| NEW
YORK - April 3 - Although the invasion of Iraq is being fought
under the name "Operation Iraqi Freedom," it has constricted
the range of expression sanctioned by media outlets within the
U.S. Starting before the war began, several national and local
media figures have had their work jeopardized, either explicitly
or implicitly because of the critical views they expressed on
the war.
* MSNBC
canceled Phil Donahue's talkshow after an internal memo (leaked
to the All Your TV website, 2/25/03) argued that he would be
a "difficult public face for NBC in a time of war.... He
seems to delight in presenting guests who are anti-war, anti-Bush
and skeptical of the administration's motives." The report
warned that the Donahue show could be "a home for the liberal
anti-war agenda at the same time that our competitors are waving
the flag at every opportunity."
An email
from a network executive, also leaked
to All Your TV (3/5/03), suggested that it would be "unlikely"
that Donahue could be used by MSNBC to "reinvent itself"
and "cross-pollinate our programming" with the "anticipated
larger audience who will tune in during a time of war"
by linking pundits to war coverage, "particularly given
his public stance on the advisability of the war effort."
* Brent
Flynn, a reporter for the Lewisville (Texas) Leader, was told
he could no longer write a column for the paper in which he
had expressed anti-war views. "I was told that because
I had attended an anti-war rally, I had violated the newspaper's
ethics policy that prohibits members of the editorial staff
from participating in any political activity other than voting,"
Flynn wrote in a note on his personal website. "I am convinced
that if my column was supportive of the war and it was a pro-war
rally that I attended, they would not have dared to cancel my
column.... The fact that the column was cancelled just days
before the start of the U.S. invasion of Iraq raises serious
questions about the motives for the cancellation." Although
Flynn was ostensibly sanctioned for compromising the paper's
"objectivity," he continues to serve as a news reporter
for the paper, while losing the part of his job where he was
expected to express opinions.
* Kurt Hauglie,
a reporter and columnist for Michigan's Huron Daily Tribune,
quit the paper after allegedly being told that an anti-war column
he had written would not run because it might upset readers
(WJRT-TV, 3/28/03).
* The website
YellowTimes.org,
which featured original anti-war reporting and commentary, was
shut down by its Web hosting company on March 24, after it posted
images of U.S. POWs and Iraqi civilian victims of the war. Orlando-based
Vortech Hosting told Yellow Times in an e-mail, "Your account
has been suspended because [of] inappropriate graphic material."
Later, the company clarified: "As 'NO' TV station in the
U.S. is allowing any dead U.S. soldiers or POWs to be displayed
and we will not either." As of April 3, the site was still
down.
* The Qatar-based
Al-Jazeera news network's attempts to set up an English-language
website were foiled by unidentified U.S.-based hackers who launched
a denial-of-service attack. Al-Jazeera is expected to try
to relaunch its site in mid-April. The station's reporters also
had their press credentials revoked by the New York Stock Exchange,
and were unable to obtain alternative credentials at the NASDAQ
exchange: "In light of Al-Jazeera's recent conduct during
the war, in which they have broadcast footage of US POWs in
alleged violation of the Geneva Convention, they are not welcome
to broadcast from our facility at this time," a NASDAQ
spokesperson told the Los Angeles Times (3/26/03).
* Veteran
war correspondent Peter Arnett was fired
by NBC as a result of an interview that he gave to Iraqi
TV in which he said that war planners had "misjudged the
determination of the Iraqi forces" and that there was "a
growing challenge to President Bush about the conduct of the
war." After initially defending Arnett, NBC released a
statement saying that "it was wrong for Mr. Arnett to grant
an interview to state-controlled Iraqi TV-- especially at a
time of war-- and it was wrong for him to discuss his personal
observations and opinions in that interview."
###
|
