Charles Gibson came up the big loser in the ABC News Facebook debate last night when he made one of the cardinal sins of journalism: Not knowing what he was talking about when asking a question. Late in the Democratic debate, the anchor tried to query the candidates about tax cuts, and, in a moment worthy of George Bush (the elder) not knowing the cost of a gallon of milk, suggested that a married couple who teach at New Hampshire’s Saint Anselm College would make approximately $200,000 per year. No candidates even had to correct him before the audience started laughing, with an embarrassed Gibson realizing he was projecting his NYC sensibilities on a much different landscape.

Big Head DC has learned that a married couple teaching at the college is much more likely to earn less than $100,000 per year.

Later in the debate, when ribbed about the incident by John Edwards, Gibson had this to say about bringing up college professors: ”I shouldn’t have done that, apparently”

The full transcript of the incident follows: Read more…

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In an article today involving two new domain names allegedly bought by the Hillary Clinton campaign, ABC News writes, “It’s the first time this election cycle a presidential campaign has launched a Web site with the express purpose of criticizing a rival.”

Not true. HillaryAttacks.com, an attack Web site by Barack Obama, and PlantsforHillary.com, an attack Web site by John Edwards, both existed long before the new Hillary sites were purchased.

ABC should correct its article.

Earlier: Flynt Confirms Sam Donaldson’s Number Appears In DC Madam’s Records, But He Chose Not to Reveal It; Signs Point to ABC News Cover-Up

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Howie Kurtz, the media writer for the Washington Post, today uncovers a fishy relationship between a journalism giant and a liberal blog. While Kurtz didn’t make much wind about it, he reveals within an item about GOP presidential candidate Mike Huckabee that the Huffington Post and ABC News have teamed up to report the news.

“ABC, working with the Web site, interviewed a former parole board member who said Huckabee had pressed the panel to release the convict, Wayne Dumond,” Kurtz writes regarding a well-referenced story the Huffington Post published last week.

The quote raises an important question: How common is it for an apparently nonpartisan news source to team up with an admittedly liberal Web site in reporting a news item? Isn’t this a case of liberal media bias at its worst?

Also raising questions about the news relationship, Kurtz quotes Huckabee as saying he’s “amazed” that ABC News investigative reporter Brian Ross ignored information he provided to him.

Earlier: Top ABC News Investigative Journalist’s Tactics Called Into Question

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We’ve long been telling you that ABC News utterly and royally muffed up the telling of the “DC Madam” story in May, and may have even covered up aspects of the story because the phone numbers of Sam Donaldson, a longtime ABC newsman, and other past or current ABC news personalities appeared in her escort records.

Now comes word that Brian Ross, the network’s lead DC investigative reporter on the Deborah Jeane Palfrey story, has conducted questionable journalism — and some of his past and current news peers are speaking out.

While several of Ross’ competitors say he’s a reporter who’s capable of breaking big stories, he also has a tendency to overplay smaller ones, they say. Jim Stewart, who recently retired from CBS News, has told the New York Observer that he has reservations about some of Ross’ work on ABC’s Web site, The Blotter. “Were they wrong some of the time? Yes,” said Stewart. “I’d rather be right than be first.”

A former ABC news employee also told the publication that there is intense internal pressure from ABC News execs to create page hits for The Blotter. Also, some reporters said they have been unable to retrace Ross’ scoops.

The Blotter was the first mainstream news outlet to break the Mark Foley tawdry IM story in 2006. While that story hasn’t been called into question, several other Ross stories, including those surrounding the “DC Madam,” continue to receive more scrutiny.

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A press release sent this evening by Hustler publisher Larry Flynt confirms that a phone number belonging to ABC newsman Sam Donaldson appeared in the records of the alleged “DC Madam” Deborah Jeane Palfrey, as Big Head DC first revealed some time ago. Radar magazine and the Huffington Post have both falsely claimed that the Big Head DC story was somehow factually inaccurate. We have long claimed that the existence of Donaldson’s number in Palfrey’s records - combined with the existence of phone records of one or more other news personalities from the ABC network in the records - prevented ABC News from revealing a fuller report on the spectrum of politicos and others within Palfrey’s records when the network released their exclusive Brian Ross interview with Palfrey in May of this year. In essence, there was a cover-up by ABC News. Palfrey has confirmed as much to Big Head DC.

The full release follows: Read more…

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