The Washington Post's Tom Shales has a knack for a neat turn of phrase...doing post-game analysis on last night's immigration speech, Shales took a moment to observe that Paula Zahn was MIA on CNN last night... she was "rerouted to oblivion...":
The speech was preceded by a program on which host Wolf Blitzer welcomed guest Lou Dobbs, and followed by a program on which host Lou Dobbs welcomed, among others, guest Wolf Blitzer. As for the low-rated "Paula Zahn Now," usually seen in the 8 p.m. slot, it was rerouted to oblivion.
But there's more on the itchy-trigger front. The president's speech was also preceded on CNN by -- the president's speech. CNN accidentally aired part of Bush's rehearsal of the speech live, after someone mistakenly pushed the wrong button.
The gaffe lasted for only 16 seconds but, said media magpie Matt Drudge on his Web site, it "captured the president starting and stopping his message, then looking at the White House media advisor for direction." An embarrassed Blitzer materialized and told viewers the mistake had been made by "the network pool," though there were no reports of it appearing on other networks.
Another Web site said that an NBC producer, in charge of the pool for the night, erred in removing the presidential seal from the screen too early; it was supposed to remain there until just before the speech began. When CNN technicians saw the shield vanish, they assumed the speech was about to start.
Whatever, the mistake probably boosted circulation of the president's appearance, since the goof had been captured on tape and was soon playing on media-watchdog Web sites.
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