CNN defends showing American soldier shot by insurgent sniper

JaJae · 10-21-2006, 02:31 AM

CNN airs footage of Iraq sniper attacks

A CNN executive said Thursday the network's effort to present the "unvarnished truth" about the Iraq war led it to televise portions of a video that shows insurgent snipers targeting U.S. military personnel.

By DAVID BAUDER, AP Television WriterThu Oct 19, 8:39 PM ET

The tape, which came to the network unexpectedly through contact with an insurgent leader, was aired first Wednesday night on "Anderson Cooper 360" and repeated on Thursday.

In one instance, the tape shows a uniformed member of the U.S. military milling in a public area with Iraqis. A shot rings out. CNN fades the screen to black before the result — described as a victim falling forward — is visible.

It's one of 10 separate sniper attacks on Americans documented on the tape, which CNN technicians concluded was authentic, said David Doss, executive producer of Cooper's show, in a Web log entry describing the network's decision what to show.

CNN could not determine the identity of any of the sniper victims, spokeswoman Christa Robinson said.

Baghdad correspondent Michael Ware had been in contact through intermediaries with Ibrahim al-Shammari, a leader for the rebel group Islamic Army. Ware had sent al-Shammari a series of questions about the insurgency in Iraq, Doss explained.

In reply, al-Shammari sent two tapes. One reportedly showed him, with face concealed, responding to the questions. The other showed the sniper incidents, seemingly taken by the insurgents themselves, CNN said.

CNN understood that some critics might find that the tape had public relations benefits for the insurgency, Doss wrote.

"We also understood that this kind of footage is upsetting and disturbing for many viewers," he said. "But after getting beyond the emotional debate, we concluded the tape meets our criteria for newsworthiness."

The decision was subject to "hours of intense editorial debate" at CNN's highest levels, he said.

Doss said he had already received several angry responses from viewers of Wednesday's five-minute report, some wondering whether CNN was helping the enemy and others concerned that the tape was inappropriate for young viewers who may have happened upon it.

"Whether or not you agree with us in this case, our goal, as always, is to present the unvarnished truth as best we can," Doss said.

They admit the source of the video was a terrorist leader who wanted this video aired on American television. Which is exactly what CNN did.

I personally take offense to this and the "unvarnished truth" CNN claims to tell. This soldier had a family. They don't deserve this. Many Americans have servicemen overseas. They don't need to see terrorist propaganda videos on their nightly news. If they wanted to see US marines getting shot, they host them on youtube (but not the conservative videos mind you). This has no business being aired.

They claim to show the unvarnished truth. What exactly does that mean? Does that mean they're the only televised media outlet so far left that they'll show propaganda videos they receive from terrorists of our soldiers being shot in Iraq?

This also comes at a time when they rehire Cafferty to do six hour long "specials" each week before the election to have a Bush and GOP bashing session.

And just last week I found some obvious bias by CNN that I e-mailed into many political blogs. 8 Palestinians were killed. 2 in the morning and 6 more in the late afternoon. 8 dead total. 7 of them were confirmed Hamas. Every news media article I found identified the people as being Hamas or named the number that was Hamas. This includes over 20 articles I read. I get to the CNN article and not only didn't they mention they were Hamas, they made no mention that they were militant. They just repoted it as Israel killing 6 Palestinians.

What is up with CNN? I guess they're trying to compete for the gold with Fox News for the most biased cable news outlet.

Print Story: CNN airs footage of Iraq sniper attacks on Yahoo! News

Pro Street · 10-21-2006, 02:44 AM

did you watch the special regarding it?

if you had, you might think differently about why it was aired.

JaJae · 10-21-2006, 02:45 AM

Originally Posted by Pro Street

did you watch the special regarding it?

if you had, you might think differently about why it was aired.

No I did not. Just reading the hype over it.

R-Type · 10-21-2006, 03:13 AM

Regardless how this was covered by CNN, I think it would do the american public a lot of good if they saw consistent 'unvarnished truth' about what is happening in iraq. I don't like it when media/gov't conspire to hide truth from me just because it's 'gut wrenching.' They didn't even want me to see the boxes coming back from the front lines..

Kytro · 10-21-2006, 03:24 AM

Originally Posted by JaJae

I personally take offense to this and the "unvarnished truth" CNN claims to tell. This soldier had a family. They don't deserve this. Many Americans have servicemen overseas. They don't need to see terrorist propaganda videos on their nightly news. If they wanted to see US marines getting shot, they host them on youtube (but not the conservative videos mind you). This has no business being aired.

It is true. They shot a solider, which happens during conflict. Solider go to fight there is a chance they may die. If the news channel wants to show that they have no obligation to avoid offendig people.

Originally Posted by JaJae

What is up with CNN? I guess they're trying to compete for the gold with Fox News for the most biased cable news outlet.

All nes is baised one way or another. Where there is demand....

Donkey® · 10-21-2006, 04:30 AM

How is this any different than watching the house Al Zarqawi is in get blown up from 12 different angles over and over?

avsp · 10-21-2006, 08:13 AM

If the targeted soldier was in no way intimidating or questioning the Iraqi public & could be construed as being 'friendly ' or 'helpfull', or even 'neutral', then its hardly 'insurrgent propaganda', (despite its source).

'Fade to black' isnt the 'unvarnished truth' either

garbagemanlb · 10-21-2006, 09:40 AM

Originally Posted by Donkey®

How is this any different than watching the house Al Zarqawi is in get blown up from 12 different angles over and over?

.

