White House press conference overwhelmed by cell phones
By Nilay Patel 
posted May 14th 2009 12:19PM
posted May 14th 2009 12:19PM
P.S.- We're actually more amazed at the second guy, who not only interrupts the briefing, but walks out of the room to take the call. Cojones!
ftlulz
Is being an Apple fan a mental disorder? What the hell was the point of that?
@Look_Around_You
Yes, yes it is.
Either this guy has a huge sense of humor or he is in fact a moron.
engadget blogs presents Schweppes the front running nominee for douchebag of the year award.
The guy who answered his phone was Bill Plante from CBS, which is why you won't see CNet putting up this video for public ridicule.
He works for Obama therefore he's a moron.
This was mentioned on last night's episode of The Colbert Report.
Simpsons did it!
I think Matt's just pointing out some further material, not claiming Engadget are plagiarists or something.
Who knew that CSPAN-3 could be so entertaining
There's a THIRD C-SPAN?!
to quote someone named gatrfan:
This is why the Obama admin is loosing control of everything...
"loosing"
This is why hicks like you shouldn't be allowed to vote.
If things are spelt rong and it meens your a hick than were in trouble.
With this press secretary (and I've watch a lot of his press conferences), I don't blame these reporters for leaving for a cell call.
Robert Gibbs is one of the worst press secretaries ever. Scott McClellan under Bush 43 takes a very close second though.
I thought it was because Chimpy McFlightsuit spent the better part of eight years messing up the country?
How dare they interrupt Gibbs' spin conference? I need my daily dose of White House apologies and clarification.
You ever notice those camera guys in the background of the press conferance making all that damn noise with the OLD ass cameras?
Look upgrade your damn cameras into the 21 century, go digital you old bastards!!.
The White House keeps those old cameras on tap in the briefing room just in case the event at hand turns into something worth putting into an Oliver Stone movie later.
You know that digital SLRs make noise, right? The mirror that causes the light to be directed into the viewfinder instead of the sensor lifts up when you snap a shot. This causes that clicking noise. Has nothing to do with them being old.
by making a comment like this i assume that you have neither seen or used a DSLR. those things cost thousands of dollars and has the quality good enough to be printed straight off as poster hanging on the empire building. and btw, just in case you don't know, resolution(ie, megapixel) hasn't got much to do with the actual quality of the image, it's just the size. much like having a xxxl burger vs. eating in michael jordon's steak house, if you see what i mean...
You see, I am ASSuming they are using old ass cameras and some of the other posters ASSume they are using SLR's.
Doesn't the vast majority of the SLR's on the market today have built in advanced noise reduction and most folks don't even bother to use it?
Uh wow... No. MrGutts you are very confused. Noise reduction has nothing to do with the click that the mirror makes. What noise reduction on a a camera DOES do, is reduce the pixel "noise". If you don't know what that is... well, google it. Most (smart) people don't use it because in-camera noise reduction is pretty pathetic and is much better done in postprocessing (on a computer).
If they are actual professionals taking professional pictures, the odds are very strong that they're using SLRs, not some dinky point-and-shoot. A pro might use a point-and-shoot for a quick, candid shot, but not for a staged event like a press conference.
MrGutts, I hate to admit but I really can't tell if your being a sarcastic troll or are just really, well, let's say "uninformed". Yeah, that's a nice way to put it. Noise reduction in a camera has to do with image noise (look it up), not the actual sound that the camera makes.
MrGutts...you are awesome! :))
Holy Crap, MrGutts, I hope you are joking. If not, how do you manage to turn on your computer... navigate to Engadget.. and then post these comments? Howww?
They are digital. All professional cameras, digital or not, still use mechanical shutters (electronic shutters just don't cut it).
Some DSLRs (like the D1x) have electronic shutters. But they still have moving parts, and the mirror still has to flip up out of the way, so they still make a fair bit of noise.
ahaha, noise reduction. love it!
There's a C-SPAN 3 ???
ESPN 8... the OCHO !!!
A squirrel that can water ski AND talk on a cell phone!
Man, I need to break out that DVD.
That's CBS' White House correspondant Bill Plante and he should be repremanded for his "too cool for school" stunt.
He should be honored by noting how pointless Gibbs' press conferences are.
He should be banded from WH press conferences for the remainder of the week! Regardless of your political standing, or like/dislike for Gibbs, this man is speaking for the executive branch of your country. Despite past/present handling of the job, it is still a position to be held to the utmost respect.
Ha! He's being raked over the coals in the comments to his own story:
http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2009/05/13/politics/politicalhotsheet/entry5011752.shtml
Ihope for his sake it was actually Obama calling. Who the hell is so important that you have to leave a White House press briefing?
At least he left the room when he took the call :P
Actually, he left the room after taking the call which is still very rude.
I agree, just ban him a bit, and if he repeats ban his whole network for a bit, it's pathetic, their job is specifically getting news about the whitehouse, and they can't even do that without ringing phones? Then they should be janitor, or CEO of GM or something.
"He should be banded from WH press conferences for the remainder of the week! Regardless of your political standing, or like/dislike for Gibbs, this man is speaking for the executive branch of your country. Despite past/present handling of the job, it is still a position to be held to the utmost respect."
banned* for one thing. For another thing, this isn't school where we're taking finals and all kiddies are told to turn off all noise makers before they enter the room or where cell phones and the like are confiscated before the exam. This is the real world where grownups live and have real world issues and if someone has an emergency and needs to take a call, then that's the way it is.
I like the fact how Gibbs tried to distract reporters from talking about the not-to-be-published torture photos by this action.
they were going to, but they realized you couldn't see the ultra-terrifying caterpillar stalking its prey in the photo, and this detracted from the real horror of the torture that was inflicted upon the innocents.
Plus most of the photos accidentally included shots of a hot meal, blankies, foot baths, ACLU care packages, and muffins (just the tops).
The press and administration in this country are a joke.
I would feel better if they were a joke.
It's actually worse...
Subject-verb-object agreement error.
At least a joke you can laugh at, the fact that this is the actual administration and the idiot press reporting it make me weep.
I stand corrected, you are both right, and it is very very sad.