Description: Marcus Jones reports that Jesse Jackson traveled to Iraq and Kuwait last weekend in order to interview Saddam Hussein. Jackson traveled to Iraq as a journalist, but also managed to secured the release of US citizens trapped in the US embassy in Kuwait. Jones' report includes footage from Inside Edition of Jackson's meeting with Hussein and his return from Iraq. Interview with Urban Update producer Alicia Hilliard about media coverage of the Persian Gulf crisis and the minority perspective on the Persian Gulf crisis.
1:00:06: Visual: Footage from the TV show Inside Edition, including Inside Edition graphics. Shots of Jesse Jackson (African-American political leader) in Iraq; of Jackson on a plane; of Jackson exiting the plane. Shot of Jackson entering a building. Marcus Jones reports that Jackson was identified as a reporter on the TV news magazine Inside Edition. Jones reports that Jackson traveled to Iraq and Kuwait last weekend; that Jackson's activities were not those of a conventional journalist. V: Footage from Inside Edition. Jackson meets with Saddam Hussein (Iraqi leader). The two men speak through a translator. Jackson and Hussein talk about women and children who will return to the US with Jackson. Jones reports that Jackson interviewed Hussein; that Jackson secured the release of US citizens trapped in the US embassy in Kuwait. V: Shots of a US family; of Jackson standing with the US family. Jones reports that Jackson was treated as a welcome guest; that Jackson responded in kind. V: Footage from Inside Edition. Shots of a Iraqi man in military uniform. Shot of Jackson greeting a security guard on the other side of a glass window. Shots of Jackson at the airport with US citizens who traveled with him from Kuwait. The media takes photographs. Shots of two girls greeting a relative at the airport. Jones reports that a Wall Street Journal/NBC poll shows that most African Americans approve of Jackson's direct and personal approach to resolving the Persian Gulf Crisis. Jones notes that the same poll shows that most white Americans believe that a show of US military might will resolve the crisis. V: Shots of Jackson meeting with Hussein; of Hussein during the meeting. Footage of Alicia Hilliard (producer, Urban Update) being interviewed by Jones. Jones asks about the minority perspective on the Persian Gulf Crisis. Hilliard says that African Americans may sympathize with Kuwaitis and Iraqis because Kuwaitis and Iraqis are people of color. Hilliard wonders whether African American and other minority US soldiers will feel comfortable shooting at Kuwaitis and Iraqis. Hilliard says that the mainstream media ignores this angle. Jones reports that Hilliard is the producer of Urban Update on WHDH; that Urban Update focuses on minority issues and perspectives. Jones reports that Hilliard says that the mainstream media has ignored the minority perspective on the crisis. V: Footage of CBS Evening News coverage of the Persian Gulf Crisis. Shot of Dan Rather (CBS News anchor) reading the news. Footage of Hilliard being interviewed by Jones. Hilliard says that the media is not sensitive to those who differ from the norm. Hilliard says that "people do not relate to people who are different." Jones reports that Jackson counts himself among the minority of African Americans who support Bush's military build-up in the Persian Gulf. V: Footage of Jackson being interviewed on the set of Inside Edition. Jackson says that war becomes inevitable if talking is impossible. Inside Edition graphics and closing credits.
Collection: Ten O'Clock News
Date Created: 09/04/1990
Description: Marcus Jones interviews Brian Wright O'Connor, the Managing Editor of The Bay State Banner, about the negative media portrayal of the Roxbury, Dorchester and Mattapan area. Jones notes that O'Connor believes that the media focus only on images of violence, drugs, and murder. O'Connor talks about the effects of the negative media coverage. Footage from an interview with Boston Police Deputy Superintendent William Celester about negative media coverage of the community. Jones notes that gubernatorial candidate John Silber was recently criticized for making negative comments about the Roxbury community. Silber has accused columnist Mike Barnacle of giving a biased representation of life in many neighborhoods. Jones' report is accompanied by footage from a news story with Barnacle, by footage from Justice on Trial (WCVB-TV) and by footage from Street Cop (WGBH/Frontline documentary). Jones notes that politicians and community leaders have spoken out against media bias in the wake of the Carol Stuart murder case. Michael Dukakis talks about media bias at a press conference. Following the edited story is additional footage of Jones's interview with O'Connor. This edition of the Ten O'Clock News also included the following item: John Silber speaks to the media and Roxbury residents
