*HAPPY INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY*

*WE ARE FAMILY OPENS IN NEW YORK*

*THE OTHER SIDE SPEAKS IN AFGHANISTAN*

*SUPPORT “SAVE NIGHTLINE.COM”*

In the spirit of the song “Bread and Roses” that grew out of a strike by the mill girls of Lowell, Mass., we salute International Women’s Day on this eighth day of March. See the mediachannel.org front page for a range of editorial features. And, in the spirit of the song, “WE ARE FAMILY,” we invite readers here in New York City to attend a screening of my new Globalvision film by the same name at New York’s Screening Room, the only theater nearest Ground Zero. It will play for a week. The documentary, shown at Sundance to a rousing response, chronicles attempts by artists, actors, athletes and many associated with the events of 9/11, to call for tolerance and affirm our global humanity in the aftermath of the terrorist attack. The Screening Room is at 54 Varick Street. Call the theater for times or check local listings.

END GAME IN AFGHANISTAN?

As the folks I work with try to promote peace and other more humane ways of looking at this crisis, war rages on in Afghanistan–with the New York Times reporting that the interim government in Kabul has “rushed” 1,000 more men to reinforce US efforts in the foreboding mountains of Eastern Afghanistan. 1,200 Americans are fighting there already, with resistance being characterized as “dogged, even fanatical.” These were the same words I heard Russian troops use in describing why they were eventually driven out. The US Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld is saying he expects the ferocious US bombardment (185 bombs in the last 24 hours) will finish of an enemy Afghan commanders say is “strong.”

THE OTHER SIDE SPEAKS

While optimism rises like smoke from US commanders–who are the only ones being heard in the US media–there are other media outlets telling a different story, probably just as tilted. Azzam.com, published in England, seems to be the overt online voice of the Taliban and al Qaeda. It refers to the fighters by the same way they were known as in Afghanistan in the war against the Russians. Their chilling report today stands the US media accounts on their head: “GARDEZ (Special Report): At the same time as the invented German Defense Ministry Statement above, the Pentagon continues in its usual round of fabrications, by stating that hundreds of Mujahideen have already been killed in the current battle in the mountains of Gardez Province. Some inferences can be drawn from the comments made by General Tommy Franks and various other American commanders:

“1. In the siege at Qunduz earlier on in the war, American estimates at the number of Mujahideen trapped inside the province were around 8-10,000 warriors. When that battle ended, there were a small number of Mujahideen prisoners, some martyred, but no sign of the 10,000 warriors and no explanation from the Americans at these gross exaggerations and lies.

“2. In the battle at Tora Bora, the Americans claimed that they had surrounded 5000 Mujahideen and that they were about to finish them off. At the end of the battle, there were a handful of prisoners and a few bodies from the side of the Mujahideen, but no sign of the 5000 Mujahideen and no explanation from the Americans.

“3. The Americans have claimed to have confirmed kills of 800 or so Mujahideen. What General Franks did not tell the World was that American troops have not even reached the front-line positions of the Mujahideen. Rather, the nearest American troops are 4km away from the front-line. It is their Afghan allies who are fighting on the front-lines and it is they who have suffered the heaviest casualties. Therefore, one wonders from where these invented figures arose.

“….The Muslims are also reminded that the nature of guerilla warfare is based on hit and run tactics with speed and manoevrability. When an army is faced with a larger and better equipped enemy that possesses heavy air power, it is not military sense to stay and fight in one place. Rather, it is to strike the enemy from a hundred places, from where it leasts expects, and thus destroy the enemy by causing it ‘death by a thousand cuts’.”

So there you have it, Guerilla Warfare 101. Why doesn’t the Pentagon seem to understand this? Or maybe they do. Conventional warfare of the type the US public is seeing, and that the military is using, did not ultimately prevail in Vietnam, as we know. Will it here? Stay tuned.

OSAMA: DEAD, ALIVE, OR?

And what about the wherabouts of Mr. Evil? There have been no Osama bin Laden sightings, but the speculation continues, with officials saying he may be dead, and then again, he may not. Here’s the French Foreign Minister Alain Richard yesterday speaking on Europe-1 radio:

“Either he is still in hiding in a part of Afghanistan near the fighting — though this is not the theory we favor — or he has escaped to Pakistan or he has been killed,'’ Richard said.”

