Spin Cycle - Here We Go Again!

Seems like a case of Deja-vu, doesn't it?

We'd like to walk you through how the media has covered, spun and re-covered yesterday's airplane incident to show how pathetic the state of the media has gotten itself in:

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Around 7 PM EDT yesterday, Tulsa World posted this article, which we reported here on CDD. Take note of the bolded paragraph.

Former "American Idol" singer Clay Aiken was apparently involved in a disturbance with another passenger Saturday while on an airplane headed to Tulsa International Airport.

The dispute occurred on a Continental Airlines flight between a woman and a man, whom FBI Special Agent Gary Johnson confirmed was a former "American Idol" contestant.

Johnson said he was told the dispute was over one passengerµs feet resting on another passenger armrest.

Apparently, a former "American Idol" contestant was asleep in his seat and a woman roused him to get him to move his foot, Johnson confirmed. An argument then followed.

There was an allegation that the woman gave the contestant a "minor shove" during the argument, Johnson said.

"At that point the flight crew was able to resolve the situation," he said.

Later in the night, the Associated Press issues this story. The story conveniently omits the fact that Clay was sleeping, an instead implies Clay willingly argued with the woman:

Aiken, woman involved in airplane spat

Updated Sun. Jul. 8 2007 8:37 AM ET

Associated Press

TULSA, Okla -- Clay Aiken was involved in an airplane disturbance with another passenger Saturday while en route to Tulsa International Airport, a newspaper reported.

The dispute on a Continental Airlines flight took place between Aiken, who was traveling Saturday morning to a performance at the Brady Theater, and a woman, the Tulsa World reported for Sunday's editions.

Concertgoers who attended the former "American Idol" singer's show said afterward that Aiken joked on-stage about being beaten up by a girl earlier in the day.

FBI Special Agent Gary Johnson said there was a dispute between a male passenger and a woman on the flight but could not confirm the passenger was Aiken. He said the dispute was over the male passenger's foot resting on the woman's armrest. He said there was an allegation the woman gave the male passenger a "minor shove" during the argument.

"At that point the flight crew was able to resolve the situation," Johnson said.

Tulsa Airport Authority spokeswoman Alexis Higgins said the passengers were held until FBI agents arrived to interview them. No injuries were reported and no arrests were made.

Aiken was runner-up on the TV talent show "American Idol" in 2003.

Telephone calls and e-mails from The Associated Press to Aiken's publicist and manager in Los Angeles were not returned Saturday.

A few moments later, Tulsa World edits their article so that it is more in line with the AP story. Notice how the bolded section from the first version of the article about Clay sleeping while this woman attacks him simply vanishes without explanation, much like the AP story:

Former "American Idol" singer Clay Aiken was apparently involved in a disturbance with another passenger Saturday while on an airplane headed to Tulsa International Airport.

The dispute occurred on a Continental Airlines flight between a woman and a man, whom FBI Special Agent Gary Johnson confirmed was a former "American Idol" contestant.

Aiken, who was a runner-up on the TV talent show in 2003, was headed to Tulsa Saturday for a performance at the Brady Theater. His management could not be reached for comment Saturday afternoon.

Johnson said he was told the dispute was over the male passenger's foot resting on another passenger's armrest. He said the disturbance was a minor one.

There was an allegation that the woman gave the male passenger a "minor shove" during the argument, Johnson said.

"At that point the flight crew was able to resolve the situation," he said.

The disturbance occurred Saturday morning, said Tulsa Airport Authority spokeswoman Alexis Higgins.

Higgins said the passengers were held until FBI agents arrived to question them.

No injuries were reported and no arrests were made. The disturbance did not interfere with the flight of the aircraft, Johnson said.

... and here's a first hand account of the incident from the CB's Okclayhoman:

Ok guys....I was in a meet and greet with him tonight before the concert......Clay told us exactly what happened and he was asleep...he's a tall guy and his foot accidentally touched her armrest...He didnt even hear her talking to him until she began screaming at him, at which point he pulled up his visor and she started swinging... she hit him 3 or 4 times and being the gentleman that he is he did not swing back......He was not hurt......but man was he pissed......one of our other Oklahoma fans was sitting across the aisle from him and was a witness to this woman's personal attack .

There is no more to this story than that and he made fun of it several times in the concert tonight.....so please let him and his people handle it......remember to, just because there was no comment coming tonight that it takes time to prepare a cohesive statement ....I am sure that they are working on something........

another first hand account:

An eye witness told us exactly what happened and he was asleep…he’s a tall guy and his foot accidentally touched her armrest…He didnt even hear her talking to him until she began screaming at him, at which point he pulled up his visor and she started swinging… she hit him 3 or 4 times and being the gentleman that he is he did not swing back……He was not hurt……but man was he pissed……one of our other Oklahoma fans was sitting across the aisle from him and was a also an eye witness to this woman’s personal attack .

... and one more:

I was sitting across the aisle from Clay Aiken and the woman who hit him. I looked over at him at one point and he appeared to be sleeping. I would have loved an autograph, but didn’t want to bother him. I was reading a magazine when suddenly I heard the woman across the aisle shouting, and I saw her hitting at Clay. He looked startled, apparently just woke up, and tried to talk to her and calm her down but she kept hitting at him. At that point a flight attendant came over and blocked my view so I couldn’t see anymore. Later on I signed a statement as a witness to her attack. I don’t know if Clay pressed charges against her or not.

Need some more reading? Check out Idle-wandering and ConCLAYve.