CNN/SI's Managing Editor Steve Robinson said yesterday
that the network "could have aired" Fuzzy Zoeller's
controversial remarks regarding Tiger Woods earlier in the
week, but held off because it wanted to put them "in
context," according to Steve Zipay of NEWSDAY. The comments
first aired on CNN's "Pro Golf Weekly" on Sunday, one week
after Zoeller made the remarks. Robinson: "In retrospect, I
might've done it differently. We felt it was the
responsible thing to do. We recognized its impact, but the
remarks need to be put in context." Robinson said that
CNN/SI called Zoeller for comment during the week, but he
did not respond. He agreed to meet a CNN crew on Monday in
Greensboro, NC, and "repeated that he meant no harm"
(NEWSDAY, 4/23). USA TODAY's Michael Hiestand reports that
CNN/SI's Robinson "flatly rejects the idea that the delay
was somehow meant to protect Zoeller or help promote a Tiger
Woods cover story, out this week, in Fortune magazine, a CNN
corporate cousin in the burgeoning Time Warner chain."
Hiestand: "For a channel that airs sound bites day and
night, it's hard to see how Zoeller's words particularly
needed 'context.' So go figure" (USA TODAY, 4/23).
