CNN corruption

[Yekcidmij]

Article from Washington Times:

The Washington Times
www.washingtontimes.com

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Corruption at CNN
Peter Collins
Published April 15, 2003


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Mr. Eason Jordan's admission that CNN had to suppress the news from Baghdad in order to report it brought back memories for me.
In January 1993, I was in Baghdad as a reporter for CNN on a probationary, three-month contract. Previously, I had been a war reporter for CBS News in Vietnam and East Asia and in Central America for ABC News. I had also made three trips to Baghdad for ABC News before the Gulf War.
Now, Bill Clinton was about to be inaugurated and there was speculation that Saddam Hussein might "test" the new American president. Would the new administration be willing to enforce the "no-fly" zones set up in northern and southern Iraq after the Gulf War?
CNN had made its reputation during the war with its exclusive reports from Baghdad. Shortly after my arrival, I was surprised to see CNN President Tom Johnson and Eason Jordan, then chief of international news gathering, stride into the al-Rasheed Hotel in Baghdad. They were there to help CNN bid for an exclusive interview with Saddam Hussein, timed to coincide with the coming inauguration of President Clinton.
I took part in meetings between the CNN executives and various officials purported to be close to Saddam. We met with his personal translator; with a foreign affairs adviser; with Information Minister Latif Jassim; and with Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz.
In each of these meetings, Mr. Johnson and Mr. Jordan made their pitch: Saddam Hussein would have an hour's time on CNN's worldwide network; there would be no interruptions, no commercials. I was astonished. From both the tone and the content of these conversations, it seemed to me that CNN was virtually groveling for the interview.
The day after one such meeting, I was on the roof of the Ministry of Information, preparing for my first "live shot" on CNN. A producer came up and handed me a sheet of paper with handwritten notes. "Tom Johnson wants you to read this on camera," he said. I glanced at the paper. It was an item-by-item summary of points made by Information Minister Latif Jassim in an interview that morning with Mr. Johnson and Mr. Jordan.
The list was so long that there was no time during the live shot to provide context. I read the information minister's points verbatim. Moments later, I was downstairs in the newsroom on the first floor of the Information Ministry. Mr. Johnson approached, having seen my performance on a TV monitor. "You were a bit flat there, Peter," he said. Again, I was astonished. The president of CNN was telling me I seemed less-than-enthusiastic reading Saddam Hussein's propaganda.
The next day, I was CNN's reporter on a trip organized by the Ministry of Information to the northern city of Mosul. "Minders" from the ministry accompanied two busloads of news people to an open, plowed field outside Mosul. The purpose was to show us that American warplanes were bombing "innocent Iraqi farmers." Bits of American ordinance were scattered on the field. One large piece was marked "CBU." I recognized it as the canister for a Cluster Bomb Unit, a weapon effective against troops in the open, or against "thin-skinned" armor. I was puzzled. Why would U.S. aircraft launch CBUs against what appeared to be an open field? Was it really to kill "innocent Iraqi farmers?" The minders showed us no victims, no witnesses. I looked around. About 2000 yards distant on a ridgeline, two radar dishes were just visible against the sky. The ground was freshly plowed. Now, I understood. The radars were probably linked to Soviet-made SA-6 surface-to-air missiles mounted on tracks, armored vehicles, parked in the field at some distance from the dishes to keep them safe. After the bombing, the Iraqis had removed the missile launchers and had plowed the field to cover the tracks.
On the way back to Baghdad, I explained to other reporters what I thought had happened, and wrote a report that was broadcast on CNN that night.
The next day, Brent Sadler, CNN's chief reporter at the time in Baghdad (he is now in northern Iraq), came up to me in a hallway of the al Rasheed Hotel. He had been pushing for the interview with Saddam and had urged Mr. Johnson and Mr. Jordan to come to Baghdad to help seal the deal. "Petah," he said to me in his English accent, "you know we're trying to get an interview with Saddam. That piece last night was not helpful."
So, we were supposed to shade the news to get an interview with Saddam?
As it happens, CNN never did get that interview. A few months later, I had passed my probationary period and was contemplating my future with CNN. I thought long and hard; could I be comfortable with a news organization that played those kinds of games? I decided, no, I could not, and resigned.
In my brief acquaintance with Mr. Jordan at CNN, I formed the impression of a decent man, someone with a conscience. On the day Mr. Jordan published his piece in the New York Times, a panel on Fox News was discussing his astonishing admissions. Brit Hume wondered, "Why would he ever write such a thing?" Another panelist suggested, "Perhaps his conscience is bothering him." Mr. Eason, it should be.

Peter Collins has more than 30 years of experience in broadcast news, including outlets such as the Voice of America, BBC, CBS, ABC and CNN.

http://dynamic.washtimes.com/twt-print.cfm?ArticleID=20030415-91009640

 

[Blindfaith]

I have a hard time watching CNN, or any other news station and wonder if there isn't some hidden agenda. After Mr. Eason's editorial came out, I watched CNN once more, and had that feeling of distrust, and changed the station. It's really too bad that fundamental dishonesty took over fundamental decency & conviction.

