MSNBC’s Dylan Ratigan apologized on Monday for using photoshopped images of Sarah Palin firing a gun while wearing a bikini. The pictures, which were first brought to light on NewsBusters, appeared during a November 13 segment on the former governor and also included a doctored photo of the Republican in a black mini-skirt.
The Morning Meeting host explained, "I want to apologize to Governor Palin and all of our viewers. On Friday, in a very misguided attempt to have some fun in advance of Sarah Palin's upcoming book Going Rogue, our staff mistakenly used some clearly photoshopped images of Ms. Palin without any acknowledgment."
Calling the use of such faked images "unacceptable," Ratigan continued: "We should have never used those photos in the first place and you can rest assured we spent the weekend and Friday afternoon taking measures to make sure it will never happen again. I apologize."
It’s encouraging that Ratigan promptly apologized, especially given that many on his own network criticized Fox News’ Sean Hannity for taking video images from the 9/12 health care protest and then portraying the footage as from a more recent tea party event. (Hannity quickly noted the error on-air.)
[Thanks to MRC intern Mike Sargent for the video.]
A transcript of the November 16 apology, which aired at 9:18am EST, follows:
DYLAN RATIGAN: Before we begin this one, I want to apologize to Governor Palin and all of our viewers. On Friday, in a very misguided attempt to have some fun in advance of Sarah Palin’s upcoming book Going Rogue, our staff mistakenly used some clearly photoshopped images of Ms. Palin without any acknowledgment. And on behalf of the show, I would like to say that this was completely unacceptable. We should have never used those photos in the first place and you can rest assured we spent the weekend and Friday afternoon taking measures to make sure it will never happen again. I apologize.
—Scott Whitlock is a news analyst for the Media Research Center.
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Comments Policy
Nothing more than
November 16, 2009 - 15:28 ET by jdlybrandA snake in the grass!
"What a revoltin' development this is!"
Chester Riley
Color Me
November 16, 2009 - 15:57 ET by countmein5050Not impressed. Not sorry we used them (knowing they were fake)...sorry we got caught. Damn the luck...and on the heels of Hannity having to admit he wasn't careful....it just never fails. Will that stop them from throwing rocks and spreading lies...nope.
Correct . . .
November 16, 2009 - 16:16 ET by Galvanic. . . It was no mistake.
Further evidence of the Left's sexual fascination with Sarah Palin. MSNBC apologizes like the schoolboy caught drawing pictures of nude women on his desktop.
No mistake
November 16, 2009 - 16:27 ET by Brad90956Typical AMESSNBC tactic...smear someone using fake photos, hope you don't get caught and apologize later when the damage is already done. It's the norm with these left wing loons.
Well color me
November 16, 2009 - 15:32 ET by bigtimerWell color me shocked!
'Doubling down on stupid is not a particularly good idea'~Breitbart
Mistaken?
November 16, 2009 - 15:36 ET by beauxdogThey didn't mistakenly use the photos... they did it on purpose. The only thing "mistaken" was that their judgement was bad.
I use to edit sports photographs for a small, local newspaper. Being handy at photoshop, I saw nothing wrong with getting rid of minor elements that distracted from the main subject of the photograph. I got slapped down in a hurry. You can crop, you can color adjust... but you can't add or remove elements. The public trusts that the photos you are showing them are 100% real. If they find you have violated that trust in any way, they will never trust you again.
I think it is positive that this MSNBC host realized that what he did was wrong and took steps to correct it.
Question... would displaying the pictures have been acceptable had he asserted at the time that they were not real... that they had been contrived? In my opinion, that would have worked on a "comedy" show, but not on a news or news opinion show.
Beauxdog
"Listening to you, I get the music. Gazing at you, I get the heat. Following you, I climb the mountains. I get excitement at your feet." Tommy - The Who (or is it the MSM?)
O M O !!!!
November 16, 2009 - 15:52 ET by MrShyThis is sort of a follow-up/EDIT to my post above...
On Friday, in a very misguided attempt to have some fun in advance of Sarah Palin’s upcoming book....
GOOD LORD, so they DID -- purposely -- go and throw together a collage of all FAKE and INSULTING photos of Palin. Un. Buh. Lievable.
OMO indeed! They
November 16, 2009 - 16:02 ET by Free StinkerOMO indeed!
They intentionally used "sexy" pictures in the hope that people with think "pretty" when the name Sarah Palin is mentioned, rather than thinking "smart", "wise", "honorable", etc.
خال
It's more than that . . .
