Ashleigh Banfield Lashes out at Own Network [Attacks Savage, NBC Distances Themselves from Comments]

NBC News correspondant Ashleigh Banfield has ripped television news networks, including her own, for their 'glorious' coverage of the Iraq war and lack of focus on international news overall.

In a speech Thursday at Kansas State University, she also attacked NBC News for hiring right wing radio talk show host Michael Savage to do a show on MSNBC. Savage recently called Banfield a 'slut' after her reports portraying the radical Arab point of view.

Banfield, who first won notoriety for her coverage from the World Trade Center on 9/11, might be in some trouble for her comments.

In a statement issued in Friday, NBC News said, 'Ms. Banfield does not speak for NBC News. We are deeply disappointed and troubled by her remarks, and will review her comments with her. In the meantime we want to emphasize how proud we are of the journalism produced by NBC News and of the men and women who worked around the clock, even risking their lives, to bring this story to the American public.'

NBC insiders said few people took Banfield's comments seriously because of her lack of experience -- she is largely working for MSNBC these days, and her primetime show on the network failed last summer. "I don't think people look to Ashleigh Banfield to set the standards of journalism," one person said about the reaction inside the department. "People were sort of rolling their eyes."

Reporters who have returned from Iraq have defended the networks' lack of blood-and-guts video, saying it was impossible to film much of it because of logistical reasons. They also noted that embedded reporters did not see action much of the time in Iraq.

"In my situation, I didn't have the occasion to videotape many bodies or anything," said Don Dahler, an ABC News correspondent embedded in Iraq who was interviewed April 16 after returning to the United States. "I don't think I would have shied away from shooting dead bodies or injured Americans."

Banfield noted in her speech that Americans never got to see the results of mortar fire, just the smoke.

But correspondents have said it was impossible to film the damage because tanks and artillery were firing at targets miles away from them.

Banfield, who was stationed Stateside during the war, is the first network journalist to publicly criticize television's coverage of the war.

Correspondents who have returned from the front have all raved about the embedding system that placed them with troops as well as the overall network coverage of the war.

"On a more macular level, there's some sort of demystification here -- not only for the media but for the military and what the other institution is about," CBS News correspondent Mark Strassman said after returning from the war. "This vague process is a new step that will always continue to evolve. And all that's for the better. They have a story worth telling, and we have a story that we want to tell, and all that is for the good."

Lost in much of the controversy is that Banfield actually had praise for NBC News in her KSU speech, saying the network had never censored her when she covered the Arab point of view. A major theme of her speech was that both Americans and Arabs need to be educated about each other's culture and points of view in order to begin a dialogue that would lead to peace. She said that can't be done if television networks abandon overseas coverage.

But much of Banfield's criticism was aimed at television audiences who would prefer to watch stories about murder victims and missing girls than international relations -- unless there is a major crisis.

"It's crucial to our security that you are interested in this," she said. "Because when you are interested, I can respond. If I put this on right now, you'll turn it off."

Rush Limbaugh's Stack of Stuff

Al-Jazeera Is Hiring, Ashleigh

April 28, 2003

NBC News correspondent Ashleigh Banfield has had it. In a speech at Kansas State University, she ripped television news networks, including her own, for their glorious coverage of the Iraqi war and a lack of focus on international news overall. She also attacked NBC News for hiring right-wing radio talk show hosts on MSNBC, accusing them of copying Fox News Channel.

Ashleigh Banfield's real problem is that nobody's noticing her. There's an anchor on MSNBC who has been working his butt off, and his name is Lester Holt. Holt is getting tons of professional acclaim for the work he did on the Iraqi war. He was on TV 18 hours a day sometimes, anchoring with credibility, and I'm sure that's probably bothering Ashleigh a bit.

The fact of the matter is that when she had her own show, nobody watched it. When she traveled to the Middle East she dyed her hair brown and got all kinds of news coverage for doing that. She got more news coverage on her hair color than she ever got for doing her job. I think she's probably a little bitter. There is that anchor seat currently occupied by Katie Couric on The Today Show, and I wonder if some of these MSNBC female reporters have had that carrot dangled in front of them, only to realize they've been had. So, there could be behind the scenes dramas that have Ashleigh all upset. She's lashing out at everybody.

Ashleigh, no one is stopping you from leaving MSNBC. Nobody was stopping you from becoming a freelance reporter traveling throughout Iraq, including among the Iraqi soldiers and the U.S. targets, risking your life to report whatever you wanted from Iraq. You could have done this. Why didn't do you it?

People who sit around and wait for things to happen are generally going to be sitting around waiting for things to happen. People who try to make things happen, more often than not, do make things happen. Well, Ashleigh, there may be some openings for you over at Al-Jazeera.

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