Want to thank Christiane Amanpour

[in_cog_ni_to]

for telling the TRUTH about the embedded journalists who were silenced by the Pentagon/Bush regime? Here's a link.

http://www.cnn.com/feedback/anchors/amanpour/frameset.exclude.html

Here an article about it. Send her an email! We need MORE journalists to do the same and we must encourage HER to continues to speak the TRUTH!

http://www.canoe.ca/Columnists/margolis_sep21.html

[soupkitchen]

1. nobody has ever answered this question for me.

What is the difference between reporters being embedded in the military and reporters in bed with the military.

Or to paraphrase Shakespeare, "Embedded fellows make for strange politics."

[pippin]

2. Forgive my skepticism

. . .good of her to speak up now the tide is definitely turning. The media can now openly criticise Bush and Co., now that everybody's doing it. The courageous and moral thing would have been to speak up before the carnage.

Remember what happens to journalists who are gutsy enough not to toe the party line? Helen Thomas? Peter Arnett?

The trouble is that we have a sub-culture of celeb journalists who enjoy the money and star status, not to mention shoulder rubbing with the mighty. It turns them into whores, and they lose a great deal when they are not "in bed" with the powers that be. I came to realize this over the summer when I happened to be traveling with a "star" journalist who was the guest lecturer for our tour. The chap was clearly prosperous, enarmored with his star status and first name basis with players in the white house. How could someone like that maintain his connections (not to mention his star status) except by pandering to the dictates of the current regime?

[madfloridian]

3. At least she is speaking up.

Most of the media just goes on their merry way hyping the administration. I would think you would at least show support for her. The fact that she was called on the carpet by Jim Walton, who also denied that CNN had beat war drums, shows me we need to voice our support.

I had thought CNN might go ahead on the road to be a real news station, but if his view on this is indicative......I see more drum-beating.

Maybe if he hears from enough people it might help CNN see there is room for other voices. MoveOn did help as well.

[pippin]

4. they don't need our support

they make a lot more than most of us, they enjoy star priviliges, so for god's sake do what they're paid handsomely to do--responsibly, ethically and in a timely fashion. . . not when it's covenient for them, or when it's not going to personally uncomfortable them.

If anything, there ought to be a movement by the public to kick-ass journalists back into being journalists who know what their first and foremost responsibilities are to the public.

[in_cog_ni_to]

7. *sigh*

>>>>>Remember what happens to journalists who are gutsy enough not to toe the party line? Helen Thomas? Peter Arnett?<<<<<<


I do remember. All the more reason to support Christiane! She's up against the Bush regime AND the Democrats/Progressives/Liberals who think she's a WHORE! With views like this, why would ANY journalist ever stand up and speak against the shit that's going on? Who the hell would blame them....I sure as hell won't after reading the replies to this thread. They're damned if they do and damned if they don't. JMCPO

Who was your "star" journalist?

[pippin]

9. why would

"why would ANY journalist ever stand up and speak against the shit that's going on?"

because;

1)it's the job of any journalist worthy of the tradition and code of REAL journalism. Otherwise where is this thing called journalistic integrity? Journalists have an obligation to their public, and when they don't reveal what's going on there is a breach of trust.

2)because in every one's life there is point where one has to do the right thing at the right time because the issue is greater than the desire for self preservation

During the McCarthy reign of terror no one dared to speak out till special counsel Joseph Welch said "Senator McCarthy Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last? Have you no sense of decency?" Where were the journalistic Joseph Welchs who were willing to ask the question of this administration BEFORE the war, or even after the questions of Florida?

Sorry, but to me Helen Thomas deserves more praise for her courage and journalistic
integrity. If Christiane Amanpour played along when the adminsitration fed us a crock of lies, why should I trust her reporting now?

[spooky3]

11. But the VAST majority of people

do NOT live up to your ideals, in part because the system is far bigger than any one person and will beat them down. This is more true today than ever.

