Katie Couric admitted this week her gun documentary was selectively edited, and is now blaming the film’s director for doctoring interviews with pro-Second Amendment activists.
The Epix documentary, “Under the Gun,” which Couric narrated and executive produced, shows her supposedly stumping members of the Virginia Citizens Defense League with a simple question about background checks.
But uncut audio of the interview, which was obtained first by the gun blog Ammoland and published later by the Washington Free Beacon, revealed members of the group were far better prepared to answer her question than the film suggested, and Couric now says that edit was a mistake.
“I take responsibility for a decision that misrepresented an exchange I had with members of the Virginia Citizens Defense League,” the Yahoo anchor said in a statement released late Monday evening. “My question … regarding the ability of convicted felons and those on the terror watch list to legally obtain a gun, was followed by an extended pause, making the participants appear to be speechless.”
Though Couric claimed responsibility for the edits, her statement was also careful to point a finger in the direction of the documentary’s director, Stephanie Soechtig’s.
“When I screened an early version of the film with the director … 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 Monday.
“I went back and reviewed it and agree that those eight seconds do not accurately represent their response,” she added. “I regret that those eight seconds were misleading and that I did not raise my initial concerns more vigorously.”
Her statement, which was posted online, included a complete transcript of her interview with the Virginia Citizens Defense League.
Couric and Soechtig initially downplayed criticism after it was revealed last week that they had deceptively edited the interview.
“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 said last week in a statement to the Washington Examiner’s media desk. “I never intended to make anyone look bad and I apologize if anyone felt that way.”
Couric also told the Examiner last week she was “very proud of the film.”
“I support Stephanie’s statement,” she added.
