The MRC's Brad Wilmouth alerted me to a slip of the tongue Wednesday night by ABC anchor Charles Gibson, who didn't catch and correct his error -- at least in the 6:30pm EDT feed of World News. In a brief item on the congressional resolution labeling a 1915 massacre of Armenians as "genocide," Gibson inadvertently said "Americans" instead:
Hard to believe, but there was a political fight in Washington today over something that happened 92 years ago. In 1915, as many as a million and a half Americans were killed by Ottoman Turks...Video
clip (20 secs): Real (600 KB) or Windows Media (700 KB), plus MP3 audio (100 KB)
Back in June a NewsBusters item, with video, recounted how ABC News producers confused ex-Washington, DC Mayor Marion Barry with the man suing a dry cleaner for $54 million over lost pants:
Do all balding black guys look the same to ABC News? As anchor Charles Gibson teased a Tuesday, June 12 World News story, about DC administrative law judge Roy Pearson's $54 million lawsuit against a Korean family's Washington, DC dry cleaning establishment over losing a pair of his pants, viewers saw video of what clearly appeared to be ex-DC Mayor Marion Barry. Gibson announced, over video of Barry in front of the DC courthouse, "Pant Suit: Ever lost anything at the dry cleaners? This man did, and claims he deserves $54 million dollars and he's not pulling your leg."
Barry is now a member of the District's City Council, but he has been in some legal trouble of late over charges of driving under the influence, and thus has recently visited the local courthouse.
Gibson's brief report in full on the October 10 World News (6:30pm EDT feed as carried by Washington, DC's WJLA-TV):
Hard to believe, but there was a political fight in Washington today over something that happened 92 years ago. In 1915, as many as a million and a half Americans were killed by Ottoman Turks. Scholars call it genocide. A resolution in Congress right now wants the U.S., after all these years, to call it genocide. But today, the President, the Secretary of Defense and nine Secretaries of State, past and present, urged Congress to vote no on the resolution, arguing it would do great harm to U.S. relations with Turkey, a crucial U.S. ally and neighbor of Iraq. It is history colliding with today's foreign policy.Reuters article
on the resolution.
