Thursday, December 14, 2006

On the Left with ABC Nightline’s Terry Moran

ABC’s Nightline broadcast earlier this week [Dec. 12] a ten minute segment in which a Nightline correspondent gave a sense of what it is like for some of our troops engaged in the grinding and dangerous work of trying to bring security and civil order to Baghdad, and also trying to identify and apprehend the bad guys. ABC Nightline Correspondent Dan Harris discussed and narrated what he saw during one long, eleven hour day with the troops, including his “nauseating fear,” when the troops would knock down doors without knowing “who or what,” was on the other side.

It was a good segment and would have been fine if Terry Moran, former White House Lefty correspondent [See here] and now Nightline Lefty Co-host, could have “let it be.” But, Terry can’t do that. That is not what ABC pays him the big bucks for. To earn his money, Terry is expected to give a provocative, nasty, liberal slant to the news and Terry usually delivers.

This time, Nightline’s Moran took out his bazooka to fire at one of his and Hillary Clinton’s favorite targets. That target is the “Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy,” that is always out there making trouble for good guys, like Terry Moran and others on the Left:

“Dan Harris, getting out on to the Battlefields in Baghdad to bring you the story. There are a lot of right-wing commentators who like to criticize reporters in Iraq for supposedly playing it safe. They are wrong. We thank Dan and all of his colleagues.” [Emphasis Supplied].
Terry Moran, ABC’s Nightline, Dec. 12, 2006

Now, Terry, if he were being fair and balanced, might have said this:

There are some conservative critics of main stream media who argue that much of the media in Iraq, due to the danger of travel in that country and perhaps due to some liberal bias, miss a lot of the progress that is being made by the Iraqi Government, and Iraqi and U. S. military forces, to bring some civil order to the country, to restore the economy and to improve the conditions for the people of Iraq. And those critics are right that SOME of that is missed.

However, as you can see from our report, Baghdad is still a very dangerous place and that is very much a problem- a problem for ANY of the media trying to bring accurate coverage to you. It is also the major problem in the War in Iraq that the United States and the Iraqi government, and their allies, may or may not be able to solve. Indeed, that is very much why the United States and its allies are at a cross-roads now in Iraq.

As you can also see, some, and maybe a lot, of the reporters in Iraq do undertake very dangerous missions to bring you the news. Dan Harris is one such reporter from ABC News. Thank you to Dan and his colleagues who are taking those risks to bring you the news.

Of course, what is more important to Terry Moran and Nightline? Giving it to you straight or throwing in a dig at the Right-Wing? You got it.

And, when will Terry throw in a dig at the Left-Wing? Come on- I don’t even think “Left-Wing” is a part of Terry’s working vocabulary.
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Jeff Berkowitz, Show Host/Producer of "Public Affairs," and Executive Legal Recruiter doing legal search can be reached at JBCG@aol.com
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