Even more on the Huppenthal video

by David Safier

Democratic Diva, which was the source of my story about the Hupp video, has issued a mea culpa.

. . .  it seems that the snippet of the interview I got from youtube was taken out of context and that Huppenthal did return after he’d left the room and completed the interview. . . . I blogged in haste and I humbly apologize.

I won't go as far as the Diva. I watched both the shorter piece and the entire report by the high school journalist. The shorter piece showed the entire Hupp interview, so it wasn't "edited" in that sense. Its only mistake was a statement at the end saying Hupp left and didn't return. In fact, that's the impression left by the original piece, which has no visuals or comments about Hupp returning. The inference was incorrect, but it didn't come from any editing tricks.

And since it's possible the reporter misunderstood the bill in question, Hupp's confusion might have been a result of that misunderstanding.

A correction is in order. With that said, watch the video and form your own opinion about how well Hupp weathers the interview.

UPDATE: Phoenix New Times, which also covered the story, went back and corrected the record. I'm pleased to see that people who covered and mischaracterized the interview, myself included, have felt the need to write about the incident again based on new information, rather than just moving on.

Comments

[Reffettmike]

A quick check of the Joint Legislative Budget Committee website would have verified that vocational education funding was safe all along in the Legislature's adopted budget (http://www.azleg.gov/jlbc/11app/adenf.pdf)Of course, in order to do that you have to know where to look and what you're looking at. The kid in the video had his facts a little mixed up, but at least he did some research. As the chair of the education committee, Huppenthal should have known the real story about what's going on, and he didn't. Then everybody piled on to score political points without checking themselves. Arizona's education budget is complex, just like the entire education system. One more reason why when you're looking at the race for Superintendent, you need someone with bonafide experience, and not another politician looking for the next stepping stone up the ladder. This should show us that it actually takes some know-how to run a school system. Imagine that! I suggest that Penny Kotterman is a good place to start looking.