Yesterday, during an interview with former national intelligence director Dennis Blair, CNN reporter Brooke Baldwin said this (7/18/13):
We all know the name Anwar Al-Awlaki, an American terrorist. As you know, the drone strike that killed him also killed civilians, also killed his 16-year-old son.
Journalist Jeremy Scahill was watching, and he tweeted this:
. @BrookeBCNN you just made an egregious error. Anwar Awlaki’s son was NOT killed in same strike. He was killed 2 weeks later.
— jeremy scahill (@jeremyscahill) July 18, 2013
Baldwin’s first response was denial:
never said same strike #checkthetranscript “@jeremyscahill @BrookeBCNN u r saying he was “collateral damage” in strike that killed his dad.
— Brooke Baldwin (@BrookeBCNN) July 18, 2013
But that didn’t work, since Scahill had it on video:
. @BrookeBCNN I posted a clip of you saying exactly what you said you didn’t say. Will you issue an on-air correction?
— jeremy scahill (@jeremyscahill) July 18, 2013
Baldwin eventually responded with this:
If I misspoke — I am truly sorry. Was trying to ask a question on drone strikes on innocent civilians. #done
— Brooke Baldwin (@BrookeBCNN) July 18, 2013
But, as Scahill pointed out, issuing a correction via Twitter for something you said on the air was insufficient. Baldwin apparently agreed, because later on in her show she said, “And earlier we said that he was killed in the same drone strike that killed his father. That was not the case. We regret that mistake.”
Accuracy, of course, is a big deal in journalism– and thus it’s a big deal for people who want to hold journalism accountable. Baldwin’s initial response was unfortunate, but she eventually made the right call. Would she have made the same decision if there wasn’t such a public effort to get her to correct the record? Probably not.
How journalists issue corrections is important. On his Sunday show, Meet the Press anchor David Gregory claimed (FAIR Blog, 7/8/13) that “anybody who gets a paycheck” was now paying a new Obamacare tax. That’s not true; the tax is paid by people making over $200,000 a year. FAIR pointed this out, and on the next week’s show (7/14/13) Gregory corrected his mistake. It’s interesting to wonder how he came to be so misinformed in the first place, but he obviously made the right decision.
Not all outlets are so forthcoming. About a month ago FAIR issued an action alert (6/21/13) about Iran misinformation in USA Today and on MSNBC‘s Rachel Maddow show. The newspaper claimed that Iran’s new president-elect Hasan Rowhani was “known for his negotiating skill over the country’s nuclear weapons program.” Though this is a common misconception–thanks to corporate media–the country does not actually have any such weapons program.
After a month or so, the paper finally agreed that this was a problem. But here’s the correction they ran:
News: A June 17 story on Iranian President-elect Hasan Rawhani misstated his previous position. He was a negotiator over Iran’s nuclear program.
That is what you might call a non-correction correction. Readers would have no way of knowing what the error might have been– did the paper claim he worked in a different government agency, perhaps? The most important aspect of the error was in implying the existence of a non-existence weapons program, which wasn’t addressed in the correction.
An insufficient correction is still better than none at all– which has been Rachel Maddow’s response. On her show (6/10/13) she claimed that outgoing Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was “known around the world for defending Iran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons.” That is entirely inaccurate; he was more known for, as FAIR’s alert pointed out, saying the country wasn’t pursuing such weapons. A rather important difference.
Maddow’s show has never responded, and as far as we can tell has never addressed the issue on the air.
I’m surprised Scahill, and Hart, don’t question Baldwin’s characterization of Al-Awlaki as a “terrorist”, given that the term implies operational involvement, which has never been proven, only alleged.
The government’s own guidelines for assassination make a distinction between operational and propaganda activities. That distinction is essentially cosmetic, of course, but it is made, and for that not to be acknowledged here is disturbing.
And it should be said that even were Al-Awlaki engaged in the former, that would not have justified his extrajudicial execution, regardless of his nationality.
I’m somewhat surprised that Rachel Maddow hasn’t done a correction – she has in the past done segments called the “Department of Corrections”. I always applauded her for not being afraid to admit that she got something wrong. She even asks her guests if she got any part of her lead-ins wrong.
The drone murder of the 16 year old American kid & his friends is a dramatic point in Scahill’s doc, “Dirty Wars.”
Shame on you, Rachel: I’m a big fan, but you should follow the same rules.
