Sam Donaldson: Fire Geraldo

NewsMax.com ^ | 4/03/03 | Carl Limbacher and NewsMax.com Staff

[kattracks]

ABC News reporter Sam Donaldson is urging the Fox News Channel to fire loose-lipped swash-buckler Geraldo Rivera for giving away the location of the 101st Airborne over the weekend.

After praising most of the frontline reporters now covering the Iraq war, Donaldson told WABC Radio's "Curtis & Kuby," "There are two reporters who have been rotten apples. [Peter] Arnett is one and he's been fired. Geraldo Rivera is another, and he ought to be fired."

Taking note that Fox has apparently worked out a deal with the Pentagon that will allow Rivera to cover the war away from the front lines, Donaldson complained, "I believe in forgiveness, but first comes confession."

Meanwhile down the dial, New York Timesman Frank Rich was also complaining about Geraldo, telling Don Imus, "What could be a worse infraction than literally... giving away the position of our troops to the enemy. That seems to me a much more serious infraction, even if it were done innocently, than the stuff Arnett said."

Rich added that Rivera's gaffe was "certainly not helpful to the American war effort."

Oddly enough, neither Mr. Donaldson nor Mr. Rich seemed to object to Mr. Rivera's reporting while he was working overtime at MSNBC to save Bill Clinton from being booted out office, thereby allowing the ex-president another two years to continue dismantling the U.S. military.

In fact, since joining Fox after the 9/11 attacks, Rivera has been nothing if not a patriotic cheerleader, his serious blunder with the 101st Airborne notwithstanding. Arnett, on the other hand, is now reporting for the anti-American London Daily Mirror. He admitted Wednesday that he meant every word when he pronounced the U.S. war effort a failure during an interview with Iraqi TV.

Perhaps the reason some of Geraldo's former media buddies seem almost overjoyed at his predicament is because he has embarrassed the Fox News Channel, which is setting ratings records with its pro-American Iraq war coverage.

Read more on this subject in related Hot Topics:

Media Bias

[RossA]

Let ABC fire Peter Jennings first. (Then it's win-win).

[JimDingle]

Fox shouldn't fire him but rather move him to their entertainment division.

Maybe as host of Celebrity Boxing?


Yeah he could have a rematch with that white supremacists who broke his nose

[small_l_libertarian]

Geraldo reminds me of the bragaddocio British Colonel on the Underdog show that was always telling of some grandiose expedition where he had braved the wilds and bloodthirsty savages yet remained unscathed throughout the ordeal and had finally gotten the better of them.

That is soooooooo funny! That never would have occurred to me, but it is so RIGHT!

[paul51]

I'm sure FOX is consulting with ABC reporters for advise. I'm no big supporter of GR however after watching his screw up, I think his enemies are blowing it out of proportion. The Pentagon obviously decided he deserved to be slapped and they did it but there are also reports he will be allowed back in. There are worse enemies to the troops and the war effort on the airwaves than the baffoon GR

[amused]

Yeah he could have a rematch with that white supremacists who broke his nose

Didn't he also fight another guy on Howard Stern?

[johnb838]

I'm waiting for the rest of the story to come out.

[JimDingle]

Yeah he did but I forgot who it was.

[swheats]

This is becoming much ado about nothing. It was a mistake.

[amused]

Yeah he did but I forgot who it was.

Behold the power of google! It was Frank Stallone of all people.

[k2blader]

Sorry to disappoint you, Sam. Geraldo's likely en route to Baghdad as you whine.

[HamiltonJay]

Small? Small? Giving away the location of the troops and the direction they are heading next in a time of war is not a SMALL GAFFE! Arnette may have been a dupe but even he didn't do this.... I think way too much bias is showing... Geraldo should be gone, or at the very least severely reprimanded and demoted by FNC....

Personally I think they should dump his sorry arse, he is a travesty. He brings down their entire organization IMHO. THis is at least the 2nd time he has done something to directly harm the credibilty of FNC that I know of.

[spetznaz]

His gaffe was small compared to Peter Arnett's treasonous tirade.

