CNN's Robertson Now Admits: Hezbollah 'Had Control' of His
Anti-Israel Piece
Posted by Rich Noyes on July 24, 2006 - 15:32.
Better late than never? On CNNs Reliable Sources on Sunday, CNNs
senior international correspondent Nic Robertson added all of the
caveats and disclaimers that he should have included in his story
last week that amounted to his giving an uncritical forum for the
terrorist group Hezbollah to spout unverifiable anti-Israeli
propaganda.
Back on July 18, Hezbollah took Robertson and his crew on a tour of
a heavily damaged south Beirut neighborhood. The Hezbollah press
officer even instructed the CNN camera: Just look. Shoot. Look at
this building. Is it a military base? Is it a military base, or
just civilians living in this building?
In his original story, Robertson had no complaints about the
journalistic limitations of a story put together under such tight
controls, and Robertson himself at one point seemed to agree with
the Hezbollah propaganda claim that Israeli jets had targeted a
civilian area: As we run past the rubble, we see much that points
to civilian life, no evidence apparent of military
equipment.
Challenged by Reliable Sources host (and Washington Post media
writer) Howard Kurtz on Sunday, Robertson suggested Hezbollah has
very, very sophisticated and slick media operations, that the
terrorist group had control of the situation. They designated the
places that we went to, and we certainly didn't have time to go
into the houses or lift up the rubble to see what was underneath,
and he even contradicted Hezbollahs self-serving spin: There's no
doubt that the [Israeli] bombs there are hitting Hezbollah
facilities.
But the closest Robertson came to making any of these points in the
taped package that aired last week was admitting that we [he and
his CNN crew] didnt go burrowing into all the houses, after
pointing out (for the second time) that we didnt see any military
type of equipment in the area Hezbollah chose to let them
tour.
Five days later, Robertson argued that journalistic integrity
required skepticism: When you hear their [Hezbollahs] claims,
they have to come with more than a grain of salt, that you have to
put in some journalistic integrity. That you have to point out to
the audience and let them know that this was a guided tour by
Hezbollah press officials along with their security, that it was a
very rushed affair.
While some viewers undoubtedly deduced out that it was a guided
tour from the numerous sound bites from the Hezbollah press
officer, its not as if Robertson ever complained about his
limitations or explicitly warned viewers that there was no way he
could confirm any of the claims.
Nic Robertson, of course, isnt the only correspondent going on
these Hezbollah-arranged tours, as CNNs Reliable Sources noted
yesterday. In a set-up to his interview with Robertson, Kurtz
played clips of NBCs Richard Engel and CBSs Elizabeth Palmer
relating their trips into the damaged areas, with Palmer providing
the sort of disclaimer that Robertson failed to include last week:
This morning, Hezbollah showed journalists around the ruins of its
former stronghold, but Hezbollah is also determined that outsiders
will only see what it wants them to see.
Now, more of Robertsons live interview (10:15am EDT) on the July
23 Reliable Sources (transcript corrected against the actual
broadcast):
Howard Kurtz: I want to go now to CNN's Nic Robertson, who joins
us live from Beirut. Nic Robertson, we were speaking a moment ago
about the way journalists cover Hezbollah and some of these tours
that Hezbollah officials have arranged of the bomb damage in the
areas of Southern Lebanon. You, I believe, got one of those tours.
Isn't it difficult for you as a journalist to independently verify
any claims made by Hezbollah, because you're not able to go into
the buildings and see whether or not there is any military activity
or any weapons being hidden there?
Nic Robertson: Well, Howard, theres no doubt about it: Hezbollah
has a very, very sophisticated and slick media operations. In fact,
beyond that, it has very, very good control over its areas in the
south of Beirut. They deny journalists access into those areas.
They can turn on and off access to hospitals in those areas. They
have a lot of power and influence. You don't get in there without
their permission. And when I went in, we were given about 10 or 15
minutes, quite literally running through a number of neighborhoods
that they directed and they took us to."
"What I would say at that time was, it was very clear to me that
the Hezbollah press official who took us on that guided tour and
there were Hezbollah security officials around us at the time with
walkie-talkie radios that he felt a great deal of anxiety about
the situation....But theres no doubt about it. They had control of
the situation. They designated the places that we went to, and we
certainly didnt have time to go into the houses or lift up the
rubble to see what was underneath.
So what we did see today in a similar excursion, and Hezbollah is
now running a number of these every day, taking journalists into
this area. They realize that this is a good way for them to get
their message out, taking journalists on a regular basis. This
particular press officer came across his press office today, what
was left of it in the rubble. He pointed out business cards that he
said were from his office that was a Hezbollah press office in that
area.
So there's no doubt that the bombs there are hitting Hezbollah
facilities. But from what we can see, there appear to be a lot of
civilian damage, a lot of civilian properties. But again, as you
say, we didn't have enough time to go in, root through those
houses, see if perhaps there was somebody there who was, you know,
a taxi driver by day, and a Hezbollah fighter by night....
Kurtz: To what extent do you feel like you're being used to put up
the pictures that they want obviously, its terrible that so many
civilians have been killed without any ability, as you just
outlined, to verify, because to verify Hezbollahs role, because
this is a fighting force that is known to blend in among the
civilian population and keep some of its weapons there?
Robertson: Absolutely. And I think as we try and do our job, which
is go out and see what's happened to the best of our ability,
clearly, in that environment, in the southern suburbs of Beirut
that Hezbollah controls, the only way we can get into those areas
is with a Hezbollah escort. And absolutely, when you hear their
claims they have to come with more than a grain of salt, that you
have to put in some journalistic integrity. That you have to point
out to the audience and let them know that this was a guided tour
by Hezbollah press officials along with their security, that it was
a very rushed affair, that there wasn't time to go and look through
those buildings.
The audience has to know the conditions of that tour. But again,
if we didn't get all or we could not get access to those areas
without Hezbollah compliance, they control those areas.
