Robert Durst should have paid more attention to Leslie Nielson in “The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!”. For those who missed it, check out the clip below to see the type of embarrassment that can come from forgetting that your microphone is still on.
Durst, suspected in the 1982 disappearance of his wife, and the 2000 murder of his girl friend, was the subject of an HBO documentary “The Jinx”. In filming the final episode, filmmaker Andrew Jarecki suggests it is Durst ‘s handwriting on a note directing police to Berman’s body, Durst left his microphone on as he went to the bathroom. “There it is. You’re caught,” he said, adding “What the hell did I do? Killed them all, of course.” Now he has a bit more to answer to.
Executives and others involved in public speaking or the media may find themselves from time to time wearing a wireless microphone or at least sitting in front of a mic that is being recorded. Politicians have often been caught making unsavory comments not realizing that the mic on the table in front of them was still live. Lt. Frank Drummond’s (Leslie Nielson’s) trip to the restroom was just an embarrassment, but other conversations or comments supposedly made in private may actually be heard by many others.
Encrypted wireless mics are becoming popular (Lectrosonic, RevoLabs, and certain models made by Shure and others), but many venues are still using analog mics that can be intercepted by standard radio scanners and receivers. So even if the audio guy has lowered the volume fader on his mixing console, and the mic is not coming out of the loudspeakers, the audio may still intercepted. If video is being shot then the audio may also be being recorded by the cameras as the video team often have a separate sound mix coming to their equipment than what goes to the loudspeakers (as Robert Durst found out).
If there are microphones present, assume that they are ON at all times.