November 16, 2009 - 16:34 ET by GalvanicThey are fascinated with her sexuality. They are tormented by their attraction to it, so they reconcile their emotions by ridiculing it.
It's still not clear what
November 16, 2009 - 15:40 ET by ThisnThatIt's still not clear what he's apologizing for. "our staff mistakenly used some clearly photoshopped images of Ms. Palin without any acknowledgment." Is he apologizing for using the images; or his he apologizing for not acknowleging that fake images were used?
"Hey, man, we screwed up. We didn't think anyone would notice the fake images, but hell -- we were caught red-handed. Hand in the cookie jar, so to speak. Well, NB busted our chops on this, so there's nowhere to go except to apologize. Hope our liberal listeners don't get too ticked off. What am I talking about? We have no listeners, liberal or otherwise. So what the heck, we can say whatever we please. So, Palin, listen up: Sorrrrrrrryyyyyyyyyy."
__________
"mmm, mmm, mm. Barrack-Hussain-Øbama↓." - The liberals coolaid drinking song
Objection! Withdrawn.
November 16, 2009 - 15:43 ET by JeffC...Like those court dramas. Unfortunately, withdrawing a question doesn't make everyone forget it.
If they really meant it,
November 16, 2009 - 15:45 ET by mattmIf they really meant it, they'd shut down their worthless network.
mattm... I
November 16, 2009 - 15:48 ET by bigtimermattm...
I wished!
We'll never get that lucky...after-all CNN is still pluggin' away.
'Doubling down on stupid is not a particularly good idea'~Breitbart
What me meant to say was...
November 16, 2009 - 15:46 ET by Sestren_NK"We bad. We bad. However none of our staff was fired let alone penalized for this. Instead we went out to the bar and Lenny passed out on the pool table. It was great. But yeah, we apologize to our viewers."
"in a very misguided attempt to have some fun in advance of Sarah Palin’s upcoming book"
Doesn't he mean "have some fun at the expense of" Sarah Palin? I thought that was the only reason that channel ever got ratings.
Ratigan
November 16, 2009 - 15:51 ET by Jerry MackI want to apoligize to all 27 of my viewers which includes my family. Especially to my mom and the other 12 that sent the E-mails. The next time I insult her, we will use real pictures. Probably tomorrow. So tune in.
"In a very misguided attempt
November 16, 2009 - 15:51 ET by saintknowitall"In a very misguided attempt to have some fun in advance of Sarah Palin’s upcoming book Going Rogue..."
I thought MSNBC was NEWS organization???!!! Why would a NEWS organization try to have fun at someone else's expense? Especially with those pictures???
Don't remember any such pictures of Hillary when here book was released. No attempt at humor.
Oh, but MSNBC is not biased. Move along... nothing to see here.
"We should have never used
November 16, 2009 - 15:55 ET by saintknowitall"We should have never used those photos in the first place and you can rest assured we spent the weekend and Friday afternoon taking measures to make sure it will never happen again. I apologize." ..........Until of course she runs for office again, then all bets are off. Suckers!!
I'll accept his apology
November 16, 2009 - 15:59 ET by Thinking.ManI'll accept his apology when I believe it.
I'll believe it when he hangs himself from a light boom on live TV
"misguided attempt to have some fun"?
November 16, 2009 - 16:01 ET by OxyConIt was more like a cheap attempt to "bimbofy" Palin in order to further destroy her credibility, because who takes a bimbo seriously?
Whaaaaaaat??
November 16, 2009 - 16:05 ET by Rukus"On Friday, in a very misguided attempt to have some fun in advance of Sarah Palin’s upcoming book Going Rogue, our staff mistakenly used some clearly photoshopped images of Ms. Palin without any acknowledgment." (Bold mine)
That's got to be one of the most contradictory statements ever! Good grief!
Gary
Old media species: Moonbat-a-saurus-rex. Getting more endangered by the day.
Oh how sweet...
November 16, 2009 - 16:27 ET by PrairieSkySorry, but Ratigan's apology doesn't cut it...
First off, apology or not, the intended trashing of Sarah is done, because the photos are already out there and have been seen by many, so any apology now is akin to shutting the barn down after the horse has gotten out. Second, the motive behind this apology is likely suspect...I'm guessing the only reason that there even is an apology is because of the extremely negative response that the use of the photos elicited, not because Ratigan and Co., realized too late that they were wrong to have ever used them in the first place.
Jerks.
"The problem is not that people are taxed too little...the problem is that government spends too much." ~President Ronald Reagan
"...without any
November 16, 2009 - 16:32 ET by HockeyKid"...without any acknowledgment."
