Brokaw Features Gorbachev's Denunciation of Bush's Iraq Policy --10/12/2004

1. Brokaw Features Gorbachev's Denunciation of Bush's Iraq Policy
NBC's Tom Brokaw turned to Mikhail Gorbachev, whom he hailed as "the man who changed the course of Russian history," for an assessment of Bush's Iraq policy. Monday's NBC Nightly News showcased the denunciation of the war, by the media's favorite dictator, as "a mistake" which represented "a blow struck to international law" and the United Nations. The former leader of the expansionist Soviet Union also denounced Bush's "unilateral action."

2. "Facts Are Firewall Against Bias," News Not Driven By "Ideology"
"Bias, like beauty, is often in the eye of the beholder" and "facts are your firewall against bias," NBC's Tom Brokaw insisted at a Radio-Television News Directors Association (RTNDA) awards banquet last week at which, no joke, Dan Rather accepted, on behalf of CBS News, an "Overall Excellence Award." At the October 4 event in New York City, ABC's Peter Jennings argued that "whatever people say about Dan [Rather], some of which seems to me to be unnecessarily cruel and ugly, in 40 years the evening news has never been driven by ideology. And boy, do I recognize ideology when I see it."

3. Sinclair's Anti-Kerry Film So Annoys Brown He Takes 13 Minutes
Ongoing liberal bias at the networks and major print outlets isn't of much interest to CNN's Aaron Brown, but the decision by the Sinclair Broadcasting Group, owner of mostly small market WB and UPN affiliates reaching fewer than one-fourth of U.S. homes, to show on their stations a film about the anger at Kerry from Vietnam POWs, annoys Brown so much that he devoted 13 minutes of Monday's NewsNight to what he and others in the mainstream media see as so controversial. NewsNight ran a taped piece from Howard Kurtz, followed by Brown quizzing a Sinclair representative and then Brown talked to two guests disturbed by Sinclair's programming, former FCC Commissioner Reed Hundt and former CBS News reporter Marvin Kalb who also seemed to have suddenly discovered bias as he fretted about "the growing politicization of the media." Brown expressed contempt for those who see liberal bias in the media: "This segment is really for everyone else, for those who worry about fairness in media."

4. Springsteen Rant to Dramady's Bush-Bashing: Sundance Helps Kerry
As election day approaches, Robert Redford's Sundance cable channel has become an active promoter of liberal causes with programming praising John Kerry and belittling George W. Bush. The channel devoted five-and-half-hours Monday night to the live broadcast of a "Vote for Change" concert, complete with a rant from Bruce Springsteen urging viewers to open their windows and scream "Halliburton," as well as how Kerry understands the need for a "living wage" and that "America is not always right. That's a fairy tale for children." In a new weekly Sundance series about an imaginary liberal Democrat, a woman fretted about "the extraordinary amount of harm" that Bush has caused and though she conceded that "Bush isn't getting semen stains on the carpet," she asserted: "You're telling me he's brought honor to his office? I don't think so."

5. NBC Catches Up on School Diagrams in Iraq, But Downplays Danger
Update on an Update. NBC Nightly News on Monday caught up with Friday's CBS Evening News and Thursday's World News Tonight on ABC in reporting how diagrams and emergency plans for U.S. schools were found with insurgents in Iraq, but Tom Brokaw emphasized how "it turns out there may have been a lot less here than meets the eye." NBC's dismissal of any need for concern, however, was based on nothing more than an FBI official who speculated that "it could be somebody that was working to make the schools safer in Iraq. It does not always mean because he had this, it was something evil."

Item #3 in the Saturday, October 9 CyberAlert, about how NBC's Tim Russert and Tom Brokaw were appalled by John Kerry's pledge, made during the Friday night debate, not to raise taxes on anyone earning less than $200,000, reported that "Chris Wallace" took part in the exchange on MSNBC. A later reference properly quoted "Matthews" since the Chris was really Chris Matthews.

Brokaw Features Gorbachev's Denunciation
of Bush's Iraq Policy

NBC's Tom Brokaw turned to Mikhail Gorbachev, whom he hailed as "the man who changed the course of Russian history," for an assessment of Bush's Iraq policy. Monday's NBC Nightly News showcased the denunciation of the war, by the media's favorite dictator, as "a mistake" which represented "a blow struck to international law" and the United Nations. The former leader of the expansionist Soviet Union also denounced Bush's "unilateral action."

