Parting Thoughts for May 20, 2001

This partial transcript of Fox News Sunday, May 20, 2001 was provided by the Federal Document Clearing House. Click here to order the complete transcript.

TONY SNOW, HOST:   The General Services Administration reported last week that,
rumors to the contrary, members of the Clinton administration did not trash the White House or despoil Air Force One, at least according to the evidence available. 

In response, the ex-president's supporters have besieged pundits like me, folks who rushed to judgment, demanding apologies. 

OK, I'm sorry.  In a newspaper column, I got the Air Force One story wrong.  Even though I corrected myself three days later on this show, thus beating the GSA by four months, the ex-president's pals have a legitimate beef. 

One reason people don't trust journalists is that we too seldom admit the shortcomings of our craft.  When we're chasing stories on deadline, we're not going to get every relevant scrap of material.  At best, we're sketch artists, dependent on the facts and witnesses within reach.

If there's a moral here, it's that we need to correct ourselves clearly to reassure one and all that we care about getting things right and, when possible, setting them right.

Click here to order the complete transcript.

Copy: Content and Programming Copyright 2001 Fox News Network, Inc. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Transcription Copyright 2001 eMediaMillWorks, Inc. (f/k/a Federal Document Clearing House, Inc.), which takes sole responsibility for the accuracy of the transcription. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No license is granted to the user of this material except for the user's personal or internal use and, in such case, only one copy may be printed, nor shall user use any material for commercial purposes or in any fashion that may infringe upon Fox News Network, Inc.'s and eMediaMillWorks, Inc.'s copyrights or other proprietary rights or interests in the material. This is not a legal transcript for purposes of litigation.