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. (more…)