Brokaw generously explained how "Gorbachev is in this country as part of his twice annual speaking tour here. His main cause is the environment, getting more international cooperation on clean water, clean air, and land conservation."

In a sit-down with Gorbachev excerpted on the October 11 NBC Nightly News, Brokaw first asked Gorbachev to evaluate his democratically-elected successor, Vladimir Putin. Brokaw then brought up Iraq:
"Mr. President, President Bush believes that the United States will be successful in establishing a stable Iraq, a democratic Iraq, and that that will go a long way toward stabilizing the Middle East and helping to defeat terrorism. Your country had a long-time relationship with Iraq. Do you agree with his assessment?"
Gorbachev, through a translator, as taken down by the MRC's Brad Wilmouth: "I think it was a mistake. This is a blow struck at international law, at the United Nations, at relations and alliance and partnership between the United States and other countries. And, of course, public opinion was ignored. Unilateral action, on the part of any country, and even a country like the United States, the most powerful country, is just not enough for security. In a global world, where all problems -- terrorism, the environment and all the other problems effect all of us -- security can only be common security, universal security. I believe that Iraq has been a lesson to all of us, including the United States, and I believe that international politics will be changing based on the lessons that we should learn from the war in Iraq."

"Facts Are Firewall Against Bias," News
Not Driven By "Ideology"

"Bias, like beauty, is often in the eye of the beholder" and "facts are your firewall against bias," NBC's Tom Brokaw insisted at a Radio-Television News Directors Association (RTNDA) awards banquet last week at which, no joke, Dan Rather accepted, on behalf of CBS News, an "Overall Excellence Award." At the October 4 event in New York City, ABC's Peter Jennings argued that "whatever people say about Dan [Rather], some of which seems to me to be unnecessarily cruel and ugly, in 40 years the evening news has never been driven by ideology. And boy, do I recognize ideology when I see it."

Accepting his award, Rather assured the audience: "Please know, tonight, that I indeed am humbled by this, and by what it represents to CBS News, and to me, personally. Please know, too, that we are resolved to emerge from this trial as an even stronger news organization, so that we may continue to be worthy of your trust and confidence."

A Friday, October 8, Broadcasting and Cable magazine daily e-mail first brought the event to my attention.

An excerpt from Brokaw's keynote address, as provided by a transcript posted by the RTDNA:

....Bias, like beauty, is often in the eye of the beholder. Facts are your firewall against bias. Facts fairly presented in a coherent arrangement that represents the whole story, not just the parts that titillate.

It's okay to have personal interests, even passions, about newsworthy topics. Those interests make you a better journalist. Advancing those interests or passions for personal gain or satisfaction makes you an unworthy journalist. Know when to say "No" to yourself as well as to your children.

Mistakes will happen. When they do, correct them, quickly and apologetically. Factual mistakes are obvious. However, there are also mistakes of perception and exaggeration, myopia and hubris. They're more difficult to acknowledge but no less important to your personal credibility and that of your organization. When you say, "We stand by our story," make damn sure your viewers have a clear, unambivalent idea of why you're standing by your story.

END of Excerpt

For Brokaw's remarks in full: rtnda.org [1]

An excerpt from the remarks made by Jennings when he accepted the award for the "Best Newscast":

....I am no whiz at statistics, but I do know that World News Tonight reaches five times the audience of all the cables combined on a daily basis, so if you put the three of us together, there is some reason to believe the evening news is not quite as irrelevant as some people would wish it to be.

What I do think is unfortunate, and I hope it doesn't sound too pompous to say it -- not so much for World News Tonight but for the entire country -- is that many people seem to have decided to tailor their consumption of news to fit their political or social bias.

We all have biases. God knows I do. But I am less inclined to cling to them quite as assiduously when I make an effort to hear other points of view. And please don't automatically take that as a comment on Fox. They do some excellent, provocative, interesting reporting.

