Another victim of war.

[Prismatic]

Veteran war reporter, Peter Arnett, was sacked by both NBC and National Geographics for giving an interview to Iraqi state TV.
He supposedly questioned the effectiveness of the coalition tactics and the miscalculations on the US military's part.

Check out the article:
http://edition.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/meast/03/31/sprj.irq.arnett/index.html

Just make me wonder, since most of the reporters in Iraq are embedded with the US army, doesn't it just make it easily for the US Army to show the journalists what they are only allowed to see? It's a really ingenious idea for a media clampdown, dun you think?

 

[mpenza]

guess they are trying to protect national interests. whatever most people think, journalism/media is controlled to certain extent in most countries.

 

[jeff chen]

Sorry guys, I tend to see the firing of Peter differently. I mean did he obtain permission from his employers before he did the interview? It wld appear not.

Understandably, no media is entirely free from bias and prejudices. I think if u look at Al Jazeera and American news network covering the current Gulf crisis, u wld think they are talking abt a different war entirely!

 

[aosis]

If i'm the boss, i'd fire him too.

 

[suhaimig]

That is why most of us is like production operators, given the machine to operate that it. Most of the article are made for you to read without knowing what has actually happen at that location. And there are even people proud of it.

well,well.


Cheers.

 

[Shadus]

I tend to see Peter Arnett as doing irresponsible reporting. It would seems that he's sharing personal opinion on national TV rather than reporting facts.

Fully support his sacking for irresponsible reporting

 

[ckhaos]

Originally posted by Shadus
I tend to see Peter Arnett as doing irresponsible reporting. It would seems that he's sharing personal opinion on national TV rather than reporting facts.

Fully support his sacking for irresponsible reporting

Since when is sharing personal opinion in the media irresponsible? Ever read the commentaries in the Straits Times? William Safire does it every week in the New York Times too.

What we do not like to hear, is not wrong.

 

[iceman]

how we see the issue depends on :

a. if it is his own view or
b. contractually, is he supposed to seek clearance from NBC and National Geographics if he were make public speeches (even if it is on a personal capacity).

of course, there is no stopping our employers from sacking us anytime.


just my 2 cents worth.

 

[matthew]

Originally posted by iceman
how we see the issue depends on :

a. if it is his own view or
b. contractually, is he supposed to seek clearance from NBC and National Geographics if he were make public speeches (even if it is on a personal capacity).

Who knows what was in this guy's contract. There would almost certainly a clause about doing any thing for a 'competing' network.
However I expect in any other situation they would have quietly ignored the trangression and 'slapped his wrists' over it.

It's as much a propaganda war as one on the ground. A lot of people 'at home' and in other countries completely fail to understand what the #$@$@ they are doing in there in there first place.
There is a reason why millions of us around the world have been marching in Anti-War rallies.

We can get CNN at work. Watching it is depressing. I kinda wish we could get Al Jazeera as well, just to see what the 'other side' reporting of the same thing. (The ground war will be over (I hope!) before we can get another dish on the roof to get Al Jazeera).