Silence

First published on The Huffington Post

The dumbest question on earth turned out to be the only pertinent one.

I was sitting at the anchor desk in San Francisco when President Bush delivered the State of the Union of 2003. We all expected an update on Afghanistan and instead the president pulled the now famous bait and switch. Magically, with no Democratic consensus, Osama became Saddam, and Afghanistan became Iraq. As the president was speaking, I called out to the camera people and the floor director in the studio. "I don't believe this, are you guys listening to this? Bush is preparing to go to war on another front without congressional approval." The president likened Saddam to Hitler and said Iraq had nuclear (Nuke-you-lure) weapons, biological weapons and chemical weapons. He used his 66 percent approval rating at the time to buy silence from the press and here's how that occurred in my life.

A camera person laughed and said, "Les, Bubba is about to rally the nation to another war. Wasn't Saddam Bubba Sr.'s nemesis?" The lights are bright, but I looked out into the dark studio and said, "Jesus, we have to say something. We can't just blithely sit here and pretend this is not worth discussing. The president is using 9/11 fear to start another war." The member of the Texas-Oil- Silver- Sperm- society is about to connect 9/11 to getting the oil fields and the enemy his father couldn't."

I waited, fearful that reporters from Washington would not speak up. I was fearful I would have to be the one to bring it up. Fearful that the new administration in our Fox affiliate would expect us to shut up and pretend we did not hear. I would later find out that's exactly what was expected of me. It was a new role for a loud-mouth girl from Texas, and one I did not know how to play.

Just a few years earlier, questioning power and asking fearless questions had earned our newscast the award of "Best Broadcast in the Nation," by the Project for Excellence in Journalism. PBS announced how rare we were and showed my picture. But, the good ole' boys in charge now did not really understand any of that. Now, in this fearful post 9/11 world, the new managers talked about Christianity, stared down those who cursed in the newsroom, and fired people so heartlessly they made them attend their own "goodbye parties" to save face. The other reporters had to watch this deceitful dance and were stricken with fear and loathed to speak up. I suppose that was the point. The world felt as if it was upside down, and I was now working for the "flat earth society."

When the president finally ended his speech, there was a recap by the reporters. It was stenographic in nature. There was no analysis, and no indication that another illegal war had been declared. I then opened my mouth. What I said next began the unraveling of a spotless 25 years of reporting.

"I did not hear any mention of the current war in Afghanistan or Osama Bin Laden." I said, hoping to prompt the seasoned reporter to point out the obvious and open discussion. Instead, he simply said, "That's right Leslie, the president did not mention Osama or Afghanistan." I sat there stunned.

As I left the studio, I was relieved to see that CNN was discussing the bait and switch that had just occurred. I left feeling a sense of dread. I found out the next day when I got to work, the feeling was justified.

As soon as I sat down at my desk the phone rang. The boss wanted to see me. This was the same boss who told me earlier not to make comments about global warming because he and the other bosses did not believe in it. I replied "As soon as the corporation figures a way to make money from global warming, they'll lead the charge against it." I am nothing if not a smart ass. I have since learned to suffer fools and pick my battles more carefully. But until then, I had never been censored in any way. Not on the air, and certainly not in the newsroom.

I walked toward the boss' office knowing the new ultra-conservative regime did not know my history as a reporter, and they did not care. I doubt any of them had read my resume. Controversy is the essence of news and they wanted no controversy. It cost them commercials.

"Hello, boss," I said. He got right to the point. "Never ask a question like that again. I've been fielding phone calls all day about it. Viewers felt it was unpatriotic."

So now, after 25 years of reporting from around the world, I was expected to be a stenographer. Again, I was a smart ass. "So, I said, perhaps we should change our promos from in-depth-coverage to See no evil, Hear no evil, Speak no evil." He was pissed. He rose from his chair to dismiss me. I walked back to my desk as the newsroom watched. My crime was to ask a reporter's question following the State of the Union. I did not know the rules had changed and all questions following 9/11 were seen as unpatriotic. This same corporation had just banned The Dixie Chicks country band from their radio stations for making an anti-Bush statement.

Four years later, the nation wants to know where reporters were when it needed them most. I have heard a hundred times that the press has failed them. I, for one, was getting my ass kicked for merely pointing out the obvious.

Comments

[Bill in Virginia]

Thanks, Leslie

I’m happy to share with my friends and commend you for being a smart ass – a role I can respect!

How did we get here? A government that calls faux terror alerts during the election process? A government that stacks the FCC to foster media control? A government that scares us into relinquishing our constitutional freedoms? An entire Congress that does not defend the Constitution, as required in their oath of office? A government that falsifies science? If Galileo were alive today, he’d be held in Guantanamo. A president who struts around in a flight suit, for Chrissake?