And whatever people say about the liberal media -- whatever that actually means -- and whatever people say about Dan [Rather], some of which seems to me to be unnecessarily cruel and ugly, in 40 years the evening news has never been driven by ideology. And boy, do I recognize ideology when I see it....

END of Excerpt from Peter Jennings

For the remarks by Jennings in full: rtnda.org [2]

For the October 6 press release from the RTDNA, which touts itself as "the world's largest professional organization devoted exclusively to electronic journalism," about the awards event held at the Grand Hyatt New York: rtnda.org [3]

For pictures from the evening: rtnda.org [4]

The Monday evening, October 4, remarks from Brokaw and Jennings came just two days after their Saturday morning, October 2 effort, at the New Yorker Festival, to defend Dan Rather against critics. As recounted in the October 4 CyberAlert:
At a Saturday forum in New York City, Dan Rather refused to comment specifically on his political hit job on President Bush using forged documents, but his paranoid feelings came through later when he complained that if you ask too many tough questions of an administration they will do their "very best to smear you" and they will "attack you, the messenger," because they "can't attack you on the facts." Peter Jennings and Tom Brokaw came to Rather's defense at the New Yorker Festival event which featured the three anchors. To loud applause, Jennings argued: "I don't think you ever judge a man by only one event in his career." Brokaw lectured: "What I think is highly inappropriate is what's going on across the Internet, a kind of political jihad against Dan Rather and CBS News that is quite outrageous." Making a political comparison to a non-media outlet transgression, Brokaw complained "that there's been very little attention given, by those people who are initiating a lot of these attacks, to what's happened to the investigation into who leaked to Bob Novak the use of what turned out to be a forged document to make a claim about uranium in Niger." See: www.mediaresearch.org [5]

Sinclair's Anti-Kerry Film So Annoys
Brown He Takes 13 Minutes

Ongoing liberal bias at the networks and major print outlets isn't of much interest to CNN's Aaron Brown, but the decision by the Sinclair Broadcasting Group, owner of mostly small market WB and UPN affiliates reaching fewer than one-fourth of U.S. homes, to show on their stations a film about the anger at Kerry from Vietnam POWs, annoys Brown so much that he devoted 13 minutes of Monday's NewsNight to what he and others in the mainstream media see as so controversial. NewsNight ran a taped piece from Howard Kurtz, followed by Brown quizzing a Sinclair representative and then Brown talked to two guests disturbed by Sinclair's programming, former FCC Commissioner Reed Hundt and former CBS News reporter Marvin Kalb who also seemed to have suddenly discovered bias as he fretted about "the growing politicization of the media."

Brown, at least, was cognizant of how his sudden interest in "fairness" would look, as he conceded: "For those of you who believe that most media is hopelessly liberal, this will be the proof." But he insisted he would have done the same thing if a station were to carry Fahrenheit 9/11, and he then displayed contempt for all those who see liberal bias: "This segment is really for everyone else, for those who worry about fairness in media, who worry about power concentrated in a few hands."

But as the October 11 CyberAlert noted, ABC and CBS have run unchallenged excerpts from Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11, to zilch outcry from Brown or anyone else. And while they ran much shorter than the 45-minute anti-Kerry film, they were on major networks accessible to every American. For details about what ABC and CBS played, as well as a peek at the liberal political activities of those on the corporate side of those two networks, see the October 11 CyberAlrert: www.mediaresearch.org [6]

Back on June 2, Tom Brokaw devoted over a minute of NBC Nightly News to promoting Moore's left-wing, Bush-bashing movie, even running a portion of the movie trailer, the kind of promotional advertising normally reserved for paid spots, movie theater "coming attractions" and movie previews on entertainment shows. NBC Nightly News, in fact, gave Moore's screed more than three times more air time Wednesday night than did Paramount's syndicated Entertainment Tonight (18 seconds) and four times more time than did NBC's own syndicated entertainment news show, Access Hollywood (14 seconds). Brokaw at least characterized Moore as a "liberal activist," but he described Moore's production simply as "an award-winning film about President Bush and his team." See: www.mediaresearch.org [7]

Brown failed to recognize that he's part of the media bias problem which Sinclair is trying to counter-balance. Back on Memorial Day, weeks after the swift boat veterans came forward, NewsNight carried a four-minute info-mercial for John Kerry narrated by Brown who simply recited Kerry's version of all his Vietnam heroics, without a word about contrary views or anything about vets angry at Kerry for betraying them when he testified to the Senate about atrocities -- the very subject of the Stolen Honor film that Sinclair wants to share.

