMZ-TV muted the sound and blurred the lips of the candidate, they crossed the line of journalistic ethics.

The station put a disclaimer at the beginning of the broadcast, saying what happened.  The station manager said  that “because of the economic times we’re in …a statement on television can cause an immediate effect. These are unusual times, and it calls for extra measures of care.”

Fair enough.  But viewers have a right to know when a candidate makes a mistake.  It matters.  Sometimes gaffes are genuine mistakes, and they aren’t repeated.  But other times, the candidate doesn’t know what he or she is talking about.  We can’t know what’s going on if we aren’t presented with the unedited comments.