What’s next – we are at war with Oceana (and always have been)?

Leslie, my request for a discussion is:

Is corporate media, now the mainstream media, hopelessly corrupt? If the internet is the only vehicle providing real news and real reporting – how do we protect it?

Keep up the good work!

Thanks!

Bill

[richard barry]

Leslie,
You are an inspiration and a "real" voice as always. Since the media has been bought by corporate giants all we get is corportate trash and propaganda. Just like the rest of the special interest groups pounding Washington, the advertisers buying commercial air time are didtating what news can be reported. "A government of the people, by the people and for the people" has become a joke and a mockery of what our forefathers invisioned. This Bush administration has flushed the last remnants of it down the toilet. Likewise, the puppets reporting the scripted "news" are putting the final nails in the coffin on what the U.S. was and could be. It is nice to know that you and a few others have the courage to stand up for your beliefs. It is not a matter of agreeing or disagreeing. America needs to have the truth out there to make a decision about agreeing or disagreeing. Keep up the good work. Take joy in your endeavors knowing you are doing the right thing. Good luck,
Richard Barry

[Gene]

Leslie, please follow up on what domestic spying is being done on US citizens, in violation of the 4th Amendment to the Constitution (a.k.a. a part of the Bill of Rights) that the current administration has deemed irrelevant. It seems that the Denver convention of Democrats in 2008 is 'just cause' for a neocon panic attack in their fear induced coup d'etat

CIA Plans to Shift Work to Denver
Domestic Division Would Be Moved

By Dana Priest
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, May 6, 2005; Page A21
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/05/05/AR2005050501860.html

No wonder Francis Ford Copolla is re-making The Conversation in 2009 !

[Gene]

When CNN put Army psyops into their newsroom during the 2000 election (sic 'selection') we should have all known the jig (democracy) was up.

See CNN and PsyOps, March 26, 2000 by Alexander Cockburn at
http://www.counterpunch.org/cnnpsyops.html

and Carl Bernstein's groundbreaking piece for Rolling Stone, The CIA and the Media, Oct 20, 1977
http://danwismar.com/uploads/Bernstein%20-%20CIA%20and%20Media.htm

Which is strange in itself since his buddy Bob Woodward's own intell connections are only recently receiving sustained media scrutiny, please read

Bob Woodward
http://www.ctka.net/pr196-woodward.html

and

Deep Throat : A few more thoughts about Watergate
http://www.metroactive.com/papers/sonoma/07.03.97/scoop-9727.html

""What's missing is an understanding of Deep Throat, Woodward's garage-lurking source who guided the reporters to some of their biggest leads. If he was just a concerned citizen, great. But if Deep Throat had his own agenda, then he used the Washington Post to shape the story for his own purposes and got away clean.

"I have told Woodward everything I know about the Watergate case, except the Mullen Company's tie to the CIA."--Robert F. Bennett, testifying before House Special Committee on Intelligence, July 2, 1974.

Robert Bennett was the head of Robert R. Mullen and Co., a CIA front headquartered in the very same building as the CIA's Domestic Operations Division. The Mullen Co. did legitimate PR work; it also did PR for other CIA fronts and provided cover abroad for CIA operations. Bennett's most notable employee was Howard Hunt, a former chief of covert actions for the Domestic Operations Division of the CIA. ""

So, what 'reporter' Woodward doesn't tell us is really the key to the story. This now fits a pattern with his reporting.

[Nancee Fox]

Leslie,
I hope to live long enough to read all the books that will be written about this shameful administration. And I don't mean the books written by the true believers who will continue to spin the truth, I mean those who actually expose what has happened. What depresses me is the apparent lack of energy by our elected officials to investigate what this administration has done. Yes, the MSM who did turn into stenographers, in incredibly large numbers, did enormous damage but I am hopeful that you will continue to speak the truth. I am also hopeful that growing a backbone becomes contagious again and not only for reporters, but also for our Congressional members who have not stood up for us. There are too many elected Democrats who appear to be collaborators rather than representatives. Keep speaking up! America needs all of us speaking up over and over again. "Drain the swamp" sounded promising, but it obviously is going to take more than Pelosi and Reid can offer.

[Gary Fox]

Leslie,

I've wondered for a few years how much Fox central was controlling the newsroom at KTVU. I suspected they were leaning on the staff to get in line with the network's "fair and balanced" reporting. You're latest article confirms my suspicions. I thank you for taking a stand and your continued efforts to speak the truth and ask the tough questions. Keep up the great work.

