Not a Parody
Not a Parody Media Leadership in Our Time In an Oct. 23 appearance at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, later broadcast on C-SPAN, ABC News President David Westin was asked,...
...Our job is to determine what is, not what ought to be and when we get into the job of what ought to be I think we're not doing a service to the American people...
...I apologize for any harm that my misstate-ment may have caused...
...After the Media Research Center and others drew attention to Westin's declared position as a neutral in the war on his country, ABC News e-mailed a new Westin statement: "Like all Americans, I was horrified at the loss of life at the Pentagon, as well as in New York and Pennsylvania on September 11...
...Here is how the president of ABC News instructed America's future media elite (transcript, courtesy of the Media Research Center): "The Pentagon as a legitimate target...
...23 appearance at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, later broadcast on C-SPAN, ABC News President David Westin was asked, "Do you believe the Pentagon was a legitimate military target, even if the missile [i.e., the civilian airliner] was not...
...The way I conceive my job running a news organization, and the way I would like all the journalists at ABC News to perceive it, is there is a big difference between a normative position and a positive position...
...I'm supposed to figure out what is and what is not, not what ought to be...
...I mean, that's perhaps for me in my private life, perhaps it's for me dealing with my loved ones, perhaps it's for my minister at church...
...I gave an answer to journalism students to illustrate the broad, academic principle that all journalists should draw a firm line between what they know and what their personal opinion might be...
...But as a journalist I feel strongly that's something that I should not be taking a position on...
...Upon reflection, I realized that my answer did not address the specifics of September 11...
...Under any interpretation, the attack on the Pentagon was criminal and entirely without justification...
...When asked at an interview session at the Columbia Journalism School whether I believed that the Pentagon was a legitimate target for terrorists I responded that, as a journalist, I did not have an opinion...
...I actually don't have an opinion on that and it's important I not have an opinion on that as I sit here in my capacity right now...
...I was wrong...
...I can say the Pentagon got hit, I can say this is what their position is, this is what our position is, but for me to take a position this was right or wrong...
Vol. 7 • November 2001 • No. 9
