SCORE ONE FOR CBS

AIDS BREAKTHROUGH?

VIRTUAL MARCH TOMORROW

“De-bate or Da Boot?” was the Fox News question of the day this morning as the messengers of Murdoch continue their marathon on air pro-war rally posing as a newscast. With a tad of clear jealousy, the morning team (borrowed from the ZOO format on FM radio) cited Dan Rather’s “historic” (to hear CBS tell it) interview with Saddam. In that discourse which one-upped all US news operations, the Iraqi leader challenged President Bush to a televised debate.

Let’s see: who could produce that? The folks behind the World Wrestling Federation’s Smackdown or would you prefer MTV’s Celebrity Death Match designers? (Anyone remember the last debates Bush took part in, the one about “lock boxes? What up with that?) For his part, Rather was gloating on the CBS News.com website where the anchorman of the hour is himself interviewed by another CBS reporter in an interview about the interview, which gets almost as much space as the interview itself, natch. (Boo Hoo: Barbara Walters has to settle for Robert Blake.)

BIG MEN IN A BIG TALK

CBS News’ John Roberts: “The fact that he was willing to sit down with you, did that give you a sense that Saddam Hussein really believes it’s down to crunch time now?

Dan the Man: ‘Yes, I think he knows that. In fact, he indicated very clearly. He’s a tall man. He’s about 6′2″, 6′2 1/2″. He walked a little stiffly. I think that may be because of these reports he had a bad back, but he was very calm — at least outwardly — unhurried, as evidenced by the amount of time he spent with us. I think in direct answer to your question, he knows that the time for the invasion is very near.’

After the Q&A, this promo: “The three-hour interview with Rather was Saddam’s first with an American journalist in a decade. Portions of the interview will air Tuesday on The Early Show and the CBS Evening News, and on a special edition of 60 Minutes II on Wednesday night at 9 pm EST, 8 pm CT. So there is still time to exult in this media coup.

THE NEWS FROM BEIJING

I watched CCTV 9 news, the Chinese government run channel that broadcasts in English and is seen on Time Warner cable in NY (in exchange for a deal that allows AOL TimeWarner programs on the air on the cable system they created for Beijing. To my surprise, it was very balanced and straightforward. The US and British request for a new Security Council resolution was played at the top, followed by the French German response — which China also signed on to. I had expected a heavy dose of propaganda. For that I had to turn back to US coverage which seems to reflect US government views in the way that China TV was an echo chamber for Mao. What the Chinese did not report is the lead in the New York Times today — namely, that this UN maneuver is really a ploy to boost Mr. Blair who is loosing it with the British people.

The problem with the news reflecting the Administration’s position says Paul Krugman in the New York Times: “The funny thing is that this administration sets great store by credibility. As the justifications for invading Iraq come and go — Saddam is developing nuclear weapons; no, but he’s in league with Osama; no, but he’s really evil — the case for war has come increasingly to rest on credibility. You see, say the hawks, we’ve already put our soldiers in position, so we must attack or the world won’t take us seriously.

“But credibility isn’t just about punishing people who cross you. It’s also about honoring promises, and telling the truth. And those are areas where the Bush administration has problems.” One revelation in Krugman’s piece is this disclosure of interest: “These days, whenever Mr. Bush makes a promise — like his new program to fight AIDS in Africa — experienced Bushologists ask, “O.K., that’s the bait, where’s the switch?” (Answer: Much of the money will be diverted from other aid programs, such as malaria control.)”

DIGRESSING ON AIDS

(May I digress for a moment — a dissector’s prerogative. Yesterday, there was a report on a disappointing trial of a new AIDS drug. It was amusing to see that USA Today called the trial “promising” while the Times dubbed it a failure. Sarah Bosely of the Guardian reported that there were some hopeful signs; ‘ “The figures may represent a statistical blip or they may say something profound about different responses of the immune system to the virus or the vaccine which could help the hunt for prevention, treatment and even a cure. If the trials had not been done, the data would not exist. Even in failure, VaxGen has advanced the search for a vaccine.”

Don’t bet on it, says a New York based AIDS group:”Gay Men’s Health Crisis (GMHC), thenation’s oldest AIDS service organization, today criticized VaxGen, themaker of the AIDS vaccine candidate, AIDSVAX, for obfuscation of its trial results. Despite showing no effect overall in protecting against infection with HIV, the company highlighted a subset of results which seemed to show efficacy in African-Americans and Asians.

