For Dan Rather, the fear would simply not go away...even after leaving CBS for HDNet and promising that, on his new “Dan Rather Reports” show, viewers would see hard-hitting and courageous reporting that he said he couldn’t do at CBS.
Will it surprise you that Dan Rather cannot shake the necklace? I refer specifically to a program for “Dan Rather Reports,” meticulously prepared by award-winning producer, Kristina Borjesson. The special included interviews with an impressive string of first-hand witnesses to neocon machinations prior to the US attack on Iraq, and provides real insights into motivations—the kind of insights Frontline did not even attempt.
Nipped in the Bud by the “Dark Side”
Last year Borjesson’s taping was finished and the editing had begun. Borjesson’s requests to interview people working for the vice president had been denied. But, following standard journalistic practice (not to mention common courtesy), she sent an email to John Hannah in Cheney’s office in order to give Hannah a chance to react to what others—including several of the same senior folks on Frontline last evening— had said about him for her forthcoming report.
At that point all hell broke loose. Borjesson was abruptly told by Rather’s executive producer that by sending the email, Borjesson could have “brought down the whole (‘Dan Rather Reports’) operation.”
The show was killed and Borjesson sacked. For good measure, she was also accused of “coaching” interview subjects and taking their words out of context. Since neither Rather nor his executive producer would provide proof to substantiate that allegation, Borjesson took the unprecedented step of sending her script and transcripts to all her interview subjects, asking them to confirm or deny that she had coached them or taken their words out of context. Not one of them found her script inaccurate or said they were coached. She has the emails to prove this.
This sorry episode and Frontline’s careful avoidance of basic issues like the strategic aims of the Bush administration in invading and occupying Iraq are proof, if further proof were needed, that the White House, and especially Cheney’s swollen office, exert enormous pressure over what we are allowed to see and hear. The fear they instill in the corporate press, and in what once was serious investigative reporting of programs like Frontline, translates into programs getting neutered or killed outright—and massive public ignorance.
Some consolation is to be found in the good news that, in this particular case, Kristina Borjesson is made of stronger stuff; she has not given up, and was greatly encouraged by how many of the very senior officials and former officials she had already interviewed consented to be re-interviewed (since the tapes belonged to the “Rather Not” folks).
Now who looks forward to being re-interviewed?
Borjesson’s original interviewees took into account her problems with the cowards and the censors—and her atypical, gutsy refusal to self-censor—and went the extra mile. A tribute to them as well, and their interest in getting the truth out.
Borjesson is now completing the program on her own. Look for an announcement in the coming months, if you’re interested in real sustenance rather than the pabulum served up, no doubt under duress, by Frontline.
Ray McGovern works with Tell the Word, the publishing arm of the ecumenical Church of the Saviour in Washington, DC. During his 27-years as a CIA analyst, he chaired NIEs: he is now on the Steering Group of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS).
Here is an excerpt of my views on it to a friend who pointed the film out to me:
After seeing it all I can say is what FOX News says about itself. "Fair and Balanced!" By that I mean it was an intentionally tamed down version of Hi Jacking Catastrophe. I would also say for Bob Woodward, it's too little too late. He along with the Washington Post have been sitting on their hands for years. No Pulitzer Bob! Not this time. In many areas it was almost apologetic, at least from the neocon viewpoints. All the pricks that helped Bush lie are suddenly coming forth and putting all of the blame on Cheney and Rumsfeld. They make Powell and Rice look like innocents, saying they were out of the loop when we all know they have intentionally lied to us over and over. Basically they call them stupid rather than complicit criminals. I don't buy it! They even try to make daddy Bush look like a good guy when essentially he chose his son's cabinet. Most of them were all former George H W Bush cabinet members. It even made it look like George Jr. was an innocent dweeb coerced by Cheney when the truth is all of them are in collusion, including Armitage and the pentagon. I can't wait to see part two though. I can only imagine how soft soaked that part will be. It just goes to show you that facts can be spun into any light they wish.
