Posted on 10/05/2004 5:35:14 AM PDT by FlyLow
NEW YORK (Talon News) -- NBC News anchor Tom Brokaw and ABC News anchor Peter Jennings showed their support for CBS News anchor Dan Rather on Saturday during a joint appearance at a New York festival.
In response to the outcry of criticism against CBS and Rather over a September 8 "60 Minutes" segment featuring forged documents about President George W. Bush's service in the Texas Air National Guard, Brokaw said he has been disappointed at this attempt by Internet bloggers and reporters who first reported on this story to "demonize" Rather and CBS.
"[This] goes well beyond any factual information," Brokaw asserted as part of a panel at The New Yorker Festival.
Describing the Internet reporting on the CBS fake document scandal as "a kind of political jihad," Brokaw, who is retiring as anchor of NBC News on December 1, said this kind of reporting is not what he deems as proper discourse from a journalistic standpoint.
"What I think is highly inappropriate is what is going on across the Internet ... that is quite outrageous," Brokaw expressed.
Jennings said it is unfair to base an opinion about a journalist on a single mistake he has made.
"I don't think you ever judge a man by only one event in his career," Jennings exclaimed.
Under a gag order by CBS News executives regarding comments about this while it is being investigated, Rather was silent on the issue.
However, the news anchor who is the target of several petitions to have him removed from his position at CBS did comment on his reporting of the lead up to the war in Iraq as an observer.
"If the country is in dire peril, as the president of the United States says it is ... [then] I want to be a patriotic journalist," Rather revealed.
With that said, though, Rather noted it must have been his staunch journalistic mindset that led people to dislike the way he reported on the war in Iraq.
"You know that the role of the patriotic journalist is to put your fear aside, stand up, look them in the eye, ask the rough questions," Rather noted. "But you also know that when you do that, you're going to get hammered."
He concluded, "So what happens is you just say ... maybe tomorrow."
Why do I get the sudden urge to ululate?
America has been under the tight-fisted domination of the Media Mullahs for too long.
The revolution is here and they can't take the truth!!
Always suspected that Brokaw wasn't the sharpest knife. Suspicion confirmed.
"...Under a gag order by CBS News executives..."
Network executives have the power to issure 'gag orders'?
GET IT??
IE: "How dare you question us! Shut up and listen to what we say without question!"
Media Mullahs....that's a good one. I like it.
Do liberals EVER see themselves as anything other than victims? This victim-mentality drives me crazy.
Thanks for the reminder.
We are seeing a massive effort by the MSM to repair the breaks in the "bubble".
Good. I hope they all roll in the mud with Rather.
This bothers me. Is Brokaw's vocabulary so limited he's reduced to using a word du jours? Or, is it a deliberately chosen pejorative? I guess I (mistakenly) expected more from a 'journalist'.
"You know that the role of the patriotic journalist is to put your fear aside, stand up, look them in the eye, ask the rough questions," Rather noted. "But you also know that when you do that, you're going to get hammered."
He concluded, "So what happens is you just say ... maybe tomorrow."
What a riot. It's good to see Dan taking down the other broadcast networks with him.
What is it that General Turgidson says in "Dr. Strangelove?" Something on the order of, "I don't think it's fair to condemn the whole program on account of a single slip up."
Wrong, it's the conduct of you and your comrades in the MSM that is highly inappropriate. Thankfully, Mr. Brokaw your game is over.
NO! NOTHING goes beyond factual information. The documents were forged. Rather knew or at least suspected they were forged. There was apparently ZERO fact checking done. They tried to FRAUDULENTLY unseat a SITTING PRESIDENT through the use of a political hatchet job using FORGED documents!
The day that something goes well beyond any factual information in regards to a news story is the day that "journalists" and anchors can make up any story they want with no repercussions. In other words, they stop being journalists and become propagandists!!!!
"a kind of political jihad,"
Yeah, a political jihad to expose a LIE and keep a measure of integrity in journalism. HOW DARE THEY!
Jennings said it is unfair to base an opinion about a journalist on a single mistake he has made.
And how exactly do we know that it was the "only mistake". First of all it wasn't a mistake. Rather knew that the source for these documents was shaky at BEST but used them anyway. It would have been EXTREMELY easy to verify their authenticity or lack thereof, but Rather CHOSE not to!
With that said, though, Rather noted it must have been his staunch journalistic mindset that led ...
... him to use fradulent and forged documents and engage in a conspriacy to use fradulent means to unseat a sitting president.
This whole story is nothing but propaganda!
Now I'm confused... is he talking about the response or is he talking about Rather's "reporting"?
Brokaw, who is retiring as anchor of NBC News on December 1, said this kind of reporting is not what he deems as proper discourse from a journalistic standpoint.
Translation: "We don't like being held accountable... it's not like the old days when Dan could gin-up a 'Nam war hit peice and have it accepted as fact..."
"What I think is highly inappropriate is what is going on across the Internet ... that is quite outrageous," Brokaw expressed.
Translation: facts reaching the public outside of our editing and control is just... just wrong!
Jennings said it is unfair to base an opinion about a journalist on a single mistake he has made."I don't think you ever judge a man by only one event in his career," Jennings exclaimed.
Shame on us all! OK everyone... let promise ourselves to base our opinion of Dan on all of his yellow slanted journalism instead of just this one telling example.
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