TV Interviewers Face Tough Decisions

In the post-Sept. 11 world, TV news organizations are learning just how much some interview subjects covet unfettered access to the airwaves to get their message across, putting journalists in increasingly dicey terrain.

In the latest case in point, ABC News’ “PrimeTime Thursday” last week landed a big interview with Carmen bin Laden, estranged sister-in-law of suspected terror mastermind Osama bin Laden, beating out CBS News’ “60 Minutes II” at the last minute.

To get the interview, which provided a look into the Saudi Arabian world in which Bin Laden grew up, ABC and CBS were asked to agree to--and refused--a number of conditions, including giving Carmen bin Laden’s lawyer the right to pre-screen the interview and make changes, a violation of standards at both news organizations.

The lawyer, Philippe Grumbach of Ziegler Poncet & Grumbach in Geneva, Switzerland, also asked CBS, in writing, that any interviews include Carmen bin Laden’s “unconditional condemnation of the barbarous atrocity of Sept. 11.” He added that the expression of “deepest sympathies with the families of the victims must be a clear message of this interview,” along with any disassociation of his client with the events and their possible causes.

The request came on the heels of CNN’s unusual arrangement to pose questions to Bin Laden himself by sending written queries through the pan-Arab network Al Jazeera, in exchange for his answers on videotape. Some rivals criticized CNN for agreeing to submit questions in advance to an interview subject, which goes against most TV news network policies.

CNN executives, who last week tried to dampen expectations that they would ever get a tape back, said the trade-off was worth it to hear what Bin Laden had to say, and many in the industry agreed.

Alex Jones, director of Harvard University’s Shorenstein Center for the study of the press, says that before Sept. 11, many interview subjects being chased by television were most interested in seeing what kinds of payments they could get for their story, such as through hidden consulting fees. Now, he says, more pressure is coming to make content compromises.

“The people doing the talking are more interested in using the television megaphone to get what they want out, than in money,” he said. “Especially on the terrorist side, they want to have their version of events and their voice without editing or alteration, and I don’t think you can agree to that.”

Indeed, the White House has asked the networks and some print media to consider not airing Bin Laden’s statements in unedited form, calling them propaganda. The networks agreed to pre-screen any of his messages and said much of his future communication would likely be highly edited.

In the tug of war over Carmen bin Laden, CBS News was all set to film the interview, to be conducted by anchor Dan Rather, when Grumbach presented the conditions, according to people with knowledge of the situation. When CBS refused, the lawyer then opened discussions with ABC News, which had also been seeking the interview, and soon gave the go-ahead to ABC’s Diane Sawyer.

Grumbach told CBS News three times that ABC had agreed to the conditions, according to sources with knowledge of the conversations. Grumbach called that “a lie.” He said that when both organizations refused, he decided to give the interview to ABC anyway, because Carmen bin Laden was more comfortable with ABC’s journalists.

“There is no issue here,” he said, although he noted that the conditions are common in Europe and had been adhered to by the French network TF1 when his client was first interviewed two weeks ago. A spokeswoman for CBS News declined to comment, as did the producer who was arranging the interview for CBS.

An ABC News spokesman said, “This was a straightforward booking that we beat CBS on.... We have an ironclad rule that we do not allow our interview subjects to review the material in any way, shape or form.”

The interview brought in a strong performance for “PrimeTime Thursday” and was seen by more than 15 million viewers.

Harvard’s Jones says journalists are always going to feel pressure to make deals to get an interview, whether it means having to read back quotes for accuracy or agreeing to have a public relations person in the room during the interview. “But obviously, when a journalist makes deals, you can’t compromise the integrity of the work,” he said.