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Michael Shaw (6 articles, 1 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 245 comments)
on Thursday, March 27, 2008 at 1:11:16 PM
I see this film as a gearing up for the forgiving moment similar to Nixon when GWB walks out of the White House. The main message I saw was Bush being naively led and that is bullshit as far as I'm concerned. Granted he's a dummy, but a complicit dummy. Seeing him joke about weapons of mass destruction at that RNC dinner was sickening
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Michael Shaw (6 articles, 1 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 245 comments)
on Thursday, March 27, 2008 at 1:19:23 PM
How unfortunate that Michael Kirk failed to include all but the tiniest reference to the tens of millions of people who marched against the war for months and months.
How unfortunate that Michael Kirk failed to include the reactions from other nations' leaders, with the exception of Tony Blair, who in fact was a co-conspirator with Cheney-Bush.
How unfortunate Michael Kirk failed to include any time to the likes of Scott Ritter, Ray McGovern, Ralph Nader and dozens of experts who spoke out about the hijacking of the military.
How unfortunate -- for us, for the truth.
There is still time to impeach Cheney. It is absolute folly for Dems in Congress to think that Americans will reward them for ignoring the crimes of the most dangerous man on the planet.
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More Voices (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 3 comments)
on Thursday, March 27, 2008 at 7:01:00 PM
" Bush's War" is trying to sell Americans incompetence?... The truth is the MSM is losing their grip on controlling the flow of information and their hold on omitting and constraining the truth. Millions of Americans are aware of the truth of 9/11 and The PNAC document spelling out The NEOCON's intentions waaaay before these so called incompetent people came into power.
"Bush's War" is a FICTION! And PBS is no longer to be trusted as a source for anything remotely connected to truth.
I have one rule I go bye...It it's on your TV... it's Bullsh*t
Stop thinking you can still get the truth from MSM. Stop trusting them.
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Scott Ledger (0 articles, 1 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 135 comments)
on Thursday, March 27, 2008 at 7:03:02 PM
Mr. McGovern I do hope that you are feeling well and I want to again thank you for all of your hard work and dedication in helping bring forth the lies and deceit which this pernicious administration has wrought upon both the United States and Iraq. Hopefully through God's grace we can piece back together our fractured country, and establish peace throughout the world. It is indeed possible. However, it will no doubt be a very long hard slog. No pun intended.
Before the Iraq invasion Frontline ran two programs which I've linked below. Both shows were essentially pro-Bush administration and depicted how much of a tyrant and a threat Saddam and Iraq were to America. The narrator subliminally instilling the fear which was needed for such an invasion.
Looking back, Frontline was merely a "front" that helped sell this horrific and costly war to a credulous America.
With no end in sight to the violence in what was once a peaceful country, and while I truly feel for the innocent Iraqi people, what I fear most is that our troops, many of whom have been in Iraq now for far too long, will become bogged down in the middle of this renewed sectarian strife and for what! Oil and hegemony? This botched PNAC wet dream!
It is high time the American people got off of their duffs and demand that we put an end to this senseless slaughter.
The Long Road to War: A FRONTLINE Special Report (120 minutes) America appears to be within days of attacking Iraq. Many observers believe President Bush may soon signal to weapons inspectors, diplomats and members of ...
Feb. 20, 2003
The War Behind Closed Doors (60 minutes) FRONTLINE examines the hidden story of what is really driving the Bush administration to war with Iraq. The investigation asks whether the publicly reported reasons--fear ...
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Munich (0 articles, 38 quicklinks, 12 diaries, 577 comments)
on Friday, March 28, 2008 at 12:30:19 AM
Bush's yes men run the FCC. We also know they oversea PBS. Let's not forget what they did to Bill Moyers, forcing him off the air. It took thousands of letters threatening boycott to bring him back. When it comes to anything political on PBS, Bill Moyers is the only guy you can trust. Even before Democracy Now he was plugging Body of War.
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Michael Shaw (6 articles, 1 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 245 comments)
on Friday, March 28, 2008 at 11:25:03 AM
