Jennings Hypes Saudi Opposition to Iraq War -- 10/10/2002 CyberAlert
Jennings Hypes Saudi Opposition to Iraq War; Walters Praises Castro for "Great Things" He's Done; NPR Hires Liberal from ABC; CNN Accurately Labels a Liberal; Sheen Complains Dissent Being Suppressed; Belafonte Calls Powell Bush's "House Slave"; Whoopi Calls Corporate Crooks "Terrorists" Apparently having exhausted for now the supply of U.S. opponents of Bush's Iraq policy, on Wednesday night ABC's World News Tonight elevated the importance and relevance of opposition by the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia. "Overseas tonight," Peter Jennings hyped, "concern at the highest levels about the U.S. attacking Iraq." Peter Jennings teased at the top of the October 9 broadcast: "The man who effectively rules Saudi Arabia. His first U.S. television interview. Brief and to the point: The U.S. should be very careful about attacking Iraq." Leading into an ad break, Jennings warned: "When we come back this evening, an ABC News exclusive: The most influential man in Saudi Arabia says be careful about Iraq." Jim Sciutto relayed from Saudi Arabia how top Saudis are "saying a U.S. attack on Iraq would be an attack on Islam. 'Why else,' they say, 'would Washington enforce UN resolutions against Baghdad but not on Israel despite escalating violence against Palestinians?'" Though most of the 9/11 terrorists came from Saudi Arabia and the nation funds terrorism, Sciutto passed along how they think that since the U.S. is suspicious of the intentions of Saudis entering the U.S. that the U.S. has betrayed them: "In Saudi Arabia, America's closest ally in the region for decades, there is something more, a deep sense of betrayal following the September 11th attacks." Jennings introduced Sciutto's story: "Overseas tonight, concern at the highest levels about the U.S. attacking Iraq. And it only took one comment from the most influential man in Saudi Arabia to make it clear. ABC's Jim Sciutto is in Saudi Arabia where access to the Crown Prince, Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz is very rare. This is the first interview that he has given to American television." Sciutto began, as taken down by MRC analyst Brad Wilmouth: "We were invited inside the ornate palace of the Crown Prince for his weekly meeting with Saudis from around the country. They're treated to an eight-course dinner in his private dining room, and they see him face to face to ask for help. Most requests are personal. This man asks for a job. But among Saudis, the talk is of a U.S. attack on Iraq. The Crown Prince expresses little enthusiasm for war. Just back from interviewing dictator Fidel Castro in Cuba for a segment set to air on Friday's 20/20 marking the 40th anniversary of the Cuban missile crisis, on Wednesday's The View Barbara Walters heralded how "he's done great things for education and he's done great things for health."
MRC analyst Jessica Anderson transcribed the October 9 discussion on ABC's daytime program The View about what Walters learned while in Cuba: Walters: "But we went to a school with him, and these children were sobbing just to see him. I mean, whatever the feeling is, they are-" "The big question you want to ask is can't you have education and health and freedom?" A very good question. But did Walters ask it? We'll have to watch Friday's 20/20 to see. Tonight's World News Tonight will feature a preview of the Walters interview with Castro. A perfect match? In hiring ABC News reporter Michele Norris as the new co-host of All Things Considered, National Public Radio picked a reporter who found a nefarious motive behind President Bush's call last fall for schoolchildren to donate one dollar each to help kids in Afghanistan, castigating it as insidious "propaganda." Sounds right in tune with NPR. In October of last year on World News Tonight, Norris asserted that "behind the scenes" at schools "there are quiet grumblings about this dollar drive. There are concerns that American children are being used in a propaganda campaign." And, she ominously rued, "school officials said they wouldn't dare air those concerns publicly, not when America appears to be swept up by symbolism." Norris, a former Washington Post reporter, appeared infrequently on ABC, which may help explain her decision to leave, but back in 1995 the MRC caught her using ABC's airwaves to try to undermine reform efforts being pushed by conservatives in 1995 after winning control of the House. She concluded a story on the June 1, 1995 World News Tonight: In the October 12, 2001 World News Tonight story about negative