"So next time, we'll make sure to acknowledge that we're having fun."
"Beauty is only skin deep, but liberal's to the bone." - me
no difference
November 16, 2009 - 16:50 ET by TjexciteThis is no difference than the fake Rush quotes.
Lie then apologize for the lie after the damage has been done or whatever there mission was.
Fast . . . and Loose
November 16, 2009 - 17:04 ET by NoMoreClintonsI've said it before but it bears repeating: Dylan should go back to hosting "Fast Money" on CNBC (where he pretty much knew what he was talking about) and not try to play news guy. Larry Kudlow, can you knock some sense into this guy for us?
"I'll alert the media."
November 16, 2009 - 17:12 ET by CO2Maker1. "Our staff mistakenly used some clearly photoshopped images without any acknowledgment." He sounds like Doris Kerns Goodwin apologizing for getting caught plagiarizing somebody else, in this case, using a photo without permission. It's not a matter of using a picture without acknowledgment, it using a lie as the truth. Who acknowledges that (yeah, I'm talking to you, Dan Rather and Mary Mapes)?
2. It was a "misguided attempt" to yadda yadda yadda. How could he not know it was way over the line? "Our staff, in a misguided attempt at humor, dressed up in blackface." "Our staff, in a misguided attempt at humor, wore Nazi brownshirts." How do people whose business is public information and the appearance of everything make this kind of mistake?
3. Anita Dunn, do you think Jon Stewart should fact check this?
4. And this clever picture play was brought to us by that UberMetroTextual report, Dylan "Why'd you give me this name, Mom" Ratigan.
→ Apology accepted
November 16, 2009 - 17:32 ET by Cool ArrowAt least he acknowledged he'd done something wrong. There's obviously some honesty in him.
No sense in proving to him his apology was wasted.
So . . . Ratigan, thanks for setting the record straight.
LYDSEXICS UNTIE!
"....you can rest assured
November 16, 2009 - 18:08 ET by celator"....you can rest assured we spent the weekend and Friday afternoon taking measures to make sure it will never happen again."
Sure they did. No question about it. You can bet on it. Lying donkeys.
No citizen's right to life, liberty, pursuit of happiness, or property is safe as long as Obama is President of the United States.
easy as pie
November 16, 2009 - 18:43 ET by CatherwoodThese liberals lie with such ease, don't they? They were not attempting to have fun by using those pictures; they certainly don't regret it; and, you can be they knew exactly what they were doing. Yet, they lie and make all these excuses and never even bat an eye. That tells you a lot about thereir character. I would bet that they knew what they werfe doing and even had conversations about the possible damages then plowed ahead with all their might in an effort to discredit Palin. That was their intended purpose and there is really no hiding that.
On another note: the right needs to give up on Palin now and get her out of the picture. During recent interviews she has come across as lacking the leadership qualities needed to help revive the Republican party. As much as I wish that she was viable, we all need to admit that she just does not have the fastball to pitch in the majors. Her slider hangs and her changeup has hittable spin.
B.S.
November 16, 2009 - 19:45 ET by changein2012It is one thing to mistakenly show real footage of a different event, happens all the time. It is entirely different to use obviously faked and well circulated photos meant to demean. If these idiots were obtuse enough to not know this was fakery, they have no business outside an assisted living facility. Their height of ignorance is a danger to themselves.
C'mon, people! Give the
November 16, 2009 - 22:08 ET by MikeBC'mon, people! Give the guy some credit. It wasn't one of those "I'm sorry if some of you were offended, blah, blah, blah" type of non-apology apology. He acknowledged what they did, manned up and 'fessed up.
Now, he'd better realize that from here on out, there will be someone looking at everything they do, because they have proven themselves untrustworthy. But, you have to admit, that was a real apology. He might not have been sincere, but it was a real apology.
"A communist is someone who reads Marx. An anti-communist is someone who understands Marx." Ronald Reagan
Nice apology...
November 16, 2009 - 22:14 ET by MightyMouthNow re-double your efforts and find the real photos you know must exist! MSNBC is not only in the liberal bag... but...
Incompetent to boot! Since when did "journalism" get a pass by simply saying "oops"?
"The bureaucracy is growing to meet the needs of the growing bureaucracy"
The Echo Chamber-Throw some
November 16, 2009 - 23:52 ET by RR GOPThe Echo Chamber-Throw some lie in so it can rattle around forever and then apologize later...throw something else in...apologize...repeat.
One of the 34% who thinks George W. Bush was a great President. One of the 86% who wants to bring back the stock and pillory.