Today Show Blooper: 'On A Lighter Note...MURDER!'

Today Show Blooper: 'On A Lighter Note...MURDER!'

By Geoffrey Dickens (Bio | Archive)
January 25, 2007 - 11:26 ET

It's probably one of the most awkward things to do for any broadcaster, making that transition from a hard news story about war or a tragic plane crash into a lighter feature story about, say, the latest Hollywood gossip about Bradgelina. It's commonplace on the morning shows for a Meredith Vieira or Diane Sawyer to make that hard turn from a story on Iraq to a piece on the hottest fashion trends, the commonly heard phrase is: "On a lighter note." Well it seems David Gregory, substitute hosting for Matt Lauer on this morning's Today show, hasn't quite mastered that segue. After a Robert Bazell piece about military combat hospitals in Iraq that featured images of wounded soldiers in surgery it was up to Gregory to make that transition, except the story he was throwing to wasn't exactly an upbeat one.

Video clip (0:08): Real (301 KB) or Windows Media (342 KB), with MP3 Audio (40 KB)

The following occurred in the 7am half-hour of the January 25th Today show:

Meredith Vieira: "Robert Bazell reporting. And by the way that woman, like all those seriously injured was moved to an Army hospital in Germany. From there the injured often go to the U.S. It is 7:16am and now here's David."

David Gregory: "Meredith thanks. Now switching gears to a lighter note it, it's a murder, rather, actually, not quite a lighter note. Still a difficult topic. It's a murder that sounds like something straight out of a James Bond film but this one's all too real. A Belgian woman is charged with killing a romantic rival by sabotaging her parachute while they were skydiving together. NBC's Keith Miller has more."

—Geoffrey Dickens is the senior news analyst at the Media Research Center.

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How about this segue, "H

January 25, 2007 - 11:33 ET by Chris Norman

How about this segue, "Here's a bad event that we haven't as yet found a way to blame President Bush for..."?

The dogs bark, but the caravan moves on.

- Arabian Proverb

Just READ the teleprompter

January 25, 2007 - 11:36 ET by MightyMouth

Just READ the teleprompter nitwit. These "journalists" couldn't wipe their own behinds without instructions.

"There are two types of people in this country; those who provide freedom and those who enjoy it." MM says...

My Dad's favorite putdown was

January 25, 2007 - 16:33 ET by Buford

My Dad's favorite putdown was "They couldn't pour 'Pee' out of a boot with directions written on the heel". Kinda fits the issue doesn't it?

NBC: Ninnies Bumbling Courage

January 25, 2007 - 11:47 ET by JPR1

NBC: Ninnies Bumbling Courageously

Gregory

January 25, 2007 - 12:01 ET by iveseenitall

David Gregory - Matt Laur, what's the difference? Two liberal morons who haunt the halls of the MSM. Yes sir,true professionals! Just like the rest of our "esteemed journalists", they are incompetent fools. It's sad.

NEVER,NEVER trust a liberal

I prefer No-Balled Commies,

January 25, 2007 - 14:37 ET by Uncle John

I prefer No-Balled Commies, but yours is good too.

"It isn't that Liberals are ignorant. It's just that they know so much that isn't so." - Ronald Reagan

No Big Craniums. "The

January 25, 2007 - 14:43 ET by MightyMouth

No Big Craniums.

"There are two types of people in this country; those who provide freedom and those who enjoy it." MM says...

NBC

January 25, 2007 - 15:57 ET by misterbill

No Ball Cowards

Reminds me of that famous a

January 25, 2007 - 11:55 ET by balboa

Reminds me of that famous audio of Casey Kasem throwing a hissy fit because he had to go from an upbeat song to a story about a dog dying. AWESOME audio.

Don't make us work for it A

January 25, 2007 - 12:05 ET by MightyMouth

Don't make us work for it Amigo, how about a link?

"There are two types of people in this country; those who provide freedom and those who enjoy it." MM says...

Here it is. (Profanity aler

January 25, 2007 - 12:12 ET by mattm

Here it is. (Profanity alert)

"effing" PONDEROUS,

January 25, 2007 - 12:12 ET by GregA

"effing" PONDEROUS, man...

It's an honest mistake anyone

January 25, 2007 - 12:04 ET by mattm

It's an honest mistake anyone can make, but it is funny and it does show that these polished newsreaders aren't the superintelligent opinion-leaders they make themselves out as.

