Technical Glitch Lets Reporters Eavesdrop On Obama, Sarkozy 411
Hugh Pickens writes "BBC reports that a technical glitch allowed reporters to listen in on a private conversation between French President Nicolas Sarkozy and US President Barack Obama, made in a backroom meeting at the G20 summit, treating listeners to a rare insight into the importance of personal relationships in international politics. 'I can't stand him any more,' said Mr. Sarkozy of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. 'He's a liar.' Mr. Obama replied: 'You're sick of him. I have to deal with him every day!' According to Reuters, the two presidents were apparently 'unaware that the microphones in their meeting room had been switched on, enabling reporters in a separate location to listen in to a simultaneous translation.' The reporters made 'a group decision... not to report the conversation as it was considered private and off-the-record,' but Arrets Sur Images, a French website that covers current affairs, got wind of the exchange and broke the story."
Re:2 people agreeing is news? (Score:2, Interesting)
Agreeing he's an ass is different than an unchallenged assertion a foreign leader is a liar. That's potentially very serious. What's he lying about? Was he lying when he said didn't like frog legs for dinner, or lying when he said he wouldn't build more settlements?
Just because they think he's an ass doesn't mean their policy goals don't align. Charles De Gaul worked very hard to be a major PITA for the allies, but that was what he needed to do.
This is bad from both sides of the political spectrum too, to the left, if he's a liar, why are we making agreements with him that he won't follow? And to the right, why are we not standing up for our ally? This is going to send them in wonderful circles because everyone hates the French, (believe me, I'm canadian we *really* hate the French), but Israels status is more... ambiguous.
Re:Glitch? (Score:5, Interesting)
Journalism becomes nothing but PR when journalists don't report a story because they overheard something that 'was considered private and off-the-record'.
Disagree strongly, and I have worked as a journalist. A journalist is not a spy. Also, a journalist has a duty to determine what is news and what is simply information that has not been publicly disclosed. I'm sure there are lots of people who would like to know where Nancy Pelosi is on her menstrual cycle every time she makes a speech of votes in Congress, but this type of information simply isn't "fit to print," as the New York Times motto goes.
And speaking of the Times, here is a passage from that paper's journalistic ethics policy: [nytco.com]
27. Staff members and others on assignment for us must obey the law in the gathering of news. They may not break into buildings, homes, apartments or offices. They may not purloin data, documents or other property, including such electronic property as databases and e-mail or voice-mail messages. They may not tap telephones, invade computer files or otherwise eavesdrop electronically on news sources. In the case of government orders or court directives to disclose a confidential source, journalists will consult with the newsroom management and the legal department on the application of this paragraph.
(emphasis mine)
Trust me, you are far better off when responsible journalists develop sources in a fair, honest, professional manner, rather than resorting to tabloid tactics. A journalist who blasts the slightest gaffe in 72-point headlines will quickly cease to hear anything at all.
It's like the beat cop who hauls everybody down to the precinct for the slightest infraction, versus the one who lets folks slide for the occasional open container or vandalism charge. Of the two, the one with the "zero tolerance policy" is going to have a much tougher time doing his job when something really important comes along.
Was it really an accident? (Score:1, Interesting)
Re:2 people agreeing is news? (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:2 people agreeing is news? (Score:1, Interesting)
Re:more leaks is good (Score:4, Interesting)
None of what these people do should be secret. They shouldn't be allowed anywhere without a number of cameras and microphones on them always and everything should always be transmitted out to the public.
It becomes impossible to have effective negotiations if each side must worry about how every sentence will sound to their constituencies. Americans would have flipped had they known that Kennedy agreed to remove some obsolete missile installations in Italy and Turkey to resolve the Cuban Missile Crisis [wikipedia.org], yet by doing so he avoided the very real possibility of nuclear holocaust. Just a thought...
Re:Question (Score:5, Interesting)
No, Obama does not speak to him every day.
Do you know what "hyperbole" is? Do you know that "deal with" is not equivalent to "speak with"? Do you know that the Congress is the primary internal-facing Federal body in the US? Do you know that the President is the primary external-facing power in the US? Do you realize that foreign policy IS an affair of the US? Do you believe everything you read in a Slashdot summary, or for that matter, on the Internet at all?
I don't think you really understand how the presidency operates at all. Or journalists, or politics, or...
Re:Well.... (Score:5, Interesting)
Oh PLEASE. There is bias that get into a story,even through the best efforts to keep it out, then there is fox news. Upper management literally tells it's people what to say. The espouse to the public that they are a 'News' site, but in court that claim that's onl;ty gfor an hour ro to.
There is a reason there is no Fox News in Canada.
FOX news isn't biased, it's a shill.
Re:2 people agreeing is news? (Score:4, Interesting)
That same thing happened on 1942 between Hitler and Mannerheim... in that case, it was national radio worker luck that the recorder was on same cabin where they were talking.
It is only recording where Hitler is speaking in privat. Not even Hitlers bodyguard recognized Hitler on it by first as the voice is calm and rational.
http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/archive/index.php/t-24880.html [militaryphotos.net]
http://www.ww2f.com/wwii-general/10807-conversation-between-mannerheim-hitler.html [ww2f.com]
Re:2 people agreeing is news? (Score:4, Interesting)
The real news that everyone seems to be missing is the part where Obama says, "I have to talk to him every day."
Why is the President of a country as large and powerful as the US talking to the leader of Israel that often? (I'm sure he didn't mean literally every day, but obviously more than once or twice a week)
Re:2 people agreeing is news? (Score:3, Interesting)