You must be joking! What Arnett did was basically act as a pawn for Saddam! No real damage ....apart from showing himself to be easily susceptible to manipulation from the Iraqis!

What Geraldo did on the other hand is draw, on live TV, current US military positions AND THEN say, with etching on the sand, where the troops would move to in the following hours and what strategy they would follow! That would have easily cost some of those troops their lives, especially when you consider it was live TV and there was a big chance Iraqi generals were watching.

Geraldo, by far, made the bigger error. Through his STUPIDITY he put US lives in jeopardy. Arnett on the other hand just proved he is shifty.

Anyways I lost all respect for Geraldo after the Afghan fiascos where he showed his wrecked thought patterns. For one he carried a gun, and boasted how he would use it (the significance of that is it put other journalists, who are normally not actively shot at, in danger of being viable targets. Remember in most campaigns journalists who die are usually the victims of 'passive' causes like stray bullets, landmines, and other events that are not specifically targeted at them. However armed journalists pretending to be GI Joe can put all in the role of armed combatant).

However the main thing in afghanistan which put me off Geraldo was the whole 'bullets are flying all around me' when the nearest conflict was miles away! That showed him to be unprofessional and petty.

Anyways what geraldo did, even if it was a mistake, was worse than what Arnett did, even if Arnett meant every word.

[k2blader]

I think this is the latest:

The Pentagon says Geraldo Rivera is welcome to go back into Iraq with U.S. troops - now that he's learned his lesson.

Chased off the frontlines by charges he'd compromised troop safety, Geraldo Rivera yesterday left Iraq for Kuwait - where he was immediately re-assigned as a "general war correspondent."

But the Pentagon last night said Rivera can go back if Fox gets another opportunity to "embed" a journalist with troops, Pentagon spokesman Lt. Col. David Lapan told The Post.

"As long as it is clear to him and to [Fox News] what was wrong the first time and that it not happen again," Lapan said.

HOW MANY LIVES? - Pentagon says Geraldo welcome to go back to Iraq

[D. Brian Carter]

Not only am I disappointed in Fox for not dropping Rivera, it seems they hold some of the blame in this incident as well.

What was the producer of the show doing allowing this content through? What was the cameraman thinking? How about the engineers? A bunch of people are complicit in this idiocy.

On top of the typical "delay" in a live program, there is even more of one with the equipment they are using, which is quite discernable when you watch interviews and reports coming from the field.

Some people at Fox messed up, too. Nevertheless, fire Geraldo.

[joesnuffy]

Geraldo has balls and a sense of timing that most of the "war correspondents" wish they had. Okay. Geraldo goofed. I still believe
that the hourly briefings by the retired generals on FOX and elsewhere are as revealing as Geraldo's "strategy session in the
sand".

I say give him a break. we don't need to "Lott" him. He's on our side!

Place flame ---- X




Geraldo is that U?.....

[nightdriver]

"Arnett, on the other hand, is now reporting for the anti-American London Daily Mirror. He admitted Wednesday that he meant every word when he pronounced the U.S. war effort a failure during an interview with Iraqi TV."

Let's wait just a little bit longer and after we have Iraq pretty well wrapped up, let's ask any left-over Saddamites if they agree with Arnett's statement.

[hnorris]

Was what Geraldo did any worse than what the rent-a-generals have done on EVERY network since the war began?

And since when does Sam Donaldson suddenly care about not hurting America military forces?

Ask guys like Donaldson why they were such anti-American defeatists early on in the war ( a week ago) and they'll talk about Geraldo, instead.

[dljordan]

I like Fox but "Jerry Rivers" is a major Gomer. There's something about the guy that screams "secret liberal". I've never liked him, he's just too oily or something.

[Revolting cat!]

I tell you, watching these soap operas starring millionaire media personalities with big hair(pieces) and low voices who for mysterious reasons are considered "journalists" even by some here, makes me wish for faceless, anonymous drones they (presumably) have on North Korean television. Enough of this prancing, enough of these fan club discussions, there is a war going on, make these pampered asses go away!

[maxwellp]

If Fox doesn't get rid of a person (Geraldo Rivera) who endangered our troops, well I don't know what I'll do. We like FoxNews, the only news we watch, but...