Lawmaker Outraged by Sniper Footage on CNN

By Tony Perry
Times Staff Writer
Los Angeles Times

October 21 2006
SAN DIEGO — CNN has become "the publicist for an enemy propaganda film" by broadcasting a video showing an insurgent sniper in Iraq apparently killing an American soldier, the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee said here Friday.

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http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-sniper21oct21,1,2127335.story

Attacks on Journalists Continue in Baghdad

Attacks on Journalists Continue in Baghdad

A radio announcer was shot dead on his way to work, and a TV reporter
was abducted. Some fear a militia campaign against the media.

By Doug Smith and Saif Rasheed
LOS ANGELES TIMES

BAGHDAD: Gunmen killed a radio journalist and kidnapped a television
reporter, Iraqi police said Saturday, continuing a spate of attacks
that has killed 14 media employees in recent weeks.

Hussam Ahmed, a correspondent for the independent TV station Nahrain,
was forced from his car at gunpoint Saturday, police said. The gunmen took
him away in another car. There has been no communication from the
kidnappers.

Police also reported that another journalist, announcer Raid Qais of
Voice of Iraq radio, was shot while driving to work in the Dora neighborhood
of south Baghdad on Friday. Qais died instantly, police said.

Three other journalists recently have been kidnapped or killed in
roadside attacks, and 11 employees of a television station were killed by gunmen
Thursday. A convoy of armed men, some wearing police uniforms, invaded
the Al Shaabiya satellite television station and opened fire at executives,
technicians and guards. General manager Abdul Raheem Nasrallah was
among those killed.

The attacks are raising concern that the groups responsible for Iraq's
sectarian bloodletting are turning their attention to the news media.

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The Indispensable Old Media

New media is great, but the continued killings of old-school investigative reporters prove their work is crucial.

By Susan D. Moeller and Moisés Naím
October 10, 2006

OVER THE WEEKEND, at almost the same time that the world was informed that Google was vying to pay $1.65 billion for YouTube, a 2-year-old video-sharing website, famed Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya was gunned down in Moscow. Politkovskaya covered human rights abuses in Chechnya. She was also a vocal critic of Russian President Vladimir V. Putin, and Russian authorities consider her death a political assassination.

YouTube's acquisition and Politkovskaya's killing are unrelated events. Yet both offer powerful clues about the forces shaping the way information is produced, distributed and consumed in today's world. YouTube epitomizes "new media" — their immense potential and surprising effects. Politkovskaya represents "old media" — their literal struggle for survival and also their historical, indeed indispensable, value.

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RTNDA Denounces FCC's Probe of Video News Releases

(From TVWeek.com)

The Radio-Television News Directors Association said today that the Federal Communications Commission's probe of local TV stations' use of Video News Releases is "an unprecedented intrusion into newsroom operations" and should be called off.

The RTNDA also wants the FCC to rescind letters of inquiry sent to 77 TV stations in August.

In a statement, the RTNDA questioned the accuracy and objectivity of a study conducted by the Center for Media and Democracy of VNR use, and noted that even the FCC said sponsor identification is not an issue when there is no pay-for-play or other consideration.

The comments also suggested the FCC should first conclude a pending VNR-use proceeding before initiating a new probe.

The RTNDA told the FCC its members "are committed to providing accurate and credible news stories. That commitment extends to appropriate identification of materials received from third-party sources." But the RTNDA said the First Amendment restricts governmental constraints aimed at the policing of newsroom practices.