It happened again—not to two starry-eyed, naive news sources who sat in front of the TV cameras for the first time—but to two political insiders who should have know better.
I call it microphonitis—blabbering on and on about private matters and personal opinions and even uttering obscenities—while a microphone is pinned to your lapel.
This time, it was Peggy Noonan, a conservative columnist for the Wall Street Journal, and Mark Murphy, a strategist during John McCain’s 2000 campaign for president, who were caught criticizing McCain’s choice of Sarah Palin for vice president. It happened during a panel discussion on the set of MSNBC, where Murphy is a commenator.
Noonan apologized in a Wall Street Journal column this morning and gave another version of what she says she meant.
Last month, it was Jesse Jackson whose mic was on when he commented that he wanted to castrate Barack Obama.
Interview subjects who forget that the mic is always on are always their own worst enemies.
Yep, it’s a rookie mistake. Any microphone should be considered “on” all the time. When the red light is illuminated on a camera, it lets you know that your are “live.” But even when you are off air, the mic is still being a mic. All it takes is a sleepy audio board operator to forget to lower your output for your off air comments to be on air. And it’s very easy to roll some tape of the off air time. Next thing you know, you’re on YouTube or the station’s gag reel.
And is it me or are these commentators more interesting when they think they are off air?
It certainly reveals Peggy Noonan for what she is and has always been: a skilled wordsmith and super-sharp spinner. She is a master of artifice that masquerades as truth. I respect and admire her skill as a writer, for she can do what few people can: make others believe fervently in ideas and images that have no basis in reality. After saying what she said, she has the audacity to write what she wrote. And many, perhaps most, will believe the second version. I keep a copy of her Revolution book beside my computer for inspiration. Of course, my copy only sells products, not politics.
The issue becomes one of personality, not wariness. If people are genuinely truthful, anything they say at any time is good publicty for them. The problems occur when people forget to maintain the false face they’ve created and are themselves in that moment of vulnerability. The minute the public face isn’t visible, people relax and say what they really think. The humor comes in watching the furor when the “spin” artist takes over to control the damage.
Can you imagine a world where all politicians and publicists were genuine? Boggles the mind!