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1. NBC Concedes Iraq 'Civil War' Description Could 'Erode' Support Twelve hours after the Today show repeatedly announced how NBC News had decided to call the situation in Iraq a "civil war," as if that decision was major news itself, Monday's NBC Nightly News led with the term and conceded it could "erode" public support for the war. NBC's Brian Williams teased: "A critical week for the President and the civil war in Iraq. Is the way out through Iran and Syria?" Then, over a graphic of "IRAQ" with "CIVIL WAR" beneath, Williams led: "Tonight there are moving parts on several fronts, all related to the fighting in Iraq. This begins what may be a crucial week in determining future U.S. involvement in what has become a civil war in that country." Reporter Andrea Mitchell asserted: "While Washington looks for answers, the violence in Iraq is spiraling out of control. Today NBC News joined other major news organizations in calling it a civil war." Mitchell acknowledged the impact of using the term: "Today the administration objected strongly to news organizations calling it a civil war. Many experts say that the White House has a huge incentive to avoid that term because it could further erode public support for keeping U.S. troops in Iraq." 2. Olbermann: NBC's Iraq 'Civil War' a 'Walter Cronkite Moment' On Monday's Countdown, MSNBC host Keith Olbermann contended that the decision by NBC News, to label violence in Iraq as a "civil war," was comparable to the 1968 decision by Walter Cronkite to declare the Vietnam War a "stalemate" as the former CBS News anchor lost confidence in America's ability to win that war. Olbermann yearned: "Is this the 'Walter Cronkite moment' of the Iraq War?" He led his show by quoting from Cronkite's 1968 statement, including the proclamation that "the only rational way out would be to negotiate," as the Countdown host contended that Cronkite had "truly matched his signoff 'And that's the way it is.'" Olbermann then concluded: "Wishing neither to make an undue analogy nor be too introspective, but on the advice of a panel of experts, NBC News and MSNBC have today decided to call it in Iraq, the way it is, 'civil war.'" 3. Logan Insists U.S. Defeated in Iraq, But Abizaid Rejects Notion In the only non-repeat story on Sunday's holiday weekend 60 Minutes, CBS News Chief Foreign Correspondent Lara Logan insisted to General John Abizaid, the top U.S. Commander in the Middle East, that the U.S has been defeated in Iraq. Though he disputed her contention, she was not swayed. Logan asserted: "We hear very little about victory in Iraq these days. We hear a lot about how to manage the defeat." Abizaid cut her off, demanding: "What defeat?" Logan quicky rephrased from "manage" to "minimize" the defeat: "How we minimize the defeat." Abizaid scolded: "That's your word. Defeat is your word, not my word." Undeterred, Logan returned to her refrain: "Increasingly in this country, people are talking about how to manage defeat in Iraq." 4. Williams: See My 'Serious, Reasoned' Newscast, Unlike Cable Goons PBS talk show host Charlie Rose, who spent the 1980s at CBS doing the overnight interview show Nightwatch, is never a softer touch than when he has a network star on his show. Last Monday night's interview with NBC anchor Brian Williams gave the anchor a platform to present his newscast as a "reasoned, serious" oasis from cable-news shouters, a "half hour of peace and tranquility" with "smart people" like David Gregory and Andrea Mitchell telling you about the world. Their discussion of Katrina coverage had no hint of regret that NBC misled people with Ray Nagin's wild estimates of 10,000 dead. Williams reminisced, "you remember people saying, well, the media have found their footing again and its name is New Orleans. They were asleep during WMD. But they're awake now." 5. Olbermann in LA Times: I'm Not Making Facts Up Like Rush Limbaugh Los Angeles Times media reporter Matea Gold is the latest journalist to push Keith Olbermann as a hot commodity now that he's boldly captured about one-fifth as many viewers as Bill O'Reilly. True, his left-wing howling at the moon may match the incoming Democratic committee leaders like John Conyers, but he's still denying he has an identifiable political agenda. The other unintentionally hilarious moment in the November 27 article came in his dismissal of Rush Limbaugh as a fabricator. To suggestion that Olbermann is as demagogic as his nemesis O'Reilly, Keith responded: "'I'm not trying to whip up a political frenzy,' he said. 