TV Journalists Conned by Language Prank !

[Grant Barrett]

Last year I gave an interview to a radio talk show in Texas about the
political slang book. I was on the horn with the producer, chatting
about this and that, waiting for airtime, while the host was
yammering in the background about what would come after the break. It
took me a few seconds to realize that what I was telling the producer
about Bill O'Reilly's falafel-and-sex capers was coming out of the
mouth of the host about 15 seconds after I said it. The producer and
the host communicated via Internet chat and the producer was piping
everything I said to the host, adding to that appearance of
omniscience radio commentators try to cultivate (similar to the call-
ins where the host knows the questions in advance, looks up the
answers, scripts a response, and then takes the prearranged call, all
to sound amazingly informed). I could have told them anything at that
point and most of Texas would have heard it mostly unfiltered from
the mouth of someone else.

Grant Barrett
gbarrett at worldnewyork.org

On Aug 26, 2005, at 14:09, Mullins, Bill wrote:
>> Of course, she may well have been instructed to do so by the
>> electronic voice piped directly into her head from the control room,
>
> The electronic voice from the control room which is piped into MY
> head tells me many things, but has never disputed that "cleverer"
> is a word.