David Westin, ABC News President, during a talk with students
at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism on Oct.
23, refused to say that the Pentagon was not a legitimate target
for a terrorist sneak attack.
After observing that thousands of innocent civilians were killed
in the attack on the World Trade Center, a student asked, "Do you
believe the Pentagon was the legitimate military target, even if
the missile [probably a reference to the hi-jacked airplane] was
not?"
Westin's response: "The Pentagon as a legitimate target? I
actually don't have an opinion on that and it's important I not
have an opinion on that as I sit here in my capacity right now
. . .. (A)s a journalist I feel strongly that's something that
I should not be taking a position on. I'm supposed to find out
what is and what is not, not what ought to be."
The story was reported by the Media Research Center in the October
29 CyberAlert. Matt Drudge then featured the story on his web
site and the New York Post "honored" Westin with an editorial.
Rush Limbaugh, too, helped publicize the situation.
By Wednesday afternoon, Westin was compelled to apologize. He
e-mailed this statement to the MRC:
"Like all Americans, I was horrified at the loss of life at the
Pentagon, as well as in New York and Pennsylvania on September
11. When asked at an interview session at the Columbia
Journalism School whether I believed that the Pentagon was a
legitimate target for terrorists, I responded that, as a
journalist, I did not have an opinion. I was wrong. I gave an
answer to journalism students to illustrate the broad, academic
principle that all journalists should draw a firm line between
what they know and what their personal opinion might be. Upon
reflection, I realized that my answer did not address the
specifics of September 11. Under any interpretation, the attack
on the Pentagon was criminal and entirely without justification.
I apologize for any harm that my misstatement may have caused."
Cokie Roberts thinks she knows who is to blame for her network
airing the Taliban's propaganda - the Pentagon, of course.
Her question for Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld on ABC's
This Week, October 28: "There's
some sense that we're losing the propaganda war and those pictures
we saw of those children at the beginning to the program have taken
the place in our minds of the picture of the World Trade Center
being blown up. Why not allow more press access so that the
United States press can show pictures that fight the Arab press?"
Rumsfeld responded that the U.S. military has been "enormously
forthcoming" with the media, but that it was not practical or
safe for reporters to be parachuted into Afghanistan.
Given that ABC reporters in Afghanistan and Pakistan have not
seen fit to contradict the Taliban propaganda, it seems unlikely
that increased access would help much.
The war is moving too slowly for John McWethey. On Monday,
Oct. 29, he complained, "Two weeks after the Pentagon said
Taliban forces had been 'eviscerated' by U.S. bombing, the
Taliban still appear to be firmly in control."
On Sunday, October 28, terrorists murdered 16 Christians
attending church in Pakistan, but ABC News gave it no mention.
Instead, David Wright focused his report on civilian casualties
of the bombing in Afghanistan.
Reporter Dan Harris became a guest of the Taliban to assist
them by disseminating propaganda. After two weeks in Pakistan
reporting on Al-Jazeera video of U.S. atrocities and victim
interviews at the Afghan border, he was allowed to visit the
Kandahar region. By videophone with Peter Jennings:
Jennings: "Why do you think they want you there?"
Harris: "I would say it's because of the rising civilian
casualties, what they claim is a rising number of civilian
casualties. I think they see that this is an enormous public
relations boon to them."
"What they claim" is what Harris has been reporting as fact.
On Wednesday, October 31, Harris stated, "We expected a
completely joyless, rigid society . . .. (T)oday, in fact, we
saw a young boy flying a kite." He then followed this lovely
image by sharing the Taliban's case that indiscriminate U.S.
bombing has killed hundreds of civilians.
Peter Jennings asked if the Taliban was trying to "guide" his
news coverage. Harris replied, "Nobody is checking our scripts.
Nobody is standing here as I do this discussion with you."
Jeffrey Toobin, the legal analyst for ABC News, is promoting
his new book, Too Close to Call: The Thirty-Six-Day Battle to
Decide the 2000 Election. A quote
from the book:
"The wrong man was inaugurated on January 20th, 2001, and this
is no small thing in our nation's history. The bell of this
election can never be un-rung and the sound will haunt us for
some time."
Talk about being out of step! It's enough to cause a person to heave a deep, Al Gore-like
sigh!
Peter Jennings must be feeling Hillary Clinton's pain. He
thought it would be a "good" sign if the fans at Yankee Stadium
would boo President Bush at the opening game of the World Series:
"Just one last thing. We are always looking for signs that the
country is behaving like its old self again. Tonight at the
World Series, if the Yankee fans boo the President, it won't
mean necessarily they are unhappy with his leadership, but he
did say that he would cheer for anyone but the Yankees in the
series. So if New York fans give him the business it just means
they're acting like their old selves. And that's probably a good
sign."
Sadly for Peter Jennings, the Yankee fans greeted the president
with applause, cheers and chants of "U.S.A, U.S.A". Even more
telling of Jennings' attitude, he saw no need to update his
viewers the following day.
