Friday, December 19, 2003

Feed me, Seymour

Bush is so happy with the "unfiltered" news from small outlets that he's wanting to set up a news outlet in Baghdad to feed them more of it.

The satellite link, dubbed "C-SPAN Baghdad," is designed to put a more positive spin on events and circumvent the major networks by making it possible for press conferences, interviews with troops and dignitaries, and even footage from the field to be transmitted from Iraq for use by regional and local media outlets, according to news accounts.  article

Not everybody's thrilled with the idea.

"I'm kind of appalled by it. I think it's very troubling," said Charles Kravetz, vice president of news at the regional cable news outlet NECN. "I think the government has no business being in the news business."

"We have no interest in this," said WBZ-TV (Channel 4) news director Peter Brown. "The Fourth Estate is independent and should remain so. As news providers, we should go there and see for ourselves."


Yeah, well, not exactly independent Pete. But thanks for noticing that there's a problem with this idea.

WCVB-TV news director Coleen Marren said the station is well served by the reporting resources of CNN and ABC and expressed concern at what she called "a government-sponsored television station."

Oh, honey, where have you been?

They've just announced it a wee bit too soon. They'll bring it up again. From corporate media to state media - it's not a very far walk.

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