 

[waterwizard]

I was in the break room at work just a few minutes ago. The TV is on CNN, and I looked up at the TV in time to see:

"CNN -- The most trusted name in news."

Shook my head and walked out.

 

[Blindfaith]

You didn't bust out laughing?

 

[waterwizard]

Yesterday at 02:22 PM blindfaith said this in Post #4

You didn't bust out laughing?

If it weren't so blatantly damage-control, it would be ironic and funny. 

There are no infidels at CNN!!  Never!

 

[waterwizard]

More from the Washington Times:

http://www.washtimes.com/op-ed/20030417-25215224.htm

Aiding freedom's enemies

 

Rich Noyes

     See if any of this sounds familiar: An oppressive dictator who's an international pariah; a totalitarian regime with an abysmal human-rights record; secret police who harass and imprison local journalists; and the ubiquitous presence of CNN — cozily ensconced in the capital, blandly repeating the government's pronouncements, while doing little to highlight the plight of repressed citizens.
     Thinking of Iraq under Saddam Hussein? How about Fidel Castro's Cuba, the only communist dictatorship in the Western Hemisphere. In 1997, CNN became the first U.S.-based news organization with a fulltime news bureau in Cuba in nearly 30 years. As an independent news organization, CNN had a chance to show Americans the reality of Mr. Castro's dictatorship. On her first day, incoming Havana bureau chief Lucia Newman promised viewers that "we will be given total freedom to do what we want and to work without prior censorship."
     Mr. Castro shouldn't have lost much sleep worrying whether CNN would reveal the awful details of his dictatorship. Last year, Media Research Center Senior News Analyst Geoff Dickens and I reviewed five years of CNN's Cuba news, from March 17, 1997, the date the Havana bureau was established, through March 17, 2002. Instead of exposing the regime, CNN had allowed itself to become another component of another dictator's propaganda machine.
     Rather than promoting a diversity of opinion, CNN mainly gave the communists a chance to promote their agenda to an international audience. Yes, the network aired a few sound bites from Catholic church leaders (a total of 11 on-air quotes) and peaceful dissidents (12 quotes), but these voices were swamped by quotes from Fidel Castro and smooth English-speaking propagandists like National Assembly President Ricardo Alarcon, the Tariq Aziz of the Caribbean (76).
     CNN's audience also heard from everyday Cubans, but few were shown saying anything disagreeable to Mr. Castro. CNN showed 61 Cuban citizens praising the communists, compared with only 11 who dared to dissent. To give the misleading impression that Castro's regime is hugely popular among the Cubans is intellectually dishonest, but there it was.
     Only once did we notice CNN acknowledging the consequences of candor. On December 13, 1998, reporter Susan Candiotti showed a communist youth rally. A bystander complained to CNN: "Cuba means one party. You see how fanatic the people are." Ms. Candiotti related what happened next: "As he spoke with CNN, a crowd gathered around him. Moments later, as he tried to leave, a group swept around him. Then, two men hustled him down the street. We were prevented from following by several who waved the Cuban flag and chanted, 'Fidel.' " CNN's pictures showed the man being whisked away, his feet barely touching the ground. Ms. Candiotti followed up, but to no avail: "A government spokesperson said he knew nothing of the incident and insisted all Cubans are guaranteed fundamental human rights made possible by the revolution."
     CNN broadcast almost nothing about Mr. Castro's awful human-rights record, a deliberate and shameful omission. Just seven of 212 stories (or 3 percent) focused on the regime's treatment of dissidents; only four stories (2 percent) concerned themselves with the lack of democracy; and only two stories (less than 1 percent) spotlighted the intimidation of journalists. So much for the "truth."
     Instead, CNN's coverage focused on everyday life, giving the sense that Cuba is just a normal country. In stories that could have originated from Cleveland or Atlanta, CNN profiled a promising young ballerina, interviewed a 94-year-old guitar player and toured a historic hotel. One August day in 1998, reporter John Zarrella talked to Cubans waiting for hours in the sun: "The eventual reward, way up at the head of the line, is a bowl of summer-heat-quenching, palate-pleasing, cover-your-face-in-it ice cream."
     This month, Cuban authorities held sham trials for 28 independent journalists arrested in a crackdown that began March 18. For the "crime" of trying to report the true story of Castro's thugocracy, the Cubans were sentenced to between 14 and 27 years in prison. Secretary of State Colin Powell called the new repression "despicable." Although CNN did report Cuba's quick execution last Friday of three men who hijacked a boat, the network has not reported the imprisonment of these journalists.
     CNN's presence in Cuba could have bolstered local reporters. CNN could have used its unique bureau to dig out stories that revealed the brutal nature of the regime. CNN could have embarrassed Mr. Castro by frequently demanding access to imprisoned dissidents. But rather than exposing Mr. Castro, CNN gave him an international platform.
     Given the awfulness of the secrets we now know CNN was hiding for Saddam, it's fair to ask whether CNN is doing the same for Fidel.