CNN's Yellin: Network execs killed critical White House stories

[Newsjock]

Source: Politico

This is a requested repost of the earlier article from today, UPDATED to reflect new comments by Yellin.

On Wednesday night, CNN's Jessica Yellin talked to Anderson Cooper about Scott McClellan's tell-all memoir and agreed with the former press secretary that White House reporters "dropped the ball" during the run-up to war.

But Yellin went much further, revealing that news executives ... actively pushed her not do hard-hitting pieces on the Bush administration. (UPDATE: Yellin now says it was MSNBC execs, not ABC)

"The press corps was under enormous pressure from corporate executives, frankly, to make sure that this was a war presented in a way that was consistent with the patriotic fever in the nation and the president's high approval ratings," Yellin said.

... UPDATE: TVNewser reports that Jessica Yellin is going to post a blog item shortly on CNN.com that will clarify her remarks. From what I'm hearing, she'll write that it was MSNBC execs, not ABC that she was referring to last night. Yellin worked at MSNBC during the run-up to war, but then moved on to ABC that summer, where she stayed for four years. UPDATE 2: Yellin confirms this.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/blogs/michaelcalderone/0508/CNNs_Yellin_Network_execs_killed_critical_White_House_stories_.html

---

Yellin's updated comments are here:
http://ac360.blogs.cnn.com/2008/05/29/tv-news-under-the-microscope

I find myself in an interesting position. Today the blogs lit up with comments I made last night on AC360° and suddenly I’m being reported on.

It’s not the most comfortable position for a reporter.

So let me clarify what I said and what I experienced.

First, this involved my time on MSNBC where I worked during the lead up to war. I worked as a segment producer, overnight anchor, field reporter, and briefly covered the White House, the Pentagon, and general Washington stories.

Also, let me say: No, senior corporate leadership never asked me to take out a line in a script or re-write an anchor intro. I did not mean to leave the impression that corporate executives were interfering in my daily work; my interaction was with senior producers. What was clear to me is that many people running the broadcasts wanted coverage that was consistent with the patriotic fever in the country at the time. It was clear to me they wanted their coverage to reflect the mood of the country.


Original (long) DU thread is here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=3330015&mesg_id=3330015

[valerief]

1. What would happen if they didn't comply with the White House?

Probably the same thing when WH officials don't respond to subpoenas. Nothin.'

[Lydia Leftcoast]

9. During Reagan's war on Central America, NYT reporter Raymond Bonner reported

that the U.S-backed Salvadoran army had massacred unarmed peasants in the village of El Mozote.

Here's the Wikipedia account:

A Times staff reporter at the time, Bonner was smuggled by FMLN rebels to visit the site approximately a month after the massacre took place.

When the story broke simultaneously in the Post and Times on January 27, 1982, it was dismissed as propaganda by the Reagan administration, as it seriously undermined efforts by the US government to bolster the human rights image of the Salvadoran government, which the US was supporting with large amounts of military aid.

The Times was strongly criticized by the editorial page of the Wall Street Journal, Accuracy In Media and the Reagan government for reporting the story of the massacre. The Times was pressured to pull Bonner from the Central American desk; then managing editor Abe Rosenthal moved Bonner to the Business desk, and Bonner resigned soon afterward. He continued to contribute as a freelance correspondent, and returned to the staff of The New York Times in 1992, after details of the massacre as first reported by Bonner and Guillermoprieto were verified.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raymond_Bonner

[valerief]

23. So he loses his steady job in the hopes of saving lives by telling the truth.

And he gets it back 10 years later, when the evil king went back to his ranch and jellybeans.

I thought that's what real journalism was all about.

[McCamy Taylor]

13. Loss of Pentagon contracts for GE.

[valerief]

24. Ha! That's right! nt

[davekriss]

21. What would happen to the reporter?

Probably the same as what happened to Ashleigh Banfield, former MSNBC rising star. She would find herself unemployed after reporting and commenting against this tide of "patriotic fever", only to find a couple of years later a slot co-anchoring a 1 hour minor program on Court-TV. Trust me, her peers across the "news" industry knew there was a permissible narrow news agenda, beyond which they could not go. Thus, back in 2002/2003, like a magic choir ABCNBCCBSFOXCNNMSNBCCNBC argued how the Iraq War should be fought, not whether or not we should go to war, despite initially clear public disapproval for war.

[90-percent]

2. What if?

If MSM reporters did not tow the company line, they would probably haVE BEEN WORKING THE UNEMPLOYMENT LINE SHORTLY THEREAFTER.

Dan Rather is the example that comes to mind, but I'm sure there were many others. This Bush MSM has wrecked a lot of careers for many that still have some footing in "the reality based community".

Reporting on Bush's own manufactured reality was a much better career path, as you would still be employed in your chosen field, instead of being employed in the landscape or door to door sales industries.

-90% jimmy

[DrDan]

7. I think it is past time for a few reich wing journalists to lose their jobs

in pay-back for Dan Rather.