For more about the film: www.stolenhonor.com [8]

For a transcript of Brown's May 31 tribute to Kerry: www.mediaresearch.org [9]

Brown set up his first October 11 NewsNight segment with a promise of fairness:
"For those of you who believe that most media is hopelessly liberal, this will be the proof. You won't hear or believe that if the story in question were about an anti-Bush film, let's say 'Fahrenheit 9/11,' we would say exactly the same thing, do the segment exactly the same way, ask the same questions. We would. But we're not naive enough to believe that you would believe. So this segment is really for everyone else, for those who worry about fairness in media, who worry about power concentrated in a few hands. This is about a decision one company made to air a harsh political film in the days before the election on all of its dozens of TV stations, an indictment of John Kerry. A decision that says a fair amount about how the media rules have changed. A discussion on this in a moment. First, CNN's Howard Kurtz."

Kurtz's story, tracked down by the MRC's Brad Wilmouth, assumed Sinclair was in the wrong: "Closing days of a presidential campaign are a sensitive time when media organizations try not to do anything that would look like tilting toward one side or the other. But Sinclair Broadcasting doesn't worry, doesn't really seem to care if critics say the company is openly conservative. Sinclair has ordered its 62 television stations to preempt regular programming, days before the election, and air an aggressively anti-Kerry movie. It's called 'Stolen Honor,' by former Washington Times reporter and decorated Vietnam veteran Carlton Sherwood. The movie's argument is that when Lieutenant John Kerry testified about abuses in Vietnam after returning from combat, he was libeling all American soldiers there as, in Sherwood's words, 'deranged drug-addicted psychopaths,' 'baby killers,' and 'war criminals.' So why would Sinclair insist on carrying such a loaded, one-sided film? Could it have anything to do with the fact that Chief Executive David Smith is a strong supporter of President Bush? Or that its executives have donated nearly $70,000 on this campaign, 90 percent of it to Republicans? This is the same company that refused to carry an edition of Nightline last spring when Ted Koppel simply read, without comment, the names of all U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq. Sinclair accused Koppel of pursuing an anti-war agenda. But the publicity was a boon for Nightline."
Ted Koppel: "Sinclair Broadcasting Group did more for our ratings that night than anything we could have done."
Kurtz: "As for 'Stolen Honor,' a Kerry campaign spokesman calls the Sinclair move a 'smear' and 'yellow journalism.' And Democratic Chairman Terry McAuliffe said today he would file a complaint with the Federal Election Commission, charging Sinclair with making an in-kind contribution to the Bush campaign. It's hard to think of a precedent for all this. Imagine if, in the campaign's final week, CBS or CNN ran Michael Moore's 'Fahrenheit 9/11' to whip up the audience against Bush. Understandably, there would be an uproar. A Sinclair vice president told the Washington Post that the film tells a powerful story, that the broadcast networks are acting like Holocaust deniers about Kerry's past. But Sinclair seems in denial about how partisan this looks on the even of an election. And its local stations from Baltimore to Sacramento aren't being given a choice. Howard Kurtz, CNN, Washington."

