Press Clips
by Cynthia Cotts
PBS Gets Picky
A Reporter Disses Halliburton, and Newshour Producers Decide His 15 Minutes of
Airtime Are Up
Village Voice March 17-23, 2004

In a recent Nation cover story, Christian Parenti described hanging out with
insurgents in Iraq. That got the attention of producers on News- Hour With Jim
Lehrer, and on March 2, Parenti said something live that knocked Lehrer off his
chair.

Parenti, author of an upcoming book on occupied Iraq, was being interviewed by
NewsHour's Ray Suarez. He and Middle East history professor Juan Cole were analyzing
the recent suicide bombings in Iraq and various groups that might have been
involved. Then something went terribly wrong: Parenti suggested that Halliburton and
Bechtel have failed to provide "meaningful reconstruction" and that the U.S.
occupation might actually be contributing to the instability in Iraq. Lehrer
apparently went ballistic.

Michael Mosettig, senior producer for foreign affairs and defense at NewsHour, told
me, "This was not reportage, this was giving his opinion, and that's not why we
brought him on." The next day, according to Parenti, Dan Sagalyn, NewsHour's deputy
senior producer for foreign affairs and defense, called to inform him that top
people were upset, that his comments had lacked "balance," and that Lehrer was
planning to run an Editor's Note acknowledging the mistake. It seems they had
violated one of Lehrer's internal "rules of journalism," which mandates that
producers "carefully separate opinion and analysis from straight news stories" and
label it as such.

When I called Sagalyn, he confirmed that he had called Parenti that day, adding, "I
said it was too bad what happened happened, and that I would have liked to have him
on again . . . but because of this it would be very hard."

On March 4, Lehrer returned at the end of the show and read the following statement:
"For those who were watching two nights ago, a discussion about Iraq ended up not
being as balanced as is our standard practice. While unintentional, it was indeed
our mistake and we regret it."

The Editor's Note surprised Nation editor Katrina vanden Heuvel. "We think Christian
Parenti's reporting has been thorough and reliable," she told me. "This is a
journalist who spent a great deal of time on the ground in Iraq." According to
vanden Heuvel, Parenti's comments about the failure of meaningful reconstruction
were based on his reporting and firsthand observation. Parenti called the Editor's
Note "excessive to the point of being ridiculous."

It's not the first time Halliburton has surfaced on NewsHour. Talking heads often
discuss the embattled contractor, though usually in a left-right format like the one
featuring Mark Shields and David Brooks. (Typical Shields comment: "Halliburton . .
. has become a laugh line on the late-night monologues. That's not going to go
away." Typical Brooks comment: "It does look bad but . . . it's not as bad as it
looks.")

As for Halliburton, the company denies wrongdoing. But since shortly after New
Year's, it has been reimbursing the U.S. government millions for alleged
overcharges, and last month the Pentagon launched a criminal investigation of
allegations of fraud by a Halliburton subsidiary. Mosettig said the March 4 Editor's
Note was Lehrer's doing. "As far as I know we got no external complaints," he told
me. "Maybe we got two or three e-mails from ordinary citizens after the show ran."

Executive producer Lester Crystal reiterated that the show aims for balanced
coverage. "We have no quarrel with what Parenti said," he said. "We felt we made a
mistake in not trying to get a response."

Asked if Parenti will be invited back, Mosettig said, "When you have a loose-cannon
experience with somebody, you're going to be wary." Crystal said, "This is not a bar
and not a guarantee to his coming on the program again," adding that they might have
him back, "if he's done some firsthand reporting that we think is important."

Questions Left Unanswered

Did Christian Parenti stray from the boundaries of a TV format in which he was asked
to talk about bombings in Iraq, or did he speak uncomfortable truths? In an
interview broadcast on The NewsHour With Jim Lehrer on March 2, Parenti was asked if
the bombings would make the job harder for Americans in Iraq. Here is his full
answer, which concluded the segment: "I would think so. I would think that we have
to look at some of the deeper causes as to why there's so much frustration. Why are
Iraqis so angry and willing to point the blame at the U.S. after this sort of
bombing? A lot of it has to do with the failure of meaningful reconstruction. There
still is not adequate electricity. In many towns like Ramadi there wasn't adequate
water. Where is all the money that's going to Halliburton and Bechtel to rebuild
this country? Where is it ending up? I think that one of the most important
fundamental causes of instability is the corruption around the contracting with
these Bush-connected firms in Iraq. Unless that is dealt with, there is going to be
much more instability for times to come in Iraq."