On New Year's Day, perhaps before he learned that his current employer's enterprise would be sold to Al Jazeera, Current TV's David Shuster took to the bandwidth of the Huffington Post to ask that former NBC/MSNBC colleague David Gregory apologize for his December 23 gun magazine-waving stunt on Meet the Press.
Get a load of the sense of self-importance Shuster gives the Sunday news show (bolds are mine):
Meet the Press is the oldest and most treasured public affairs show on television. The program's host, merely by occupying the job, is a leader in broadcast journalism and in the Washington, D.C. community where the show is based.
This is why the ongoing silence of David Gregory and NBC News -- following his apparent on-air violation of D.C. gun laws -- is so disconcerting. By choosing not to comment, not only is Gregory diminished, but it harms the legacy of Meet the Press and leaves Washington, D.C. police with no opportunity to save face and move on.
Wait a minute. Mr. Shuster, are you really telling us that it's the D.C. police which need to "save face" here? Uh, what's really going on is that David Gregory may be in need of saving his sorry butt from indictment and a visit to the slammer.
Continuing:
... city gun laws prohibit possessing a "large capacity ammunition feeding device," -- defined as holding more than 10 rounds -- regardless of whether it is attached to a firearm and whether there are bullets in it. The misdemeanor is punishable by up to one year in jail and a $1,000 fine.
... somebody on Gregory's team was warned by D.C. police not to use the large capacity ammunition magazine... and Gregory ended up using it anyway.
... each day the Gregory investigation continues, D.C. police are wasting more precious resources and time.
I appreciate that NBC counsel have apparently urged David Gregory, his staff, and all executives not to say anything while the investigation continues. But in this case, the narrow interests of a company lawyer undercut the ethical obligations of Meet the Press to journalism and the city of Washington, D.C.
Oh, I don't know, Mr. Shuster. It may be that David Gregory is just arrogant enough to be engaging in stonewalling without the benefit of legal advice, just because he can. After all, he's the self-important host of what you called "most treasured public affairs show on television" (cough, cough). He may simply believe that no one will have the nerve to actually do something about it.
Cross-posted at BizzyBlog.com.
