No Open Mike for Osama
By Steve Donohue -- Multichannel News, 10/10/2001 12:02:00 PM
Statements from Osama bin Laden and other alleged al Qaeda terrorists won't be broadcast live, according to an agreement U.S. networks reached Wednesday.
Officials from ABC News, Cable News Network, CBS News, NBC News and Fox News Channel held a conference call with national security adviser Condoleezza Rice Wednesday morning to discuss running tapes from al Qaeda, which is accused of planning the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Government officials have said they are concerned that the al Qaeda videos could contain coded messages intended for other terrorists. Network representatives said Rice didn't ask for an embargo on the material, but she was concerned about the broadcast of unedited, prerecorded statements.
CNN -- which ran a live message from al Qaeda Tuesday -- said it has formed a committee that will now view all al Qaeda tapes before they're run on the channel.
'CNN's policy is to avoid airing any materials we believe would directly facilitate any terrorist act,' a spokeswoman said.
NBC News said it would also screen all al Qaeda tapes in their entirety. 'We will then apply journalistic judgment before deciding which portions, if any, we will broadcast,' the company said in a prepared statement.
FNC added in a prepared statement, 'We believe a free press must and can bear responsibility not to be used by those who want to destroy America and endanger the lives of its citizens.'
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