Well yes and no on the nukes.He often said things like “There is no proof we are trying to build nuclear weapons…..but we of course have the right to do whatever we need to do.”Not a denial.He has denied this before of course.In oily language..Kind of like he denied any gays being in Iran.He denies all kinds of things.He denies there is not religious freedom in Iran.He denies sheria law is doing anything to hurt anyone.He denies supplying arms to terrorists or anyone else.In short….he is a stone cold liar on any number of issues.Pathological is the word.So really who in the hell cares what he says,about anything on any subject?On to Obama care.I loooooove it when people STILL try to defend Obama care.There is just no defense anymore.Nothing is working.Price is skyrocketing.Everything we warned you would happen- is happening.Actually it is far worse that even what the Rs said it would be during that election cycle.Obama is trying to suspend huge parts of it until after the next election.He does not want America getting the bill before that.Christ there would not be a Dem left standing.Everyone will pay more.Everyone will get less.A total cluster bleep.Courtesy of the amateur and Chief.lord Obama
@michael e, do you have proof of those things or even references for when he said them? Otherwise, I can’t take you seriously. Also, skip the Obama care stuff – use it somewhere where it’s more relevant. Finally, add a space at the end of your sentences – only terrorist break that rule.
Baldwin’s is also a non-correction. It says the son was not killed in the same drone attack as the father. It leaves the viewer unsure if the son was killed at all and if so, how.
(Mobile)
Doug’s point regarding the labeling of Awlaki as terrorist based on government assertions is important. It may seem hopeless to expect mainstream media to stop this practice, but we should not tire of demanding it.
(Mobile)
I would like to see the research that Rachel Maddow did when she did her Rhodes Scholarship. I used to think she was a one trick pony and that the folks in England should start giving riding lessons to their Rhodes winners so that they could at least do dressage. I certainly feel that way about Rhodes Scholar John Gearen of Mayer Brown LLP in Chicago. John Gearen once had a real estate developer come to Mayer Brown LLP to vet out a prospective deal team that Gearen was putting together. The developer did not bring counsel to help vet the deal team. So Gearen summoned Lisa O’Keefe, a lawyer who had no experience with leasing, and announced to the developer that O’Keefe was a leasing expert. The developer was stuck paying the bill while O’Keefe ascended the learning curve of leasing law. Is that the kind of thing that one learns when one is a Rhodes Scholar? It is not dressage. But it does seem akin to not issuing a retraction and letting one’s viewers pay the bill of the learning curve, just as the real estate developer did with John Gearen. Maybe Rachel Maddow could look into this for me. The president of Ecuador has buddied up with Iran. This has given many pause. I have been given pause for different reasons. I am not sure that Ecuador will have sound food security policy going forward, either for itself or for anyone else. In researching this, I just sent an email to a scientist at Cal Tech who is tasked with furthering Ecuador’s new educational initiative in Yachay. The initiative wants to make Yachay a Silicon Valley of the South. Already many indigenous farmers have been displaced. There may be more trouble brewing on the horizon. Ms. Maddow and Mr. Hart and , for that matter, the rest of you folks who read FAIR, could you help me investigate? Here is my letter to Mr. Andrade of Cal Tech:
“Hi:
I wonder if you could look into two things that I am researching
that have to do with Ecuador: 1) Dole Foods and 2) Speakers in Ecuador at Investment Conferences
that have to do with USA agricultural policy and investment.
1) is in your area of expertise. 2) is not, but probably should be.
As for 1), I understand that you are doing some work to develop the new multi-disciplinary academic complex in Yachay Ecuador.
I also understand that Ecuadorian president R Correa has visited D. Murdock’s Dole Foods outfit in N.C and
that Dole Foods is interested in the complex in Ecuador.
Dole has an interesting role in GMOs. As you probably know, Dole is trying to straddle the fence
with GMOs. That said, here in CA, Dole was against GMO labeling last year in the organic labeling
ballot initiative. And Dole is heavily allied with Monsanto.
What kind, if any, of agricultural research might Dole get involved in in Ecuador in the future at Yachay?
Is Dole going to be planting GMO and GMO-hybrid crops or bringing in GMO seeds to analyze in Ecuador?
Has Dole already started to do that in Ecuador?
Have the Israelis who helped to modernize water technology for roses in Ecuador introduced GMO technology
into Ecuador’s rose agriculture? Have they done that with coffee?
What about the Ecuadorean Shangrila of Villacabamba? Is there any GMO planted there? I do know that it
is a favorite of Israelis and that Lee Harrison used to live there. Harrison told me that a lot of former IDF
troops live and vacation in Villacabamba.
Back to Yachay. I understand that Yachay is to be a sort of Silicon Valley incubator with nano and post-nanotechnology.
