Yesterday, the Louisiana Public Service Commission did not vote to "approve" or "okay" AT&T's bid to takeover T-Mobile. The Commission, which had voted earlier this year to open a docket to review the proposed transaction, voted "not to oppose" AT&T's bid.
The distinction is an important one. The Commissioners don't want AT&T touting approval at the Federal Communications Commission. That's why they worded their motion the way they did.
But don't tell that to AT&T or the media who covered this story.
How did these outlets get it wrong?
As soon as the vote was cast yesterday, AT&T's PR team immediately reached out to the wire services and to the Capitol Hill publications proclaiming that the Commission had "approved" their bid for T-Mobile. And outlet after outlet took AT&T's word for it.
When I reached out to these outlets to ask for a clarification or in some cases, a correction, I got a great deal of resistance from some reporters. From others, I got an honest effort to fix things, but in those cases it was too late to make a change to meet the print deadline. From still other reporters, I got a shrug of the shoulders. From a few outlets, I got them to add a statement from Sprint into their story, but even those refused to change their incorrect statement that the LPSC approved the transaction.
I know I should have a thicker skin, but AT&T pulled the same stunt in Louisiana earlier in the spring. When the staff issued a preliminary recommendation not to open a docket, AT&T issued a statement to media claiming that the Commission had approved the transaction.
AT&T's version of the truth was dutifully reported by multiple outlets. When I pointed out that wasn't the final word, media refused to update or clairify their incomplete stories.
But days later, the LPSC's Commissioners voted 4-1 to open a docket on the transaction. There was no approval after all. Sadly, I'm not aware of one news outlet who issued a correction or retracted their earlier story.
You would think media who were fooled once by AT&T wouldn't be fooled again.
You'd be wrong. Yesterday proved that.
And the simple truth is -- and I'm sure the folks at AT&T will enjoy reading this -- I don't have the time in my day nor the outside resources to hold every reporter and every news outlet accountable when then get a story wrong. AT&T does -- but I don't.
I have to count on journalists being commited to getting the facts right and being fair in their coverage. I have to count on reporters who want to ask hard questions of me and everyone else involved in this debate. I have to count on media who will hold policymakers accountable. And I have to count on journalists who are willing to own their mistakes.
And despite my frustration with how this one angle was covered, overall, I'm confident that the reporters covering this much larger story are working extremely hard to do a thorough job for their readers, viewers and listeners.
I'm also taking solace in the fact that no amount of amount of lobbying or nimble PR by AT&T (or for that matter Sprint or anyone else) can change the outcome of a law enforcement investigation conducted by the U.S. Department of Justice.
I started my career working at DOJ and I have to tell you, the career attorneys and other professionals who work for DOJ guard the independence of the Justice Department zealously. They bristle if anyone in Congress or the White House or in a company like Sprint or an interest group like Free Press or Public Knowledge tries to lobby them to steer an investigation one way or another.
It just doesn't work that way.
These are lawyers' lawyers. They are committed to the law and to doing the right thing. All they want to know are the facts.
I'm quite confident that the facts before the DOJ and the FCC do not merit approval of AT&T's bid to takeover T-Mobile. Time will tell if I'm right or not.
In the mean time, I'm trying to remember that journalists are just like me and everyone else I know -- we don't like to admit it when we make a mistake. And I hope that the folks I badgered yesterday understand that it's my job to make sure they report the whole story. Yesterday, I was doing just that.