1:00:25: Visual: Footage of news reports from local TV stations. John Henning (WBZ news anchor) reports on the murder of a woman in the city. Natalie Jacobson (WCVB news anchor) reports on a police search for suspects in two Roxbury shootings. Shot of police searching two suspects who are lying face down on a sidewalk. R.D. Sahl (WHDH news anchor) reports on growing outrage in Roxbury. Shot of a woman being taken from a home on a stretcher. Shots of police cruisers on the streets of Roxbury at night. Shot of an injured person in an ambulance; of police at a crime scene cordoned off by yellow tape. Shot of an African American man leaving a police station. Marcus Jones reports that media coverage of the Roxbury, Dorchester, and Mattapan neighborhoods focus on images of violence, drugs, and murder. Jones reports that Brian Wright O'Connor (Managing Editor, The Bay State Banner) believes that the media does not provide an accurate portrayal of life in Roxbury. Jones notes that O'Connor lives in a quiet section of the Roxbury neighborhood. V: Shot of Jones and O'Connor walking through a quiet park. Footage of O'Connor saying that criminal activity should be covered by the media; that the media uses questionable tactics in covering crime. O'Connor says that the media often stretches its definition of the term "news." O'Connor questions if there is balanced news coverage of the greater Roxbury area. O'Connor says that the media come to Roxbury to cover crime; that the media comes to Roxbury to cover reactions of local residents to comments by white politicians. Footage of William Celester (Deputy Superintendent, Boston Police Department) saying that media coverage creates the wrong perceptions about the community. Celester says that negative perceptions did not begin with the comments of John Silber (Democratic candidate for governor of Massachusetts). Celester says that the negative perceptions need to be changed. Footage from WCVB of Justice on Trial. The footage shows Joe Lally (Boston Police Department) walking toward a city courthouse. The narrator says that Lally is "the only symbol of civilization left on many city streets." Marcus Jones reports that Silber has accused the media of twisting his words; that Silber says that the media has skewed perceptions of reality in Area B neighborhoods. Jones notes that Silber accused Mike Barnacle (columnist) of giving a skewed portrayal of life in many neighborhoods. V: Shot of Mike Barnacle interviewing a white man outside of a building. Footage of Barnacle walking along a sidewalk. Barnacle compares the neighborhood to a "shooting gallery." Jones reports that he interviewed Barnacle by telephone. Jones reports that Barnacle says that he feels no obligation to balance negative coverage of a neighborhood with positive coverage. Jones notes that Barnacle could not recall the number of columns he has written this summer with positive coverage of the neighborhoods in Area B. V: Footage from a WGBH/Frontline documentary called Street Cop. A plain-clothes police officer rides through a housing development. The officer says that the neighborhood is a tough place. The officer says that he would probably end up selling drugs if he were a poor, African American teenager in this neighborhood. Footage from Street Cop of white, plain-clothes police officers breaking down the door of an apartment with sledgehammers. A police officer reaches down the shirt of an old woman to look for drugs. Jones notes that WGBH/Frontline produced a documentary called Street Cop three years ago; that the documentary was accused of using negative stereotypes of crime in Roxbury. Jones reports that politicians and community leaders have spoken out against media bias in the wake of the Carol Stuart murder. V: Shots of newspaper articles with headlines about the suspect in the Stuart case. Footage of Michael Dukakis (Governor of Massachusetts) speaking at a press conference on April 11, 1990. Dukakis says that there are thousands of good kids in the community; that the media gives all of the news coverage to the 500 bad kids. Bernard Cardinal Law (Archidiocese of Boston) is seated behind Dukakis. Footage of O'Connor being interviewed by Jones. Jones asks if the media focus on crime leads to a reduction in crime. O'Connor says that the community has been stereotyped by the media; that negative stereotypes reduce the political will to address the underlying socio-economic problems. O'Connor says that these negative stereotypes imply that the citizens of the community are morally defective or undeserving of aid. O'Connor says that the biased media coverage is "pernicious." O'Connor says that the negative media coverage allows people with resources to turn away from the community. O'Connor notes that two large companies scrapped their plans to build facilities in Roxbury in the wake of the Stuart murder. O'Connor says that the two companies could have provided jobs for at-risk teenagers in the community.
Collection: Ten O'Clock News
Date Created: 09/12/1990
Description: Carmen Fields interviews three Northeastern journalism students on the coverage of the Persian Gulf war. Two students are impressed with the immediacy of the coverage provided by television (CNN and the networks), but the other thinks that it is "not as in-depth as it could get." Fields contrasts the commitment to "the people's right to know" of Watergate-era journalists with the students' views regarding the importance of censorship to protect national security and the lives of individual soldiers. The students also discuss the missing CBS news crew led by Bob Simon, and question the news team's decision to report in a war zone without a military escort.
Collection: Ten O'Clock News
Date Created: 02/18/1991
Description: Final program of The Ten O'Clock News. Flowers on anchor desk. Chris Lydon and Carmen Fields say their farewells. Montage of TOCN staff. Staff hugs on set during credits. Stories on Charlestown High School prom, interview with Kevin White, using the word "condom" on TV, and examination of the Big Bang Theory, which includes interviews with Philip Morrison, Margaret Geller, and Eric Lerner.
Collection: Ten O'Clock News
Date Created: 05/30/1991