Arnot: NBC Dumped Me for Finding Positive News in Iraq

Newsmax/Observer ^ | 12/12/04 | NewsMax Staff

[OPS4]

Thursday, Feb. 12, 2004 Arnot: NBC Dumped Me for Finding Positive News in Iraq

NBC has refused to renew the contract of Iraq correspondent Dr. Bob Arnot. He says the reason is that he dares to find progress.

"In a 1,300-word e-mail to NBC News president Neal Shapiro, written in December 2003 and obtained by NYTV, Dr. Arnot called NBC News' coverage of Iraq biased. He argued that keeping him in Iraq and on NBC could go far in rectifying that," the New York Observer's Joe Hagan reported today.

"Dr. Arnot included excerpts from an e-mail from Jim Keelor, president of Liberty Broadcasting, which owns eight NBC stations throughout the South. Mr. Keelor had written NBC, stating that "the networks are pretty much ignoring" the good-news stories in Iraq. 'The definition of news would incorporate some of these stories,' he wrote. 'Hence the Fox News surge.'"

Keelor told the Observer: "Of course it's political. Journalism and news is what unusual [events] happened that day. And if the schools are operating, they can say that's usual. My response to that is, 'The hell it is.' My concern there is that almost everything that has occurred in Iraq since the war started is unexpected."

In his letter to Shapiro, Arnot wondered, as has the Bush administration, why the network refused to admit positive developments in Iraq. "As you know, I have regularly pitched most of these stories contained in the note to Nightly, Today and directly to you. Every single story has been rejected."

Arnot told the Observer he knew for "a fact" that Shapiro’s problem with his reporting was that "it was just very positive."

[OPS4]

NBC, trying to paint the picture on the left side once again.

Ops4 God Bless America!

[cripplecreek]

I first caught wind of this one on the Asman Observer on FOX today.

[Patrick1]

Fox should hire this man pronto!

[jmstein7]

BUSTED!

[kylaka]

Hell, why would NBC do ANYTHING that might help get President Bush re-elected. Unbiased news might just do that.

[jveritas]

Dr. Arnot is a great and very honest journalist. I hope that Fox news hire him.

[cripplecreek]

It doesnt matter. liberals ive confronted with the liberal bias issue deny it at first, eventually they break down and admit it. But then they decide that liberal news is right under any circumstances and are just happy its liberal.

[ClintonBeGone]

Didn't he - Dr. Bob Arnot - get to do emergency surgery on an Iraqi child while he was over there covering the war for NBC? He's a hero in my book.

[ravingnutter]

Ohhhhh, maaaaan...there goes one of my favorite lines...every time they would say "Bob Arnot in Baghdad"...I would say "Are too!".

[Mr. Mojo]

Truth and the network news simply don't mix.

[Beck_isright]

Too bad Kerry has no self control. Otherwise this would be a big story.

[Stellar Dendrite]

which is why people are turning to fox and drudge.

[dawn53]

I think that was Dr. Sanjay Gupta. He works for CNN.

[GOPJ]

bump

[ClintonBeGone]

Thanks Dawnie! You're right.

[kimoajax]

All sort of reminds me of a story I heard from an old Soviet disadent about how just prior to the fall of the Soviet Union citizens were mostly reading Pravda and listing TASS trying to decipher from their news lies what really might be going on.

Thus is the state of left wing news organs in the West today.

[Jeff Gordon]

Dr Arnot is a really kool guy. I hope he finds employment at Fox.

[kitkat]

Considering that CNN admitted that they bargained with Saddam to be allowed to stay in Iraq, and filed only stories that Saddam approved of, why should we trust them now?

[CharlesThe Hammer]

I listened to Dr. Bob many times during the war. He's top shelf. He was very positive about the troops. My gut is that he's a decent human being. No wonder NBC let him go.

[mhking]

Dr. Arnot called NBC News' coverage of Iraq biased.

And in other news, "Sky is blue," and "Grass is green."

Here's hoping FNC will hire Dr. Bob. He's one of the good guys.

Just damn.

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