MORE FUROR OVER NBC'S TRANSCRIPT DELETION

Bloggers were furiously speculating Thursday about the reasons why NBC removed a question and answer from the transcript of an interview with New York Times reporter about whether he had information indicating that the CIA may have eavesdropped on CNN correspondent Christiane Amanpour. NBC only contributed to the speculation when it told the TVNewser blog later that the "transcript was released prematurely" and that it was yanked because "we had not completed our reporting" on the matter.

The online Slate magazine contributed even more to the speculation when it observed Thursday night that Amanpour is married to Jamie Rubin, a State Department spokesman under Clinton and a Kerry foreign policy advisor. Slate asked: "If the Bush administration was listening in on Amanpour's phone, was it listening when she talked with her husband? Was it listening when he might have used her phone himself?" Slate acknowledged that "what we've got here are hints about a question." However, it added, the Bush administration's policies "invite questions like these." Meanwhile, TVNewser late Thursday quoted a CNN statement that it received saying, "Neither CNN nor Christiane Amanpour is aware of alleged eavesdropping by the government on Ms. Amanpour and we are unable to confirm this story. We are looking into it."

{Source} MovieWeb.com