THE BRIDGES OF FALLUJA

PRESS DEBATES COVERAGE

ASHLEIGH BANFIELD LEAVING NBC

It was what a colleague called an “MM” — a “Mogadishu moment” ?that image of Americans hanging from a bridge in Falluja, Iraq, burned alive in cars, locals dancing around the flames. The grotesque photos were beamed everywhere. In Somalia, the dragging of dead Americans through the streets led to a US withdrawal. Here, the US government is caught in a trap of its own making: it is in too deep to leave and has no real exit strategy because officials know how unprepared the Iraqis in the US-appointed Governing Council are to run things.

At the same time the military continues to insist that the insurgents (an NBC reporter called them “rebels”) make up a small group that “doesn’t get it,” labelling them as regressives who are nostalgic for the bad old days and “who will be dealt with.” Meanwhile. there were two more roadside bombings today with one casualty reported on U.S. TV. (There have been many more daily incidents occurring than the ones we hear about or see.)

“HORRIFIC” SAYS WHITE HOUSE

“Gruesome,” was what the BBC first called the pictures of the incident; but now the photos are on front pages of newspapers around the world. It’s a reverse “shock and awe.” BBC reports:

“The US has condemned the killing and dismembering of four American civilian contractors in Iraq.

The White House said it deplored the `horrific attacks’ but vowed the US would not be deflected from its mission to bring democracy to Iraq. The four men were shot and burnt in their cars in Falluja, before a cheering crowd dismembered the corpses and hung two of them from a bridge.

Elsewhere, five US soldiers were killed in a bomb attack west of Baghdad. Meanwhile three British soldiers were injured when their vehicle was hit by an explosive device in Basra.”

NO GO?

US troops did not even respond to the incident. As The NY Times explained, “The steadily deteriorating security situation in the Falluja area, west of Baghdad, has become so dangerous that no American soldiers or Iraqi security staff responded to the attack against the contractors.” This, I am told sounds/feels increasingly like the “No Go” areas in Northern Ireland where resistance was so strong in some areas there that British troops stayed out. The visibility of these attacks are likely to lead to arrests and a counter-attack of some kind.

MEDIA DEBATES USE OF PICTURES

There was a a great deal of discussion in the media about how to handle incidents like these. The LA Times discussed “whether the 80 seconds of video showing charred American bodies being beaten and dangled from a bridge over the Euphrates River will come to define the war in Iraq,” write James Gerstenzang and Elizabeth Jensen. “But once again, broadcasters and news executives were torn between a question of taste and the demand to give viewers information that could affect the course of history” (via The Boston Globe).

The St Petersburg Times called it a “Somalia moment.” Matthew Felling of the Center for Media and Public Affairs tells the St. Petersburg Times, “It will decide whether President Bush is combating militant Iraqis, or newly reluctant Americans ? This is the day the revolution started being televised.”

Newsday reported that some TV produces and print editors chose to use the disturbing scenes of burned bodies being mutilated or hanging from a bridge, while others did not.

SOME AUSSIES WANT OUT

Roger Lamb writes from Brisbane in Australia to report that pressure is building on that “coalition of the willing” member to pull its troops out.

“As part of the (Australian) parliamentary discussion about Australian Labor’s policy of pulling its troops out of Iraq by Christmas (the election down here, on most accounts, will likely take place in September), the Labor leader Mark Latham has described the government’s policy in Iraq as an `absolute fiasco’ - mirroring recent Spanish descriptions. It’s spreading. And it’s not merely academic as Labor is presently leading in recent polls over the Coalition government.

Latham’s actual words: `I walked away from that briefing knowing and understanding the Government’s policy in Iraq was a fiasco - an absolute fiasco. What is more, I concluded that the faster Australia could get out of Iraq the better.’”

CONTROLLING THE IRAQ PRESS

The European Journalism Center carries this item:

“The US-led coalition in Iraq, with less than 100 days left running thecountry, set up a $6 million commission to regulate the newsmedia, a senior coalition officials said. The Iraqi Communications andMedia Commission, whose nine members will be appointed by the US-runCoalition Provisional Authority in consultation with the US-appointedIraqi Governing Council, will organize telecommunications and broadcastoperators and devise codes of conduct, a coalition official said duringa briefing at which the official demanded anonymity?.”

