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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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