reaction to Bush's call for kids in the U.S. to help Afghan children, Norris showed video of kids in St. Paul and Washington, DC enthusiastically lining up to put dollar bills into bottles and boxes following the President's request made at a press conference. A five-year-old kid in Kansas City, she noted, decided to give all the money he had, $29. Norris asked an 11-year-old boy in Washington, DC: "What do you think it says about this country?" Norris then countered his naive idealism, as she ominously intoned: "Behind the scenes there are quiet grumblings about this dollar drive. There are concerns that American children are being used in a propaganda campaign. But school officials said they wouldn't dare air those concerns publicly, not when America appears to be swept up by symbolism. Apparent today as America's school children, at the urging of the White House, simultaneously recited the Pledge of Allegiance." Following video of children at various locations reciting the pledge, Norris concluded on an affirmative note: "In the war against terrorism, a new tactic: Responding to hatred with generosity from America's young." With the kind of jingoistic attitude the 11-year-old expressed ("I think it says that our country is loving and caring"), he'll never get a job at NPR. Jim Romenesko's MediaNews posted NPR's press release announcing how Norris would join the network's daily afternoon news show in December. An excerpt: Michele Norris, an award-winning journalist with nearly two decades of experience, will join long-time host Robert Siegel and the newly appointed Melissa Block, as a regular co-host of All Things Considered, public radio's longest-running national program. Norris comes to NPR from ABC News, and will begin as co-host on December 9, 2002. "After nine extremely rewarding years working with a dedicated and talented team of broadcasters at ABC News, I now look forward to this new and extraordinary opportunity," said Michele Norris. "As a devoted listener of All Things Considered, I have long been impressed and inspired by the show's commitment to excellence and by its gifted stable of correspondents and commentators who guide listeners on an incredible journey to new destinations and discoveries each day. It will be a privilege and an honor to join Robert and Melissa in hosting that daily conversation with NPR's committed and intellectually curious audience."... Norris has been a correspondent for ABC News since 1993. As a contributing correspondent for the "Closer Look" segments on World News Tonight with Peter Jennings, Norris reported extensively on education, inner city issues, the nation's drug problem and poverty. Norris has also reported for the Washington Post, Chicago Tribune and Los Angeles Times.... "Michele Norris will make her mark on public radio," said Bruce Drake, vice president for news. "Her range is broad; she's comfortable reporting on everything from Washington politics to popular culture. She will bring to All Things Considered an approach to domestic subjects like education and poverty that is diverse and wide-ranging."... END of Excerpt Meaning liberal and narrow. For the press release in full: http://www.poynter.org/medianews/memos.htm For a picture and bio of Norris, as long as ABC keeps it up: http://abcnews.go.com/sections/wnt/WorldNewsTonight/norris_michele_bio.html Some appropriate labeling of a liberal by CNN. In previewing the Senate race in Minnesota, NewsNight anchor Aaron Brown on Tuesday night described incumbent Democrat Paul Wellstone as "a liberal in big, block, capital letters," though he claimed "there aren't many of those left." In the subsequent story, reporter Candy Crowley called Wellstone "one of the purest liberals on Capitol Hill." MRC analyst Ken Shepherd noticed the unusual ideological tagging by TV reporters of a liberal politician. Brown set up the October 8 story on NewsNight: "Senator Paul Wellstone would have had a tough run to hold his seat under any circumstances. He's a liberal in big, block, capital letters. There aren't many of those left. He's running despite a promise he made a decade ago to only serve two terms. Minnesotans accept liberals more than most, not so sure how they feel about broken promises. And he has a challenger: Popular, moderate Republican, handpicked by the White House. And then, there is Iraq. Here's CNN's Candy Crowley." Crowley began her piece, which also ran on Wednesday's Inside Politics: "It is 48 degrees and pouring in Eveleth, Minnesota. Senator Paul Wellstone is here to talk union business and small business, but a local reporter wants to know