WILL THE U.S. PRESS START SINGING A NEW TUNE?

Some elements within the American press seem to be finding a dash of new courage, enough to become more critical of US policymakers. Johnathan Alter and Fareed Zakaria of Newsweek seem to be less romantically inclined towards the government. Some print reportsers, as I have noted (one in Virginia, another in Texas), have raised criticicism about the coverage of the war — criticism that went unsaid when it was underway. But one prominent TV journalist who did have the guts to question the unquestioning coverage way back when has now left NBC after failing to agree on a new assignment. She says her remarks about the war coverage was not the issue and that they parted “amicably.” I originally reported this morning that she had been fired–based on the info I had — but she says not true, that she just couldn’t come to terms with NBC. I can’t help but believe that it was her speaking out that ultimately soured her relationship with her bosses although the show she had fronted for MSNBC had not done well–or apparently gone well. She had her fans and detractors but the quality of her work was not what propelled her into the headlines. It was what she said and the shit storm that sparked.THE PASSION OF THE BANFIELD

UPDATED: l0:52 AM

On April 24th a year ago, she spoke at Kansas State University and criticized the sanitized reporting we were all watching. He remarks were reported on derisively by war boosters FOX News and the NY Post. Both reamed her. Nor were her employers at NBC profiles in courage. It was reported she was “taken to the woodshed” and reprimanded. A spokesman for the GE owned network said at the time:

“She and we both agreed that she didn’t intend to demean the work of her colleagues, and she will choose her words more carefully in the future.”

Today it was reported that the woman who was once touted as MSNBC’s version pf Christianne Amanpour is being dropped by NBC. The New York Daily News quoted an NBC News spokesperson as saying, “Regrettably we were unable to agree on a new assignment for her.We thank her for her hard work and wish her well.” The statement drips with corporate mediaspeak.

NBC should hold its head in shame for firing Phil Donahue before the war, Peter Arnett during it, and now losing Ashleigh Banfield. It is customary when journalists leave networks that both sides agree not to criticize each other. Sometimes, clauses are inserted into settlement agreements that mandate that although she was working without a contract. Her reputation in the industry here and in Canada was mixed, but I still admired her pluck in speaking out. And I am not being “amicable” in saying this.

WHAT BANFIELD SAID

Here’s part of what Ashleigh had to say in that speech in Kansas. She questioned whether the war coverage was journalism, a sentiment that Ted Koppel later raised. He, however, was not criticized for speaking his mind:

“You didn’t see where those bullets landed. You didn’t see what happened when the mortar landed. A puff of smoke is not what a mortar looks like when it explodes, believe me. There are horrors that were completely left out of this war. So was this journalism or was this coverage? There is a grand difference between journalism and coverage, and getting access does not mean you’re getting the story, it just means you’re getting one more arm or leg of the story. And that’s what we got, and it was a glorious, wonderful picture that had a lot of people watching and a lot of advertisers excited about cable news. But it wasn’t journalism?.”

SID SAVAGES WASHINGTON PRESS CORPS

Writing in Salon and the Guardian, Salon’s DC Bureau chief and former White House staffer lashed into his beltway colleagues in a report on President Bush’s “jokes” at a recent press dinner. (See letters for more commentary.)

“With each gag line the press corps roared. Bush was acting as the college fraternity house president that he once was, and the journalists performing as pledges eager for acceptance by the Big Man on Campus. `I’m the commander — see, I don’t need to explain — I do not need to explain why I say things,’ Bush told Bob Woodward in Bush at War. `That’s the interesting thing about being president.’

Through its laughter the press corps didn’t seem to grasp that the joke was on them. The problem is not that Bush’s jest was inappropriate and tasteless — the widow of David Bloom, the NBC reporter who died in Iraq, had tearfully preceded Bush on the platform. It is not that much of the media, including elements of the quality press, had been complicit in the carefully choreographed disinformation campaign in the rush to war stage-managed by Ahmad Chalabi and the Bush administration. Rather, it is that the press is accepting of Bush’s radical undermining of the long-established arrangements of Washington, including the demotion of the press’s own role, by breaking the off-the-record rule in order to have a weapon to use against Clarke.”

