EDITORIAL: Keep Rove on the record
If a former deputy chief of staff for the Bush administration gives a speech and no one is allowed to record it, does he make a sound?
When Karl Rove speaks Sunday at the University of Iowa Memorial Union, this question will be answered.
Rove, you may remember, was the "architect" for the Bush campaign and administration until his resignation in August 2007. He was also involved in the controversy surrounding the dismissal of several U.S. attorneys and the leaking of the name of CIA agent Valerie Plame.
A U of I journalism professor will be interviewing Rove for the first session, which will be followed by a question-and-answer session.
Rove's appearance is being funded by the U of I University Lecture Committee, which is primarily supported by student funds. The bill for Rove's appearance is about $40,000.
Audio and video recording devices of any kind are prohibited during Rove's speech, except for the first five minutes. After that, only handwritten notes are permitted.
This ban is not uncommon - speakers will often ask to go off the record during speeches at universities for one reason in particular: protection of copyrighted material. If a speaker is reading from a new book or something else that may have a copyright, it's understandable that they wouldn't want that information to leak out.
Rove, however, has it all backward, or so it would seem. Rove is allowing at least a portion of his speech to be recorded and then banning recording equipment during the Q&A session.
What reason would there be to avoid recorders during this time?
Maybe Rove learned his lesson from the whole Valerie Plame affair. If the man lets anything slip here, it's his word against the hastily scribbbled notes of a college student.
Considering Rove is speaking at a public university in a public place on the students' dime, we think he owes it to the students of Iowa to drop the off-the-record nature of the meeting.
Perhaps a more appropriate question is this: If a former deputy chief of staff for the Bush administration is paid $40,000 of student funds to give a speech that no one is allowed to record, do the students make a sound?
When Karl Rove speaks Sunday at the University of Iowa Memorial Union, this question will be answered.
Rove, you may remember, was the "architect" for the Bush campaign and administration until his resignation in August 2007. He was also involved in the controversy surrounding the dismissal of several U.S. attorneys and the leaking of the name of CIA agent Valerie Plame.
A U of I journalism professor will be interviewing Rove for the first session, which will be followed by a question-and-answer session.
Rove's appearance is being funded by the U of I University Lecture Committee, which is primarily supported by student funds. The bill for Rove's appearance is about $40,000.
Audio and video recording devices of any kind are prohibited during Rove's speech, except for the first five minutes. After that, only handwritten notes are permitted.
This ban is not uncommon - speakers will often ask to go off the record during speeches at universities for one reason in particular: protection of copyrighted material. If a speaker is reading from a new book or something else that may have a copyright, it's understandable that they wouldn't want that information to leak out.
Rove, however, has it all backward, or so it would seem. Rove is allowing at least a portion of his speech to be recorded and then banning recording equipment during the Q&A session.
What reason would there be to avoid recorders during this time?
Maybe Rove learned his lesson from the whole Valerie Plame affair. If the man lets anything slip here, it's his word against the hastily scribbbled notes of a college student.
Considering Rove is speaking at a public university in a public place on the students' dime, we think he owes it to the students of Iowa to drop the off-the-record nature of the meeting.
Perhaps a more appropriate question is this: If a former deputy chief of staff for the Bush administration is paid $40,000 of student funds to give a speech that no one is allowed to record, do the students make a sound?
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