Ok, that about covers everything..

THEIR VIEW OF HISTORY–AND OURS

Why does the other side fight with the fanaticism that it does? Because it believes that it is fighting for Islam against a new crusade by the west. In a sense, like many generals, they are re-fighting old wars — or wars they believe never ended. Here is their take, from Azzam.com:

“The history of this conflict does not go back to 11 September 2001. Nor does it go back to the bombing of a few embassies and ships. Rather, it goes back centuries from the time when the Jewish tribes gathered against the Prophet Muhammad (SAWS) and the Christians launched the Crusades against the Muslims in the 12th Century of the Christian Era. Therefore, it is not a case of ‘let’s all join hands: Muslims, Christians and Jews and wipe out terrorism’, but it is part of a deeper plot to try and destroy Islam in the World.”

NEW THREATS AGAINST JOURNALISTS REPORTED

New threats are being reported against journalists covering the Afghan war. As readers know we reported extensively on the controversy on the killing of Wall Street Journal reporter Danny Pearl. We reported concerns by some of his colleagues that his own newspaper did not do all it could to protect him. Now we hear that other newspapers are doing what the Journal would not, despite Pearl’s reported request. Our “deep throat” reports that the “New York Times foreign correspondents take the survival course in England. Also that their people in Pakistan had armed guards with them, sleep in a NYT safe house with guards, etc. All of which substantiates the point about the somewhat cavalier attitude the WSJ adopted.” We faxed our concerns on this issue to Journal exec Peter Kann, seeking comment. A week later, none has been forthcoming.

IS NIGHTLINE THE TITANTIC OF TV NEWS?

ABC’s Diane Sawyer has “postponed” an appearance on the David Letterman Show on CBS as a form of silent protest against the announcement that he may be coming to her network and replacing NIGHTLINE. Diane made no other comment. Other journalists are taking up the issue that many ABC News “stars” skirt around. Simon Marks, who runs feature News in Washington, has launched a SAVE NIGHTLINE website (SaveNightline.com), joined Mediachannel and writes about the issue today in the Christian Science Monitor (ChristianScienceMonitor.com). Here is part of what he had to say:

“WASHINGTON - Columnist Howard Rosenberg wrote recently in the Los Angeles Times that the television news industry is ‘like the entire Titanic … going down.’ Sadly, he is correct.

“The dispute over the future of ABC’s venerable Nightline is the tip of a potential iceberg. And it’s sad that defenders of Nightline find themselves excoriated as elitists whose treasured broadcast is irrelevant to American life.

“It hardly seems possible that six months after the Sept. 11 attacks, and in the midst of Operation Anaconda in Afghanistan, Nightline anchor Ted Koppel has to assert his program’s relevance.

“Since repetition of the obvious appears to be necessary, here is why ABC and its owner, Walt Disney Co., would be committing a shameless act of audience betrayal by removing Nightline.

“This show is one of the last vestiges of quality journalism on American broadcast television. By quality, I don’t mean that it dares to deploy polysyllabic words, treats its audience as responsible citizens, and honors the tradition of American journalism set by Edward R. Murrow–though it accomplishes all of this while making a chunk of money for Disney….”

UK WORRIES: COULD AN ANTI-NEWS CONTAGION SPREAD?

Nicholas Wapshott warns today that the troubles facing nightly news programs in the US could lead to the death of the 10 o’clock bulletins on BBC1 and ITV1.

ROY BEHIND BARS

Some months back, I quoted the concerns of the great English writer Arundhati Roy, a prize-winning Indian novelist, on the poor coverage of the world. She is an outspoken author who deserves to be honored on International Women’s Day. India did so earlier this week by jailing her after the Supreme Court convicted her of criminal contempt for suggesting it was trying to “silence criticism” of its approval of a hydroelectric project. As about 250 supporters stood outside with banners reading “Free speech is not contempt,” the court sentenced Roy to one day in prison and a E47 fine. It she does not pay, she will spend three months in prison, the court said and ABC.com reports.

“I am prepared to suffer the consequences,” she said. “The message isclear. Any citizen who dares to criticise the court does so at his orher peril.”