“Subset analyses are problematic in the best of cases. With small numbers of African-Americans and Asians in the trial and wide confidence intervals associated with the results, making any statements about efficacy in this subpopulation is grossly premature,” said Gregg Gonsalves, Director of Treatment and Prevention Advocacy at GMHC. VaxGen’s assertions of its vaccine’s efficacy among blacks are based on 13 infections in this population in a trial of more than 5000 participants. The assertions about efficacy among Asians are based on only 4 HIV infections in the study.”

A larger scandal is the way AIDS funds are being dispersed — a subject largely ignored. AIDS List Servs are packed with denunciations of US policy on the issue and even take potshots at the UN. Here’s one from the AF-AIDS list condemning an AIDS “mafia.” They write, “The UN through the Global Fund has already received billions which theyhave not event distributed for over two years, yet they are begging forbillions more when they have not proven that they can or will make adifference with the money that they have received which by the way has notreached the people on the ground as it was supposed to do.

“The American government should stop all further contributions to theGlobal Fund for TB, AIDS and Malaria until they prove what they have donewith the billions they already have and if it has made any difference withregard to the problem. How have the people of Africa benefited to datefrom the Global Fund?This is really . . . outrageous!” And so goes the “War on AIDS.” End of Digression.)

MARCHING VIRTUALLY

Tomorrow is the Virtual March on Washington. Matt Wheeland or Alternet has more “At 9 a.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 26, the telephones, faxes and email in-boxes of every Senator in Washington D.C. will start ringing, printing and beeping with messages from around the country in support of peace. The “Virtual March,” organized by MoveOn.org and Win Without War, hopes to demonstrate to members of Congress the staggering levels of grassroots support for the inspections process. For some extraordinary photos of the February 15th protests world wide, visit http://www.hyperreal.org/~dana/

GOINGS AND COMINGS

The New York Times reports on the agony of many Pakistanis who are fleeing to Canada in fear of persecution and deportation.It is hard for controversial people to get into the US. In one email I monitored this morning, I read: A friend just got the following in an email from Bernadette Devlin McAliskey, and wrote “I thought you might be interested; this is really scary stuff”. For those who don’t remember, Bernadette as a young Irish firebrand in the 60s captured worldwide attention with her eloquent defense of those who were fighting for independence from Great Britain. (The sexist rightwing press had a field-day trying put her down, calling her “Fidel Castro in a mini-skirt”), She later went on to become an MP — but the Empire’s computers have long memories — she apparently is still on their “terrorist” list today.

Bernadette wrote:[…] P.S. I went to The USA last Friday- came home the sameday - entry denied. Fingrprinted- photographed - andwrned if I mentioned ‘Rights ‘ again I would behandcuffed and ‘have my ass hauled off’to prison. The guards at your gates are scared, and dangerous. ACountry as jumpy as the USA, before war begins has nochance of surviving war intact. That could be good orbad. Talk to you later….Bernadette:”

LOOKING FOR NEWS ACROSS THE POND

Eyeballs seem to be leaving the US too. A British journalism site reports that”The threat of war in Iraq is driving increasing numbers ofAmericans to international news websites in search of thebroader picture. According to the Internet audiencemanagement and analysis company Nielsen NetRatings, trafficto the UK’s biggest news sites, BBC News Online and GuardianUnlimited, has increased dramatically over the past year. Many of these new users are from the US…. The American public isapparently turning away from the mostly US-centric Americanmedia in search of unbiased reporting and other points ofviews. According to the statistics, much of the US media’sreaction to France and Germany’s intransigence on the Iraqiwar issue has verged on the xenophobic, even in theso-called ‘respectable’ press. Mr Dennis said: “Americanvisitors are telling us they are unable to find the breadthof opinion we have on our website anywhere else because wereport across the political spectrum rather than from justone perspective….

Incidentally, have a look at the redesigned BBC News site. “The main idea behind this redesign was torationalize the overall site system,” said Max Gadney, headof design at BBC News Interactive and one of the leadingplayers in the redesign of BBC News Online. “When a userapproaches an object such as light switch or a control panelon a car, they form a mental model and anticipate what thatobject will do. It’s fair to say that, until now, our sitehasn’t offered enough of these clues,” Mr Gadney said. “Ithas been a mess, to be honest.” We are hoping to redesign the Mediachannel site as well. Not sure it is a mess, but we can do better.