Will this extend to GMO agriculture? Is Correa interested in becoming allied with Monsanto in his alliance
with Dole Foods?
Just as an FYI–the Dole political action committee is near by you in Westlake Village, CA I believe. Maybe Agoura
Hills. At least if you have any questions about Dole food politics and Mr. Murdock’s connections to George Bush and
to other Republicans that you can’t get off of a website like Open Secrets, you may want to see if you can
get some answers from the Dole P.A.C. itself.
As for 2), I thought it was very interesting in February 2013 in Quito Ecuador that at the Live and Invest Overseas
Conference hosted by Kathleen Peddicord and Lief Simon, and attended by former (?) Navy nuclear expert
and Latin American correspondent for Live and Invest Overseas Lee Harrison, one of the speakers was Barry Potekin.
Barry Potekin, formerly of RMB Group in Chicago, IL, talked about the relationships between agriculture futures in the U.S. and SNAP, also known
as Food Stamps.
I heard the talk.
As soon as I heard the talk, I knew that the Republicans and a lot of Democrats would try to gut Food Stamps
for the first time in history since Food Stamps’s inception from the Farm Bill.
I knew that there was a good chance that a lot of conservative agriculture food groups and pro GMO ag proponents would have all the ammo
that they needed to take positions in ag futures that were more invested in crop insurance subsidies than in food stamps after Barry Potekin spoke.
Mr. Potekin also spoke at a very conservative-attended and manned conference in Nicaragua this Spring. Mike Cobb of ECI, spoke in Nicaragua. So did
Peter Zipper of Caye Bank in Belize. They were each in Quito in February as well.
I am going to be asking Noam Chomsky to see if he can put some trade experts on the issue of food stamps and issues that have been discussed recently in Quito
by Mr. Potekin. I am not going to share with Mr. Chomsky my recording of Mr. Potekin’s talk. I am going to let him know how trade experts that he trusts who are progressive
can purchase it and other recordings from Nicaragua and Ecuador this Spring and then analyze those recordings.
I have corresponded with Mr. Chomsky before.
He has been on Amy Goodman’s “Democracy Now” and Goodman has cut him off when he has wanted to quote verbatim from the “Financial Times.”
He did not know that Goodman had censured him until I told him.
So he made a point to get on “Democracy Now” after that and to make sure that Goodman let him quote verbatim from the “Financial Times.”
He has failed to heed my advice that the study of politics may well be modeled on linguistic structural models, but only if pragmatics along the lines of Greimas
and John Dewey are taken into account. That is my position on the study of politics and linguistics–That without incorporating the work of Greimas and John Dewey,
culture can’t be taken into account. Without taking culture into account, politics is just a machine. Chomsky respects my argument, but disagrees.
In any case, I hope that I have given you some food for thought.
Have I?
Best,
Jackie Mraz”
Since Maddow has become a highly-paid star, and Comcast bought into MSNBC, the bit that was once behind the trainer’s back seems now to be in Rachel’s mouth. I wonder how hard they will have to pull back on it before she bolts.
Snowshoe I direct you to the Iranian press.You can obtain Farsi-English translations of their main newspapers for instance.Once you see what their leadership says on a daily basis(never ever ever reported in western press)you will see that this is actually an open subject there.Often spoken about.Once you hear their amazingly bellicose and threatening daily rhetoric ,your natural responses will be…….They cant really mean what they say.Why is this not reported here?Your mouth will drop open.It’s funny that one line “we will turn Israel into a lake of fire” was actually jumped on by our press.Where in the hell have they been.That is nothing.You can hear threats like that almost daily.It just happens so much that we treat them like children and don’t take them seriously.A little like Obamas culture of corruption(every day a new eruption)Saturation causes apathy.Israel of course does take these threats seriously.Stupid right?
Oh I laughed my ass off on that crack about” no space at the end of a sentence being the realm of terrorists”.Clever but now you might have the Feds monitoring my phones and computers.I mean I fit the profile right?Not of a terrorist per say.But I am a tea party constitutionalist.You no…those crazies who actually want LESS government intrusion into your lives and personal freedoms.Less taxes.And an adherence to the constitution.OOOps gotta go…….I see a black ops heli
copter!
Jacki….Im not being rude…ok I am, but I don’t want to be.Let me put it this way….I have been accused on this sight of going off on tangents,and I have been attacked for my temerity.I dont think people are saying anything to you because from what they can glean ..it seems you are on the side of liberals mind speak.And that puts a smile into their hard little hearts.But coming from a tea party conservative(me) may I ask again…..WHAY ARE YOU ON ABOUT?