'If I was out there every night beating people over the head with this, I would become a Rush Limbaugh. That's not my goal. I don't make the facts up to fit the political viewpoint that happens to parallel what it is I'm trying to express.'" 6. Cal Thomas Names Keith Olbermann His 'Turkey of the Year' On FNC's Fox News Watch aired on Saturday, conservative columnist and FNC contributor Cal Thomas took to task MSNBC host Keith Olbermann for Olbermann's "inaccuracies" and "hot air" as the show's panelists got to voice their picks for the second annual "Turkey of the Year" award, which allowed each panelist to dishonor media figures for disreputable behavior. Olbermann, who often uses his Countdown show's regular "Worst Person in the World" segment to denigrate conservative public figures, was called out by Thomas as someone who "is the greatest contributor to global warming because he spews more hot air than any other cable television show host." NBC Concedes Iraq 'Civil War' Description Could 'Erode' Support Twelve hours after the Today show repeatedly announced how NBC News had decided to call the situation in Iraq a "civil war," as if that decision was major news itself, Monday's NBC Nightly News led with the term and conceded it could "erode" public support for the war. Meanwhile, CBS and ABC, didn't go quite as far as CBS's Katie Couric referred to how Iraq "slips ever-closer to civil war" and ABC's Charles Gibson suggested "you can call it anarchy, you can call it chaos, you can call it civil war..." NBC's Brian Williams teased: "A critical week for the President and the civil war in Iraq. Is the way out through Iran and Syria?" Then, over a graphic of "IRAQ" with "CIVIL WAR" beneath, Williams led: "Tonight there are moving parts on several fronts, all related to the fighting in Iraq. This begins what may be a crucial week in determining future U.S. involvement in what has become a civil war in that country." Reporter Andrea Mitchell asserted: "While Washington looks for answers, the violence in Iraq is spiraling out of control. Today NBC News joined other major news organizations in calling it a civil war." After a clip of presidential historian Michael Beschloss who contended,: "If you define a civil war as a country where a lot of groups are struggling for power, and that's primarily the struggle, Iraq is in a civil war," Mitchell acknowledged the impact of using the term: "Today the administration objected strongly to news organizations calling it a civil war. Many experts say that the White House has a huge incentive to avoid that term because it could further erode public support for keeping U.S. troops in Iraq." [This item was posted Monday night on the MRC's blog, NewsBusters.org: newsbusters.org ] CBS Evening News anchor Katie Couric teased her Monday newscast, "Tonight, man on a mission: President Bush embarks on a search for solutions to the violence in Iraq as that country slips ever-closer to civil war." She then opened: "The Bush administration is still not calling it a civil war, but National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley today gave the most ominous assessment yet of the violence in Iraq. He said it has clearly entered a 'new phase.'" David Martin soon highlighted how UN Secretary General Kofi Annan "publicly warned Iraq is on the brink of civil war." Over on ABC's World News, anchor Charles Gibson put "civil war" into the mix: "You can call it anarchy, you can call it chaos, you can call it civil war. Whatever you call it, the events of recent days demonstrate that the situation in Iraq is at a critical juncture."
