IronMike
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Aaron Brown was made to loo like the Hypocrite he (and his CNN) truly is:
Brown gets wrapped up in his own outrage, adopts a holier-than-thou attitude, and is disbelieving when Al-Miraz (of Al Jazeera) cites examples of CNN doing the same thing. The examples don’t just involve showing photos of POWs either, but shots of battlefield dead. The “interviews” with the captured U.S. soldiers are of course exploitative and wrong. They’re part of a long-standing style of Iraqi propaganda (remember that skin-crawling TV appearance that Saddam made with a young boy in 1991?). But, unlike the Pentagon, the cable news media don’t have a lot of room to get huffy about this kind of thing. Brown got his clock cleaned for trying.
BROWN: Look, I’ll play this as directly as I can. Explain to me the rationale that your network had for displaying what can only be described as the most gruesome of pictures across the Arab world?
…
BROWN: All right, sir…
AL-MIRAZ: …on both sides.
BROWN: …respectfully, I understand that. And I, believe me, would be the first to argue and have many times in my professional life, that we are not in the business of sanitizing war or anything else. But is not — is there not a line between sanitizing the news and simply putting something on TV because it is gruesome. You can show the horror or war without zooming in on the most gruesome — I mean, I don’t — I’m reluctant to even describe…
AL-MIRAZ: Yes.
BROWN: …what that 6.5 minutes looked like, because honestly, sir, it is vile.
AL-MIRAZ: And that’s what happened. Al Jazeera, when we got the chance to edit these tapes, first it was rushed and put out as is or mostly as is. And I agree with you. Some of it is really terrible and horrible. Unfortunately, some European networks, including Sky News, that is also the owners of Sky News are the owners of other U.S. networks, put the pictures as is. And maybe they did not edit out, but Al Jazeera did edit out after that the pictures. And we made sure that it doesn’t show a description of faces or anything like that. That happened on — later on … To explain to you what happen. So 12:00 noon Al Jazeera did abide by that until the people in the Pentagon notified the families. And unfortunately, half an hour after that, 12:30, I was watching CNN and I found one of your reporters in the Pentagon reading names of three POWs. And this is CNN in English for American families, while Al Jazeera would not reach any American or English speaker audience in the U.S. And this is what we’re talking about.
BROWN: Sir, are you saying that this happened on CNN…
AL-MIRAZ: Yes, sir.
BROWN: …excuse me, let me finish the sentence. I wasn’t quite done. On CNN International or CNN domestic.
AL-MIRAZ: CNN domestic, sir.
BROWN: Because as you know, excuse me, as you know, there’s a very different audience and a very different issue there.
AL-MIRAZ: As — we’re talking about CNN domestic, CNN America. We’re talking about 12:30. And the Pentagon did investigate that and talk to the reporter who did that. And to — just to add to that also, look today at “The Washington Post” front page.
BROWN: Okay, that…
AL-MIRAZ: “The Washington Post” front page has an Iraqi POW. I don’t think that this is — two wrongs don’t make a right. I agree with you.
BROWN: Stop.
AL-MIRAZ: As we know in about…
BROWN: We’re getting — no, no, we’re veering all over the place. But let me bring you back to one question. Let’s not go to the POWs yet. We’ll get to the POWs if you want. How many times before noon when you pulled this — when you say you pulled this thing or edited this thing or whatever precisely happened, how many times were the six minutes, and you know this, sir, you know how gruesome that piece of tape is, how many times had that been aired? And for what purpose could it possibly have been to air it in that form?
AL-MIRAZ: Well, I haven’t counted how many times. It might be twice or three times, but also we have to remember we are in testing times. And this is a war. And until you know there is a reaction like that, maybe people didn’t feel it, but once they felt that there is a very negative reaction to some of these footages, they responded to that. And we should remember also, Aaron, that in 1993, when CNN was 13 years old, Al Jazeera is now seven year old, CNN put the footages of the U.S. soldiers bodies dragged in Mogadishu, in Somalia City. And I don’t think also would people judge on CNN for doing that. People hated — those people who did that to the U.S. soldiers, but not CNN because it carried…
BROWN: Okay.