But I am a tea party constitutionalist.
You mean your a stand up comedian, without being funny. If your going to defend something, A) you should understand it, B) have more than a passing acquaintance with the language it’s written in, you haven’t even shown that you know what spelling and Punctuation are, let alone understanding the ramifications and nuances of legalese.
And Last but no least, “You have no proof” is in fact denying that they have the program. If your in court and the prosecution says “You guilty of…..” the statement, You have no proof of that is in fact the legal response. No proof, no guilt.
Try sticking to being a comedian, at least there when you spew the Tea Bagger nonsense, someone might actually confuse it with satire…..
@michael e says
“Once you see what their leadership says on a daily basis (never ever ever reported in western press) you will see that this is actually an open subject there.”
Point me to one example.
Michael E: There is some excellent Iranian press. Not all of it is erratic and not all of it is just rants. One Iranian TV internet channel, for example, did a thorough job of reporting on a tribute to Iranian victims of the Vincennes US Navy debacle back in the day around, I believe, either July 4th or July 14th–it was either a US national holiday or Bastille Day, which, in my opinion, should be a world-wide holiday. As the Iranian TV reported, the US Navy officer in charge of the Vincennes got off pretty much scott free, despite the massive casualties. There was footage of Pakistani and other military from around the world engaged in commemorating the victims. Was this covered in the mainstream or alternative Western press? Did Rachel Maddow cover it? Did she? Not.
Michael E: You can also find Ray McGovern and others reporting in the Iranian press. On the false flag that 9/11 was, and much of it with Israel playing a big hand. That is right. The Russians and the Iranians report on that–Israel’s involvement in 9/11. You hardly ever see anything serious about that in the mainstream US press. When Amy Goodman of “Democracy Now” has covered it, she has aired at least one story by a Mossad writer. I exposed him thoroughly on Wayne Madsen’s website. Go to the archives. You will see.
British plane spotters, here is a task for you. Are you up to it? Didn’t Brazil talk about giving Edward Snowden asylum? Isn’t Italy mad at the CIA for bungling things big time not too long ago on Italian soil? Haven’t the Italians just had a former CIA officer arrested in Panama who was involved in bungling a multi-layered Italian investigation into a radical Islamic terrorist cell in Italy? I believe that CIA officer was born in Honduras. If memory serves, it was Honduras. He is not USA-born. Well, Slum Dog Millionaire Pope Francis is on his way to Rio. Could it be that he has Edward Snowden on board? Should the USA or anyone else not stop the pope’s plane to see what he may be bringing to Brazil besides papal lunacy? Inquiring minds want to know….
Peter, you say:
“Baldwin’s initial response was unfortunate, but she eventually made the right call.”
What Baldwin said:
“And earlier we said that he was killed in the same drone strike that killed his father. That was not the case. We regret that mistake.”
It was the correct call, but the “right” call would have been a clarification on the death of Abdulrahman al-Awlaki (that’s the kid’s name), which occurred TWO WEEKS later. It’s a can ‘o worms they don’t want to touch. (Abdulrahman could have been Trayvon Martin.)
Adding: I’d like to see Media Matters (*cough*) do a head-to-head comparison study of airtime-minutes and mentions MSNBC gave to Abdulrahman al-Awlaki versus Trayvon Martin. The resulting imbalance, I suspect, would be instructive.
jacki…..israeli involvement in 911?Total Bullshit.And I do believe at least half of you knuckle heads would vote for the Iranian leaders over anybody that admits to being a constitutionalist(tea party)in OUR elections.So anti American it really is startling.You will buy any bit of nonsense whispered about the USA,and forgive anything of a country gone mad like Iran.Your understanding of the tea party movement is akin to morons who say “every Dem is a baby murderer.”Tea bagger?A term detested by those who belong to the party.Like Nigger.A term detested by those who it is aimed at.But your too stupid to even understand that.You blithely go on adding insult to injury.You are so mentally addled you even defend countries like Iran and North Korea.Yes all that is rotten in the world rests on the USA’s doorstep.Does stupidity really rein in your liberal world to this degree?
@michael e, nice try, but you’re clearly not up to the task. That sort of sniping without actually answering any of the issues is a fairly cheap response, particularly from one whose spelling and grammar skills leave so much to be desired. You’re out of your depth, buddy.