Brown introduced his first guest: "Mark Hyman is the executive Howard Kurtz mentioned. He's the Vice President for Corporate Relations and an on-air commentator for Sinclair Broadcast Group, and he joins us from Washington. We're glad to have him with us. This stuff, these accusations, the statements by POWs and others have been out there in ads for weeks, if not months. What makes this news?"
Mark Hyman, Sinclair Broadcasting Group: "Well, there are a couple things. First of all, Aaron, unfortunately, Howard Kurtz' piece was incorrect. We haven't even finalized a format on this. We haven't made a decision how we're going to air, what portions of this documentary will be aired. All we've done is made a place holder. And there's been quite a bit of outcrying response to, complaining about content about a program that doesn't even exist yet. We haven't even developed a project yet."
Brown: "Sounds to me like in the last three days since this story was first reported by the L.A. Times you're backing away from it."
Hyman: "No, the L.A. Times actually got it wrong. They made some statements that flat-out were wrong. We have not decided on a format. We've invited one guest to appear: John Kerry. One person. That's all. We are working on a format. And it's dependent on how much John Kerry will participate in this process. If he spends two hours with us or two minutes, will dictate part of how this program will develop. But as far as newsworthy itself, and that was your question, is this deals with Vietnam POWs, including, in this case, two Medal of Honor winners who suffered horrific abuse and unspeakable tortures over many, many years. And they are replying to some claims made by John Kerry. They, more than anyone else in America, have earned the right to have their voices heard. And so far, the news gate keepers have denied them this opportunity. The notion of shuffling it off to political advertisements is exactly the sort of thing that broadcast television, at the network and local level, have received a lot of criticism for over the last decade or two, for ignoring legitimate news stories, and instead, hoping to sell advertising to people who want to push candidates or referendums or political questions."
Brown: "Your stations run the Swift Boat ads, don't they?"
Hyman: "That's immaterial to the process. As far as a news organization is concerned, if we look at a story and say, 'Well, here's a news story, but if we can make money off of it by selling it, we'll skip doing the news story itself,' that's what organizations like Alliance for the Better Campaigns has leveled at broadcasters saying they're not doing enough, they're not airing political debate, they're not discussing political stories, they're not talking about market officials."
Brown: "With due respect, in no sense, then, you would, you would ask us to believe that in no sense is the decision to air some, all, of this, political on the part of Sinclair?"
Hyman: "Why would you say that? Because there's a story, some element of the story is not favorable? The same example would be if there was a car bomb that took place in Iraq today, should I say, well, I can't report that because that would reflect poorly on the President? Absolutely not. If there's a car bomb, if there are bad unemployment figures, we're going to report those just like we report all news. This is newsworthy. The documentary was produced over a month ago. The broadcast networks all turned their nose up at it, according to the film maker, said we will not talk to you on this topic unless the John Kerry campaign signs off on it and tells us it's okay to talk to you. If that, in fact, is correct, that is what should be investigated. That's what should be looked at."
Brown: "Well, we could look at all of that, too. But you don't know that first-hand, correct?"
Hyman: "No, I don't."
Brown: "Okay."
Hyman: "All I know is that we have spent a few weeks checking out the stories of these POWs, verifying they, in fact, served, they were prisoners of war. They came back. They have a story they want to tell. I think they, more than anyone else who ever served in Vietnam, have a right to be heard. I think the fact that there are organizations who dismiss them and act as if they don't exist, certainly ought to take a better look at themselves and their standards and how they report news."

After an ad break, Brown spent five minutes with Hundt and Kalb fussing over the situation.

For a full list of Sinclair's 62 stations: www.sbgi.net [10]

Springsteen Rant to Dramady's Bush-Bashing:
Sundance Helps Kerry

As election day approaches, Robert Redford's Sundance cable channel has become an active promoter of liberal causes with programming praising John Kerry and belittling George W. Bush. The channel devoted five-and-half-hours Monday night to the live broadcast of a "Vote for Change" concert, complete with a rant from Bruce Springsteen urging viewers to open their windows and scream "Halliburton," as well as how Kerry understands the need for a "living wage" and that "America is not always right. That's a fairy tale for children." In a new weekly Sundance series about an imaginary liberal Democrat, a woman fretted about "the extraordinary amount of harm" that Bush has caused and though she conceded that "Bush isn't getting semen stains on the carpet," she asserted: "You're telling me he's brought honor to his office? I don't think so."

Much of the rest of that episode last week of Tanner on Tanner was devoted to diatribes from Mario Cuomo about how "I think this President should lose because he likes war too much" and because he has the worst jobs record "since Hoover." Plus, "the President saying we're safer now? Then what's the warning system all about? What are all these terrorist attacks all over the world?"

Last Tuesday, before the Tanner on Tanner episode, Sundance aired the far-left documentary, Uncensored: the Whole Truth About the Iraq War.

And every weeknight at 11:30pm EDT, Sundance carries an hour of Al Franken's Air America radio program.