“Mrs Roy won the prestigious Booker Prize in 1997 for her novel The God of Small Things. She has written articles criticizing India’s nuclear program and is a prominent campaigner against the Narmada Dam, the nation’s biggest hydroelectric project. In October 2000, she was in a crowd that protested outside the Supreme Court after it approved construction of the dam in central India.

“Opposing attorneys in the Narmada case accused her of contempt of court. Roy’s lawyer, Prashant Bhushan, said she will challenge the conviction, calling it a “setback to the freedom of the common citizen to discuss matters of enormous public significance.”

AMATEUR NEWS PEOPLE WIN RIGHTS

Closer to home, a victory for some journalists in Boston. AP reports: “A federal court has ruled that nonprofessional news gatherers have the same rights as professionals, supporting a community gadfly who claimed she was muzzled by a public access cable company. It is the first ruling of its kind, said the American Civil Liberties Union, which represented plaintiff Patricia Demarest in her fight with Athol/Orange CommunityTelevision. “It will open so many more doors for common citizens to use public access as a public forum and a place to speak their minds,” said Demarest, co-producer of the program “Think Tank 2000.” “It’s a fight for any common citizen to bring forth ideas and generate healthy communities….”

“U.S. District Judge Michael Ponsor in Springfield ruled that such shows constitute a ‘public forum’ and have First Amendment protection. AOTV lawyer Peter Epstein said he had not read the verdict and could not comment.”

MARKING THE SIX MONTH ANNIVERSARY OF 9/11

CBS will suspend commercials to offer a sponsor showing on Sunday of a film on what happened on 9/11. It is supposed to be quite gripping. Significantly, it was done by a French team, not by Americans, which underscores the importance of opening the US airwaves to more global journalists. Perhaps CBS will rediscover its own now-gutted documentary tradition and consider offering more programming of relevance. CBS screened it for the entertainment press. Access Hollywood reports: “Some of the victims’ families think it is too soon to broadcast this footage, but Robert DeNiro, who hosts the two-hour special, disagrees. “CBS felt it was important, and they wanted to show it in a certain way,” said DeNiro about the special. “They felt it warranted special presentation and I thought that would be something I would do…”

“In fact, the documentary is almost bloodless and free of gore. It does contain uncensored language — four letter words are not edited out. But the power of this documentary comes not from what you see, but from what you hear. Unforgettable sounds, like that of a roaring airplane engine, are used instead of graphic.”

HE HAS FOUND THE FREQUENCY: HOORAY FOR DAN RATHER

Speaking of CBS, I have knocked their news anchor Dan Rather many times in the past, but I salute him today for speaking out about AIDS, Unfortunately, he didn’t do so on CBS, but did in a column for the San Francisco Chronicle. Rather writes:

“It might be seen as the defining challenge of our time in the eyes of future historians. Its spread throughout the world has alarmed the American foreign-policy establishment, from former U.N. Ambassador Richard Holbrooke to Secretary of State Colin Powell to Jesse Helms, the ranking Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. It constitutes a deadly worldwide crisis that will only get worse if not dealt with forcefully.

“‘It’ in this case is not terrorism but HIV/AIDS. More than 20 years into the AIDS epidemic, we in the United States have become complacent about the danger this disease poses. Education that slowed U.S. rates of infection and the so-called drug cocktail that has helped so many in this country to stay alive with AIDS have obscured the urgency of the threat. But consider: The attacks of Sept. 11 killed just over 3,000 people. Today alone, more than 8,000 people will die worldwide from AIDS. Thirteen thousand more will contract the disease.

“The comparison of AIDS with terrorism is of course an imperfect one and is in no way intended to downplay the pain of Sept. 11. But the relative numbers offer some perspective on the challenge at hand. And while terrorism has become the United States’ No. 1 focus — and, by extension, much of the world’s — AIDS has trouble making it onto the public radar….”

True enough, but one reason it is not on he public radar is that the media has not put it there, including CBS. Globalvision has just sent a team of African doctors to Africa for a film called SPEAK UP YOUNG AFRICA to encourage more youth awareness and activism on the issue. Please keep speaking up yourself — and share your comments with us by writing: “dissector@mediachanel.org.”