Brewer "slugs/punches/taps" reporter (UPDATED)

Small break from movies for just a second, but fear not, reviews of Django Unchained, The Hobbit, Zero Dark Thirty and This is 40 are all in the works.

Last week I was out at Hickman’s Family Farms in the far west Valley for a PR event of sorts. While there — in a scentless demilitarized zone somehow untouched by that acidy all-engulfing chicken-poo scent that hovers over chicken farms — I witnessed a little impromptu press conference with Gov. Jan Brewer. She was asked about global warming (she sounded skeptical that it exists) and then she reacted flippantly to the reporter who asked about it by tapping him on the arm with the back of her hand. You can read most of my version of the story here, on Jim Romenesko’s site.

I submitted the story to Jim because he’s a collector of behind-the-scenes stories about reporters and their news-gathering efforts. I greatly respect his work. I figured he’d appreciate the way KTVK’s Dennis Welch handled the question, and then his response to the governor’s response. Jim expressed some interest in the story, and he suggested he might run with it. I figured he’d use my email as background, and then build from it using other sources. Instead, he quoted nearly my entire email and then gave Welch a single quote at the end: “I’d say this is a fair an[d] accurate account.”

So that’s exciting. But now, as the story spreads across the news sites — including The Atlantic, one of my favorite sites — I have some observations on my viral little email.

First, memories can be deceiving. After Brewer touched the reporter, my mind seemed to file a version of the event that was slightly different than the real version. I can see it still in my head: Brewer raises her left hand and reaches out to Welch, touching his right arm. Videos of the event, which weren’t available when I typed my email, show what looks like Brewer reaching out with her right hand. Yet the video seems to conflict with my memory … even as I watch it. It’s a very strange phenomenon, and I can understand why witness testimony can be so misleading in criminal investigations. In any case, I hope readers forgive me: I said Brewer used her left hand when she most likely used her right.

Second, the physical act of touching another person. I called it a “slug,” and others have called it a “tap” or “punch.” All of these words are unfortunate choices for what happened. Clearly, Brewer did not pull her fist back and cold-cock a reporter in the jaw. I used the word “slug” because it seemed appropriate. A slug is what you give your kid brother when he’s being a pest, or friend who cracks a joke in your direction. It’s playful, but also serious. It says, “Hey, don’t test me.” You feel a slug, but it doesn’t hurt. It’s just a reminder that personal space can be playfully violated, and will if the need arrive. In my opinion Jan Brewer slugged a reporter. But when headline writers put it in a headline, it reads differently and sounds malicious. A slug to one person is a punch to another. So what did Brewer actually do? “Tap” does not do the altercation justice; what she did was a slight escalation. So whatever is between “tap” and “slug.” Perhaps “swat.” No matter the case, though, she was upset at the reporter and she put her hand on him, and that’s a risky business to be playing in when you’re such a high-profile politician.

Finally, Gov. Brewer, I could tell a story about her every week. She’s just so … odd. The wandering silences, the broken sentences, the dodging she does with members of the press. I was once at a press conference for Luke Air Force Base, but no one wanted to ask Luke questions. Instead the media was hounding Brewer about SB 1070, which was either on the table or had already been signed (I forget). Her handler promised the media that if we asked Luke questions, Brewer would take immigration questions later. Once the press conference ended, Brewer bolted down a long corridor, her security officers in tow, until she hopped in a waiting car and sped away. I left the event and stopped for a drink at a convenience store down the street. Guess who’s inside getting a Big Gulp and some snacks? Gov. Jan Brewer. No time for reporters, but time for a soda. The clerk was astonished: “The governor was just here,” he told me. Yeah, I know, but don’t ask her to stick around.

UPDATE: Here are links to all the sites that are picking up this ridiculous story. It's remarkable that a little inside-journalism story could be so widely read, but then again it does involve "punching." Links: Jim Romenesko, Gawker, Talking Points Memo, Phoenix New Times, Think Progress, Joe Sharkey, The Christian Post, The Blaze, The Daily Mail, Dennis Welch's station KTVK-3TV, Vanity Fair, Huffington Post, another Phoenix New Times ... more to come (possibly).

By the way, several groups of comments have called me out for not getting the exchange on camera. Trust me, I'm bummed I didn't document it more. I had photographed Brewer for more than an hour at that point, and I didn't realize what I was seeing until it was too late. Also, after Brewer started walking away from the cluster of reporters, I, like Welch, began messing around with my equipment and I didn't take another shot because it all happened so quickly. I did get a shot of Brewer staring at Welch for those awkward 5 seconds or so. That photo is up top.

Lastly, I never thought Brewer tapping a reporter was all the newsworthy. That part is being sensationalized. The part that was more interesting was that she thought global warming was not caused by man, and that she objected to being asked about it. She's the governor of a state, one that has slowly begun to embrace alternative energies including solar, so I find it troubling that she didn't have an answer to the question already. And then to get upset that it was asked ... silliness. I'm going to end with this last photo, taken in October 2010 as Brewer ceremoniously turned on the machinery at Suntech, a solar facility in Goodyear. Did she not form an opinion about global warming then, when solar executives were talking about clean energy?