Lets start with Sean, billo, etc

[PinkyisBlue]

15. Phil Donahue was a media personality who lost his job.

He didn't put the proper positive "spin" on his discussion of the Iraq War. He was too independent in his thinking. We can't have journalists actually trying to see both sides of a story or researching an issue.

[against all enemies]

3. I believe the MSNBC stuff, David Gregory was being a Bush toad this AM.

[Ilsa]

11. He's been a water carrier for Bushco since the story broke.

He ended his Nightly News report to Bryan Williams with a "disloyalty" comment of some variation. He couldn't simply report, he really was throwing in some attitude.

[davekriss]

22. David Gregory has always been a Bush toad

He's a gear inside the Rovian Wurlitzer that is spun to sound a marginally discordant note from time to time, helping to quell any unrest over our tightly owned press and its job to manufacture consent.

When I was Times bureau chief in Washington, I was a member of the League of Gentlemen; otherwise I never would have been bureau chief. Time after time, good reporters ... complained about not being able to get stories in the paper. And time after time I said to them, 'You're just not going to get that in the New York Times... it's too reliant on your judgement rather than on official judgement, it's too complex, it contradicts the official record more flagrantly than the conventions of daily journalism allow.'"

-- Tom Wicker, New York Times columnist, Guardian (London), February 13, 1985

[valerief]

25. God, every time I turn on XM on my ride home from work I hear

that godawful toady Gregory instead of Rachel Maddow. WTF?

You reminded me that I have to check this out online to see if that asswipe is a permanent replacement.

[pacalo]

4. I believe she meant what she said the first time when she referred to "corporate executives"

as making the decisions about the direction of the news, rather than the "senior producers" in her clarification.

And this -- what she said in the interview with Anderson Cooper -- is unbelievably false:

And my own experience at the White House was that, the higher the president’s approval ratings, the more pressure I had from news executives — and I was not at this network at the time — but the more pressure I had from news executives to put on positive stories about the president.

This did not apply to President Clinton.

[NewJeffCT]

18. You're right

funny how that works, since he had high approval ratings, too... :sarcasm:

[Westegg]

5. From the mouths of babes.

[maddezmom]

6. AP: CNN reporter talks of pressure to be patriotic

CNN reporter talks of pressure to be patriotic
By DAVID BAUDER – 23 minutes ago

NEW YORK (AP) — CNN correspondent Jessica Yellin said Thursday she was referring to her time spent at MSNBC when she said she felt pressure not to report stories critical of the Bush administration during the time leading up to the Iraq war.

Yellin's initial comments, made during a discussion with Anderson Cooper on CNN Wednesday, shifted attention to the news media's performance following release of a critical assessment of the Bush administration by former White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan. He wrote that Bush's strategy for selling the war was less than candid and honest.

During her CNN appearance, Yellin said the press corps was under enormous pressure from corporate executives to make sure the war was presented "in a way that was consistent with the patriotic fever in the nation and the president's high approval ratings."

The higher Bush's approval ratings, the more pressure she felt from news executives to put on positive stories about the president, she said. Pushed by Cooper to explain, Yellin said her bosses would turn down critical stories about the administration and try to put on positive pieces.

more:http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5ij9JDGtKUEu9OlIDnowiM0AS9C3wD90VJ11G4

[treblemaker]

10. I hate that headline

That's not "patriotic", that's "loyal to the current administration".
Biiiiiig difference there. We need to quash that meme.

[NewJeffCT]

17. welcome to DU

Two new posters in one thread.

Good point as well. Being patriotic should be standing up to Team Bush.

[AllHereTruth]

8. Surprising? i think not

Is anyone surprised by this? i certainly am not, The News Media as we know it is dead. It is a corporate enterprise, based solely on profits. It is a business, why report on depressing war when it can be spun into this great patriotic event spanning years.

The anchors that dare show their faces each night are spineless cowards. The American public that says and does nothing are spineless cowards. The corporate media has controlled us long enough. http://freepress.net/conference>It is time to stand up.

this is my second post ever on DU. Im here to stay. Get to know me. Love me, i know i love you guys. Keep up the great blogging.

[calimary]

12. Welcome to DU!

Glad you're here! We need you, and we love you already!

I love DU so much!!! Because of DU, I'm blogging now, too. Here's my latest:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x6156725

[NewJeffCT]

16. welcome to DU

and, I don't think anybody on DU is surprised.

[McCamy Taylor]

14. MSNBC fired Donahue because he would criticize the war. He was their highest rated show.

There is a great documentary "Weapons of Mass Deception" by Danny Schecter that I got to see in its premiere in Amsterdam in 2004 after Bush stole Ohio. People in Europe loved it. They buried it here. It does a great job of showing NBC/MSNBC leading the march to war. They had special music made up to go with the war. The Pentagon coordinated the propaganda with GE. It was disgusting.

http://www.wmdthefilm.com/mambo/index.php

[Doctor_J]

19. Best case - Dan Rather/Phil Donahue. Worst case

Gary Webb/James Hatfield

[tom_paine]

20. Nice to have confirmation of the obvious.