Liz Trotta

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Liz Trotta is a Fox News contributor and former New York bureau chief of The Washington Times.[1] The author of Fighting for Air: In the Trenches with Television News, Trotta was the first woman to cover a war for broadcast news.[1] She began her career in journalism in 1965 working for the NBC affiliate in New York and won network recognition by taking on tough assignments including covering the Vietnam War and 1984 presidential candidate George McGovern.[2] Trotta has worked for Hillman Periodicals; Inter-Catholic Press Agency; Long Island Press; Chicago Tribune; Newsday; NBC and CBS. She has taught Journalism at Stern College of Yeshiva University. The winner of three Emmy awards and two Overseas Press Club awards, Trotta is a graduate of Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.[1]

Controversy

On May 25, 2008, Trotta made news after expressing on Fox News what various journalists consider a desire that U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama be assassinated in the run up to the 2008 United States presidential election.[3][4][5] Prior to her comment she referred to Barack Obama as "Osama".

In reference to Hillary Rodham Clinton's controversial reference[6][7] to Robert F. Kennedy's June, 1968, assassination in a discussion of the ongoing 2008 Democratic primaries, she stated,

"[...] and now we have what some are reading as a suggestion that somebody knock off Osama. Um, uh, Obama. Well both, if we could." (She followed this comment with laughter.)

[8]

The New York Times editorial board called her comments "[a] far more offensive assassination reference" than Clinton's. They continued, stating "We still do not understand why she thought talking about assassinating Mr. Obama was appropriate for television — or why she laughed after saying it."[9] Jeffrey Feldman of The Huffington Post characterized her remarks as continuing "the trend in violent rhetoric about Sen. Obama" and as "vile, utterly disgusting, 'assassination' humor".[10]

On May 26, 2008, Trotta apologized for the incident, saying:

"I am so sorry about what happened yesterday. In a lame attempt at humor I really just fell all over myself in making it appear that I wished Barack Obama harm or any other candidate for that matter. I sincerely regret it and apologize to anybody I’ve offended. It’s a very colorful political season and many of us are making mistakes and saying things we wish we hadn’t said."[11]

References

  1. ^ a b c Liz Trotta. Fox News Channel (2004-10-04). Retrieved on 2008-05-26.
  2. ^ Fighting for Air: In the Trenches with Television News.. The Washington Monthly (1991-06-01). Retrieved on 2008-05-26.
  3. ^ Fox News Contributor Jokes About Bumping Off Obama. Editor & Publisher. Retrieved on 2008-05-25.
  4. ^ Same Joke, More Regret - The Caucus - Politics - New York Times Blog
  5. ^ BET.com - News You Should Know » A Call For Liz Trotta’s Job After On-Air ‘Joke’ About Obama Assassination
  6. ^ Collinson, Stephen (2008-05-24). Clinton tries to move past Kennedy assassination comment. Yahoo!. Retrieved on 2008-05-26.
  7. ^ What Does RFK's Assassination Have to Do with It?. YouTube (2008-05-23). Retrieved on 2008-05-26.
  8. ^ Media Frenzy. Fox News (2008-05-25). Retrieved on 2008-05-27.
  9. ^ Assassination Humor? Fox Crosses a Line - The Board - Editorials - Opinion - New York Times Blog
  10. ^ Feldman, Jeffrey (2008-05-25). FOX Pundit Wishes for Obama Assassination, Laughs. The Huffington Post. Retrieved on 2008-05-26.
  11. ^ Michael Calderone's Blog: Fox analyst apologizes for Obama assassination joke - Politico.com
Languages