CNBC Suffers PR Blow After Ordering YouTube To Take Down Embarrassing Clip

CNBC looked like a sore loser this week when it told YouTube to take down on “copyright grounds” videos from a Squawk Box interview with Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.). She was on to defend the 21st Century Glass-Steagall Act, which would tighten regulations on banks, that she’s co-sponsoring with Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and others. She forcefully, and gleefully, swatted away challenges from CNBC’s Brian Sullivan, Joe Kernan, and Amanda Drury. A clip went viral — with more than 700,000 views — after it was posted by video aggregator Upworthy as well as on Warren’s YouTube site. “It’s maybe the best example of the sort of matter-anti-matter reaction that happens when someone who actually knows some history and policy makes first contact with a gaggle of ignorant CNBC yakkers,” Talking Point Memo‘s Josh Marshall wrote. Columbia Journalism Review‘s Ryan Chittum called it “a TKO for Warren.” No wonder NBCUniversal’s copyright order smelled fishy. The brouhaha appears to be subsiding after CNBC said that the interview is “well worth watching” and that it “has been available to view in multiple locations on CNBC.com since its original posting.” You can see the 10-minute interview here. For what it’s worth, CNBC’s Jim Cramer stood up for the home team in a tweet: “There is some weird strain of thought that CNBC got beaten by Senator Warren. I like the senator but she had NO impact. Sorry…”