PALEY CENTER FOR MEDIA SEMINAR SERIES SPECIAL EVENT, THE: MADELEINE ALBRIGHT AND WARREN CHRISTOPHER ON MEDIA AND FOREIGN POLICY {LONG VERSION}
Summary
One in this series of special seminars conducted by The Paley Center for Media. Held at The Paley Center in Los Angeles and moderated by Pat Mitchell (President and CEO of The Paley Center), this seminar examines the manner in which media impacts American foreign policy. Panelists include Warren Christopher, deputy secretary of state under President Jimmy Carter and secretary of state under President Bill Clinton; and Madeleine Albright, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and successor to Christopher as secretary of state under Clinton. Clips, spread throughout the seminar, show news footage of Christopher and Albright during their years in office.
Barbara Dixon (director of The Paley Center in Los Angeles) opens the evening by addressing the institution's change of name from the Museum of Television & Radio. She goes on to introduce Willem Mesdag, a member of the seminar's co-sponsor, The Pacific Council on International Policy. Dixon then introduces Mitchell, who explains the reasons for the Paley's name change before bringing Albright and Kissinger to the stage.
Next, Mitchell tells how "ABC News: Nightline" began as a response to the Iranian hostage crisis in 1980, during which Christopher helped to broker the hostages' release. Mitchell then introduces three "Nightline" clips with host Ted Koppel, after which Christopher talks about the "intense and relentless" coverage of hostage-based developments. Christopher comments on how "unending" TV and newspaper hype encouraged Carter to launch "an ill-advised rescue mission," which ended in failure.
The panelists go on to discuss topics which include: why the press is being criticized for not enough coverage of the ongoing war in Iraq; Christopher's feelings on whether the United States ignored information about Serbian concentration camps during the war with Bosnia; the role of CNN reporter Christiane Amanpour in determining international agendas at United Nations security council meetings; if the Department of State learned about war developments by watching CNN; how government officials use the media; how Albright got blind-sided by Koppel in a "Nightline" interview during Somalia's civil war crisis in 1993; whether Sunday morning news shows are "setups" for government officials; Albright's contentious relationship with Colin Powell, secretary of state under President George W. Bush; if television news no longer serves to educate the public, largely due to sound bytes and lack of complex reporting; why Christopher admires newsman Jim Lehrer; Albright being publicly heckled during a speech at Ohio State University; Christopher's dealings with Israeli prime ministers Yitzhak Rabin and Shimon Peres; and how Fox News misrepresented Albright's exchanges with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il when she visited the country in 2000.
Questions from the audience lead to a discussion of the following topics: the balance between government policy and the media's pursuit of a given subject; Albright's feelings about Bush; if a three-state solution is viable for the Middle East; how an "adversarial and competitive press" failed to reveal the "highly flawed" rationale for invading Iraq; Christopher's fears of news having become "entertainment"; the impact of 9/11 on relations between the press and government; if Al Houra, the government-funded and government-produced Arab channel, should broadcast interviews with suspected terrorists; the fine line between public diplomacy and propaganda; what happens when "the media becomes the story"; and why Albright listens to conservative commentator Rush Limbaugh's radio programs.
Details
- NETWORK: N/A
- DATE: June 18, 2007 Monday 7:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 1:35:00
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: B:91099
- GENRE: Seminars
- SUBJECT HEADING: N/A
- SERIES RUN: N/A
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Barbara Dixon … Host
- Pat Mitchell … Moderator
- Madeleine Albright … Panelist
- Warren Christopher … Panelist
- Willem Mesdag … Guest
- Christiane Amanpour
- George W. Bush
- Jimmy Carter
- Bill Clinton
- Kim Jong-il
- Ted Koppel
- Jim Lehrer
- Rush Limbaugh
- Shimon Peres
- Colin Powell
- Yitzhak Rabin