As recounted by the MRC's Geoff Dickens in a Monday NewsBusters posting, "In Clunky Newscasts, NBC News Decrees Iraq In 'Civil War,'" Matt Lauer announced at the top of the November 27 Today:
Later in the 7am half hour, Lauer elaborated on the policy with General Barry McCaffrey:
And news reader Ann Curry made NBC News part of the news: For more on Monday's Today: newsbusters.org
Seeing civil war in Iraq is nothing new for the networks. A Friday, May 20, 2005 MRC CyberAlert item, "CBS Cites Dire Litany, Asks: Is Iraq 'Sliding Toward Civil War?'", recounted: For the entire CyberAlert article: www.mrc.org
Olbermann: NBC's Iraq 'Civil War' a 'Walter Cronkite Moment' On Monday's Countdown, MSNBC host Keith Olbermann contended that the decision by NBC News, to label violence in Iraq as a "civil war," was comparable to the 1968 decision by Walter Cronkite to declare the Vietnam War a "stalemate" as the former CBS News anchor lost confidence in America's ability to win that war. Olbermann yearned: "Is this the 'Walter Cronkite moment' of the Iraq War?" He led his show by quoting from Cronkite's 1968 statement, including the proclamation that "the only rational way out would be to negotiate," as the Countdown host contended that Cronkite had "truly matched his signoff 'And that's the way it is.'" Olbermann then concluded: "Wishing neither to make an undue analogy nor be too introspective, but on the advice of a panel of experts, NBC News and MSNBC have today decided to call it in Iraq, the way it is, 'civil war.'" [This item is adopted from a Monday night posting by Brad Wilmouth on the MRC's NewsBusters blog: newsbusters.org ] Below is a transcript of relevant portions of the November 27 Countdown: Keith Olbermann, in opening teaser: "Which of these stories will you be talking about tomorrow? It is civil war in Iraq. Not says the State Department. Not says the Iraqi government. But after long and painful consideration, it meets the technical standards for civil war, and we must call it that, says NBC News. Is this the 'Walter Cronkite moment' of the Iraq War? Retired Colonel Jack Jacobs on the why and how the sectarian violence in Iraq qualifies for this fearful phrase. Craig Crawford predicts the impact, its relative position on the Cronkite scale, and the backlash. Dana Milbank on the impact on the President on the latest leaks about the Baker commission report and Mr. Bush's impending summit meeting with Nouri al-Maliki. Mr. Bush thinks it is not civil war in Iraq, but it is too dangerous to meet Iraq's prime minister in Iraq." Olbermann introduced the program: "Good evening from Los Angeles. 'We have been too often disappointed by the optimism of the American leaders both in Vietnam and Washington to have faith any longer in the silver linings they find in the darkest clouds,' the observer began exactly 38 years and nine months ago tonight. 'To say that we are closer to victory today is to believe, in the face of the evidence, the optimists, who have been wrong in the past. To suggest we're on the edge of defeat is to yield to unreasonable pessimism. To say that we are mired in stalemate seems the only realistic, yet unsatisfactory, conclusion.' And the observer's conclusion: 'It is increasingly clear to this reporter that the only rational way out would be to negotiate -- not as victors, but as an honorable people who lived up to their pledge to defend democracy and did the best they could.' Our fifth story on the Countdown, after years of erring on the side of caution about Vietnam, Walter Cronkite, on February 27, 1968, truly matched his signoff 'And that's the way it is,' and America never saw that war the same way. Wishing neither to make an undue analogy nor be too introspective, but on the advice of a panel of experts, NBC News and MSNBC have today decided to call it in Iraq, the way it is, 'civil war.'"
Logan Insists U.S. Defeated in Iraq, But Abizaid Rejects Notion In the only non-repeat story on Sunday's holiday weekend 60 Minutes, CBS News Chief Foreign Correspondent Lara Logan insisted to General John Abizaid, the top U.S. Commander in the Middle East, that the U.S has been defeated in Iraq. Though he disputed her contention, she was not swayed. Logan asserted: "We hear very little about victory in Iraq these days. We hear a lot about how to manage the defeat." Abizaid cut her off, demanding: "What defeat?" Logan quicky rephrased from "manage" to "minimize" the defeat: "How we minimize the defeat." Abizaid scolded: "That's your word. Defeat is your word, not my word." Undeterred, Logan returned to her refrain: "Increasingly in this country, people are talking about how to manage defeat in Iraq." The MRC's Michael Rule caught the lead story on the November 26 60 Minutes in which Logan interviewed Abizaid last week at Central Command's Tampa-area headquarters. From the end of the piece:
Lara Logan: "We hear very little about victory in Iraq these days. We hear a lot about how to manage the defeat. And a lot of Americans-"
Williams: See My 'Serious, Reasoned' Newscast, Unlike Cable Goons PBS talk show host Charlie Rose, who spent the 1980s at CBS doing the overnight interview show Nightwatch, is never a softer touch than when he has a network star on his show. Last Monday night's interview with NBC anchor Brian Williams gave the anchor a platform to present his newscast as a "reasoned, serious" oasis from cable-news shouters, a "half hour of peace and tranquility" with "smart people" like David Gregory and Andrea Mitchell telling you about the world. Their discussion of Katrina coverage had no hint of regret that NBC misled people with Ray Nagin's wild estimates of 10,000 dead (newsbusters.org Williams reminisced, "you remember people saying, well, the media have found their footing again and its name is New Orleans. They were asleep during WMD. But they're awake now." [This item, by Tim Graham, was posted Thursday on the MRC's blog, NewsBusters.org: newsbusters.org ]
The November 20 interview began with syrupy talk about Williams filling in for Rose during his heart-surgery break. Williams said it was his pleasure, since he was interviewing that genius who is the Editor of Newsweek:
Williams was drawn into praising his own show (and mocking the talk-show hosts on cable TV) when talking about how NBC still draws ten million viewers a night, up to 11 or 12 million around the elections: "I see us as still offering this reasoned, serious half hour every night. The more people shout on cable, the more I actually welcome that."
