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Posted on 04/15/2003 6:23:53 AM PDT by CWW
Corruption at CNN
Peter Collins
Mr. Eason Jordan's admission that CNN had to suppress the news from Baghdad in order to report it brought back memories for me.
In January 1993, I was in Baghdad as a reporter for CNN on a probationary, three-month contract. Previously, I had been a war reporter for CBS News in Vietnam and East Asia and in Central America for ABC News. I had also made three trips to Baghdad for ABC News before the Gulf War.
Now, Bill Clinton was about to be inaugurated and there was speculation that Saddam Hussein might "test" the new American president. Would the new administration be willing to enforce the "no-fly" zones set up in northern and southern Iraq after the Gulf War?
CNN had made its reputation during the war with its exclusive reports from Baghdad. Shortly after my arrival, I was surprised to see CNN President Tom Johnson and Eason Jordan, then chief of international news gathering, stride into the al-Rasheed Hotel in Baghdad. They were there to help CNN bid for an exclusive interview with Saddam Hussein, timed to coincide with the coming inauguration of President Clinton.
I took part in meetings between the CNN executives and various officials purported to be close to Saddam. We met with his personal translator; with a foreign affairs adviser; with Information Minister Latif Jassim; and with Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz.
In each of these meetings, Mr. Johnson and Mr. Jordan made their pitch: Saddam Hussein would have an hour's time on CNN's worldwide network; there would be no interruptions, no commercials. I was astonished. From both the tone and the content of these conversations, it seemed to me that CNN was virtually groveling for the interview.
The day after one such meeting, I was on the roof of the Ministry of Information, preparing for my first "live shot" on CNN. A producer came up and handed me a sheet of paper with handwritten notes. "Tom Johnson wants you to read this on camera," he said. I glanced at the paper. It was an item-by-item summary of points made by Information Minister Latif Jassim in an interview that morning with Mr. Johnson and Mr. Jordan.
The list was so long that there was no time during the live shot to provide context. I read the information minister's points verbatim. Moments later, I was downstairs in the newsroom on the first floor of the Information Ministry. Mr. Johnson approached, having seen my performance on a TV monitor. "You were a bit flat there, Peter," he said. Again, I was astonished. The president of CNN was telling me I seemed less-than-enthusiastic reading Saddam Hussein's propaganda.
The next day, I was CNN's reporter on a trip organized by the Ministry of Information to the northern city of Mosul. "Minders" from the ministry accompanied two busloads of news people to an open, plowed field outside Mosul. The purpose was to show us that American warplanes were bombing "innocent Iraqi farmers." Bits of American ordinance were scattered on the field. One large piece was marked "CBU." I recognized it as the canister for a Cluster Bomb Unit, a weapon effective against troops in the open, or against "thin-skinned" armor. I was puzzled. Why would U.S. aircraft launch CBUs against what appeared to be an open field? Was it really to kill "innocent Iraqi farmers?" The minders showed us no victims, no witnesses. I looked around. About 2000 yards distant on a ridgeline, two radar dishes were just visible against the sky. The ground was freshly plowed. Now, I understood. The radars were probably linked to Soviet-made SA-6 surface-to-air missiles mounted on tracks, armored vehicles, parked in the field at some distance from the dishes to keep them safe. After the bombing, the Iraqis had removed the missile launchers and had plowed the field to cover the tracks.
On the way back to Baghdad, I explained to other reporters what I thought had happened, and wrote a report that was broadcast on CNN that night.
The next day, Brent Sadler, CNN's chief reporter at the time in Baghdad (he is now in northern Iraq), came up to me in a hallway of the al Rasheed Hotel. He had been pushing for the interview with Saddam and had urged Mr. Johnson and Mr. Jordan to come to Baghdad to help seal the deal. "Petah," he said to me in his English accent, "you know we're trying to get an interview with Saddam. That piece last night was not helpful."
So, we were supposed to shade the news to get an interview with Saddam?
As it happens, CNN never did get that interview. A few months later, I had passed my probationary period and was contemplating my future with CNN. I thought long and hard; could I be comfortable with a news organization that played those kinds of games? I decided, no, I could not, and resigned.
In my brief acquaintance with Mr. Jordan at CNN, I formed the impression of a decent man, someone with a conscience. On the day Mr. Jordan published his piece in the New York Times, a panel on Fox News was discussing his astonishing admissions. Brit Hume wondered, "Why would he ever write such a thing?" Another panelist suggested, "Perhaps his conscience is bothering him." Mr. Eason, it should be.
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No person of integrity could.
It would be nice if this starts to make major headlines so the entire population of the USA hears about this.
What does that say about those who did not resign?
NEW CNN TELEVISION SERIES
The New Destruction of Western Civilization by, and on, CNN
==========================
Monday:
A program on 'Our Planned Future Complete Destruction of all Traces of Israel'
narrated by Sheila MacVicar, Andrea Koppel and Terrorist Arafat.
Tuesday:
How the USA lost in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Wednesday:
Ms. Fonda Turner returns for 'Our Past and Future Treason against America'
THURSDAY:
Ted Turner will tell of his being "a student at Brown University
...kicked out for painting swastikas on the doors of Jewish student's rooms."
Turner will give an intro into turning Hate Crime,
like his, into paying off with billions and billions of $$$$$$$$.
Ted Turner, June 18, 2002: "So who are the terrorists?
I would make a case that both sides are involved in terrorism."
FRIDAY:
Ted Turner lists the 50 compelling reasons that
CNN sponsors, highlights, and supports Palestinian murderers.
CNN will continue to focus on the murderers calling the despicable terrorists "suicide bombers".
CNN argues that all murder and terrorism against Americans and Jews
is not really terrorism but is just a "CNN-reasonable alternative".
SATURDAY:
Ted Turner lists how he and his lawyers scr$#ed
"the descendants of 47 black residents who pooled their money in 1920 to
purchase a 328-acre plantation"
CNN harbors terrorists. It always has been, and apparently always will be. 
not very many ads on CNN En Espanol, only Peugeot and -- Amway! how can we boycott them, eh Freepers? is Amway leftist run?
It is 24/7 socialist B***S*** and unfortunately is the only "live" news channel on cable we get (thank heaven for there is broadband in Chile and i can get live video off the net!)
or can they go lower?
I hope so too. But they won't. They'll get a pass. Just watch, you'll see.
I have no way of knowing, but I'd guess FoxNews is, at very least, less corrupt.
I was very, very liberal until I noticed that my observation of the Thomas hearings was completely different from what PBS, NPR etc, reported.
Nowdays, I notice that a lot of what I see through C-Span's camera is not what is later reported by the liberal media. FoxNews coverage is closer to what I would report, if I were a reporter.
Of course, if FoxNews generally does the same thing as CNN, they deserve to be exposed, too.
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