THE STARBUCKS SECRETS

Some new documents have surfaced in Washington, inadvertently left in Starbucks. Al Kamen of the Washington Post had fun with this yesterday:

“Did you hear the one about the guy at Starbucks? No? Okay. A guy walks into the Starbucks at Connecticut Avenue and R Street NW on Sunday to get his favorite latte, and sits down at a table.

On the table, he spots four pieces of paper. One is stationery with the heading `Office of the Secretary of Defense,’ and right under that `The Special Assistant.’

It has a penciled map of directions from the Pentagon to Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld’s house in Northwest Washington. Another sheet says, `Eric’s Telephone Log.’ Someone has written `Conf. Call’ at the top and some notes, some in partial shorthand, on one side. These apparently were taken by Eric.

The notes say: `Took threat v seriously and then segue to wh we have been doing. Rise above [ Richard A.] Clarke.’

`Emphasize importance of 9/11 commission and come back to what we have been doing’.

`[Commission member Jamie] Gorelick pitting Condi [ Condoleezza Rice] v. [Deputy Secretary of State Richard] Armitage’

`Our plan had military plans to attack Al Q — called on def to draw up targets in Afg — develop mil options?.’

“Our good citizen, no dummy he, concluded these were significant papers and should be turned over to the appropriate people. So that would be the Pentagon or the White House?Oh, no. He turned them over to none other than that most left-leaning think tank, Center for American Progress, headed by none other than former Clinton chief of staff John D. Podesta.

See The Center for American Progress to read the whole thing.

TERROR NEWS CAPSULE

Richard Clarke reportedly unhappy with MoveOn for using him in a new ad. He says his lawyer will speak to them since he does not want to appear partisan ? New suspects related to non Al Qaeda-affiliated group busted in Italy. Said to be Turks ?White House lawyer reportedly had improper contacts with Republican members of 911 Comission … US assembles list of 55,000 terror suspects on list. Law enforcement officers have to call an 800 number ? Robin Wright reports in the Washington Post:

“On Sept. 11, 2001, national security adviser Condoleezza Rice was scheduled to outline a Bush administration policy that would address `the threats and problems of today and the day after, not the world of yesterday’ — but the focus was largely on missile defense, not terrorism from Islamic radicals.

The speech provides telling insight into the administration’s thinking on the very day that the United States suffered the most devastating attack since the 1941 bombing of Pearl Harbor. The address was designed to promote missile defense as the cornerstone of a new national security strategy, and contained no mention of al Qaeda, Osama bin Laden or Islamic extremist groups, according to former U.S. officials who have seen the text.”

BLOWBACK ? AGAIN

George Mombiot writes in the Guardian that weapons designed to fight terrorism can be used by terrorists:

“The paradox of modern warfare works like this: by enhancing our military strength, we enhance our opponents’ capacity to destroy us. The Russian state developed thermobaric bombs (which release a cloud of explosive material into the air) for use against Muslim guerillas. Now, according to New Scientist, Muslim terrorists are trying to copy them. The United States has been producing weaponized anthrax, ostensibly to anticipate terrorist threats. In 2001, anthrax stolen from this program was used to terrorise America. The greatest horrors with which terrorists might threaten us are those whose development we funded?.”

HOMELAND SECURITY

The Guardian reports:

The new liberal radio network went on the air yesterday. I was asked to comment on it on Austrian Radio, not NPR. London’s Daily Telegraph asked: “America hails an alternative to rightwing rants on radio, but will anew liberal talk radio station launched in Manhattan be too dull?” There is a report on Mediachannel’s home page. Here is some additional reaction:

Kenn Chaplin posts his comments on his blog:

“As the American political season heats up it’s great to listen to a new “liberal” talk radio station, Air America Radio, which launched today. Al Franken’s wit snared me immediately following some great urban/protest music. (His program, `The O’Franken Factor,’” airs daily from 12-3 p.m. ET.) It’s not all high-brow stuff, that’s for sure, but it’s entertaining and refreshingly leftish. I can’t remember the last time I did not want to shut off a radio talk show which, even here in Canada, too often are little more than right-wing platforms - and I’ve added a link to my blog.”

Dan Kennedy of the Boston Phoenix:

“I’ve been listening to a bit of `The O’Franken Factor’ on Air America Radio, which doesn’t have an outlet in Boston but which is streaming live here. I can’t judge it from 45 minutes of intermittent listening, obviously, but while I had it on Michael Moore dropped by, and then Al Gore called in to say hello.