THEY “DON’T GET IT”

The Rochester Democrat and Chronicle reports that Al Neuharth, founder of USA Today and former CEO of Gannett Co., Inc.,called for newspapers to make a renewed commitment to a diverse staff and tofind ways to attract young readers. In a speech at Rochester Institute ofTechnology, Neuharth noted that newspapers are failing to attract “ourincreasingly diverse potential audience,” adding that “[t]oo manymiddle-aged white men still make the decisions. And too many of them stilldon’t get it.”

MSNBC is in another makeover. I wish they would dump Don Imus in the AM, but instead are bringing on an even more extreme version of the Don in the personage of loony tune Michael Savage who will rave and rant on weekends. Meanwhile Elizabeth Jenson reports in the LA Times that “On the eve of a possible U.S.-led war on Iraq, MSNBC is re-branding itself yet again, this time to reemphasize its hard-news lineage. So viewers tuning to MSNBC this week — and lately there haven’t been enough of those to satisfy the channel’s bosses — will notice immediate changes. MSNBC anchors have been told to stop using the “America’s News Channel” slogan, which was introduced in April and was meant to convey that the network had a broad range of opinions, and instead refer to the channel as “NBC News on Cable 24 hours a day.”

“The network, which runs third to Fox News Channel and CNN, already phased out its American flag-colored peacock logo a few weeks back, substituting a rainbow of feathers, and the “America’s News Channel” logo will be phased out this week as well.(Speaking of Fox, the morning mavens were talking about the new health club in the Fox HQ. Only $5 a week for staffers. One media hero confessed this AM that it makes him nervous to shower with underlings nearby. Do we need to hear this. Save it for your shrink. Where do they find these people?)

ROBERT MERTON, RIP

The other day I commented on President Bush’s comparing mass anti-war marches to ‘focus groups.” That may have been too much for the 92 year old sociologist Robert K. Merton who coined that phrase (along with many others) who died yesterday. the Times obit noted that “his explorations over 70-odd years extended across an extraordinary range of interests that included the workings of the mass media, the anatomy of racism, the social perspectives of “insiders” vs. “outsiders,” history, literature and etymology. Though carried out with the detachment he admired in Emile Durkheim, the French architect of modern sociology, Mr. Merton’s inquiries often bore important consequences in real life as well as in academics,”

Sociologists hailed him as well but with sociologyspeak as in this comment from the Progressive Sociologist Network: “One may disagree deeply with the substance, perspective and upshot of Merton’s sociology — his ahistorical and consensual vision of society, his neglect of power and domination, his inadequate conception of the agent (but) One cannot dispute that he consistently met, indeed surpassed, the highest standards of scientific excellence ….”

THE FRENCH GRAMMYS WERE SOMETHING TO SEE

In the email this morning, Mike Garvin comments on the Grammys: ‘You mentioned British and American awards in today’s blog. But the real action was actually during the French César awards, as every other comment by the artists invited and those who won awards was against the war. Somehow it might be possible for you to view these awards as the whole show was so refreshing. Most amazing and most telling was the appearance by Michael Moore who picked up the award for best international film with his documentary Bowling for Columbine. He was on safe ground and really lashed out at his government and reminded everyone that true friends (referring to the French) were those that dare say to a fellow friend that they can, at times, be wrong. The whole ceremony was truly inspiring and I thought the contrast could not be any sharper compared to the British and the US ceremonies where everyone was rather muted about the upcoming war at best and downright embarrassed to show any dissent at worst, that’s if they bothered to turn up at all like Coldplay who won 2 Grammy awards and were not even there. Vive la différence!”

Shebar Windstone commented on a story I cited yesterday on US info war plans aimed at Iraq. ” If only someone would leak details of the info-warfare programs targeting the American people, spewing out pro-war propaganda & mis/disinformation, intimidating dissidents into silence, and jamming mass media coverage of anti-war/military/government activities and concerns! (How many of our tax dollars are paying for this?) This article, with its total lack of critical discussion or presentation of views from non-military sources, is an obvious example.”

VOLUNTEERS WANTED

And there you go…more incisive commentary from readers, and hopefully provocative picks from the press. As mediachannel reaches out for more support, I wonder if we have any outreach and marketing mavens in our audience with some time to volunteer their specialized services to help us reach more people. If you can help, or have some ideas to share, write: dissector@mediachannel.org