The live television coverage of a D.C. Council news conference was cut on Tuesday as Council Chairman Kwame Brown was being asked a question about the council’s ethical lapses and poor approval ratings last year.
Brown originally scheduled the news conference to unveil upcoming legislation and said he would take related questions from the podium, then move the news conference into his chambers for other questions. After the media complained that it would be simpler to stay put, he agreed to host the entire news conference from the podium in a council hearing room.
After the legislative portion of the press conference concluded Brown shifted gears to take his first question about other issues. WTOP/ABC’s Mark Segraves launched into a question about how Brown has called the council’s ethical issues “distractions” and what does he really mean by that. At the same time, Brown’s deputy chief of staff, Karen Sibert, whispered something in Brown’s ear.
According to reports on Twitter, that’s when the television feed was cut, blocking the public from viewing the remaining 20 minutes of the news conference. Brown was asked about it and he appeared surprised that he was no longer on the air. He said that his intention was to host the entire news conference openly and said the feed should be turned back on.
Sibert was later asked what she said to Brown and she responded that it had nothing to do with the television feed. She later told the Washington Examiner in an email that she assumed it was cut off because Brown had concluded the legislative briefing portion of the press conference. She noted he had asked to have it restored, and “I can only surmise that the technical staff did not hear his request because that didn’t happen.”
