CBS’s Propaganda Ambush in Tehran - the Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Interview

[babylonsister]

CBS’s Propaganda Ambush in Tehran - the Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Interview

CBS’s 60 Minutes aired an interview on Sunday evening with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. I was stunned by what I witnessed. Was the reporter conducting the interview co-opted by the Bush administration to deliver a) propoganda to the American public, and b) a message to Ahmadinejad?
Commentary By: Richard Blair

This past Sunday evening, I watched the CBS’s 60 Minutes interview with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and was stunned by what I witnessed. In fact, I was so stunned, I went into the “live blogging” mode at Daily Kos for nearly four hours, just to calibrate my own reaction, and see if I was being overly sensitive. Thankfully, it appears that I wasn’t losing my political bearings, as my opinion was mirrored by many others who watched the show.

The reporter who conducted the interview, Scott Pelley, sat down with Ahmadinejad in Tehran before the Iranian president left for his controversial trip to New York. Now, let’s be clear - I’m not a fan of Ahmadinejad - quite to the contrary. I think the guy is a dangerous fruitcake. The fact that he’s a holocaust denier (and sponsored a conference of like-thinking anti-Israel opinion leaders from around the world, including David Duke) tells you everything you need to know. Plus, I think he’s got a bit of Saddam in him. By that, I mean that he’s going to show a brave and bellicose face to the world, and not blink at George Bush’s empty threats. In fact, if George Bush was making anything more than empty threats, Ahmadinejad would probably be more conciliatory.

Anyway, it wasn’t Mahmoud Ahmadinejad answers to Pelley’s line of questioning that got me going. It was Scott Pelley himself. From the very outset, Pelley was posing confrontational statements (not questions) as “fact”, and was flat out insulting to the head of state of a foreign nation. We’re not talking about hard questions here, but his body language, his tone and his presentation. We’re talking about Pelley catapulting Bush regime talking points as “fact” - unsupported statements rather than questions - when in fact, nothing could be further from the truth.

snip//

It was scary. I have never witnessed the U.S. media being so totally co-opted by the Bush regime.

We entered a new phase in the saber rattling on Sunday evening.

more...

http://allspinzone.com/wp/2007/09/24/cbss-propaganda-ambush-in-tehran-the-mahmoud-ahmadinejad-interview/

[hedgehog]

1. I just watched a few minutes and walked away wishing someone

would question George Bush or Dick Cheney with that same vigor!

[burythehatchet]

2. From the Dan Rather affair, to the tobacco company expose

to Katie frickin Kouric, CBS has lost its marbles. Sad, because that was one of the best news rooms in the business.

[Rob H.]

3. This is the question that Pelley asked that made me say "WTF?"

I asked President Bush what he would say to you if he were sitting in this chair. And he told me-quote-speaking to you, that you’ve made terrible choices for your people. You’ve isolated your nation. You’ve taken a nation of proud and honorable people and made your country the pariah of the world. These are President Bush’s words to you. What’s your reply?

I heard that and thought,"Ahmadinejad could say exactly the same thing about Bush!" And if Pelley's just going to act as a willing conduit for Bush's questions/assertions, should he really bother calling himself a journalist? His interview last night puts him in the same league as Robert Novak or Judith Miller, imo, and that is not a compliment.

[babylonsister]

4. From what I've read, he did say something like that. Didn't he ask

Pelley what he liked about *? That seemed pretty comical, especially when you don't have an answer!

[Rob H.]

5. He did ask Pelley that, when Pelley was pressing him to tell him

if there was anything he admired about Bush. I thought Admadinejad's eventual response was pretty funny.

PELLEY: I take it you can't think of anything you like about President Bush.

AHMADEINEJAD: Well, I'm not familiar with the gentleman's private life. Maybe in his private life he is very kind or a determined man. I'm not aware of that. I base my judgment on what I see in his public life. Having said that, I think that President Bush can behave much better. There were golden opportunities for President Bush. He should have used them better. (Emphasis added)

[Rex]

6. Well, you should watch the History(tm) channel sometimes

they have good programming, until their RW owners stick in a real gem like the 911/Conspiracy show. Put all to rest the need for fair and balanced. Quite embarrassing really.

[question everything]

7. Was a nice counter interview

to the way Mike Wallace, last year groveled and kissed his ass.

Normally we complain that reporters do not ask probing questions, so now we don't like it when the subjects are individuals who attack Bush?

So sad that DU is propagating Bush's dogma of "you are either with us or against us."

And, no, attacking him does not mean we should invade Iran. I thought this was self evident, but not on the pages of DU.