Friday, November 03, 2006

Can I get a definition of "anybody"?

On my morning commute, I regularly listen to NPR to hear all about the latest Republican scandals and/or mud-slinging. This morning, I heard the clip of evangelist Ted Haggard denying that he had sex with a male prostitute.

While this would usually just be another November news-bite, what caught my attention was the specific words that Haggard used in his denial:

"I've never said I'm perfect, but I haven't had sex with a man in Denver, and I've been faithful to my wife,"

In the audio clip (which I can't seem to find online), you can clearly hear him qualify his denial that he hasn't had sex with a man IN DENVER. However, if you look at this article at any of the mainstream media outlets, this denial has, apparently, been modified:

According to Yahoo News: "I've never had a gay relationship with anybody, and I'm steady with my wife, I'm faithful to my wife."

According to CNN: "I've never had a gay relationship with anybody. I'm steady with my wife. I'm faithful to my wife,"

Only a few media reports actually contain the quote verbatim.
The Syndey Morning Herald:
"I've never said I'm perfect, but I haven't had sex with a man in Denver, and I've been faithful to my wife,"

Media cover-up? Or simply poor choice of words on Haggard's part? hmmmm....

3 comments:

Ross said...

Audio Clip

Ross said...

Watch the video clip from the CNN article that you linked to. He says "anybody" in that interview. There were obviously two different interviews, so no media cover-up here...

But he is one creepy guy. Every time he says "discipline me" he seems to get a little more excited.

Anonymous said...

Hmm sounds a little fishy to me...it would have been soooo different if the statements werent different...but all of them are...Watch out ROss you could be next haha...love you both