Rachel Maddow Airs Obviously Edited Interview with Howard Dean

Okay Rachel Maddow. Time for YOU to talk ME down.

Tonight, Maddow welcomed DNC Chairman Howard Dean to her program to "talk her down," which is a segment of the same name that airs nightly. Maddow takes on a guest related to an issue that has been particularly bothering her - and on this night, Maddow spoke with Dean about a potential gap between enthusiasm and turnout that may be facing Barack Obama in his bid for the presidency. Watch the video here:



But the video is clearly edited. Dean's portion of the above video begins at 3:21, in a segment that is obviously taped.

How do we know?

Clue number one: the red "LIVE" tag disappears from above the MSNBC logo. Watch the rest of the broadcast, and it is there every time Maddow is live in the studio. It is gone during the Dean piece.

Clue two: you can note that the audio is different. There is a little less ambient noise in Maddow's microphone - she sounds more present in the audio feed than she does before they break to the segment.

And what follows is an interview - if you can call it that - which is edited together, giving no real indicator as to what is preserved and what is cut.

But not only does this segment alter the live interview with Dean, it is TERRIBLE at disguising the editing. Take, for example, at 4:24, where Maddow abruptly interrupts Dean mid-breath. The video technique changes, switching between a split screen and a focus on each individual, which is certainly to hide the fact that their split screen doesn't work when you cut sections of time out from the video.

It happens again at 5:38, at 6:23, and at 7:09 - Maddow's entrances to the conversation don't match how an interview would actually flow. It is clearly off from the original, live discussion. And Maddow may even have edited out a portion of her own question! View at 6:56. While perhaps this is more conjecture, it simply doesn't sound as though Maddow has finished her natural train of thought. Her vocal inflection would seem to show that there was more to the question. This seems the least egregious of the errors - but to my ear, it still serves as a sign that cuts were made.

Howard Dean is an important guy. Certainly he doesn't have the clout that he once had, nor the presence on the talk show circuit that some of Obama's chief surrogates do - but he's still the chairman of the party. And Maddow advertises her show as a live program. It is obvious that Dean (and possibly Maddow herself) had more to say than what was aired on this program. Well, what did they say? Isn't it reasonable for critics of MSNBC to say that Maddow could have edited out some gaffe or misstatement that could embarrassed Dean, MSNBC, or have done damage to the Obama campaign?

Look, I'm aware that news programs often air edited interviews. However, the fact that Dean seems interrupted mid-statement - rather than say, only airing a few of his answers in full - is problematic for me. Maybe this is more of a common practice than I realize, but the fact that he is so clearly cut off before finishing his thoughts just leaves too many questions about what he was going to say. Additionally, there is no disclaimer that they are airing a taped interview. Couldn't Maddow simply have said, "earlier today we spoke with Howard Dean," prior to entering the "Talk Me Down" segment?

Look, I like Rachel Maddow and her show a lot. But this is lousy, irresponsible journalism - of the same type that Fox News is often guilty. If Maddow wanted more time to get questions in to Dean, then they should have bumped some other segments to make room for the complete interview, or saved the extra material to be aired online or at another time.

If this aired on Fox News, with Bill O'Reilly airing such a clearly edited piece with say, Mike Duncan, I guarantee that Keith Olbermann, Chris Matthews and Rachel Maddow would all be taking shots at it. The blogosphere - myself included - would be up in arms, and would want to see the unedited interview.

Come on Rachel. Talk me down.