Posted on 04/01/2003 5:50:34 PM PST by dep
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A day after the Pentagon demanded he leave the war zone in Iraq for divulging U.S. troop positions in a broadcast, maverick television reporter Geraldo Rivera has "volunteered" to leave the country, the Fox News Channel said on Tuesday.
Rivera, who was traveling with the U.S. Army's 101st Airborne Division, ran afoul of military commanders with a live report on Sunday in which he sketched a map in the sand to show viewers his relative location in Iraq and where troops might advance next.
Pentagon officials said Monday that Rivera's report "compromised operational security" of the Army unit and that at the insistence of the field commanders, Fox News had agreed to remove him from the war zone.
Rivera himself later suggested all was well between him and the military and accused his competitors at former employer NBC of "spreading some lies" about him.
Fox, a unit of News Corp. Ltd. and the top-rated all-news cable network in the United States, had initially maintained that the matter was under review with the Pentagon.
The veteran correspondent, known for his provocative on-screen style, was not officially "embedded" with the 101st Airborne -- a status by which journalists accompany U.S. troops while adhering to certain ground rules designed to safeguard military security. But he was permitted to join up with the unit from Kuwait after the war began and had been accorded "ad hoc embedded" treatment, a Fox News spokesman said.
Late Tuesday, the network issued a statement saying Rivera's brief stint in Iraq was over for now.
"Geraldo Rivera volunteered to return to Kuwait from his embedment with U.S. troops after learning of concerns that he may have inadvertently violated the rules governing embedded journalists," the statement said. "Given those concerns, Fox News and Geraldo thought it better he return to Kuwait while the situation is reviewed. Fox News believes that Geraldo did not knowingly disregard the rules of embedment."
A Fox spokesman said Rivera was expected to leave the country first thing Wednesday morning, Iraq time, but no details were available as to the means of his departure.
For Rivera, who left his seven-year-old talk show on CNBC in 2001 to cover the war in Afghanistan for Fox News, the Iraq war posed his latest encounter with journalistic controversy.
Days after arriving in Afghanistan, Rivera recited the Lord's Prayer over "hallowed ground" near the Taliban stronghold of Kandahar where three U.S. soldiers and several anti-Taliban Afghan fighters died in a U.S. airstrike.
But after Rivera's presence at the site was challenged by the Baltimore Sun, Rivera acknowledged he had been several hundred miles away at the scene of another "friendly fire" incident that he confused with the first, even though it took place three days after his initial report. He was quoted in the Sun as saying that his mistake was due to the "fog of war."
He also drew criticism in journalistic circles for carrying a gun on assignment in Afghanistan, despite long-standing taboos against war correspondents arming themselves.
Fox News is a division of News Corp. Ltd.'s Fox Entertainment Group Inc. . NBC is owned by General Electric Co.
Pentagon Says Fox Agreed to Oust Rivera
By DAVID BAUDER
The Associated Press
Tuesday, April 1, 2003; 6:32 PM
Although Geraldo Rivera claimed reports of his demise were premature, the Pentagon said Tuesday that Fox News Channel had agreed to remove him from his posting with U.S troops in Iraq.
Military officials had accused Rivera of disclosing unauthorized information. In the report that aired Monday, Rivera squatted in the desert and outlined military movements in the dirt.
Fox News Channel executives did not return telephone calls seeking comment.
Meanwhile, Peter Arnett quickly began his new job - columnist for the British tabloid The Daily Mirror - by writing that "I am still in shock and awe at being fired."
Lt. Col Dave LaPan said that the Pentagon had asked that Rivera be removed "and we are working with (Fox News Channel) to make that happen." He said the network had agreed.
Rivera appeared in a live shot on Fox News Channel Tuesday morning. At the time, he said he was still with the 101st Airborne Division and said nothing about leaving.
"Two of our Patriots (missiles) did impact in the skies right over our base here in the central Iraqi desert," he said. "I won't get any more precise than that, and I won't draw anything in the dirt, except maybe a happy face."
One of Fox News Channel's rivals was quick to go on the attack Tuesday. MSNBC ran an in-house promotion promising viewers that "we will not compromise military security or jeopardize a single American life."
MSNBC also ran a news story with a film clip of Rivera's report, although it pointedly blurred the lines he drew in the sand.
Tim Graham, a spokesman for the conservative watchdog organization, the Media Research Center, said he considered Rivera a grandstander and wished Fox News Channel hadn't hired him.
"I'm not sure what he did was a firing offense," Graham said. "The issue becomes, if they assent to him being removed from the war zone, will he accept that, or will he quit?"
Arnett, a veteran war correspondent, was dismissed by NBC on Monday for giving an unauthorized interview to Iraqi state television in which he said the U.S.-led war effort initially failed because of Iraq's resistance.
"Fired by America for telling the truth," the Daily Mirror said in a Page One headline.
dep
LOL!
dep
Spin spin spin.
Don't be fooled by Geraldo. He loves our troops for sure-----as a backdrop for his reports.
I'm being serious. If he gets back with the troops watch his reporting style as compared to the other Fox guys or even the MSNBC guy. He literally uses the troops as backdrop to his report.
He doesn't report what he saw or what he heard. He stands there with the troops assembled behind him like he's the Pres. and a big US flag hanging behind him like it's a company photograph while having the troops oohaah his comments and then had one of them say Geraldo's "rank was private".
When you watch for it you can see he wants to be a star and to be a star he needs to be a part of the story and not just a reporter.
That's the real reason why they call him Whorealdo because he's out there whoring himself for fame.
Whether he gave out info that he shouldn't have or not I don't know. I just don't like his style of reporting.
It's not on Fox because they don't want to embarrass themselves further.
This is BS. If a correspondent is even remotely serious about NOT violating the rules of embedment, they would take the initiative to avail themselves of every opportunity to stay abreast of said rules and make sure to clear with the local CO anything that had even the possibility of violating those rules, or even giving the APPEARANCE of violation. No excuse. End of story.
What does he carry?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.