Why not think in terms of gradation, a continuum instead of a dichotomy of admirable/not admirable? Thomas gets a 10 on a 10 point scale, but others should score substantially more than 1, and should be praised for it, in my opinion.

The tide has NOT turned if you believe any of the polls conducted by larger organizations. Most Americans still support * unfortunately, and are not nearly as informed as a lot of DUers. Amanpour will face a lot of flak for her comments and if she were any less well-known and well-respected, she would probably be shelved or worse at this point. I certainly admire her for adding her voice to the chorus and hope that the chorus swells and is listened to.

[in_cog_ni_to]

17. You left off an important

part of the sentence.>>>>"With views like this" (meaning..yours), why would ANY journalist ever stand up and speak against the shit that's going on? <<<<<<<<

If everyone wrote an email(to Chritiane) such as your post here, on DU, WHY would they BOTHER to stand up and speak out against the shit that's going on with the media and the government? If I received such feedback, I would say "fine! to hell with it then!" quit my job, move back to the UK and have a "real" life with my son and husband...whom she rarely gets to spend time with. I admire her for her guts! Did you see any other embedded CNN reporters speak out? I haven't. Have you seen any other embedded reporters, period, speak out? Nope.

[AP]

5. Too little, too late. Send her an email and ask here why she didn't speak

up when it could have made a difference.

[wtmusic]

6. She's a whore

who could have spoken out; could have saved lives.

Telling the truth my ass. This big breaking story makes me sick.

[GCP]

14. CNN censored her during the war

All you had to do was check CNN International's coverage. It was as if they were covering an entirely different war than the one we were shown.

[MrPrax]

8. She Did?

I find her comments courageous as she has something to lose...

But in all honesty, there have been tons of journalists and writers commenting on the propganda, the lack of questions and the queasy relationship between the Media and the Pentagon.

If anything, she is honest enough to acknowledge this 'problem'

We already have good journalists--their just not on the mainstream media

[in_cog_ni_to]

15. and the mainstream

media is what MOST people watch. She should be encouraged to continue speaking out against this government's control of our airwaves. I'm so sick of it. We need a way to take them back and she has a great platform for making that happen.

[MrPrax]

22. No...People Should be

Encouraged to cultivate their opinions from a wide source of references and sources...
Simply saying, 'oh well that is what the TV says' is no excuse...

Besides, how do you know she isn't biting the hand that fed her for the last decade, coz she is in a contract dispute and wants to jump ship....

I imagine there are a few 'mainstream' journalists worried about this problem of being identified too closely with their 'subjects' and finding themselves out of work when the tide changes back...

[in_cog_ni_to]

25. I don't know

if she's in a contractual dispute with CNN. I don't think she is since THIS took place.......


CNN news chief Jim Walton had a "private converation" with reporter Christiane Amanpour after she accused her own network of being "intimidated" in its coverage of the Iraqi war. Amanpour, a guest on last week's "Topic A with Tina Brown" on CNBC, set off shockwaves in the TV world over the weekend when she said she thought her employer, CNN, was "muzzled" in its war coverage by a combination of the White House and its competitive position with the higher-rated Fox News Channel.

"I think the press was muzzled, and I think the press self-muzzled," she said. "I'm sorry to say that, but certainly television and, perhaps, to a certain extent, my station, was intimidated by the administration and its foot soldiers at Fox News."

CNN denied it was cowed by anyone in its coverage - but said to have no plans to reprimand Amanpour. "I respect her," Walton told reporters yesterday and emphasized that Amanpour "speaks for herself" and not for CNN.

A Fox News spokeswonman said: "It's better to be viewed as a foot soldier for Bush than spokeswoman for al-Qaeda."(end)

From none other than.....http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/983518/posts?page=24

I don't think TV should be the ONLY source for info but, I am assuming that is where the majority of people, who aren't political junkies, get their news. Note the statement by the FAUX NEWS spokewoman....Ugh!

