Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, August 30, 1994 TAG: 9408300065
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: Brian Kelley
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The supporters of Republican U.S. Senate candidate Oliver North, in particular, seem to believe their man hasn't gotten a fair rub from the press. This may be true in part; it also may be the result of North's constant portrayal of himself as a victim of a left-wing media.
It's a good campaign tactic that appeals to social conservatives and makes sense for any candidate: convince your supporters that you're the underdog.
Which brings us to Radford's Bisset Park on Aug. 17, where my assignment was to cover Oliver North's campaign stop. I counted more than 200 people there, most of them Republican partisans.
In my story, I focused on North's remarks, and added a few comments from people in the crowd. The point was to show how North, for the most part, was preaching to the choir. But I also included a paragraph that mentioned how a Radford University student questioned North one-on-one about the issue we undoubtedly will hear more about this fall: his truthfulness.
I quoted North as answering: "I've never broken a commitment to anyone in my life."
Early last week, Elmer Phillips of Montgomery County called up and asked me why I didn't print everything the retired Marine officer had said in response.
Phillips, it turns out, was standing beside me in the crowd of people surrounding the candidate as we listened to Murphy question North, and North answer. This occurred amid the hubbub after the speech, when North was shaking hands and signing autographs.
Phillips said he had been a delegate for North at the Republican convention in Richmond in June. He didn't say or imply that I was trying to make North look bad; he was just curious.
I noticed that the reporter for WDBJ-TV, Channel 7, Tracy Altizer, and her cameraman did catch the exchange on tape. So, I thought other sharp-eyed, perhaps more suspicious, readers might have seen the quote in my story and wondered about the difference.
I told Phillips the simple truth behind my omission.
I didn't include the rest of North's answer because I wasn't fast enough either to get my tape recorder out of the pocket of my raincoat, or to get the full quote down in my notebook. I had just turned around from talking to a North supporter, and only realized what the student was asking at the last second.
So I chose to use the part of the quote I did catch. I felt it sufficiently conveyed North's answer. But for the record, the rest of North's short answer was something to the effect that he hadn't broken a promise during his career in the Marines, to his family or in his business and he would do the same in two terms in the Senate.
Next time, I'll just keep the tape recorder going full time.
Brian Kelley is a staff writer in the New River Valley bureau of the Roanoke Times & World-News.
Keywords:
POLITICS
by CNB