Then came the time to honor Williams for his "passion" during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina: Being an "advocate" meant, on the first anniversary of Katrina, confronting President Bush with the idea that he was influenced by racism, that a majority-white city would have drawn a better, quicker government response.
Rose: "Tell me about your impression of him on that day, on that day." He sensed an implication? Wasn't the implication crystal clear? "You don't care about black people." For more on Williams' late August interview with Bush, check the August 30 CyberAlert, "Williams Hits Bush with Dyson's Charge He's Uncaring 'Patrician,'" online at: www.mrc.org For the December 13 CyberAlert item, "Williams Hits Bush with Charge of Racism Behind Katrina Response," go to: www.mrc.org
Olbermann in LA Times: I'm Not Making Facts Up Like Rush Limbaugh
Los Angeles Times media reporter Matea Gold is the latest journalist to push Keith Olbermann as a hot commodity now that he's boldly captured about one-fifth as many viewers as Bill O'Reilly. True, his left-wing howling at the moon may match the incoming Democratic committee leaders like John Conyers, but he's still denying he has an identifiable political agenda. The other unintentionally hilarious moment in the November 27 article came in his dismissal of Rush Limbaugh as a fabricator. When Robert Cox of Olbermann Watch suggested to the Times that Olbermann is as demagogic as his nemesis O'Reilly, Keith responded: [This item, by Tim Graham, was posted Monday afternoon on the MRC's blog, NewsBusters.org: newsbusters.org ]
Gold laid out Olbermann's improbably argument that he has no identifiable political agenda and has made no attempt to pander to the MoveOn/Daily Kosmonaut wing of the Democrats by describing Bush as the vilest of dictators and the Republican Party as the nation's leading terrorist group. (Of course, Gold doesn't actually offer the reader much of Olbermann's progressive patois.) The no-agenda-here claim unfolded like this:
Olbermann said he never set out to court disaffected liberals.
MSNBC boss Dan Abrams suggested, on a positive note, that MSNBC is NBC's petulant younger sibling:
For the November 27 LA Times article, "The gloves come off: Keith Olbermann's anti-Bush views have driven up the ratings of his MSNBC show," in full: www.latimes.com
Cal Thomas Names Keith Olbermann His 'Turkey of the Year' On FNC's Fox News Watch aired on Saturday, conservative columnist and FNC contributor Cal Thomas took to task MSNBC host Keith Olbermann for Olbermann's "inaccuracies" and "hot air" as the show's panelists got to voice their picks for the second annual "Turkey of the Year" award, which allowed each panelist to dishonor media figures for disreputable behavior. Olbermann, who often uses his Countdown show's regular "Worst Person in the World" segment to denigrate conservative public figures, was called out by Thomas as someone who "is the greatest contributor to global warming because he spews more hot air than any other cable television show host." [This item, by Brad Wilmouth, was posted Monday night on the MRC's blog, NewsBusters.org: newsbusters.org ] After panelist Jane Hall had named Rush Limbaugh as her choice, host Eric Burns turned to Thomas, who started his response jokingly by complaining that Olbermann had incorrectly charged that Thomas dyes his hair. But Thomas also criticized Olbermann for "inaccuracies" in general. Below is a transcript of Thomas' comments on Olbermann from the November 25 Fox News Watch:
Cal Thomas: "Mine goes to Keith Olbermann of, what network is that, MSNBC I guess it is. Nobody's watching anyway. But he famously claimed that I dyed my hair once, and along with all of his other inaccuracies, that one is, too."
-- Brent Baker
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