The network could avoid this segue' problem by leaving Hollywood gossip to ET, and by separating news categories with commercial breaks or by switching to another anchor...

yea, but will the press hound

January 25, 2007 - 13:00 ET by Conservative in the Arts

yea, but will the press hound and hound him to publicly say that he made a mistake, and we need someone to ask him if he should appologize to the families?

Then, if he does appologize, will the press then hound him and hound him about his loosing credibility, and use this as a "sharp contrast to his normal arrogance?"

Obviously not... my point was

January 25, 2007 - 13:52 ET by mattm

Obviously not... my point was about how this incident reveals the lack of professionalism and journalistic standards of the MSM.

It would be nice if the press would police itself, but since they have been insulated from criticism for so long, they see no need to worry about losing credibility...

But thanks to NB et.al., talk-radio and FNC...they aren't getting away with it as easily anymore...

"Meredeth thanks. Now

January 25, 2007 - 12:04 ET by NetizenCain

"Meredeth thanks. Now switching gears to a lighter note it, it's a murder, rather, actually, not quite a lighter note. Hell folks, this really isn't news. This next story won't impact you, your family, friends or co-workers. In fact it has nothing to do with war, religion, policitcs, education, medicine, safety or anything else that you really give a damn about. Meredith, if you're still there, can you even tell me why I'm wasting air time on this stupid crap anyway? You know what? I've had it. I wanted to be a real journalist and instead I spead all day just recapping the same old stuff that half of you read on fark.com or on Drudge. Why do I even come to work? I could've just phone in the news from my bed! So what do you say Meredith... me, you, live cam from my bedroom! Let's get out of here babe! Peace Out!" (Obligatory peace sign, tap to the chest and a kiss)

While this story does appea

January 25, 2007 - 12:22 ET by Tom1969ca

While this story does appeal to our conservative schadenfreude, it's not really a post exposing liberal bias, is it?

We don't like it when the left picks on Bush's verbal missteps. Let this one go. There's bias to be exposed. (Olbermann's on in a few hours; there's something with schadenfreude and bias!)

~~~
VOTE DEMOCRAT!
(It's easier than thinking)

Valid point, but you kind of

January 25, 2007 - 14:31 ET by Hero Squad

Valid point, but you kind of answer the question why it deserves to be here. Will a verbal misstep like this get 1/10th the play of a Bush verbal misstep that's treated like a national disaster? I'd wager someone like Jimmy Kimmel will nail it, but beyond that, I'm anticipating crickets. The news media will not devour one of its own.

Now if Rush Limbaugh had said it...

I'm not sure even if Rush d

January 25, 2007 - 15:51 ET by balboa

I'm not sure even if Rush did the exact same thing it would get this much play. I think people understand that transitions between stories aren't always smooth, and live broadcasts have goofs. Sean Salisbury is getting some heat right now for supposedly saying "Jew" in a derogatory fashion. It's ridiculous because it's obvious he simply garbled some words together.

Balbozo, you make a good apologist for the super-libs

January 25, 2007 - 15:54 ET by Guy Arthur Thomas

Balbozo, one thing is for certain, you can be counted on for consistently providing excuses for libs and super-libs alike...anything but that they are guilty of the obvious.

If you claim to be a conservative, please don't disgrace yourself and conservatism by thinking and arguing like a liberal.

And the "obvious" t

January 25, 2007 - 16:18 ET by balboa

And the "obvious" that I'm excusing with this Gregory incident is...?

Balbozo, it is obvious you are an excuse maker

January 25, 2007 - 16:24 ET by Guy Arthur Thomas

What is obvious bal, is that you are consistently an excuse maker for libs and super-libs whatever the context and can't even bring yourself to accept the obvious with even the most mild faux pax.

If you claim to be a conservative, please don't disgrace yourself and conservatism by thinking and arguing like a liberal.

So, you have no answer for

January 25, 2007 - 16:25 ET by balboa

So, you have no answer for my question. Great. Thanks.

Remember balbozo...you deny the obvious

January 25, 2007 - 16:53 ET by Guy Arthur Thomas

Oh no balbozo, you got the question answered but you have perfected the art of denying the obvious and well...it just passed you by. Now take off the clown suit and sit down for dinner, lunch or breakfast...or whatever meal comes at the time of day you are convincing yourself it may be. You need to get used to your occupational hazzards.

If you claim to be a conservative, please don't disgrace yourself and conservatism by thinking and arguing like a liberal.