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Pastimes : My House -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Original Mad Dog who wrote (7077)	4/22/2003 3:49:28 PM
From: Original Mad Dog	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 7689

Letters to the editor from today's Wall Street Journal: LETTERS Does CNN's Motive Really Matter? In reaction to Franklin Foer's April 14 editorial-page piece "CNN's Access of Evil," lambasting CNN chief news executive Eason Jordan, who essentially rewarded the Saddam Hussein regime with favorable coverage because of its threats to his reporters: Tyrants depend on lies to stay in power and CNN knowingly refused to expose many facets of Saddam's brutality. Was CNN motivated by access to murderers and thugs? Money? Ratings? Does it really matter? While we will never know the consequences of its decision to withhold information, its choice clearly bolstered a murderous regime by keeping its dirty secrets hidden. Almost as sad is the mild response of the media to CNN's deliberately misleading the public by omitting damning facts known to CNN regarding Saddam's evil. The media provides endless coverage of even the smallest political scandals, usually hounding the alleged culprits mercilessly. Same goes for corporate scandals. Even car chases get more coverage. Yet the media has scantly focused on the multi-decade deceit perpetrated by CNN on a global scale. Where is the editorial outrage calling for the resignations of those responsible for this fraud? Patrick Duval New York Updated April 22, 2003 ************** CNN Is Not Just Guilty of Bad Judgment CNN is not just guilty of bad judgment for its Faustian bargaining of "access to evil," but of violating its corporate values, FCC broadcasting standards, and the trust of its viewers. According to Eason Jordan's admission, CNN misled AOL Time Warner shareholders by deliberating ignoring its own set of "integrity values" to "rigorously uphold editorial independence" by reporting Iraq's Baath Party line. CNN also disregarded FCC guidelines that call news rigging "a most heinous act against the public interest." Oliver Mitchell New York Updated April 22, 2003 ************** The Harassment of Journalists Mr. Foer quite appropriately asks what other regimes are likewise receiving sanitized coverage, suggesting Cuba, Syria, and Burma as likely candidates. He didn't mention the Palestinian Authority, which is the recipient of more coverage per capita than any foreign entity and desperately relies on good media coverage. In fact, sympathy for its view is its only weapon now that blowing up children has oddly failed to generate international support. While we've heard snippets of the torture of alleged "collaborators," the recruitment of children to serve as suicide terrorists and throw rocks at tanks, and the corruption of its security apparatus, this coverage has been remarkable limited. We also haven't heard much about the harassment of journalists. Yet we do know that the PA issued a threat to journalists photographing children with guns, an Arab working for the Israeli news was kidnapped, an Arab reporter said that the greatest threat to his life was the Palestinian police, and the Italian journalist who photographed the lynching of two Israeli reservists last October had to be recalled under death threats. Shari Reich Lakeland, Fla. Updated April 22, 2003 *********** The Palestinians' Intimidation Tactics** The Palestinian Authority also uses intimidation techniques to prevent the dissemination of disparaging information about Yasser Arafat's regime. For example, on Oct. 12, 2000, a mob of Palestinians in Ramallah beat two Israelis to death and dumped one of the bodies out of a window as the killers showed off their blood-soaked hands to a cheering crowd. The Palestinians tried to suppress news of the lynching by intimidating journalists and confiscating their film, but one brave Italian cameraman who caught the event on tape succeeded in bringing the graphic images to the attention of the world. The Palestinians' intimidation tactics, however, still exacted a price: After Italian journalists in the region were threatened, a representative of Italian television, Riccardo Christiano, cravenly apologized in writing to the Palestinian Authority for the unflattering coverage. Later, when Palestinians cheered the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks on America, the Palestinian Authority used similar tactics to suppress these images as well -- this time, with more success. And when the Palestinians spread outright lies about Israeli conduct in Jenin to divert public attention away from the horrific Passover massacre that Palestinians had just carried out in Israel, CNN and other American and European media outlets readily reported the Palestinians' slanders about Israelis without questioning the veracity of the false allegations. Stephen A. Silver Concord, Calif. Updated April 22, 2003