When U.S. warplanes carry out a raid on targets in Libya, who swings into action faster than the anti-aircraft guns in Tripoli? It is the media, of course.
In recent weeks, however, the journalists themselves have come under fire on two fronts. First, there has been growing criticism of news organizations that allow themselves to be "used" as public platforms by terrorists who are out to voice threats, state demands, and gain public attention in general. Second, some critics charge that news coverage can expose U.S. secrets or intelligence capabilities to unfriendly governments. Critics say these reports, often quoting "government sources" or stating dramatically, "XYZ News has learned …" can actually threaten the national security of the United States and the lives of people working in the intelligence community.
On Monday, May 4, NBC News aired an exclusive television interview with Mohammed Abul Abbas, secretary general of the Palestine Liberation Front.
Abbas is under indictment in the United States in connection with the October 1985 hijacking of the cruise ship Achille Lauro. Leon Klinghoffer, a 69-year-old, wheelchair-bound, American passenger on the ship, was shot during the hijacking and thrown into the Mediterranean Sea. U.S. Navy jet fighters later intercepted an aircraft carrying Abbas and three others believed responsible for the incident and forced the pilot to land in Sicily. The Italian authorities, however, allowed the alleged ringleader to escape.
The U.S. State Department placed a $250,000 price tag on information leading to Abbas' arrest and prosecution. Of course, after the disappearance of Abbas, the big question was "Where is he?" Suddenly, he appeared on NBC News, in a two-minute interview during which he admitted his involvement in the cruise ship hijacking, promised to launch attacks against Americans at home and abroad, and announced that President Reagan was now "Enemy Number One."
The trouble is, NBC News refused to say where the interview was taped, explaining that that was a precondition set by the Palestine Liberation Front. The network would only say that their London-based correspondent, Henry Champ, spoke with Abbas in an Arabic-speaking country.
Journalists' Response
NBC's handling of the situation has been criticized by quite a variety of people including journalists and seasoned broadcast news professionals. The journalists' criticism tends to focus on the agreement to secrecy concerning Abbas' whereabouts, and not on the decision to air the interview.
The foreign editor of The New York Times said his newspaper turned down an interview with Abbas under the same conditions. Elmer Lower, former president of ABC News (and a former executive with both NBC and CBS), said, "I would not have done that if I were able to reveal where he was, because I think the essential part of that story was where he was; but people of good conscience are going to disagree on many specific situations."
One man who, not surprisingly, disagrees with Lower in this specific situation is Larry Grossman, president of
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