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KMBC: Missed It Bayh That Much
August 25, 2008

Boy, did KMBC Kansas City seem to have the mother of all scoops on Friday evening: As every national media outlet in the country was clamoring for a clue on who Sen. Obama would tap for his veep, reporter Micheal Mahoney had an exclusive story on a nearby printing plant that was producing thousands of Obama/Bayh '08 bumper stickers. The Hearst-Argyle station broke into programming with the story, and played it big on the Web. 

Gill Studios, which invented the bumper sticker, would not confirm information about the material. They would not deny it either.

"We're very disappointed that you would spread this rumor," Gill Studios President Tom Carrico said.

"You didn't print it here?" Mahoney asked.

"I didn't say that. But I'm very disappointed that you would come out and interview us and ask for confirmation and we said we would not confirm," Carrico said.

"Or deny," Mahoney said.

"That's correct," Carrico said.

A decidedly less noisy KMBC story today acknowledged the over-exuberant scoop:

"A bumper sticker printed in Lenexa did not turn out to be a key clue in the effort to discover who Barack Obama would name as his running mate."

Lost Remote says Mahoney's "sources close to the situation" were, in fact, conniving sources from the printing plant. 

Local KC outfit TV Barn says Micheal Mahoney--uh, no relation to me--cost the station some serious cred at a critical juncture for news outlets. 

Micheal Mahoney, political reporter for KMBC-9 News, isn't going to lose his job, but as I write this early on Friday evening, his news judgment sure isn't looking very good, as he and his station are trying to back away from his original, breathless, over-the-top "scoop" that he had learned the identity of Barack Obama's running mate from ... a bumper sticker.

Posted by Mike Malone on August 25, 2008 | Comments (1)