CNN Gains Sole Access in Kabul

Saturday, as retaliation for the deadly attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon seemed increasingly imminent, CNN’s Nic Robertson enjoyed the dubious distinction of being the only broadcast reporter for a U.S. news organization in Afghanistan--expected to be the focus of the counterattack.

Early Thursday morning, Robertson called a CNN executive in New York and said the Taliban had warned Western journalists in the Afghan capital to evacuate.

“I got a call at 2:30 a.m. from Nic Robertson, and he said that . . . any journalist who stayed behind faced certain death, and that he was going to leave immediately,” said Eason Jordan, chief news executive for CNN News Group. “About 5 a.m., he called back and said he had talked with some Taliban officials, and they were prepared to let him stay as long as he acknowledged--in writing--that they could not protect him.”

Robertson’s makeshift contract may prove worthless, but for the time being it holds promise for CNN, the original 24-hour cable news network, which has lost significant footing in the market since its unrivaled coverage of the Persian Gulf War in 1991.

Jordan’s assertion that the Taliban warned Western journalists remaining in the country could not be substantiated by other news organizations. Jack Stokes, spokesman for the Associated Press, said the wire service’s correspondent in Kabul has not received any threats. Reuters TV reported the same thing with regard to its Kabul-based correspondent.

Still, the British-born Robertson and two CNN colleagues are the only broadcast crew for a U.S. outlet in Kabul--the most critical home base for reporters if and when the U.S. attacks. Afghanistan may be targeted because it is the base of wealthy and elusive terrorist Osama bin Laden, the prime suspect in Tuesday’s attacks.

Jordan said an agreement reached Tuesday morning by U.S. broadcast and cable networks to share footage did not extend to foreign images. His point was clear: CNN will own the Kabul coverage while its competitors may have to settle for reporting from neighboring Pakistan.

News operations that could not get into Kabul dispatched correspondents to Islamabad, the Pakistani capital, where they are cooling their heels with hundreds of other journalists, including CNN reinforcements.

“We have a big team of about 20 people in Islamabad and two satellite dishes. One is deployed for live reporting, and one is in crates ready to go into Kabul if we get visas,” Jordan said. “In the meantime, we’re getting big bang for our buck on [Robertson’s] videophone.”

Currently in Islamabad are CBS News Rome correspondent Allen Pizzey; ABC London correspondent Bob Woodruff; Fox News Service Paris correspondent Greg Palkot; and NBC Tel Aviv and London correspondents Tom Aspell and Ron Allen.

“By the way, it’s not a very safe place to be right now,” said Sandy Genelius, spokeswoman for CBS News. “And if Islamabad is dangerous, Afghanistan is insane.”

MSNBC is relying on foreign correspondents from its broadcast partner, NBC News. Like CNN’s Robertson, both NBC reporters have videophones--hand-held devices that transmit images over a portable satellite phone connection.

Robertson is the deputy bureau chief for CNN’s London bureau, and he had been in Kabul covering the trial of eight international aid workers charged with converting Muslims to Christianity.

Many news executives did not want to talk about CNN’s enviable placement of Robertson in Kabul. ABC News said it has committed significant resources to covering the area. In addition to Woodruff, the network has two camera crews, two editors and two producers in Pakistan.

But other executives said that though they would prefer to have live reports out of Kabul, Islamabad is shaping up to be important.