-- Springsteen and Vote for Change concert. From 7pm to 12:30am Monday night, Sundance aired National Anthem: Inside the Vote for Change Concert Tour, a splicing of some pre-taped segments, of musicians talking politics backstage at earlier concerts, with live coverage of a concert at the MCI Center in Washington, DC which featured Bonnie Raitt, R.E.M, Pearl Jam, Dixie Chicks, James Taylor, Dave Matthews Band, John Fogerty and Bruce Springsteen.

Most of the singers made political pronouncements from the stage, but as the final performer, Springsteen delivered the longest polemic, shouting at one point: "You mislead the nation to war, the man loses his job. It ain't rocket science!"

He later turned his attention to home viewers: "I want all you folks at home to get up off your couch now, come on, I want you up off your couch, and I want you to take that remote control and I want you to turn that television volume all the way up until the walls are rattling. And I want you to come closer to the TV. And I want you to take off all your clothes! And I want you to put one hand on the television set and I want you to say 'Haliburton' three times real bad! Now go to your window, roll that window open and tell all your neighbors that a change is coming!"

In a calmer moment, though still while shouting, at just past midnight EDT Springsteen laid out his case for Kerry:
"We remain a land of great promise, but I think we need to move America toward the fulfillment of the promises that she's made to her citizens: Economic justice, civil rights, protection of the environment, a 'living wage.' There are so many people out there working two jobs and can't make ends meet. A real living wage. Respect for others and humility in exercising our power at home and around the world. These are not impossible ideals. They are achievable goals with strong leadership and the will of a vigilant and informed American people.
"These core issues of America's identity are what's at stake when we vote on November 2nd. And I believe that Senator Kerry and Senator Edwards understand these important issues and are prepared to help our country move forward. I think they understand America is not always right. That's a fairy tale for children. As John Edwards said, struggle and heartbreak will always be with us. But one thing America should always be is true. And it's in seeking her truth, both the good and the bad, that we find a deeper patriotism, that we find a more authentic experience as citizens, that we find the power that is embedded only in truth to change our world for the better..."

The home page for the Vote for Change concert tour, a project of the MoveOn PAC: www.moveonpac.org [11]

-- Tanner on Tanner. Starting last week, Sundance resurrected the 1988 series created by leftist cartoonist Garry Trudeau of Doonsbury fame, Tanner '88, a dramady about left-wing Congressman "Jack Tanner's" quest for the presidency, a series in which he interacted with real-life candidates and journalists.

In the fresh series, the same actor, Michael Murphy, plays "Jack Tanner," and Cynthia Nixon, of Sex and the City, plays his daughter "Alex Tanner" with whom he's collaborating on a documentary about his 1988 run and the character traits of those who ran in this year's Democratic presidential primary, a plot which enabled the Sundance producers to tape interactions, with real candidates, at the Democratic convention in Boston.

The first episode, which aired on October 5, opened with Nixon, as "Alex Tanner," taping a promo for her documentary: "When you look at the insanity in Iraq right now. When you look at the incredible spiral of violence and hatred that we've set in motion, that's when you realize the extraordinary amount of harm that a single person sitting in the Oval Office can inflict on the world. Okay, so George Bush isn't getting semen stains on the carpet, but you're telling me he's brought honor to his office? I don't think so...."

Much of the remainder of the episode took place at Elaine's restaurant in Manhattan where Mario Cuomo sat at a table with "Jack Tanner." In between other events, the camera caught a number of diatribes from the real Mario Cuomo:

# "It's not difficult to fool people in political campaigns. I'm sure you learned that from your campaign. I certainly did. And I think that's what's happening. If you look at the facts, the President got us into a war that he chose and it was done very specifically on three predicates: They have weapons of mass destruction, they're complicit with al-Qaeda and they're going to use them against us. Everybody in the country knew that, the Congress voted, so now it's clear that they were wrong."

# "Four years ago we had the biggest surplus the country's ever had. Now we have a deficit. We had 22 million new jobs. Now if you do jobs from now until the election you're still the worst record since Hoover. And the President saying we're safer now? Then what's the warning system all about? What are all these terrorist attacks all over the world?"

