Samantha Power Redeux

The Chronicle of Higher Ed's Daily Blog has an interesting take on the "Monster" quote.

According to the The Scotsman, Ms. Power interrupted an interview to take a telephone call from another Obama adviser. When she returned, she reportedly volunteered that the call had been about the Obama campaign’s missteps in Ohio over the North American Free Trade Agreement.

“In Ohio, they are obsessed [with Nafta], and Hillary is going to town on it because she knows Ohio’s the only place they can win,” Ms. Power had told the reporter before the results of the state’s Democratic primary were known. “She is a monster too — that is off the record — she is stooping to anything.”

Later on, the Chron offers classic media training 101:

“Off the record,” as every eager young journalism student knows, is a contract of sorts: The interviewer must agree to the arrangement before the interviewee proceeds. Under no circumstances can someone make a comment and then declare it off the record.

Meanwhile, in other media news, it seems according to a recent Harris poll that radio is the most trusted news form. Of course, this tidbit comes from a story on NPR's news coverage -- hmm, wonder it that colored the placement. Nevertheless, I can anectotally support that survey conclusion. An internet rumor often first becomes a media truth when it appears on the local talk sports show, and generally goes there before TV or print. Here's the quip:

A Harris Poll of 2,300 adults conducted Jan. 15-22 and released Thursday found that radio trumped television, Internet-based news sites and journalists in general — with 44 percent of the respondents saying they trusted radio. Online sources came next with 41 percent, followed by TV with 36 percent and the overall "press" with 30 percent.