about the Iraq business." Crowley, however, later employed a euphemism for liberalism: "Iraq could play either way or not at all in Minnesota, a largely progressive, proudly populist state, where independent thought is practically a religion." The West Wing is liberal even without any show plot input from its star, Martin Sheen, he revealed on Wednesday's Today in saying that he has "not once" suggested a subject for the program to tackle. Pressed by Katie Couric about Iraq, Sheen complained: "There is a great deal of fear in the country now, speaking out, it seems particularly on this issue and being thought of as unpatriotic and actually the reverse is true." MRC analyst Geoffrey Dickens observed how Couric tried to prompt Sheen, who plays "President Josiah Bartlet," to say something liberal. Couric asked him on the October 9 Today: "Here we are on the verge it appears of a war with Iraq. I know that you've dealt with terrorism in the final episode. Do you think you're going to take a stab at the conundrum of dealing with a despot like Saddam Hussein in terms of what a government should do in a situation like that?" If only Couric followed that philosophy. Comments Sheen made last week to PBS's Charlie Rose seem to contradict Sheen's promise of separation between his personal political view and his acting work. Sheen disclosed to Rose: "I think if you took three Presidents that I happen to admire very greatly and put them all together you'd have the fantasy of Bartlet, and that would be John Kennedy, Jimmy Carter, and Bill Clinton." Sheen made the same point on Wednesday's Live with Regis and Kelly. For more about what Sheen said on the October 3 Charlie Rose show, see the October 8 CyberAlert: http://www.mediaresearch.org/cyberalerts/2002/cyb20021008.asp#4 Secretary of State Colin Powell is a "house slave" serving the interests of his "master," President Bush, actor/singer Harry Belafonte charged during an interview on a San Diego radio station on Tuesday morning. Belafonte, who is probably best-known for singing "The Banana Boat Song," aka "Day-O," also equated the Justice Department's tactics under John Ashcroft with the McCarthy era: "Families were destroyed, neighbors spied on neighbors. Now we find Ashcroft cutting in under the guise of catching terrorists, suspending liberties and rights. To deny those rights, to any citizen, to any people, is to cast a great shame on us and lead us back to another dark period." Tuesday night on FNC's Hannity and Colmes, Sean Hannity played an audio clip from Belafonte's appearance that morning, October 8, on KFMB in San Diego. MRC analyst Patrick Gregory took it down: On the DrudgeReport.com page, Matt Drudge reported that
"Belafonte also sang the praises of the United Nations as a pillar of global democracy, and decried President Bush for failing to attend the UN World Conference Against Racism in Durban, South Africa earlier this year. For Drudge's story in full: http://www.drudgereport.com/hb.htm Belafonte's hate-filled comments were uttered during Ted Leitner's morning show on KFMB and the station has posted a Windows Media Player audio clip of the October 8 interview: http://www.760kfmb.com/personalities/ted_leitner/index.php Drudge provided this link to a page with the melody of "The Banana Boat Song" in Apple QuickTime along with text of the lyrics: http://singalongwithme.com/banana/ For a picture of Belafonte (Drudge's story linked above also has a photo of him) and complete rundown of his movie and TV roles over the decades, check his page on the Internet Movie Database: http://us.imdb.com/Name?Belafonte,+Harry Actress/comedian Whoopi Goldberg contended earlier this week that corporate crooks are "terrorists" who are "much the same as Saddam" because "they're just as horrific and in terms of, literally, destroying people's lives on a daily basis." Except they didn't commit any mass murders and don't have the power to imprison others for life or have them executed. Goldberg issued her exaggerated comparison during a taped interview on CNBC's Monday night show, After Hours with Maria Bartiromo. Asked by Bartiromo on the October 7 program about how she's working the corporate scandals into her comedy act, Goldberg replied by commenting on the subject in general: For a bio and picture of Goldberg, see the Internet Movie Database's page on her: http://us.imdb.com/Name?Goldberg,+Whoopi A little over the top. Equating corporate sleazes with terrorists and mass murdering dictators could cause the reality of true terrorists to be diluted. -- Brent Baker
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