Gazza

[Vera Sanborn]

Leslie,
I am very pleased that you will be reviving the indomitable spirit of our late, great Molly Ivins, a dear voice that opened many ears to the Truth. She was never afraid to speak up, as all true journalists are expected to do.
Sadly, that brand of truthfulness has been too long absent and has been a terrible loss to what was once our great Republic. You know the ones of which I am referring..the ones that kept silent so as to keep a Job at the expense of our Nation. Look at the Millions of lost lives that can and should be laid at their doorsteps !
Now, the mantle has finally been picked up once again. I am only one old person that Thanked you a couple years ago for finally speaking out...albeit it belatedly..too late to make a dent. God Speed and many thanks for finally choosing to Speak Out again. I will be standing with you, Leslie. Good luck and God Speed.

[Ronnie Moehrke]

Hi Leslie...
When Bush made clear in 2003 - that he was marching into Iraq - I burst out crying knowing what was going to be unleashed - Hadn't we already done this in Viet Nam!!? I ran to my computer trying to find "my People" -the ones who had screamed so loud years ago when we had gone mad in Asia. I couldn't find anyone - I remember feeling so all alone - went to work the next day and I told people at the top of my lungs that "he was LYING!!" And I was patted on the head - "little old lady, you know."
Now I know what happened....I suspected it then - but I felt it COULDN'T HAPPEN AGAIN!
Why is it we DO NOT REMEMBER!! Did they put something in the Water?!
Thank you Leslie - Continue to be there - encourage others - or elese we wll all be lobotomized.
Ronnie

[Bernie Silverman]

Leslie:

As someone has already pointed out, you do have some "Molly Ivins" in you.

I admired Molly since she referred to certain Texas politicians as being "ethically challenged."

Since this site covers media issues, I would like to see a survey of potential voters that asks what those people actually know about the positions of the remaining candidates.

Having been in polling in another life, I am convinced that most of the voting public has little knowledge of the candidates' actual views--because the media obsessively speculate about who's currently "ahead."

Wolf Blitzer, Bill O'Reilly, and for that matter, Katie Couric, won't be getting any invites to the next national MENSA convention any time soon...

[Ed Weingold]

I was working too late at my day job when news of your website came to my work email.
I think you should readily accept the mantle that the spirit of Molly Ivins passes on to you. And that means you've got to be a Tom Paine in the ass to the moguls who homogenize the pap that passes for news. You're certainly not alone, and you are part of a great bunch who speak truth to power, no matter what. I read and listen to folks like Greg Palast, Tom Englehardt, Bill Moyers these days, and eagerly await a time when the mainstream media is wrested from the corporate slipstream of Wall St. flacks.
Its time to make a mighty and joyful noise. Press on, Leslie.
Best wishes,
Ed

[Alex Yaron]

If we are fortunate enough to survive the neo-fascist revolution which began with Reagan, we will read scores of tomes penned by outraged authors detailing how the media was complicit in the near collapse of the Republic during the time of Cheney/Bush. I have no doubt but that those gentle folk will neglect to mention how they spent those years sitting mute before the microphones or paralyzed with fear before their word processors as the debacle unfolded around them. It would appear that the generation of "journalists" which followed Murrow, Cronkite and Helen Thomas seems to have entered the field for reasons other than a desire to report the truth. And while we are not yet beyond the potential for damage which Cheney/Bush might still unleash upon the nation, there is some comfort we can derive from knowing that we've been right all along. And if that certitude gives us the steel to confront liars more boldly in the future, we might well be able to shake some of our fellows out of their fear-induced timidity or at least undermine the obstinacy which self-imposed ignorance has built. It is because of journalists like you that we can hope the near future will not reflect the recent past. As the Chief said to the Outlaw Josie Wales: "Endeavor to persevere."

[Allen White]

In my world silence equals death.

For too long those who have a voice and something to say have been forced into silence.

My success, if I have had any, is to provide a way for windows and doors to be opened. When that happens, people can move, people can speak and on that they may rise or fall. Should they fall, they never fall as far as from where they started.

And should they have the courage to rise again, the lessons from the fall, will serve to lift them higher....many times higher than they ever dreamed.

So, Leslie Griffith, it is now time for you to again break the silence and let us hear your voice.

AS MAYA ANGELOU WOULD SAY: "RISE"

Allen White
San Francisco, California

[Ken]

Leslie,

Your web page has warmth, beauty, kindness, truthfulness, and it is a true reflection of the Leslie Griffith that I can call a friend. There are a lot of people that appreciate the guts, determination and thought provoking writing that you instill in your work.

I wish you the very best,

Ken

[Trenton DeSpain]

You are an incredible woman and an incredible writer. You are blessed with a gift and you utilize it well. Keep up your fantastic work. Big T