Gore got off a funny, asking, `How’s the drug-free thing working out?’ Moore made a crack about OxyContin, and Al Franken chimed in, `We’ve been drug-free now for two hours and 40 minutes.’ Maybe they’re taking the wrong drugs, because it seemed pretty low-energy. You’d think they’d be bouncing off the walls on Day One.

Franken and Gore couldn’t get Moore to apologize for supporting Ralph Nader in 2000, but Moore did say he’s backing John Kerry this time around.”

PROTESTERS TARGET ROVE, CHARGE HE LACKS “SOUL”

Steven Ginsberg reported in the Washington Post Monday:

“Several hundred people stormed the small yard of President Bush’s chief political strategist, Karl Rove, yesterday afternoon, pounding on his windows, shoving signs at others and challenging Rove to talk to them about a bill that deals with educational opportunities for immigrants.

Protesters poured out of one school bus after another, piercing an otherwise quiet, peaceful Sunday in Rove’s Palisades neighborhood in Northwest, chanting, `Karl, Karl, come on out! See what the DREAM Act is all about!’

Rove obliged their first request and opened his door long enough to say, `Get off my property.’

`Seems like he doesn’t want to invite us in for tea,’ Emira Palacios quipped to the crowd.

Others chanted, `Karl Rove ain’t got no soul.’ “

WALL STREET BUZZ

Martha Stewart wants a new trial. She says a member of the jury did not disclose a prior criminal record. The Wall Street Journal carries this headline, which says a lot about business priorities:

EMI strikes the right note for investors - stock prices rose 8% afterit announced it was slashing 1,500 jobs.”

YOUR LETTERS

A KENYAN ANALOGY

Bradley Laing writes:

“We have a major problem ? the corpses of four americans were dragged through the streets in Iraq and hung from a bridge.

In the book Coming to Birth about Kenya, there was a chapter about when Kenya gots its indepedence. The author wrote that confusion started between people and institutions, among the Kenyans. A group attacked a school bus that was from a British-run girls school. A European drove his car into a canal and drowned, but nobody tried to save him from drowning, even though somebody later dove down to steal his watch.

If the remains of people, which should inspire respect or pity are being abused, then at least on this one day, respect for individuals has been overwhelmed by rejection of the coalition occupation. This sounds like Somalia in 1993.”

STAND UP COMEDY

Wendi Meremark writes from Oregon City

“A comment today on the legs under the story of Duh-bia jokes ongraves missing WMDs to the dining correspondents last week.It’s not just morbid humor, it’s sick. That threshhold of hellis mostly up to the beholder to set. The longer the story runsand the more people sicken to hear it, the more this moron presidentseems alien. Talking hyde-y jekyll, something sociopathic.

It reminded me of the story that got out because it sickeneda confided-to visitor, Texas’ Lt. Governor under Bush, I think.He was in the governor’s office after Bush signed Karla Faye Tucker’sexecution death warrant, dismissing her clemency plea for lifeimprisonment being born again Christian. Bush mocks heras begging on her knees and pleading for her life to him,and he gruesomely guffaws and slaps his visitor’s knee to showhis powerlust glee for killing her. Sickened was the visitor,and told the story.

Those in comedian Duh-bia’s dinner audience who ha-ha condonedW.’s Motley Dead humors, remind me of the vacuous neighborcharacters who reporters interview on the street where somedemented criminal lived and they always say ‘he seemed likesuch a nice guy, I never imagined he was evil.’”

BICYCLING IN CHENOBYL

Jody Lentz sends along an intriguing report:

“A friend sent me this, for some reason I immediately thought of you - maybe it’s the amazing journalism verite and/or the slow reveal of a government cover-up, but this is a site from a female biker who fancies long rides through Chernobyl:

http://www.angelfire.com/extreme4/kiddofspeed

IN CLOSING

It’s April Fools Day, but I have no sophomoric jokes for you. The absurdity that surrounds us is making every day April Fools Day, especially when it’s hard to believe so much of what you read and see?. if you live in New York, check out the “Haiti on Film” festival. I went to the gala premiere. I saw a great film on the struggle of Haitian artists to paint what they want. The film maker later said that today the people in that position are journalists: `They are today’s artists.’”

I am out of here. Your feedback welcome to: dissector@mediachannel.org