Ken Allard: NBC sinks too low for this talking head
Web Posted: 02/14/2007 11:04 PM CST
San Antonio Express-News
Like some second marriages and most Hollywood sequels, it's usually a bad idea for a columnist to revisit the same topic. But last week's discussion of renegade blogger and NBC military analyst Bill Arkin proved some larger points.
In case you missed it, Arkin characterized U.S. soldiers as "mercenaries" enjoying "obscene amenities" shipped into the war zone — pampered hirelings who then complain about declining public support for the war effort.
In reaction, many military people and their families wrote in. Some wondered why NBC would continue to give Arkin a platform for spreading slurs about our men and women serving in Iraq — and as volunteers rather than as mercenaries.
Soldiers treasure humor especially when angry, and a bittersweet correspondence followed about the nature of those supposedly obscene amenities. Did MREs count or, for that matter, heat-resistant Hershey bars with a shelf life measured in decades? What about interceptor body armor? A Marine lance corporal in Iraq reported that their tents were newly equipped with heaters: Did this mean they were pampered?
Writing for the National Review, Michael Ledeen argued this week that only "know-nothings" could call American soldiers mercenaries. "Our fighters are where they are because they believe in something bigger than themselves." And also because soldiers are members of a military community "where virtue does not equal narcissism."
Such communities are increasingly scarce, especially in certain precincts of our national media, where narcissism is apparently becoming a core value. Here, it is probably appropriate to note that for more than 10 years, I served as one of those military analysts you saw on NBC whenever international conflicts were looming.
NBC then was a network comfortably resonating to the rhythms of Tom Brokaw and the greatest generation. Especially after 9-11, our rivals at Fox and CNN scrambled for audience attention by recruiting their own military analysts — subsequently known as "Warheads." Especially for a post-draft nation where personal military service is increasingly rare, our band of TV brothers helped fill in some of the blanks about this new kind of war.
Being personally affected by the life-cycle of news stories, none of the Warheads was surprised to see our respective networks gradually reining in their coverage of the war as popular support waned. Audiences were wearying of a conflict with no end in sight, and, unlike the greatest generation, this one was being fought by Other People's Kids.
When you don't have skin in the game, war becomes a matter of sheer personal preference. Channel clickers are wielded, the soldier overlooked or, as we saw last week, even maligned as a mercenary without provoking a career-ending scandal.
It is, therefore, possible to argue that NBC is merely undergoing a delicate arabesque in anticipation of changing audience preferences and the long- hoped-for Democratic restoration (although journalists generally seem reluctant to raise the tough questions that should punctuate the 2008 campaign).
But has anyone else noticed the network's precipitous retreat from journalistic and ethical standards? Not only were no apologies given and no pink slips issued for Arkin's outburst, but on his MSNBC show last week, Keith Olberman went out of his way to defend this "valid criticism" of our military.
In January, Conan O'Brien was allowed to escape without apology after airing a particularly tasteless gay skit deriding Christianity: "Oh, Jesus, I love you, but only as a friend." (Just try doing that sometime using Mohammad's name!)
And only this week, questions have been raised about the cozy relationships between CNBC anchor Maria Bartiromo and the companies she covers as a supposedly objective journalist. The response by Jeffrey Immelt, CEO of GE and godfather of the NBC family: "Substantially, I don't think she did anything wrong."
Fine: Let's hope he's right. But sometimes the only way to show where you really stand is to vote with your feet. And so with great reluctance and best wishes to my former colleagues, with this column I am severing my 10-year relationship with NBC News.
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Retired Col. Ken Allard is an executive-in-residence at UTSA and author of "Warheads: Cable News and the Fog of War." E-mail him at
WARHEADS6@aol.com.
http://www.mysanantonio.com/opinion/stories/MYSA021507.02O.allard0215.39ca78.html
