Posted on 06/20/2002 10:04:50 AM PDT by The Magical Mischief Tour
TEL AVIV (Reuters) - Israeli television broadcasters are considering pulling the plug on the CNN news channel in protest at comments made by U.S. media mogul Ted Turner, officials and sources at the companies said on Thursday.
Turner, founder of the 24-hour Cable News Network, was quoted on Tuesday as saying the Israeli military was engaged in "terrorism" against the Palestinians that could be compared to Palestinian suicide bomber attacks on Israelis.
A senior board member at the YES satellite television broadcaster and a source close to the head of Israel's three cable providers, now engaged in a merger ( news - web sites), said the companies would weigh taking the widely watched CNN off the air.
"At least two of us (board members) have demanded that YES management take CNN off the air for at least 24 hours in protest over what Ted Turner said," the board member, who asked not to be named, told Reuters.
He said he expected a response from the chief executive of YES within the next few days.
Board members will also seek to have CNN permanently replaced by another all-news channel, he said.
A source close to Ram Belinkov, who will be chief executive of a merged company of the three cable providers -- Matav Cable Systems Media, Tevel and Golden Channels -- said the firms were "dissatisfied with CNN's political coverage of the Israeli-Palestinian situation."
"Turner's comments were the latest in a long line of biased coverage (against Israel)," the source said. "We are very dissatisfied with CNN's coverage. It's very problematic."
The source said Belinkov would meet CNN representatives in London within a couple of days and that the cable companies might soon reach an agreement to broadcast the Fox News Channel, owned by conservative Australian media magnate Rupert Murdoch.
Removing CNN from the air would need the approval of the Israeli Satellite and Cable Television Broadcasting Council. The council has already granted approval to YES to broadcast Fox News, though the satellite company has not yet done so.
CNN "PUZZLED"
TBS, the parent company of CNN, said the cable companies' comments were "disappointing and truly puzzling."
Ron Ciccone, managing director of TBS Middle East, said TBS had assisted in the development of Israel's cable industry and its commitment in the region had been and remained absolute.
"Recently the marketing and content executives representing Israel's three combined cable companies approached TBS for help with their current financial difficulties. They have received a high level of understanding and cooperation from us.
"Effective commercial discussion between longstanding partners should be taking place at the negotiating table and not in the media," Ciccone said in a statement.
Eli Fastman, senior producer at Fox in Jerusalem, said he was opposed to taking CNN off the air but added that Fox would be broadcast in Israel regardless of what happened to CNN.
In an interview with London's Guardian newspaper, the outspoken Turner said the Israelis and Palestinians were "terrorizing each other."
"The rich and the powerful, they don't need to resort to terrorism...The Palestinians are fighting with human suicide bombers -- that's all they have," said Turner, now vice chairman of AOL Time Warner Inc.
"The Israelis...they've got one of the most powerful military machines in the world. The Palestinians have nothing. So who are the terrorists? I would make the case that both sides are involved in terrorism."
His comments, published on the morning of a suicide bus bombing in Jerusalem that killed 19 people, caused an uproar in Israel as it combats a 20-month-old Palestinian uprising against occupation in the West Bank and Gaza Strip ( news - web sites).
At least 1,403 Palestinians and 539 Israelis have been killed since the Palestinian revolt erupted in September 2000 after peace talks envisaging a Palestinian state stalled.
YES, 45 percent of which is held by state-controlled phone company Bezeq Israel Telecom, competes with the cable companies in providing television services in Israel.
YES has about 300,000 subscribers in Israel, compared with about 1.1 million for the cable companies combined.
TBS, the parent company of CNN, said the cable companies' comments were "disappointing and truly puzzling."
Baaaahhahahwhhhhwwwwwwwwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Buh-Bye CNN! Would be funny if CNN reporters were told to go home too.
Jews in the U.S. are an affluent key market for the crap Turner hopes his network can sell ad space for - as sellers of pricey stuff will pay more for an ad. What if all American Jews just boycotted CNN's advertisers for a month each?
Ditto. I get my news from Fox and from this one wacko rightwing website that I'm addicted to-- ... oops.... (-;
Great idea!
Bla-Bla-Bla conservative Australian media magnate Rupert Murdoch Bla-Bla-Bla
Glad to see Israel has the guts to do something.
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