# "The thousand or so lives we've already lost of Americans, the 15,000 innocent people, the wounded people, the $150 billion -- all of that you justify. Mr. President, are you telling us, you would do this again? Because there are other oppressors, there are other nations begging for democracy. There's the Sudan."

# "I think that's the trap that President is in. He's really saying implicitly, I favor war. It's ironic, Carter lost because he favored peace too much. They said he wasn't strong enough to fight. I think this President should lose because he likes war too much. And then when you add the Wolfowitz's and the Cheney's and all the people that inspired him who he wants to keep around..."

Sundance's summary of Tanner on Tanner, a series which will run for four weeks:

In 1988, filmmaker Robert Altman and writer/cartoonist Garry Trudeau joined forces to create a documentary-styled tv series on the presidential election. Rather than cover the politics from afar, they cast Michael Murphy to play a presidential hopeful, Jack Tanner, and shot his journey right along side such "real" politicos as Bob Dole, Bruce Babbitt and Pat Robertson. The series was critically applauded and won Altman an Emmy Award for Best Director. Flash forward to 2004. Altman and Trudeau join forces again to bring Tanner back, along with his daughter Alex (Cynthia Nixon), who has grown up to become a documentary filmmaker. What has happened in those 16 years? How have Jack Tanner, his daughter, and the rest of their campaign team changed with the times? TANNER ON TANNER is a four-part series following the new adventures of Tanner, as his daughter tries to make an important film, her dad tries to stay out of politics, and they all end up on the floor of the 2004 Democratic convention.

END Reprint from the Sundance Web site.

That's posted, with synopses of all the episodes, at: www.sundancechannel.com [12]

Another half-hour episode of Tanner on Tanner will air tonight, Tuesday, at 9pm EDT on Sundance.

The Sundance home page: www.sundancechannel.com [13]

NBC Catches Up on School Diagrams in
Iraq, But Downplays Danger

Update on an Update. NBC Nightly News on Monday caught up with Friday's CBS Evening News and Thursday's World News Tonight on ABC in reporting how diagrams and emergency plans for U.S. schools were found with insurgents in Iraq, but Tom Brokaw emphasized how "it turns out there may have been a lot less here than meets the eye." But NBC's dismissal of any need for concern, however, was based on nothing more than an FBI official who speculated that "it could be somebody that was working to make the schools safer in Iraq. It does not always mean because he had this, it was something evil."

As recounted in the October 9 CyberAlert, on Friday, October 8, the CBS Evening News caught up with ABC's World News Tonight and ran a story about how several local schools in the U.S. were warned that layout diagrams for their schools were found with insurgents in Iraq. The October 8 CyberAlert relayed how on Thursday night ABC's Brian Ross reported how "law enforcement officials tell ABC News that someone described as a captured Iraqi insurgent had downloaded school floor plans...from elementary schools and high schools" in six U.S. states. CBS's Dan Rather picked up the same story about a warning issued to schools, but held it to a brief item in which he managed to not mention how floor plans were found with the enemy in Iraq.

For the October 9 update in CyberAlert: www.mediaresearch.org [14]

For the October 8 CyberAlert item: www.mediaresearch.org [15]

Brokaw set up the Monday NBC Nightly News story: "When federal law enforcement authorities recently notified school districts in six states in this country that a computer disk found in Iraq contained photos, floor plans, and other information about their schools, it was unsettling to say the least. But, as NBC's Kerry Sanders reports tonight, it turns out there may have been a lot less here than meets the eye. Nonetheless, the warning does raise some disturbing questions."

Sanders began: "Today, beefed-up security at some public schools open this Columbus Day. Around the country, anxiety after reports of Iraqi rebels downloading school data, including classroom floor plans. But it turns out now, the reaction was based on bad information."
Jan Caldwell, FBI: "It could be somebody that was working to make the schools safer in Iraq. It does not always mean because he had this, it was something evil."

Sanders proceeded to note that, nonetheless, some parents remain "edgy" and, before he moved on to other areas of security concerns beyond schools, he cited one parent whose worries were renewed by the Beslan attack.

# Anderson Cooper of CNN is scheduled to appear Tuesday night on ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live which follows Nightline.

-- Brent Baker [16]