In the wake of charges of deceptive editing, Katie Couric has defended her gun control documentary, Under the Gun, saying she is “very proud” of the film.
The film, which premiered online earlier this month, includes an interview with members of a Virginia gun rights group, which recorded audio of their exchange with Couric. In the film she is seen asking “If there are no background checks for gun purchasers, how do you prevent felons or terrorist from walking into, say, a licensed gun dealer and purchasing a gun?”
In the film, the question is met with silence. In a blog post at Ammoland, members of the group say that pause never actually happened:
The camera then shows the group members TOTALLY SILENT FOR EIGHT SECONDS. The camera zooms in on one member, who looks down.
The clear implication is that none of the group had an answer for that question and was being evasive and avoiding eye contact.
The truth is, and as you will hear in the audio, below, that the group responded to Katie immediately, with answers to her question! Yet the video shows no one responding. Clearly, when Katie didn’t get the answer(s) she wanted, she changed the group’s answers by replacing them with other video of the group sitting around quietly between questions.
In a statement released Wednesday, the film’s director, Stephanie Soechtig, says the edit was not intended to misrepresent what happened. “My intention was to provide a pause for the viewer to have a moment to consider this important question before presenting the facts on Americans’ opinions on background checks.”
Soechtig told Fox News’ Howie Kurtz “I never intended to make anyone look bad and I apologize if anyone felt that way.”