[A-List] CBS, White House Clash Over Saddam Interview

["Ralph Johansen" <michele@xxxxxxxx>]

[An establishment flap over CBS interviewing Saddam, in prime time, to raise
its already top Nielsen ratings no doubt, if only by relieving public
tedium]

CBS, White House Clash Over Saddam Interview
Wed Feb 26, 5:25 PM ET

By Randall Mikkelsen

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House criticized CBS television on
Wednesday over what a spokesman said was a spurned offer to rebut comments
by Iraqi President Saddam Hussein during an interview to air on Wednesday
evening.

In a flap that raised anew questions about U.S. news outlets airing the
views of potential foes and government attempts to influence coverage, CBS
rejected the charge and said it remained open to providing a forum for a
top Bush administration official to respond to Saddam.

White House spokesman Ari Fleischer told Reuters the White House had
offered a representative to counter what he said would be propaganda, lies
and "irresponsible statements" by Saddam in the rare interview.

He said CBS replied it was interested only if President Bush made the
response himself -- which he said the White House rejected on the grounds
that it could imply a "moral equivalence" between the two leaders.

"This seems odd they wouldn't let the White House have a voice," Fleischer
said.

But CBS News spokeswoman Sandy Genelius disputed this. "The conversation
was never President Bush or no one," she said. The White House had
initially offered to send Fleischer for brief comments, but this was not
accepted, she said. The White House spokesman denied that he had been
suggested for the show.

CBS made a new offer on Wednesday. "If the president, the vice president or
Secretary of State (Colin) Powell would like to appear on the program
tonight we would be happy to have them appear on the program," Genelius
said. The White House was still talking to CBS about "equal time,"
Fleischer said.

CBS was to air the interview by news anchor Dan Rather at 9:00 p.m. EST on
its 60 Minutes II program.

Recorded on Monday, it is the first interview Saddam has given to an
American journalist in 13 years. Pressed by Washington, the United Nations
is preparing to debate whether to authorize a war on Iraq to enforce
disarmament demands.

"EXCLUSIVE WITH THE ENEMY"

"This is an exclusive with the enemy, and the White House wants to have its
say as the enemy lays out its case," said Marvin Kalb, a former CBS and NBC
journalist and senior fellow at Harvard University's Shorenstein Center on
the Press, Politics and Public Policy.

He said the administration has had "ample opportunity" to present its own
views on Iraq, and the American public was smart enough to watch the
interview without an immediate White House response. The interview could
help Americans make up their minds about the wisdom of going to war, he
said.

With saturation coverage by U.S. and international media, Bush has
repeatedly accused Saddam of defying U.N. demands that he dismantle weapons
of mass destruction programs -- a charge the Iraqi leader denies -- and of
threatening to spread chemical, biological or nuclear weapons to terrorists.

He was giving another speech on Iraq on Wednesday evening before the CBS
interview was aired. The three major networks including CBS plan to give
the speech live coverage.
CBS said the decision to cover the Bush speech was unrelated to the dispute
over the Saddam interview.

But Fleischer said the White House wanted the chance to rebut Saddam "in
the same interview and the same time."

CBS had no obligation to grant a rebuttal, said Bill Kovach, a former New
York Times Washington bureau chief and founder of the Committee of
Concerned Journalists, a free-press watchdog.

"I think they are perfectly within their rights to turn down a request by
the White House," Kovach said. "The White House has access to all the media
all day every day."

In the past the administration criticized television networks for airing
videotaped statements by al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, accused of
masterminding the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the United States. Officials
said networks might inadvertently broadcast coded messages to al Qaeda
operatives.

An administration official on Wednesday raised questions over the way the
interview was conducted, saying it was under conditions that would never be
accepted if set by Bush. The interview was filmed by Iraqi television,
which made a translation and pieced together videotape from three cameras
into a single recording.

Genelius said it is customary for Iraq to do the filming for such
interviews, that CBS made a separate translation and that there appeared to
be no deletions of the 1 hour, 45-minute interview in the final tape given
to CBS. The interview will be edited to fit the program's one-hour length.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20030226/tv_nm/iraq_usa_cb
s_dc_10