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[FYI] (Fwd) FC: White House instructs TV networks not to air bin Lad




------- Forwarded message follows -------
Date sent:      	Thu, 11 Oct 2001 01:59:05 -0400
To:             	politech@politechbot.com
From:           	Declan McCullagh <declan@well.com>
Subject:        	FC: White House instructs TV networks not to air bin Laden videos
Send reply to:  	declan@well.com

[Some folks have already noted that shortwave would be sufficient to
carry any messages that bin Laden needs to send. Or, for that matter,
quotes that he might give to a print journalist -- quotations that
could give clues to what he's thinking or planning. Or aren't
reporters supposed to print those either? --DBM]

http://www.nytimes.com/2001/10/11/national/11TUBE.html?pagewanted=prin
t At U.S. Request, Networks Agree to Edit Future bin Laden Tapes By
BILL CARTER and FELICITY BARRINGER The five major television news
organizations reached a joint agreement yesterday to follow the
suggestion of the White House and abridge any future videotaped
statements from Osama bin Laden or his followers to remove language
the government considers inflammatory. The decision, the first time in
memory that the networks had agreed to a joint arrangement to limit
their prospective news coverage, was described by one network
executive as a "patriotic" decision that grew out of a conference call
between the nation's top television news executives and the White
House national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice, yesterday morning.
[...]

http://dailynews.yahoo.com/htx/ap/20011010/us/attacks_cnn_1.html
Wednesday October 10 10:48 AM ET
Terror Statement May Hold Secret Msg.
WASHINGTON (AP) - Secretary of State Colin Powell cautioned on
Wednesday that the statements made by Osama bin Laden's terrorist
organization and broadcast on televisions around the world may contain
``some kind of message.'' [...]

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2001/10/20011010-9.html#Rice2
[...] Q So that type of censorship is not under consideration? I mean,
you're saying this is a war and in previous wars there has been
censorship. You're saying that type of thing is not now under
consideration at the White House? MR. FLEISCHER: Keith, that is not
censorship. This is a request to the media, and the media makes their
own decisions. And I think a reasonable request. Q No, you said that
you're not in a position to demand. In effect, this government is in a
position to demand if it wants. Are you guys considering -- MR.
FLEISCHER: Okay. If you're asking the legal questions about prior
restraint, we haven't gotten -- that's not been discussed. Q It's not
a legal question. We're asking if real censorship -- I understand this
is just a request -- we're asking if real censorship is under
consideration, demands and not requests. MR. FLEISCHER: No, there's
nothing that I'm aware of like that. This is why I'm telling you what
Dr. Rice did, because I think you have a right to know. It was a
request, and I've shared with you what she did. [...] Q Ari, two
things. First, you said that it's tough to get information out of
Afghanistan right now. By that, are you suggesting that bin Laden and
the Taliban -- or bin Laden's network has lost the ability to use the
Internet, for instance, or to pick up a satellite cell phone and use
that? Secondly, unrelated question. The Vice President's whereabouts
we still don't know anything about. What kind of a signal does that
send to the American people and to the world, both about his safety
and, frankly, about the President's safety? MR. FLEISCHER: On the
first point, about the ability of Osama bin Laden and his followers to
communicate from Afghanistan, I think the most accurate way to say it
is they face certain challenges in communicating out of their country,
right now. [...] 




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