[QERTY]

10. She's Been Speaking Out For Years

She is and has been one of the few journalists willing to challenge power. She's Iranian! How many of her stories were pulled prior to her speaking out? You naysayers don't know. I've always hated the idea that some corrupt systems have to be fought from within, but in this case, it's true. How many Repigs and unaligned know-nothings watch Moyers? If you're preaching to the choir, you're not likely to win converts.

[oasis]

12. I sent Christine a "well done" then sent Wolf Blitzer the exact opposite.

[Feanorcurufinwe]

13. She has been my favorite CNN international correspondent for years

[redwitch]

16. journalists deaths at the Palestine Hotel

made her really angry. Did anyone see her?She was screaming with rage at the US forces who shot at the hotel. She was obviously shaken up but mostly really , really pissed. I like her, she seems very smart to me.

[forgethell]

18. One thing I don't understand

If CNN and Christiane were too cowardly to speak the truth then, why should we believe them now? Why should we ever believe them again. And what is this rot about being intimidated by FOX. Watever FOX's faults, I never heard that they had hit-men, platoons of soldiers, of the powers of the IRS. Being intimidated b the government of the United States I can understand, but by FOX??? Giving me a break!!!

[in_cog_ni_to]

19. I think

the WH and FAUX NEWS are 1 and the same. The WH tells FAUX NEWS what to say, how to say it and when to leak it. No other network is as connected to the Bush Administration. All the networks have been intimidated. Not FAUX NEWS, though. They kiss the a@@ of the WH. I remember a Newsweek article about CNN reporting on Bush being AWOL. They received a phone call from the WH threatening a visit from the SEC...if they didn't tow the line. They towed the line.

[Cheswick2.0]

20. That sounds like the argument we heard about not trusting David Brock

You remember when he wrote Blinded By the Right and suddenly all the rightwing mediawhores were talking about "how can you trust him now"?
:eyes:

[in_cog_ni_to]

23. David Brock

was the "apple" of the republicans eye...until he wrote his GREAT book. You're right, it's the same scenario. For the life of me, I cannot understand the hatred thrown at Christiane. She did the right thing, right?

[forgethell]

26. All I'm saying is

that if someone has admitted laying to me once, I won't trust them again, unless perhaps they can earn it over a long period of time.

Also, FOX has no armies. What is to be intimidated about. the truth should never be intimedated by lies.

[Feanorcurufinwe]

21. Your premise is so wrong.

Your premise that Christiane was 'too cowardly to speak the truth' is just totally wrong.

Her employer, the world's largest corporation AOL/Time-Warner, controls what is broadcast on CNN. They are the ones responsible for the evil they do, not Christiane Amanpour because she draws a paycheck from them.

And it certainly is NOT COWARDLY to criticize your employer in public.

[pippin]

24. With all due respect . ..

your premise is all wrong as you've ignored the larger questione, i.e., the role of the press/news media in a democracy--and I take it we all want the principles of a free democracy to go on working in the US? As for exonerating Christiane Amanpour "because she draws a paycheck from them . . ." that's just plain lame . . if we are all just workers and our employers say "go jump" I suspect you'd jump? In a self governing society isn't it part of our freedoms the right to make informed decisions rather than sleep walk throurgh life or act like robots at the behest of our bosses?

"A self-governing society, by definition, needs to make its own decisions. It cannot do that without hard information, leavened with an open exchange of views. Abraham Lincoln articulated this concept most succinctly when he said: "Let the people know the facts, and the country will be safe. . .Thomas Jefferson felt so strongly about the principle of free expression he said something that non-democrats must regard as an absurdity: "If it were left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter." The implication of those words is that self-governance is more essential than governance itself. Not so absurd, perhaps, if you had just fought a war against an oppressive government. . .in a free-market democracy, the people ultimately decide as to how their press should act. If at least a semblance of truth-in-the-public-service does not remain a motivating force for the mass media of the future, neither free journalism nor true democracy has much hope."

http://www.usembassy.de/usa/etexts/media/freepr/essay3.htm