JaJae · 10-21-2006, 10:16 AM

Originally Posted by Donkey®

How is this any different than watching the house Al Zarqawi is in get blown up from 12 different angles over and over?

It's very different. You don't see the body being killed.

It's like watching people jump out of the towers on 9/11 long after the event for political gain. Only imagine they follow the person and watch them hit the ground. That's what I compare this sniper video shooting our soldiers to. It's too much and unneccessary for prime time news.

I'm not saying CNN doesn't have the right to show it. I'm just saying it's pretty damn tactless to do so.

Galactic Gigolo · 10-21-2006, 10:29 AM

Originally Posted by Donkey®

How is this any different than watching the house Al Zarqawi is in get blown up from 12 different angles over and over?

That's why.

Thorgrim · 10-21-2006, 02:04 PM

We have no problem showing the blood stains after insurgent attacks, and countless other footage that obviously shows the deaths of people with family, but when they specifically hide the person actually falling, and the families have no way of telling its their kid, its all terrorist propaganda

all your forcing is curious minds to flood insurgent websites for videos because you insist on censorship

JaJae · 10-21-2006, 02:07 PM

Originally Posted by Thorgrim

We have no problem showing the blood stains after insurgent attacks, and countless other footage that obviously shows the deaths of people with family, but when they specifically hide the person actually falling, and the families have no way of telling its their kid, its all terrorist propaganda

all your forcing is curious minds to flood insurgent websites for videos because you insist on censorship

Have I insisted on censorship or claimed airing the video was tactless. The videos are out there. There was a time when the news would cut away during a police shooting, etc so you wouldn't see the criminal being shot. Imagine being the mother or brother of the shot marine. Or watching your spouse fall into the conrete on national television after 9/11. To me it's just wrong.

Thorgrim · 10-21-2006, 02:17 PM

Originally Posted by JaJae

Have I insisted on censorship or claimed airing the video was tactless. The videos are out there. There was a time when the news would cut away during a police shooting, etc so you wouldn't see the criminal being shot. Imagine being the mother or brother of the shot marine. Or watching your spouse fall into the conrete on national television after 9/11. To me it's just wrong.

It's censorship, to me it's just wrong

I think they should have shown the whole thing, as long as its accurate

The showing of planes hitting the WTC again and again and again, that would upset me if i were sensitive, I don't see why the attack on an unidentified US soldier is so terrible

motivez · 10-21-2006, 02:22 PM

I'm glad they showed it. The remaining people who support this war likely do so because they're so removed from it. They think with smart bombs and technology, war isn't hell anymore. It is.

It's more important than ever with the massive increase in violence against American troops in the last month that especially those who still support the war or are on the fence about it realize that Bush's failed policy has real consequences for real kids who are sent over there to fight without a plan for success. It's not just political rhetoric, it's life and death for our troops.

The American people at large have a right to see what's going on over there and form their opinions based on the reality of the situation, rather than rhetoric about it.

It's rhetoric and the fairy tail fantasy the Administration told the American public that's gotten us into this, lets have a little reality based community now.

JaJae · 10-21-2006, 02:25 PM

Originally Posted by Thorgrim

It's censorship, to me it's just wrong

I think they should have shown the whole thing, as long as its accurate

The showing of planes hitting the WTC again and again and again, that would upset me if i were sensitive, I don't see why the attack on an unidentified US soldier is so terrible

How is my opinion that it's tactless, censorship? What are you talking about?

And I know you are ok with CNN showing this sniper video. It's typical of people who share your political affiliation, and that's fine. But there are many people who I'm sure don't want to see American soldiers being sniped in Iraq. And if enough people complain it could hurt their ratings, stocks and their wallet. That's what I'm advocating. I'm not saying they shouldn't be allowed to show it. I'm saying they should be criticized for showing it. And they deserve whatever criticism and loss of revenue they may receive from it.

motivez · 10-21-2006, 02:27 PM

Originally Posted by JaJae

It's very different. You don't see the body being killed.

No, you don't actually see them die. Instead, you see their dead, bloody, and beaten body paraded around on television.

Both illustrate the reality of war, though we cheer for Zarqawi's death because he was a monster.

JaJae · 10-21-2006, 02:27 PM

Originally Posted by motivez

I'm glad they showed it. The remaining people who support this war likely do so because they're so removed from it. They think with smart bombs and technology, war isn't hell anymore. It is.

Removed from it? The vast majority of people who still support the war are fighting the war or have loved ones overseas. It's not the people who get their news from DailyKos and support Americans watching our soldiers get sniped in Iraq on televised news.

The people against this are likely the ones who take "personal" offense to seeing our servicemen being killed in insurgent propaganda videos.

6SpeedTA95 · 10-21-2006, 02:29 PM

Originally Posted by JaJae

Removed from it? The vast majority of people who still support the war are fighting the war or have loved ones overseas. It's not the people who get their news from DailyKos and support Americans watching our soldiers get sniped in Iraq on televised news.

Well said.

Thorgrim · 10-21-2006, 02:30 PM

Originally Posted by JaJae

How is my opinion that it's tactless, censorship? What are you talking about?

And I know you want to see American soldiers being shot in Iraq. It's typical of your political ideology, and that's fine. But there are many people who I'm sure don't want to see American soldiers being sniped in Iraq. And if enough people complain it could hurt their ratings, stocks and their wallet. That's what I'm advocating. I'm not saying they shouldn't be allowed to show it. I'm saying they should be criticized for showing it. And they deserve whatever criticism and loss of revenue they may receive from it.

The media is supposed to educate and/or inform, but the average war supporter wants to be ignorant

I side with the media's responsibility