While exiting an event in Boston, Mass., this week, New Jersey Republican Gov. Chris Christie and his staff may have bumped into a few reporters, but was it as bad as Politico made it out to be?
If one Boston TV news station’s judgement of a recording of the incident means anything, probably not.
Politico reported Thursday that Christie “bulldozed” journalists who were covering the inauguration of Charlie Baker, the newly elected governor of Massachusetts.
“… Christie and his entourage did not tread lightly when leaving, according to several sources,” Politico reported. The report climaxed with Janet Wu, a journalist for local TV news station WCVB, confirming that she was “jostled” by a Christie staffer.
Curiously, there is no video online of this happening. Generally, when a pack of reporters armed with cameras and smartphones finds itself chest-to-chest with a sitting governor, a video surfaces, both online and TV.
But WCVB, which has video of Christie and his staff exiting the event, declined to air the footage after the newsroom director decided it was all a to-do about nothing, the Washington Examiner media desk has learned.
An assistant to the news director confirmed to the Examiner that WCVB had planned to run a story on Christie and his staff abruptly exiting the event, carelessly bumping into reporters. But after reviewing the tape, the story was scrapped. The footage did not show anything particularly newsworthy.
WCVB’s own reporter may have been “jostled” by a governor’s staff, but apparently not jostled enough to merit a news story.
Christie’s office declined to comment for this story.
CORRECTION: The Examiner incorrectly referred to the local TV news station WCVB as WCBV. Washington Examiner apologizes for the error.
