There's a link there.
Here's something from FAIR about this:
FAIR-L
Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting
Media analysis, critiques and activism
http://www.fair.org/activism/newshour-parenti.htmlACTION ALERT:
Fear and Favor at the PBS NewsHour
March 18, 2004
Journalist Christian Parenti was invited to talk about Iraq on the March 2
broadcast of PBS's NewsHour with Jim Lehrer. But Parenti's criticism of
the reconstruction contracts granted to corporations like Halliburton and
Bechtel apparently crossed a line for the program's host.
According to a report by Cynthia Cotts in the Village Voice newspaper
(3/17/04), Lehrer objected to comments Parenti made in response to a
question about whether bombings in Iraq would "make the American job
harder on the ground in Iraq":
***
PARENTI: I would think so. I would think that we have to look at some of
the deeper causes as to why there's so much frustration. Why are Iraqis so
angry and willing to point the blame at the U.S. after this sort of
bombing? A lot of it has to do with the failure of meaningful
reconstruction. There still is not adequate electricity. In many towns
like Ramadi there wasn't adequate water. Where is all the money that's
going to Halliburton and Bechtel to rebuild this country? Where is it
ending up? I think that is one of the most important fundamental causes of
instability, is the corruption around the contracting with these
Bush-connected firms in Iraq. Unless that is dealt with, there is going to
be much more instability for times to come in Iraq.
***
Two nights later (3/4/04), Lehrer made an unusual on-air announcement: "An
editor's note before we go, for those who were watching two nights ago: A
discussion about Iraq ended up not being as balanced as is our standard
practice. While unintentional, it was our mistake, and we regret it."
According to the Voice report, producers for the show suggest that
Parenti's mistake was referring to the Halliburton contracts. The Voice
quoted NewsHour senior producer Michael Mosettig saying: "This was not
reportage, this was giving his opinion, and that's not why we brought him
on." Mossetig's deputy, Dan Sagalyn, told the Voice that Parenti's
comments lacked "balance."
The remarks seem to have gotten Parenti virtually blacklisted from the
show. "I would have liked to have him on again... but because of this it
would be very hard," Sagalyn told Cotts. "When you have a loose-cannon
experience with somebody, you're going to be wary," Mossetig said.
It would be understandable for the NewsHour to be concerned with the
accuracy of comments made by any guest; that would be responsible
journalism. But the show is not claiming Parenti said anything
inaccurate. Instead, the show seems to be saying that journalists
shouldn't give opinions on the show. Lehrer has declared that one of his
principles of journalism (1997 Catto Report on Journalism and Society) is
to "carefully separate opinion and analysis from straight news stories and
clearly label them as such."
But that's not been a consistent policy. New York Times reporter John
Burns, for example, often shares opinions on the NewsHour while being
interviewed about his reportage. On the November 17, 2003 broadcast, for
example, Burns suggested that he felt "profoundly dispirited and
disappointed" by the situation in Iraq six months after U.S. troops pulled
down Saddam Hussein's statue in Baghdad. Burns recommended a renewed
commitment to the occupation: "It's going to take stout hearts on the part
of the people of the United States, and the government of the United
States, to see this through."
Those are certainly opinions, and the NewsHour audience is entitled to
hear them. What the NewsHour seems to be arguing is that it just didn't
care for Parenti's opinions-- specifically, that official corruption might
be to blame for some of the problems the occupation is facing.
Far more important than regulating journalists who cross such arbitrary
lines, though, is challenging official sources who misstate the facts.
The NewsHour, unfortunately, does not always exhibit a keen interest in
correcting misinformation from Bush administration officials.
In September 2002 (9/20/02), Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld claimed in
an interview with Lehrer that Iraq "threw the
inspectors out" in
1998, and that in 1990 Iraq had plans for "invading Saudi Arabia, which
they were ready to do." Both assertions are false, and neither was
challenged by Lehrer. Despite the fact that hundreds of FAIR activists
wrote to the NewsHour to point out Rumsfeld's distortions (see FAIR action
alert, 9/20/02), Lehrer made no attempt to correct the record.
ACTION: Write to the NewsHour and ask them to explain why Jim Lehrer
apologized for airing the opinions of Christian Parenti when other
journalists are routinely allowed to offer their opinions on the NewsHour.
Ask them why Parenti's analysis merited an on-air apology, while
Rumsfeld's distortions were not challenged or corrected.
CONTACT:
PBS NewsHour with Jim Lehrer
mailto:[email protected]
As always, please remember that your comments are taken more seriously if
you maintain a polite tone. Please cc [email protected] with your
correspondence.
--"PBS Gets Picky" by Cynthia Cotts (Village Voice, 3/17/04)
http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0411/cotts.php
--FAIR Action Alert: PBS Fails to Hold Rumsfeld Accountable
http://www.fair.org/activism/newshour-iraq.html
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