Did the Treasury Department try to exclude Fox from conducting a pool interview with pay czar Kenneth Feinberg on Thursday? That was yesterday’s story, but today it’s all being chalked up to a big misunderstanding:
Feinberg did a pen and pad with reporters to brief them on cutting executive compensation. TV correspondents, as they do with everything, asked to get the comments on camera. Treasury officials agreed and made a list of the networks who asked (Fox was not among them).
But logistically, all of the cameras could not get set up in time or with ease for the Feinberg interview, so they opted for a round robin where the networks use one pool camera. Treasury called the White House pool crew and gave them the list of the networks who’d asked for the interview.
The network pool crew noticed Fox wasn’t on the list, was told that they hadn’t asked and the crew said they needed to be included. Treasury called the White House and asked top Obama adviser Anita Dunn. Dunn said yes and Fox’s Major Garrett was among the correspondents to interview Feinberg last night.
Hmmm. This doesn’t quite feel like it’s the entire story, but for now I guess the ball is back in Fox’s court. Did they initially ask for an interview with Feinberg or not? Inquiring minds want to know.