Snowshoe ever been to iran ?I have- with Doctors without boarders.Great people.Insane leadership.What did we call people at Harvard who sniped about grammar when important matters were being discussed?Children.Today I just call them libs.Out of my depth?Tell me Im wrong?Where on these “pages” do you see a love of this country?You want me to address silly issues and give credence to them?Yeah lets talk for a couple of hours on the question “was obama born here”.Or maybe were the twin towers brought down by demolition?And if I don’t……..IM out of my depth?Classic moronic liberalism.
How bout we talk about important issues.How is the seed of Obama doing?The place where he began his political life?The place that he so helped to form along his belief structure?The jewel in his crown?The place his eye never left.Where his will be done?How is Detroit/the bastion on liberalism?News for you….another ten or fifteen lib/blue cities are on the brink.How is Bushes Texas doing? I will tell you.Fantastic.And busy making T shirts that say …keep your liberal ways FAR away.
We are starting to really separate along lines people.Your welcome to it.Just keep away from us.And dont ask for help for your stupidity and access.That is truly how we feel
excess
@michael e wrote:
“Snowshoe ever been to iran ?I have- with Doctors without boarders.”
You can’t even spell it – you really think we’re going to take you seriously? Yeah, I’ve been to Iran too, with Accountants With Roommates. Great bunch of people – they were doing tax returns for the poor, free of charge.
You’re all talk and no substance. As trolls go, you’re really poor at it, but you know what they say about paying peanuts…
So what?! What kind of difference does it make whether it was at the same strike or two weeks later?
Probably the information told that there must be a threat in the same location and there must have been a necessity to bomb there twice!
The point which draws my attention badly is that there is a very profound sensitivity in media and news in US (as in this very tiny case) which make me believe that it is very difficult and responsibility taking to make a mistake in just one single news line, there is a big risk in false news or even to manage a propaganda in a dishonest way!
For me as an Iranian who hears and watches thousands of impudent harsh and huge lies in Iranian state running media, along with a juicy Anti-Everything propaganda, while no one dares even to mention to the truth or has a dispute about those lies (let alone ask somebody to correct his saying!), US seem to be not a perfect, but a serious democracy and freedom. God bless all, even CNN!
Michael E: Go to the Wayne Madsen archives and look at the thorough research that he did on the Israeli art students. Then also look up the new 9/11 committee, composed of an Italian jurist and a French film maker, among others. Also do the research on military maneuvers by US military at the time of 9/11. Lots of scheduled exercises were rescheduled to facilitate 9/11. It has all been thoroughly documented. I used to work at Mayer Brown LLP when Richard Benveniste worked there. Benveniste was on the bogus 9/11 Commission. The one that was tasked with covering up Israel’s and others’ involvement. Having worked at Mayer Brown LLP and having seen the way that firm treated a former partner who helped C.E.E.L.I. write the constitution for a new democracy in Eastern Europe–one of the former Soviet states–and having seen everyone and his and her brother go to bat for anything involving Israel time and time again at Mayer Brown LLP, I knew that the Benveniste appointment meant one thing: a cover up was at hand. I wrote to Christopher Ketcham about this. Go to the Wayne Madsen archives. You will see that I totally debunked Ketcham’s coverage of the Israeli art student caper. Ketcham has or had a house in the Catskills near Canada and has a child with a French woman. He apparently speaks French. But he claims that he did no research on Israeli art students in Canada. He also interviewed ‘former’ Mossad agent Victor Ostrovsky, who has an art studio in Scottsdale, AZ about the Israeli art student caper. Ostrovsky, who has lived in Canada and who is an art and an electronics expert, told Ketcham that he did not understand the technology that the Israeli art students used. I have all of this and more in correspondence with Ketcham. What else? Ketcham did military maneuvers with Minute Men near the AZ or Utah border. He claims that they were something out of a Hunter S. Thompson book. Or that, at least, was Ketcham’s write up of the Minute Men around five or so years ago. So I asked Ketcham about his own weapons and combat training. He claimed that he had none. In short, I am a debunker. Ketcham’s story on “Democracy Now” with Amy Goodman, when it appeared, was just a planted story that covered up the research that Wayne Madsen and others have done on Israel’s intense involvement in 9/11. Sorry. It is the truth. Do the research. You may also want to do the research on Juan Cole at the U of Michigan like I did. More Yiddish theater. I debunked Juan Cole just like I debunked Christopher Ketcham. And now I am debunking you. Easy. Got it?
@Dariush e, Trolling 101 – write in a really distinctive style with poor grammar and spelling. That way if you need to adopt a new persona to support your position, nobody will suspect that it’s you.