AL-MIRAZ: …the bodies of U.S. soldiers in Somalia in 1993.
Brown gets wrapped up in his own outrage, adopts a holier-than-thou attitude, and is disbelieving when Al-Miraz (of Al Jazeera) cites examples of CNN doing the same thing. The examples don’t just involve showing photos of POWs either, but shots of battlefield dead. The “interviews” with the captured U.S. soldiers are of course exploitative and wrong. They’re part of a long-standing style of Iraqi propaganda (remember that skin-crawling TV appearance that Saddam made with a young boy in 1991?). But, unlike the Pentagon, the cable news media don’t have a lot of room to get huffy about this kind of thing. Brown got his clock cleaned for trying.
BROWN: Look, I’ll play this as directly as I can. Explain to me the rationale that your network had for displaying what can only be described as the most gruesome of pictures across the Arab world?
…
BROWN: All right, sir…
AL-MIRAZ: …on both sides.
BROWN: …respectfully, I understand that. And I, believe me, would be the first to argue and have many times in my professional life, that we are not in the business of sanitizing war or anything else. But is not — is there not a line between sanitizing the news and simply putting something on TV because it is gruesome. You can show the horror or war without zooming in on the most gruesome — I mean, I don’t — I’m reluctant to even describe…
AL-MIRAZ: Yes.
BROWN: …what that 6.5 minutes looked like, because honestly, sir, it is vile.
AL-MIRAZ: And that’s what happened. Al Jazeera, when we got the chance to edit these tapes, first it was rushed and put out as is or mostly as is. And I agree with you. Some of it is really terrible and horrible. Unfortunately, some European networks, including Sky News, that is also the owners of Sky News are the owners of other U.S. networks, put the pictures as is. And maybe they did not edit out, but Al Jazeera did edit out after that the pictures. And we made sure that it doesn’t show a description of faces or anything like that. That happened on — later on … To explain to you what happen. So 12:00 noon Al Jazeera did abide by that until the people in the Pentagon notified the families. And unfortunately, half an hour after that, 12:30, I was watching CNN and I found one of your reporters in the Pentagon reading names of three POWs. And this is CNN in English for American families, while Al Jazeera would not reach any American or English speaker audience in the U.S. And this is what we’re talking about.
BROWN: Sir, are you saying that this happened on CNN…
AL-MIRAZ: Yes, sir.
BROWN: …excuse me, let me finish the sentence. I wasn’t quite done. On CNN International or CNN domestic.
AL-MIRAZ: CNN domestic, sir.
BROWN: Because as you know, excuse me, as you know, there’s a very different audience and a very different issue there.
AL-MIRAZ: As — we’re talking about CNN domestic, CNN America. We’re talking about 12:30. And the Pentagon did investigate that and talk to the reporter who did that. And to — just to add to that also, look today at “The Washington Post” front page.
BROWN: Okay, that…
AL-MIRAZ: “The Washington Post” front page has an Iraqi POW. I don’t think that this is — two wrongs don’t make a right. I agree with you.
BROWN: Stop.
AL-MIRAZ: As we know in about…
BROWN: We’re getting — no, no, we’re veering all over the place. But let me bring you back to one question. Let’s not go to the POWs yet. We’ll get to the POWs if you want. How many times before noon when you pulled this — when you say you pulled this thing or edited this thing or whatever precisely happened, how many times were the six minutes, and you know this, sir, you know how gruesome that piece of tape is, how many times had that been aired? And for what purpose could it possibly have been to air it in that form?
AL-MIRAZ: Well, I haven’t counted how many times. It might be twice or three times, but also we have to remember we are in testing times. And this is a war. And until you know there is a reaction like that, maybe people didn’t feel it, but once they felt that there is a very negative reaction to some of these footages, they responded to that. And we should remember also, Aaron, that in 1993, when CNN was 13 years old, Al Jazeera is now seven year old, CNN put the footages of the U.S. soldiers bodies dragged in Mogadishu, in Somalia City. And I don’t think also would people judge on CNN for doing that. People hated — those people who did that to the U.S. soldiers, but not CNN because it carried…
BROWN: Okay.
AL-MIRAZ: …the bodies of U.S. soldiers in Somalia in 1993.
