"I take responsibility for a decision that misrepresented an exchange I had with members of the Virginia Citizens Defense League," Couric said in a statement on Monday night.
The pivotal edit in the documentary made a group of gun rights activists seem stumped by one of Couric's questions. The edit was exposed by a blogger last week.
During the interview for the film, Couric asked, "If there are no background checks for gun purchasers, how do you prevent felons or terrorist from walking into, say, a licensed gun dealer and purchasing a gun?"
The documentary shows the group members silently looking around for about eight seconds. But an audio recording proved that the interviewees responded right away.
Ms. Couric initially dodged responsibility for this flagrant deception, and came clean only after it was clear that she was, as they say, busted.
In a four-paragraph statement on Monday night, she acknowledged that the edit wrongly made the activists "appear to be speechless."
"When I screened an early version of the film with the director, Stephanie Soechtig, I questioned her and the editor about the pause and was told that a 'beat' was added for, as she described it, 'dramatic effect,' to give the audience a moment to consider the question," Couric said.
...Soechtig's initial response to the controversy [was to say] last Wednesday, "My intention was to provide a pause for the viewer to have a moment to consider this important question before presenting the facts on Americans' opinions on background checks."
Soechtig added, "I never intended to make anyone look bad and I apologize if anyone felt that way."
Only two problems there: Her intent was only and entirely to make gun rights advocates look bad, and the "apology" is as fake as the editing.
P.S. Here is Ms. Couric's version of feeling that something should be done to correct her hoax: "The web site for the documentary posted a transcript of the group's answers. There is no indication, however, that the documentary will be adjusted."
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