TV station blurs line by editing candidate's gaffe

WFMZ-TV Channel 69 in Pennsylvania took the extraordinary step of censoring a congressional debate because a candidate wrongly said Sovereign and Wachovia banks had folded. The station muted the sound and blurred the lips of Sam Bennett (D) as she made the statements in her taped debate with Charlie Dent (R). Both seek to represent the Lehigh Valley on Capitol Hill. The station agreed to edit the broadcast after Dent and Bennett agreed. The candidates also agreed on a disclaimer, which appeared on the screen at the beginning of the telecast. ''In the end,'' WFMZ General Manager Barry Fisher said, ''we did not feel that broadcasting the names of the banks served the public in any way.'' Kelly McBride, a media ethics expert, said the station was right to do something, but did the wrong thing. A media outlet's first loyalty is to the viewer, she said. ''Ultimately the voters deserve to know what information this candidate got wrong,'' McBride said. ''I think the truthfulness of the moment was compromised.'' ''They essentially covered for the woman,'' McBride said. ''Also, the audience could have walked away from the broadcast confused, and that's never a good thing.''