THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Volume V, Issue # 67, March 17, 2003
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
Government Committed to & Acting in Accord with Conservative Principles
Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity
CBS NEWS -- COLUMBIA'S BAGHDAD SERVICE
By Paul Walfield
No doubt most people would like to have news brought to them in a manner that is de- void of spin. Clear thinking people who tune into the CBS, NBC, or ABC news programs do not want news fed to them with the added bias of the journalist thrown in to explain how the news should be interpreted.
The problem for the major news networks is that, when bias is involved in their news presentations, it needs to be subtle to the point of being arguably not there in the first place.
On the CBS News series 60 Minutes II on Wednesday night, March 5, excerpts from a nearly two hour edited interview of Iraqi president Saddam Hussein were aired. There was CBS News anchor Dan Rather sitting comfortably at a table across from Saddam and flanked by Iraqi interpreters and surrounded by Iraqi cameras. Originally, it was nearly three hours of Saddam Hussein giving his side of Iraq's place in the world, his beliefs on life, liberty and freedoms bestowed on his people, and explaining his country's lack of weapons of mass destruction. Saddam Hussein drew a pathetic picture of an isolated and maltreated Iraq surrounded by a hostile world, besieged by America's military.
What was missing was any kind of rebuttal to the flagrant propaganda spewing from the Iraqi dictator. Now, it couldn't possibly be that CBS News and Dan Rather wanted to give a dictator, a tyrant who is responsible for the deaths of over one million people, a platform to espouse his virtues, could it?
Well, yes, it could.
Upon hearing about the CBS News exclusive interview, the White House, the center of the executive branch of our national government, wanted to have the opportunity to rebut "the propaganda and lies" spoken by the Iraqi leader.
White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer asked CBS News to allow the United States government to have an opportunity, during the broadcast of the interview, to give our (American) point of view and facts to contradict obvious lies made by Hussein to Dan Rather and to the American public. CBS said no.
Actually, CBS News said that any rebuttal to Saddam Hussein's assertions during his interview would only be considered if the rebuttal was given by President George Bush and no one else. Mr. Fleischer said, "Seems odd they wouldn't let the White House have a voice."
Keep in mind that CBS is an American network and Dan rather was driven to tears during an interview of him about the attacks of September 11, 2001.
Eventually though, CBS News lessened their requirements on the United States, with CBS News spokeswoman Sandy Genelius saying, "If the President, the Vice-President, or Secretary of State Powell would like to appear on the program tonight we would be happy to have them appear on the program."
Apparently, CBS News believes that their moral equivalence of the dictator and tyrant Saddam Hussein to the President of the United States was too harsh, so they expanded the equivalence to include the folks closest to the American President. Ari Fleischer commented during a White House press conference on March 5 by saying, that the orig- inal CBS offer was rejected because, if it was accepted, there would be a clear implica- tion of "moral equivalency" between President Bush and Saddam Hussein.
As for the watered down requirement by CBS News, the White House spokesperson said, "The appropriate response is something that we will, of course, talk to CBS about, to see at what level and who could go out and respond to it. And that's a conversation we'll have with CBS." Mr. Fleischer wanted the White House to have their say, their rebuttal, "in the same interview and the same time." It didn't happen.
The interview was orchestrated completely to the satisfaction of the Iraqi government. The translations were done by Iraqi officials, not by independent translators hired by CBS. Even the finished product was spliced together and edited by the Iraqi government prior to its release to CBS News after the interview.
CBS News dismissed the involvement of the Iraqi government in the conduct, transla- tion, and editing of the interview as being a customary method of Iraq whenever their leaders are interviewed by the media.
Imagine what CBS News would have told the Bush administration if the same require- ments and conditions were placed on any interview they were to have with President Bush.
LINKS TO RELATED TOPICS:
The News Media & Political Bias
The Middle East & the Problem of Iraq
Page Two
Page One
The Problem of Rogue States:
Iraq as a Case History
The Middle East & the Arabs
Islamism & Jihadism -- The Threat of Radical Islam
Page Three
Page Two
Page One
War & Peace in the Real World
Page Two
Page One
Islamist Terrorist Attacks on the U.S.A.
Osama bin Laden & the Islamist Declaration of War
Against the U.S.A. & Western Civilization
Islamist International Terrorism &
U.S. Intelligence Agencies
U.S. National Security Strategy
Paul Walfield is a freelance writer and member of the State Bar of California, with an undergraduate degree in Psychology and post-graduate study in behavioral and analyt- ical psychology. He resided for a number of years in the small town of Houlton, Maine, and is now a California attorney. His articles appear in numerous periodicals and on numerous websites. CONTACT INFORMATION: Email: paul.walfield@cox.net
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THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
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Conservative Government Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity