NBC'S ABBAS INTERVIEW: A DISHONORABLE DEAL

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000402650018-9
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: February 21, 2012
• Sequence Number: 18
• Publication Date: May 17, 1986
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/02/22 : CIA-RDP90-00965R000402650018-9
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17 May 1986
Nat Hentoff
NBC's Abbas Interview: A
Dishonorable Deal
A
mong most well-brought-up news organiza-
tions, "checkbook journalism"-paying for an
interview-is considered unethical, let alone
tacky. But what of another kind of contractual
agreement for an interview? A man, accused of
being a master planner of terrorist murders, is
on the lam. Also pursuing him are a lot of
reporters. He decides to offer NBC News an
exclusive interview on condition that the televi-
sion correspondent and crew not reveal where
the interview took place.
This, of course, is not a hypothetical. The
man on the run is Mohammed Abu Abbas,
charged with, among other things, planning the
hijacking of the cruise ship Achille Lauro last
October. In the course of that operation, an
American, Leon Klinghoffer, was killed, alleged-
ly by terrorists under Abbas' command.
On May 5, as a special treat on NBC's Nightly
News, there was Tom Brokaw introducing cor-
respondent Henry Champ's interview with a
surprise guest by saying that it took place "in an
Arab-speaking country, the name of which we
agreed not to disclose."
Abbas did not pretend to be other than he is.
He told the viewers that America is now the
target of his operations because "America is
now conducting the war against us on behalf of
Israel." Fri
Th tate Department, harshly criticizing
NBC News or giving us gunman a platform,
sa~d~{t tin an Abbas on the air en'scour
terrorist activities we're all seeking to
deter." Another State partment response was
that NBC has ma a itseik an accomplice to
prosecuted. I invo v-s n c ass i docu-
ments kin and NBC's first
Amendment rights would likel to prevail
over any attempt to charge 14 11t, journalists wi
being accessories a ter the fact-helping a
criminal der avoid being apprehended.
There is the further question, however, of
whether a news operation should publish or
broadcast everything the First Amendment per-
mits it to. Lawrence Grossman, president of
NBC News, told me that making the agreement
with Abbas "wasn't even a close call." This man,
said Grossman, "is an important international
political figure. Why, the recent international
summit meeting in Tokyo focused on terrorism,
and that's what he represents,"
I asked Grossman what his decision would be
if a rapist and strangler, connected to a number
of murders in New York City, offered the local
NBC news division an exclusive interview with
terrorism.
But there
him on condition that his whereabouts not be
disclosed.
The head of NBC News was silent for a while.
"I'd have to give that some hard thought," he
said. "Idoubt if we would do that."
I asked him .what the difference is between
the rapist-strangler and- the terrorist. "One is a
plain criminal," Grossman answered, "who can
do specific harm if he isn't caught."
But Abbas is also a criminal, and he is not only
capable of doing more harm, but during his NBC
appearance, he specifically promised to bring his
murder machine to the United States. After all,
Abbas said, - Ronald Reagan "has now placed
himself as enemy No. 1" of this professional hit
man, who, according to NBC's Champ, controls
1,200 other hit men, "a number of them pre-
pared to carry out suicide gnissions." The rap-
ist-strangler, though obviously dangerous, has
no resources other than himself.
Grossman answered by reemphasizing the
international importance of Abbas. Therefore,
he said, "it is critical that the public be informed
of what he has to say." It would appear that a
fleeing criminal can have his hiding place kept
secret by NBC only if he has committed suffi-
ciently large-scale crimes and calls them po-
litical.
That's a news judgment. But it's also an
ethical judgment. Many journalists rebel against
acting as an arm of law enforcement, fearing
that their credibility would thereby be eroded.
But should journalists help conceal someone
who is a danger to the lives of who knows how
many people?
I can imagine one proffered interview with a
murderer for which I would have made a con-
tract similar to NBC's with Abbas. Some years
ago, no one really knew whether Josef Mengele
was alive. On both journalistic and ethical
grounds, it would have been very much worth
finding out if he was-through having an expert
on Mengele as part of the interview team.
Abu Abbas, however, is known to be very
much alive, and the deal NBC struck with him
seems to make sense only in terms of that
network's current surge to overtake CBS News
in the ratings. And that kind of mechanical
thinking, when lives are in danger, does no
honor to any news operation.
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/02/22 : CIA-RDP90-00965R000402650018-9