Dateline NBC Gets Run Out of Town at DEFCON

August 6th, 2007 10:36 PM

George Ou reports that Dateline NBC investigative "journalist" Michelle Madigan was run out on a rail when she tried to infiltrate DEFCON in Las Vegas, the convention for hackers and security specialists, hoping to catch someone admitting to a crime. This is the same group of people who play "spot the spook" at their yearly conventions, so Michelle never had a chance. This all came after DEFCON organizers gave her four chances to register as press. Instead, Madigan made reference to how "people in Kansas" would be interested in what the hackers were up to (Kansas being the reference to the fly-over area between LA and NY) and then made a trip to the restroom to get her pinhole camera running.

Without a doubt, the best part was the reaction, an improptu media gaggle surrounding Madigan as she bolted from the conference, sticking cameras in her face and shouting questions that didn't receive answers. Video can be found here.