>>> When Bush gave his second prime-time press conference in two years (on 6 March 2003), in a flustered moment, he admitted that the production was "scripted." But in transcripts of the event, all media outlets, except one, have changed or removed that embarassing moment.

It happened when Bush was looking down at his notes to see which reporter he was supposed to call upon. The following excerpt is from the official transcript at the White House's Website:

The risk of doing nothing, the risk of hoping that Saddam Hussein changes his mind and becomes a gentle soul, the risk that somehow -- that inaction will make the world safer, is a risk I'm not willing to take for the American people.

We'll be there in a minute. King, John King. This is a scripted -- (laughter.)

Q Thank you, Mr. President. How would -- sir, how would you answer your critics who say that they think this is somehow personal?

You can confirm this for yourself by going to the transcript. The exchange is not quite halfway down the page. Also, you can listen to an MP3 of the exchange here.

Now, let's look at how the media have preserved this moment for the historical record. Most media outlets ran a transcript prepared by eMediaMillWorks Inc., which was distributed by the Associated Press. I found this transcript on MSNBC, FoxNews, the Los Angeles Times, Baltimore Sun, New York Newsday, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, London Guardian, Rocky Mountain News, News & Observer (Raleigh, North Carolina), Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Las Vegas Sun, FindLaw, and others. Here's what it says:

The risk of doing nothing, the risk of hoping that Saddam Hussein changes his mind and becomes a gentle soul, the risk that somehow inaction will make the world safer, is a risk I'm not willing to take for the American people.

King -- John King? (Crosstalk)

BUSH: This is unscripted.

Q: Thank you, Mr. President. Sir, how would you answer your critics who say that they think this is somehow personal?

As you can see, "scripted" has become "unscripted." Sure, maybe someone at eMediaMillWorks misheard "a scripted" as "unscripted." But no matter what the reason, a large number of news outlets ran the incorrect version.

Unfortunately, the New York Times--which is proud of its reputation as "the newspaper of record"--got it wrong, too. The Times claims that it is presenting "the text from President Bush's news conference last night, as recorded by The New York Times." Although the old gray lady implies that this transcript was done in-house, it gets the passage wrong in the same way:

The risk of doing nothing, the risk of hoping that Saddam Hussein changes his mind and becomes a gentle soul, the risk that somehow, that inaction will make the world safer is a risk I'm not willing to take for the American people.

King -- John King?

(Crosstalk)

BUSH: This is unscripted.

Q. How would you answer your critics who say that they think this is somehow personal?

CNN presents an incorrect transcript, but in a different way. This time, the entire "scripted" comment is simply gone:

The risk of doing nothing, the risk of hoping that Saddam Hussein changes his mind and becomes a gentle soul, the risk that somehow inaction will make the world safer, is a risk I'm not willing to take for the American people.

QUESTION: Thank you, Mr. President. Sir, how would you answer your critics who say that they think is somehow personal?

Did anyone get this right? The only media outlet that didn't run an altered or snipped version of Bush's embarassing admission was the Washington Post. Sort of. They twice ran the AP/eMediaMillWorks transcript. In one version, the "scripted" comment is simply gone:

The risk of doing nothing, the risk of hoping that Saddam Hussein changes his mind and becomes a gentle soul, the risk that somehow -- that inaction will make the world safer is a risk I'm not willing to take for the American people.

We'll be there in a minute.

Q: Mr. President. Sir, how would you answer your critics who say that they view -- they think this is somehow personal?

On another page, the Post ran another version of the AP/eMediaMillWorks transcript. This time, though, the "scripted" comment is correct. Obviously, someone at the Post took the time and energy to bring the record in line with reality:

The risk of doing nothing, the risk of hoping that Saddam Hussein changes his mind and becomes a gentle soul, the risk that somehow inaction will make the world safer, is a risk I'm not willing to take for the American people.

King--John King?

(CROSSTALK)

BUSH: This is a scripted.

(LAUGHTER)

QUESTION: Thank you, Mr. President. Sir, how would you answer your critics who say that they think is somehow personal?

So there you have it. Out of all the major media, only the Washington Post got it right (as well as getting it wrong), revealing that Bush admitted the event was canned.

Again, you can confirm that Bush said the news conference was "scripted" by reading the official transcript from the White House (scroll down a little less than halfway). At this page, you can also watch or listen to the entire conference.

Also, you can listen to an MP3 of the exchange here.

Thanks to Buzzflash for first pointing out CNN's mistake.
Thanks to Harry for the video clip.

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