What Katie Couric's deceptive editing can teach us about media bias

Katie Couric has finally apologized for her misleading editing of a documentary on gun violence. But that shouldn't be the end of this sordid story.

Couric's documentary, Under the Gun, shows her interviewing members of a gun rights organization, the Virginia Citizens Defense League. She asks activists from the group, "If there are no background checks for gun purchasers, how do you prevent felons or terrorists from purchasing a gun?"

The documentary then shows the silent faces of the activists, giving the impression that they were stumped by the question, for nine awkward seconds. It's powerful.

Oh, except for one problem: In reality, as audio uncovered by the Washington Free Beacon shows, the activists did give a range of answers, including sophisticated ones.

Jon Stewart turned this sort of deceptive editing into a classic form of comedy. After a question, he would splice in unrelated footage of the interviewee staring to make him or her look stumped, or stupid, or awkward, to great comedic effect. But Stewart was a comedian and never claimed to be a Serious Journalist. Katie Couric is supposed to be a Serious Journalist.